Prison 2

View of the wall and ceiling of the prison—a post of the altar is visible on the left.  This space may originally have been a cistern, but by the sixth century B.C. it was turned into a holding cell for condemned prisoners.  Probably it originally had a conical dome.

According to historical sources, high-status prisoners were detained here from the sixth century B.C. on—including captive kings and rulers.  According to Christian tradition, this is where Peter and Paul were kept—at different times, probably while awaiting execution.  Of course, Acts 28:30 indicates that Paul spent two "full years in his own rented quarters" (NASB).