The Visio Pauli, or Apocalypse of Paul, was written in the fourth century and belongs to the New Testament Apocrypha. Three main versions of the text exist, a Latin, a Syriac and a Greek one, whereby the Greek is an abbreviated version.

Even though learned people looked down on this work, it enjoyed a great popularity 'till the time of Dante'. The work draws on earlier apocalypses, such as the one in the Gospel of Matthew and the Revelation.

According to the text itself, a nobleman living in the house of St. Paul, was visited by an angel that told him to open the foundations of his house and publish what he would find. The nobleman believed it to have been a dream at first, but finally the angel beat him and the man obeyed. He found a marble box containing the Apocalypse of Paul and St. Paul's shoes. The box was sent unopened to Emperor Theodosius the Younger who finally

opened it. The Emperor sent a copy to Jerusalem, keeping the original for himself. But according to Sozomen, H. E., vii., 19, this account is false.

A translation of the Apocalypse can be found at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.