Sergius Paulus

 ( Ancient Roman Proconsuls ) 

Lucius"In passing, it may be noted that it is far from certain that the Sergius Paulus of the Acts bore the praenomen Lucius. One L. Sergius Paulus was under Claudius curator alvei Tiberis and therefore an ex-consul (Dessau, 5926). That he is to be identified with the proconsul of Cyprus is at best a conjecture, now somewhat weakened by Myres' reading of IGR iii, 935." Terence Mitford, "Notes on Some Published Inscriptions of Roman Cyprus" Annals of the British School at Athens, 42 (1947), p. 206 n. 22 Sergius Paulus or Paullus was a Proconsul of Cyprus under Claudius (1st century AD). He appears in Acts 13:6-12, where in Paphos, Paul, accompanied by Barnabas and John Mark, overcame the attempts of Bar-Jesus (Elymas) "to turn the proconsul away from the faith" and converted Sergius to Christianity.

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Archaeology A boundary marker of Claudius mentioning Sergius was discovered at Rome in 1887."Sergius Paulus," Easton's Bible Dictionary. It records the appointment (AD 47) of the of the banks and the channel of the river Tiber, one of whom was Sergius. Since Paul's journey to Cyprus is usually dated to the first half of the 40s (and some scholars date his visit even earlier), it is thought Sergius may have first served three years as Proconsul at Cyprus, then returned to Rome, where he was appointed curator of the Tiber.However, Jack P. Lewis, Historical Backgrounds of Bible History (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1971), 153, suggests that Sergius held the curatorship of the Tiber before going to Cyprus. Another inscription was discovered in 1887 at Soli, Cyprus, by Luigi Palma di Cesnola which mentions a proconsul Paulus. This inscription was dated to the middle of the 1st century by D. G. Hogarth. Terence Mitford noted that based on epigraphic grounds the inscription cannot be dated earlier than this and is probably considerably later.Mitford, "Some Published Inscriptions", p. 205 As he is not greeted in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, it is possible he died before it was written.

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Context

Writing in the 4th century, Jerome speculated that Saul of Tarsus had been renamed Paul ( Paulus) because he had converted Sergius Paulus to Christianity:

Some medieval legends misidentified Sergius Paullus as Paul of Narbonne. Saints et Vénérations de la Voie du Piémont Pyrénéen

Sergius Paulus may have been the first of several successive senators named Lucius Sergius Paullus, of Antioch, Pisidia, including one who was consul suffectus c. 70, and another who was twice consul, Lucius Sergius Paullus, the father of Sergia Paulla, who married Quintus Anicius Faustus, Legatus of Numidia in 198, and had Quintus Anicius Faustus Paulinus, governor of Moesia Inferior between 229 and 232.Anthony Wagner, Pedigree and Progress, Essays in the Genealogical Interpretation of History, London, Philmore, 1975. Rutgers Alex CS4.W33., p. 59Alexander Weiß, Soziale Elite und Christentum. Studien zu ordo-Angehörigen unter den frühen Christen, Berlin/Boston, De Gruyter, 2015, p. 66-75.

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External links

Categories: Ancient Roman Proconsuls, Roman Governors Of Cyprus, People In Acts Of The Apostles, 1st-century Romans, Paulus

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