Inscription links Sergius Paulus family to Paul's Pisidian Antioch detour

Biblical scholars have identified a historical basis for Paul's unexpected route during his first missionary journey, as detailed in Acts 13. When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Paphos on Cyprus around AD 48–49, they met the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus, who was impressed by Paul's teaching and the miraculous blinding of the magician Elymas. Rather than traveling along the coastal route back toward Paul's hometown of Tarsus, the group instead undertook a grueling 160-mile trek north through mountain terrain to Pisidian Antioch. Scholars Ben Witherington III and Mark Wilson discovered the explanation in an honorific inscription at the Yalvaç Museum in Turkey—the modern site of Pisidian Antioch. The inscription's first line mentions the "Paulli" family, and the second names L. Sergius (Lucius Sergius Paulus), the very proconsul from Cyprus. Additional inscriptions referencing a son of Sergius Paulus further corroborate the family's connection to the town. The discovery suggests Paul and Barnabas deliberately traveled to Pisidian Antioch because of their new convert's family ties there, giving them an established connection to an influential Roman household through which to share the Gospel.

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Source: Biblical Archaeology Society — https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-rome/why-did-paul-go-to-pisidian-antioch/