A sample of what appears in the Real Messiah order it hereThere can be no doubt that the Martyrdom of Peter tradition makes clear that the Martyrium of St. Mark was off of one of the major roads in ancient Alexandria near the sea. Tzalas has shown that in ancient Alexandria there was no road yet which ran parallel to the sea so the martyrium we discovered in the Coptic cemetery seems to fit the description. Here is the Latin version of the narrative of Peter's death:
But they [the soldiers] took him up and brought him to the place called Bucolia, where the holy St. Mark underwent martyrdom for Christ. ... [and] as they carried him along [the road] ... and the blessed martyr [Peter] entreated them to allow him to go to the tomb of St. Mark ... [b]ut they from confusion, looking down on the ground, said, Do as yon wish, but make haste. Therefore approaching the burial-place of the evangelist, he embraced it, and speaking to him as if he were yet alive in the flesh, and able to hear him, he prayed ... [prayer follows] Then a certain virgin dedicated to God, who had her cell adjoining to the tomb of the evangelist, as she was spending the night in prayer, heard a voice from heaven, saying: Peter was the first of the apostles, Peter is the last of the martyred bishops of Alexandria.
Having ended his prayer, he kissed the tomb of the blessed evangelist, and of the other pontiffs who were buried there, and went [up] to the tribunes. But they seeing his face as it had been the face of an angel, being terror-stricken, feared to speak to him of his instant agony. Nevertheless, because God does not desert those who trust in Him, He willed not to leave His martyr without consolation in the moment of so great a trial. For lo! an old man and an aged virgin, coming from the smaller towns, were hastening to the city [on the road], one of whom was carrying four skins for sale, and the other two sheets of linen. The blessed prelate, when he perceived them [on the road], recognised a divine dispensation with reference to himself. He inquired of them [speaking with them from or near the tomb] on the instant, Are ye Christians? And they replied, Yes. Then said he, Whither are you going? And they replied, To the market in the city to sell these things that we are carrying. Then the most merciful father answered, My faithful children, God has marked you out, persevere with me. And they immediately recognising him, said, Sire, let it be as you have commanded. Then turning to the tribunes, he said, Come, do what you are about to do, and fulfil the king's command; for the day is now on the point of breaking.
But they, suffering violence as it were on account of the wicked decree of the prince, brought him to a spot opposite to the sanctuary of the evangelist, into a valley near the tombs. Then said the holy man, Spread out, you aged man, the skins which you carry ... one of them [the soldiers], after the manner of the traitor Judas, emboldened by the desire of money, drew his sword and beheaded the pontiff, on the 25th day of November, after he had held the pontificate twelve years ... the blood-money being instantly claimed by the executioner, these wicked purchasers, or rather destroyers, of man's life quickly returned, for they feared the multitude of the people, since, as I have said, they were without their military escort.
But the body of the blessed martyr, as the fathers affirm who went first to the place of execution, remained erect ... [t]hey found also the aged man and woman watching with grief and lamentation the most precious relic of the Church. So, honouring him with a triumphal funeral, they covered his body with the linen sheets ... [they did] carry him to the sanctuary of the evangelist, where he attained the goal of martyrdom ... [and did] place him in his episcopal chair, and then to bury him.
The point of course is that the martyrium had to be located near enough to a main road that the writer could have (a) imagined that Peter being taken from a prison along a main road could have asked to visit the tomb and (b) Peter while standing outside the tomb could have recognized two Christians walking along the (same) road just before the rising of the sun (i.e. while it was still dark or dim) and easily communicated with them. The fact that we know that there was no ancient road parallel to the beach and only two roads that leave the beach and go into the main city make the identification of the martyrium at the old Coptic cemetery a very likely choice. The martyrium is extremely close to one road and the cemetery was flanked in antiquity by another road at its rear.
