Paul and Roman Law in Acts

7/31/2019 Paul and Roman Law in Acts

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Paul and Roman Law in Acts

MARK BLACKLawrenceville, New Jersey

The student ofthe NT is constantly made aware that he is moving in aRoman world. Frequently mentioned are the names and titles of Romanofficials, such as the provincial governors Quirinius, Pilate, Felix, andFestus; the proconsuls Sergius Paulus and Gallio; the centurions Cornelius and others; the tribune Lysias; various ranks of Roman soldiers;and, of course, the emperors Augustus, Tiberius, and Claudius. Thereader is often reminded thatfirst-centuryPalestine as well as the entireMediterranean world was a part of the great Roman Empire and its pax

Romana.

Nowhere is this background more evident than in the book of Acts.Henry Cadbury states:

Ofall the environments which encircle the book ofActs, the most universal though insome ways, the most superficial is the Roman. It provides the outline, setting andcondition of the contemporary civilization. . . .'

It does not overstate the case to assert that the rapid spread of Christianity was made possible by the unprecedented facility of travel and

communication effected by the consolidation of the world by theRomans.

Especially in the activities of Paul one recognizes the significance ofthe Roman environment. Paul continually found himself in Roman pro-winces, in Roman colonies, being questioned by Roman officials, beingprotected or condemned by Roman laws, and being detained or releasedby Roman soldiers. In fact, chapters 21 through 28 revolve aroundPaul's arrest by the Romans in Jerusalem and his defense which leads

him ultimately to Rome itself.


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210 Restoration Quarterly

These proceedings of the final eight chapters of Acts are based onPaul's legal rights as a Roman citizen. It is, therefore, necessary to

understand as much as possible about these rights and the legal system ofthe Empire.

Paul appealed to his Roman citizenship on two occasions in Acts. Thefirst occurs at Philippi, recorded in 16:37,38:

Paul said to them, 'They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Romancitizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they nowcast us out secretly? No! let

them come themselves and take us out.' The police reported these words to themagistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.

The second occasion on which Paul appealed to his. citizenship is atJerusalem, in 22:25-29:

But when they had tied him with with the thongs, Paul said to the centurion who wasstanding by, 'Is is lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen, and

uncondemned?' When the centurion heard that, he went to the tribune and said to

him, 'What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.' So the tribune cameand said to him, 'Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?' And he said, 'Yes.' The tribune

answered, bought this citizenship for a large sum.' Paul said, 'But I was born acitizen.' So those who were about to examine him withdrewfrom him instantly; andthe tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he

had bound him.

These texts suggest many questions. How did one acquire Romancitizenship? How widespread was the citizenship? What were the rightsof the citizen? How were these rights enforced? How did one prove hiscitizenship? The answers to these and other questions shed much light onPaul's situation and are helpful in understanding the book ofActs properly.

Perhaps the best starting point for such an inquiryis an examinationof the role of thefirst-centuryprovincial governor in criminal jurisdiction. Judea was, ofcourse, one of many Roman provinces, having beengranted this status in A.D. 6.

2Normally, Roman provinces were gov

erned either by imperial legates (generals of senatorial rank) or proconsuls (former consuls or praetors).

3For example, Syria was governed by

the legate Quirinius from A.D. 6-11 (cf. Luke 2:2), and Achaia was ruledby the pronconsul Gallio ca. A.D. SI (Acts 18:12). Judea, however, wasone of several relatively small provinces governed by a procurator


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Black: Paul and Roman Law in Acts 211

(formerly called a perfect).4

In the NT, the procurator is called simply'governor" (Gk. egemori), and examples are Pontius Pilate (Matt. 27),

Felix (Acts 23f.), and Festus (Acts 25f.).

In general, the authority of the procurator in Judea was equal to thatof the proconsul or legate in his province.

9Each held the Imperium

(authority, power) in his district. This authoritywas final by virtue of thefact that it was given him directly by the emperor. Therefore, each pro

vincial governor, whether proconsul, legate, or procurator, had the totalpower of administration, jurisdiction, defense, and maintenance ofpublic order in his province. Subsequently, any matter which fell outsidethe jurisdiction ofthe local magistrates of a town became subject to the

judgment of the governor himself.6

In dealing with criminal cases (normallycases involving public order),the governor had several options. He could look to the precedent of theRoman ordo, a "list" of certain crimes and their punishments as practiced in Rome. On the other hand, he had the authorityto ignore the or-do and make his judgment as he wished, that is, extra ordinem^Outsidethe list"). Thus, in all matters for which there was no established statutelaw and even in those matters covered bythe ordo which he wished to ig

nore, the final judgment was that of the governor.

