Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 22:26

"And when the centurion heard it, he went to the chief captain and told him, saying, What art thou about to do? for this man is a Roman." — Acts 22:26 (ASV)

At this time, Roman citizenship (GK 4486; also 4871) was a highly prized right conferred only on those of high social or governmental standing, those who had done some exceptional service for Rome, or those able to bribe some imperial or provincial administrator to have their names included on a list of candidates. In the second and third centuries A. D., the use of bribery became increasingly common, but earlier it accounted for only a small minority of citizens. The names of new citizens were recorded on one of the thirty-five tribal lists at Rome and on their local municipal register. Succeeding generations of a citizen’s family possessed at birth a registration of their Roman status and were registered as citizens on the taxation tables of their respective cities. No article of apparel distinguished a Roman citizen from the rest of the people except the toga, which only Roman citizens could wear. But even at Rome the toga was unpopular because of its cumbersomeness and was worn only on state occasions. Papers validating citizenship were kept in family archives and not usually carried on one’s person. The verbal claim to Roman citizenship was accepted at face value; penalties for falsifying documents and making false claims of citizenship were exceedingly stiff. We do not know how and when Paul’s family acquired Roman citizenship. Most likely one of Paul’s ancestors received it for valuable services rendered to a Roman administrator or general in either the Gischala region of northern Palestine or at Tarsus. When Paul claimed his Roman citizenship, the centurion immediately stopped the proceedings and reported to the commander: “This man is a Roman citizen” (v.26). This brought the commander immediately to question Paul, who convinced him that he was indeed a Roman citizen (v.27). His own citizenship, the commander said, was purchased by a large sum of money—probably, since his name was Claudius Lysias (23:26), during the reign of Claudius through paying a member of Claudius’s court. Paul’s response, “But I was born a citizen” (v.28), implies his high estimate of his citizenship.