Much of Paul's life is told in the book, Acts of the Apostles, in the New Testament. He made several journeys to cities on and near the Mediterranean Sea, and everywhere he helped the people to become Christians and to set up churches. At first Paul was accompanied by an apostle name Barnabas. On later trips he took with him other Apostles named Silas, Timothy, and Luke (who wrote one of the gospels and also the book of Acts). Paul was often persecuted. Five times thirty-nine lashes given under Jewish law. He was imprisoned for two years at the city of Caesarea, and would have been put to death except that he was a Roman citizen and had the right to appeal to Caesar (the emperor). Festus, the Roman governor at Caesarea, had him put on a ship and sent to Rome. On the way, the ship was shipwrecked and Paul finally reached Rome by land. The journey of a few hundred miles took almost two years. He spent another two years in jail before he came to trial before the emperor Nero. The Bible does not carry the life of Paul any farther, but the tradition of those times has led many writers to believe that Paul was released in Rome, preached Christianity there for a short time, but was put to death in one of the frequent persecutions of Christians that occurred in the reign of Nero. His death, then, would be sometime around the year 60, when Paul was about 50 years old. The traditional date is the year 67. 15 of the 28 books of the New Testament were written by Paul. They were epistles (letters) written to members of Christian churches in cities that Paul had visited. In these letters Paul explains the teachings of Jesus, advises the congregations on the duties of Christians, and encourages them to trust in Christ Jesus in spite of the dangers to being Christ followers in those times.