7

The governor, then, ruled with a free hand in all matters dealing withprovincial subjects.

8He held the Imperium. However, a problem arises in

considering the role ofthe governor in dealing with those who were notprovincial subjects. What of the Roman citizen who lived or traveled inthe provinces? It is clear that the governor had some power over at leastsome Roman citizens. For instance, he had the iusgladii, the power ofexecution over Roman citizens who were soldiers under his command.'

4In a recently discovered inscription Pontius Pilate is called Praefectus Iudaeae. See

L'Anne Epigraphique, 1963, p. 104.sSee Ulpian, Digest 1.17.1, in which the Prefect ofEgypt is said to have been given

powers "similar to those of a proconsul by law."

A. H. Greenidge, The Legal Procedure ofCicero's Time, 1901, p. 410.7. . Sherwin-White, Roman Society andRomanLaw in the New Testament, 1963, pp.

14,15.

'Thi i ll t l i th f J Pil t h d th it t d h i h d ith


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This power was necessary for proper military discipline. But what wasthe extent of his authority over the civilian Roman citizen? What werethe rights of Paul?

Before dealing directly with this question, it is instructive to note thesignificance of Roman citizenship at the time of Paul. As suggested bythe statement of Lysias in Acts 22, the citizenship was still at this time, avalued possession, unlike the period 150 years later when all provincialswere citizens.

The history of the development of the Roman citizenship is an interesting one. At its beginning only patricians who lived in Rome could becitizens, but this was soon to be changed. During the Republic, soldierswere given citizenship in exchange for their service. Later Julius Caesarplanted colonies outside Rome and declared their inhabitants citizens(for example, Corinth and Philippi). During the Principate, subjects ofprovincial municipalities and districts were given citizenship in increasingnumbers.10 During the time of Paul, then, the number of citizens wassignificant. However, it was by no means what it was to become in A.D.212 when the Constitutio Antoniniana made virtually all provincialscitizens. At that time the citizenship had lost almost all of its political im

portance.11

During Paul's day citizenship could be conferred in a number of ways.For example, manumission from slavery or the holding ofcertain officesautomatically conferred citizenship.12 Important in the book ofActs arethe claims of Paul and the tribune Lysias. The most obvious means ofbecoming a citizen was by birth, and this is Paul's claim.13 Thus Paul'sparents had to have been citizens. Many have offered suggestions as tohow Paul's family, being Jews, acquired citizenship;14 however, 'suchspeculation is a fruitless task.

13

10See the brief discussion of Eugene Brewer, "Roman Citizenship and Its Bearing on the

Book of Acts," Restoration Quarterly, 3 (1961):205-219. For the full discussion, seeSherwin-White, The Roman Citizenship, 2nd ed., 1973; also see Sherwin-White's "TheRoman Citizenship: A Survey of Its Development into a World Franchise," Aufstieg und

Neidergang der Romischen Welt 1.2, 1972.

"The OxfordClassical Dictionary, p. 244."See W. W. Buckland, A Textbook ofRoman Law, 1966, pp. 94-100, for complete

discussion


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In contrast to Paul, Lysias in 22:28 claims to have bought his citizenship "for a great price." That citizenship could be bought at this time is

illustrated by Dio Cassius, when he speaks of the emperor Claudius inthe following manner:

A great many other persons unworthy of the citzenship were deprived of it, whereashe granted it to others quite indiscriminately, sometimes to individuals andsometimes to whole groups. For inasmuch as Romans had the advantage overforeigners in practically all respects, many sought the franchise by personal application to the emperor, and many bought it from Messalina and the imperial freedmen.For this reason, though the privilege was at first only sold for large sums, it laterbecame so cheapened by the facility by which it could be obtained that it came to be

a common saying, that a man could become a citizen by giving the right person somebits of broken glass.

16

Although this statement is an obvious exaggeration, it nonetheless confirms Lysias' statement. It should be noted, however, that the citizenshipwas not technically for sale; the money was a sort of bribe for the officialwho could arrange to have a man's name put on the list of prospectivecitizens for approval by the emperor.

