Epaphras (Greek: Ἐπαφρᾶς) was a Christian preacher who spread the Gospel to his fellow Colossian citizens (Col. 1:7; 4:12). When Paul was a prisoner in Rome, Epaphras came to him with a favourable account of the Church at Colossae. He remained with Paul in Rome and was, in a sense, his "fellow prisoner" (Philemon 1:23). Paul bears witness to the struggling in his prayers for Colossae and his work of service there and in Laodicea and Hierapolis. (Colossians 4:12-13)