Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 16:37

"But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men that are Romans, and have cast us into prison; and do they now cast us out privily? Nay verily; but let them come themselves and bring us out." — Acts 16:37 (ASV)

Paul, however, refused to be dealt with so summarily. Claiming the rights of Roman citizenship for himself and Silas, he demanded that they be shown the courtesy due a citizen and be escorted out of the prison by the magistrates themselves. According to Roman law, a Roman citizen could travel anywhere within Roman territory under the protection of Rome. He was not subject to local legislation unless he consented, and he could appeal to be tried by Rome, not by local authorities, when in difficulty.

Evidence regarding the exercise of this right of appeal is scanty. We do not know, for example, how a citizen who made the claim “I am a Roman” supported his claim then and there. Most of our information regarding these rights comes from Acts itself (cf. 22:25–29; 25:9–12; 26:32; 27:1; 28:16). Nevertheless, it does seem that the law protected a Roman citizen against arbitrary flogging without a trial.

Paul took pride in his Roman citizenship and valued it highly (22:25–28)—a feeling that was doubtless shared by Silas. Just why they didn’t assert their rights earlier we can only conjecture. Perhaps the uproar of the mob and the hubbub of the beating kept their protestations from being heard. But now they claimed their rights as Roman citizens—probably not only for their own sakes but also to provide some measure of protection for the few believers meeting at Lydia’s home.