Roman History Buffs...Type of prison the "Island of Pat

[Magnetic]

For those who are sharp on Roman history, I was wondering if any of you would happen to know just what kind of prison facilities the "Island of Patmos" was, . . . . this is, of course, the place where John wrote the book of Revelations. How feasible was it, for someone in Roman captivity, to have the ability (paper and 'pen') and freedom to write letters to the churches, AND have them delivered, I would assume, by the Roman officials?

[Doctor Doom]

IIRC, Patmos was not a prison island, but something more akin to St. Elba for Napoleon. Saint John was exiled to the island, where he was likely placed under something akin to house arrest, perhaps in a monastery.

[Baron Scarpia]

Dr. Doom would be correct. The Romans didn't really do "prisons" as we think of them. Most such places were merely holding areas for those condemned to death. Otherwise, wealthy types usually were under a house arrest type of deal, while the poor were put into slavery (working galley ships, quarries, mines, etc.). Sine John had the luxury of writing, I'd guess he was simply under house arrest.

Patmos appears to be a relatively pleasant island, as it were.

[Sea Skimmer]

Dr. Doom would be correct. The Romans didn't really do "prisons" as we think of them. Most such places were merely holding areas for those condemned to death.

Modern 'serve your sentence' prisons are well, a modern invention, they just didn’t exist anywhere until the last few hundred years.

[Magnetic]

Okay, thanks guys.