17

Students of Acts have been puzzled as to how Paul proved his citizen

ship, if indeed he offered any proof. While no conclusive answer can begiven, several considerations are interesting. First, it has often beennoted that a false claim to citizenship was punishable by death, as suggested by Suetonius:

Claudius forbade men of foreign birth to use the Roman names so far as those of theclans was concerned. Those who usurped the privileges of Roman citizenship heexecuted in the Esquiline Field.

1'

Second, it is possible that Paul had with him a "certificate of citizen

ship" as certain soldiers are known to have been given at the time of theiracquistion of the citizenship.19

However, it seems unlikely that Paul, acitizen by birth, would have been issued one of these certificates.

20

Another possibility is that Paul had with him a copy of his birthregistration, as traveling citizens are known to have carried.

21Yet it may

"Roman History 60.17.5."See Tacitus, Annals 14.50.1, in which Nero was enraged to find out that one of his

senators was selling "the right to official promotion "


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be questioned whether Paul would necessarily have had one, since thelaws demanding birth registration seem to have arisen only after

A.D.4."The rights of the Roman citizen were guaranteed by several laws, of

which three will be cited. The first of these was the Lex Valeria of 300B.C. Livy states:

The Valerian Law, having forbidden that he who had appealed should be scourgedwith rods or beheaded, merely provided that if anyone should disregard these injunc-tions, it should be deemed a wicked act."

Similar to the Lex Valeria was the Lex Porcius of 195 B.C. Livy again

states:. . . the Porcian Law seems intended, solely, for the security of the persons of thecitizens; as it visited with a severe penalty anyone for beating with stripes or putting todeath a Roman citizen.24

Most important during the time of Paul and further guaranteeing therights of citizens was the Lex Iulia de vi publica.

2* Paulus writes of the

Lex Iulia:

Anyone invested with authority who puts to death or orders to be put to death,

tortures, scourges, condemns, or directs a Roman citizen who first appealed to thepeople, and now has appealed to the Emperor to be placed in chains, shall be con-demned under the Lex Julia relating to public violence. Thepunishment of this crime isdeath, where the parties are of inferior station; deportation to an island, where theyare of superior rank.26

Ulpian echoes this statement concerning the Lex Iulia, adding thefollowing:

This also applies to deputies and orators, and their attendants, where anyone is provedto have beaten them, or caused them any injury.27

"Bruce, Paul, p. 40."History of Rome, 10.9.4.

**Ibid. Cf. Cicero, Pro Rab. Perd. 4.12. That this prohibition against beating a citizenextended even into the provinces is implied in Cicero, AgainstVerres 2.5.58ff.


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The bearing of these texts upon the case of Paul is obvious. Paul,being a Roman citizen, could not be beaten, scourged, or put to death by

the provincial officials. For this reason, the tribune Lysias became afraidupon learning that Paul was a Roman citizen, "because he had himchained" (Acts 22:29).

As suggested above, this protection against the scourge was basedupon the further right of the Roman to appeal his case to the emporor."Again, Paul's case is a clear example, as he says:

I am standing before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried; to the Jews I havedone no wrong, as you know very well. If then I am a wrongdoer, and have done

anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death; but if there isnothing in their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.(Acts 25:10,11)

These laws guaranteeing the citizen's rights seems to have beenenforced, as a general rule. Cicero, therefore, spoke as follows in regardto the matter:

To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him is an adomination, to slay him isalmost an act of murder: to crucify him iswhat? There is no fitting word that canpossibly describe so horrible a deed.

29

While the laws were normally enforced, there were times at which thelaws seem to have been ignored, as is shown by the following incidentfrom Cicero:

"There is no consensus of opinion among scholars as to the details of the appeals procedure. Peter Garnsey, "The Lex Iulia and Appeal under the Empire," Journalof RomanStudies, 56 (1966):167-189, has argued that there was only one basic appeals process duringthe Empire and that it was calledprovocatio and appellatio interchangeably. He goes so faras to state that Paul's case was not an example ofan appeal at all, but that it was rather anexample of reiectio iudicii, that is, the rejection of a court biased against him. However,Lintott, "Provocatio: From the Struggle of the Orders to the Principate," Aufstieg und

Niedergang der Romischen Welt 1.2,1973, pp. 226,227, rightly has pointed out that Paul'scase, although prompted by the problem of the biased court, was clearly an example of the

appeals process.On the other hand, Jones and Sherwin-White have seen a distinction betweenprovocatio

and appellatio Provocatio was the earlier system and the one utilized by Paul in Acts


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The unhappyman cried out that he was a Roman citizen... To this Verres replied thathe had discovered that he had been sent as a spy. . . . He then ordered the man tobe

flogged severelyall over his body. There in the open marketplace ofMessana a Romancitizen, gentlemen, was beaten with rods . . . and all the while, amid the crackofthefalling blows, no groan was heard from the unhappy man . . . except am a Romancitizen.*"

Cicero goes on to state that the man was crucified after being beaten. Hethen calls for the death by crucifixion ofthe man who was guilty of sucha deed.

