Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 17:22

"And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye men of Athens, in all things, I perceive that ye are very religious." — Acts 17:22 (ASV)

Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill.—More accurately, Areopagus, as noted previously. The Court sat in the open air on benches forming three sides of a quadrangle.

A short flight of sixteen steps, cut in the rock, led from the agora to the plateau where the Court held its sessions. If the Court was actually in session at the time, the temptation to resort to it—if only to cause a sensation and terrify the strange disputant—may well have been irresistible.

As the Apostle stood there, from his slight elevation he looked out upon the temple of the Eumenides below him, that of Theseus to the east, and the Parthenon facing him on the Acropolis. On the height of that hill stood the colossal bronze statue of Athena, the guardian goddess of her beloved Athens.

Below and all around him were statues and altars; the city was “very full of idols.”