Acts 16:11
Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;
Therefore loosing from Troas,.... Or setting sail from thence, which, as before observed, was the Hellespont; which was a narrow sea that divided Asia from Europe, now called Stretto di Gallipoii, or Bracci di St. Georgio: and so Pliny {q} speaking of Troas says, it lies near the Hellespont; and Jerom {r} calls it a maritime city of Asia; and it further appears to be on the sea coast, by what is said in Acts 20:6, for from Philippi hither, the apostle and his company sailed in five days, and from hence they sailed to Assos, Acts 20:6
we came with a straight course to Samothracia; which was an island in the Aegean sea, or Archipelago: it was formerly called Dardania {s}, from Dardanus the, son of Jupiter by Electra, who fled hither from Italy, upon killing his brother Jasius; it had its name of Samothracia, from Thracia, near to which it was, and from the Samians who inhabited it; and it was called Samothracia to distinguish it from the island Samos in the Ionian sea; it is now called Samandrachi: Jerom {t} calls it an island in the gulf of Pagasa; of this island of Samothracia, Pliny says {u}, that it was free before Hebrus, was thirty two miles from Imbrus, twenty two and a half from Lemnus, thirty eight, from the shore of Thracia, and in circumference thirty two--and that it is fullest of good havens of any in those parts; and adds, that Callimachus calls it by its ancient name Dardania; it seems it was also called Leucosia, or Leucadia, because to spectators at a distance it looked white: according to {w} Herodotus the Pelasgi first inhabited Samothracia, who with the Athenians dwelt there, and from them the Samothracians received their sacred rites and mysteries; for this island was famous for the worship of the Cabiri, or chief deities of the Gentiles, particularly Ceres, Proserpina, Pluto, Mercury, and the two brothers Castor and Pollux, Neptune, and all the sea gods; insomuch that it was called "the holy island" {x}, and persons of other nations, and even of the greatest figure, were initiated into the mysteries of the Samothracians, which Pliny {y} calls the most holy; for speaking of Venus, Potho, and Phaeton, adds, who are worshipped with the most holy ceremonies of Samothracia. The apostle did not stay to preach the Gospel in this place, nor do we read of its being preached here by him at any other time, or by any other, nor of any church in this place in after ages in ecclesiastical history. The apostle and his companions are said to come hither, "with a straight course"; not only because they might have a fair gale, which brought them at once hither; but because when they were over the Hellespont, this island lay directly in their way, in a straight line to Macedonia:
and the next day to Neapolis; the Alexandrian copy reads, "the new city", as the word signifies; hence the Ethiopic version by way of interpretation renders it, "the next day we came to the new city, the name of which is Neapolis": according to Ptolomy, it was a sea port of Edonis, a part of Macedonia, and was upon the borders of Thrace; it is now called Christopoli; and was not Neapolis in Campania, nor Sychem in Samaria, which is so called, but was at a great distance from either of these. Pliny places it in Thracia, as he also does Edonis, and even Philippi {z}. Jerom calls {a} it a city of Caria, but wrongly: and though we have no account of the apostles preaching in this place, and of making converts, neither now nor at any other time; yet it appears even in after ages that here was a church in this place: in the "sixth" century the bishop of it was sent to the fifth Roman synod; and in the "seventh" century one Andreas was bishop of this place, who was in the sixth synod at Constantinople {b}.
{q} Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 30.
{r} De locis Hebraicis, fol. 96. K.
{s} Pausanias Achaica, sive, l. 7. p. 403. Ptolom. Geograph. l. 3. c. 11.
{t} Ib. fol. 96. I.
{u} Nat. Hist. l. 4. c. 12.
{w} Euterpe, c. 51.
{x} L. Attilius in Liv. Hist. l. 45. c. 5.
{y} Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 5.
{z} Ib. l. 4. c. 11,
{a} De locis Hebraicis, fol. 96. F.
{b} Magdeburg. Hist. Eccl cent. 6. c. 2. p. 7. cent. 7. c. 10. p. 258.