31

In addition to suchflagrantviolations of the law there appear to berecorded examples in which Romans were beaten and even executed

within legal bounds; that is, no charge is made of violating the citizen'srights. For example, Galba judged a man guilty of poisoning another:

And when the man invoked the law and declared that he was a Roman citizen, Galba,pretending to lighten his punishment bysome consolation and honor, ordered that across much higherthan the rest and painted white be set up, and the man transferred to

it."

Another instance is that involving Marius Priscus, who executed aRoman knight. When Pliny objected, his charge was not that a citizen's

rights has been abused, but rather that Priscus had been bribed.33

Athirdcase is that of Flavious Archippus, who was condemned for forgery. Heobjected, not on the grounds that he was a Roman citizen, but rather onthe grounds that he had received a pardon from Domitian.

34

More examples could be given, but these suffice to suggest thatsomething more was involved than a simple abuse of power. Thus thereis strong evidence that at times a Roman citizen could be executed

without any breach of law. What, then, is the difference between thesecases and the case ofPaul, who was granted his appeal?

While this discussion is technical and impractical to pursue here, thetheory of . H. M. Jones seems to be the most reasonable. He suggeststhat the answer to this question lies in an examination of the types ofcrime involved. He concludes that the citizen who is guilty of anestablished statute (crime ofthe ordo) may be tried and sentenced despitehis appeal. This would explain whythe case of Paul (and later Christians

"Ibid 5 62


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accused of the same type of crime) ended at Rome. Paul's was clearly a

charge extra ordinem.*

5

In the cases of the others, however, no appealwas granted because of the fact that their crimes were in the ordo.36

While Jones' theory cannot be proved, it seems to account for all theevidence.

The question of the outcome of Paul's trial will remain unanswered,although several have offered guesses. It is likely that he was not heardby the emperor himself, for by the time of Nero most cases weredelegated to others.

37However, any theories as to the later trial pro

ceedings are simply conjecture.

In light of the classical texts cited above, the book of Acts is seen toreflect accurately matters of provincial Roman law in the first centuryA.D. As well, these texts provide further insight into the proceedings andtherefore place the student one step closer to the understanding of Actsthat it had among its original readers. Paul, the Roman citizen travelingin the provinces, enjoyed rights and privileges unavailable to themajority of provincials. Local officials and even the governor himselfwere forbidden by the Julian Law and other laws to execute or even beat

Paul. The punishment for violation of these laws was death, or, at best,exile. Paul was able to claim his rights by uttering the simple statements,"lama Roman citizen" and "I appeal to Caesar." Felix, the governor,had no alternative but to send him, protected, to Rome to appear beforethe emperor.

The importance of the Roman background of the NT is by no meanslimited to the book of Acts. The Gospels, the epistles, and the book ofRevelation also come from the first-century Roman world. For example,the Roman concept of citizenship is also important in Paul's ownwritings. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:19:

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with thesaints and members of the household of God. . . .

Again, in Philippians 3:20 he writes that "our citizenship is inheaven . . . ."An understanding of Paul's idea of citizenship adds further significance to these words. Being a Roman, he enjoyed manyprivileges unavailable to the noncitizen. He traveled in the provinces, buthe was not subject to their laws. His citizenship was in Rome. In the same

way, then, the Christian is in the world, but he is not subject to the


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jurisdiction of the world ("earthly things" of Phil.3:19). His citizenshipis with the saints in heaven; therefore, he enjoys special privileges. It isespecially significant that he wrote these words to the Christians atEphesus, the capital of the Roman province of Asia, and Philippi, theRoman colony. The Christians of these cities could be expected tounderstand the privileges and duties involved in being citizens.

39

The idea of citizenship is only one of many evidences of the Romanbackground of the NT. Let us not neglect this important area of NTstudy.


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Paul and Roman Law in Acts

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