Paul the Roman Citizen

Abstract

In this article the Roman citizenship of Paul as it is found in Acts is vindicated as a historical fact with reference to his association with the synagogue of the Libertini in Acts 6-8. Paul was the descendant of freedmen and inherited their Roman citizenship. This fits in well with the social structure of the early Roman empire, in which most newcomers to Roman citizenship had servile origins. There is no need to look for less ordinary ways of how first-century Jews like Paul might have become Roman citizens.