AQUILA AXD PRISCILLA 87
tended, parallel Avith the line of road, tluough the Pomptine marshes as far as the neighbourhood of Tarracina. Strabo says that travellers from the South usually sailed up the canal by night, ' em- barking in the evening, and landing in the morning to travel the rest of their journey by road' (V. iii. 6). Pliny mentions Appii Forum among the muni- cipal towns of Latium (III. v. 9). Horace {loc. cit. 4—15) sets do^^^l his vivid recollections of a place ' crammed full of boatmen and extortionate tavern- keepers,' where 'the water was utterly bad,' where at night ' the slaves bantered the boatmen and the boatmen the slaves,' where ' troublesome mosqui- toes and marsh frogs ' kept sleep from his eyes. St. Paul and St. Luke remembered it gratefully as the first of two places — Tres TnberncB (see Three Taverns), 10 miles further north, being the other — whither brethren came from Rome to greet them and escort them on their way. J. Strahax.
APRON. — The word aifiiKivdia (pi.), a modified form of the Latin semicinctia, occurs only in Ac 19^-, where it is translated 'aprons,' and placed in an alternative relation to aovSapia (see HANDKER- CHIEF). The two articles are not to be identified. The (Ti/MiKivOiov is, as the derivation suggests, a half- girdle, or forecloth ; not an essential of dress, like the girdle itself, but an accessory, worn by artisans and slaves for protection of their clothes during work. Presumably the material was linen or cotton. Still there is some doubt as to its precise nature (see L. S. Potwin, Here and There in the Greek New Testament, New York, 1898, p. 169, where a parallel from Martial, xiv. 151 tl". is quoted).
It is not said that the aprons were the property of St. Paul ; but, judging from the word used for body [airb rod xp''""(5s), this is not impossible. The deduction has been made that he used them in pur- suing his craft as a tentmaker. All that was needed, however, was that tlie articles should have touched his person, and thereafter those suffering from dis- ease (cf. Lk 8^). For the usage, and belief under- lying, cf. Ac 5^', and for modern instances, HDB (s.v.), and S. I. Curtiss, Primitive Semitic Religion To-Day, London, 1902, p. 91 f.
W. Cruickshank.
AQUILA AND PRISCILLA (or Prisca).*— The references to this husband and wife are Ac 18, Ko 16^ 1 Co \&\ and 2 Ti 4'9. These passages suggest that Aquila and Priscilla were, in St. Paul's eyes, people of importance in the early Church, though ecclesiastical tradition has little to say about them. The careful description of Aquila as ' a Jew, a man of Pontus by race ' (Ac 18^), rather implies that Priscilla his wife was not a Jewess ; because her name is usually put first, it is thought that she was of higher social standing than her husband. Evidence has been offeied by de Rossi that Priscilla was a well-connected Roman lady. Discussing this evidence, Sanday and Head- lam suggest that both Aquila and Priscilla ' were freedmenof a member of the Acilian gens' (i^omr^i-s^, 420). But they admit the possibility of Priscilla being 'a member of some distinguished Roman family.' Ramsay strongly urges this theory, and it explains much in the story — their social position, their command of money, their influence in Rome, their freedom from Jewish prejudices, etc. Another explanation of why Priscilla's name comes first may be that she was the more vigorous and intelligent Christian worker. Thus Harnack describes them as ' Prisca the missionary, with her husband Aquila' [Expansion of Christianity'^, i. 791.
AquUa and Priscilla came from Italy to Corinth, 'because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome ' (Ac 18-^). Suetonius says the
* St. Luke uses the form Priscilla (in Acts), St. Paul the fonn Prisca (in his Epistles).
expulsion was caused by a series oi disturbances 'due to the action of Chrestus ' (Claud. 25); i.e. Christian ferment was one cause of the edict. It is probable, therefore, that Aquila and Priscilla had been influenced in Rome by Christian teacliing, though it cannot be decided whether they were al- ready converts to Christianity. For this reason they were compelled to leave the country, though the edict was not rigidly enforced on all Jews. Priscilla accompanied her Jewish husband to Corinth, where they followed their trade as tent- makers. They seem always to have been able to maintain a fair position, for their house was a meeting-place for the Church both in Ephesus and in Rome. Probably, then, they were people of considerable means, though their expulsion from Rome limited their resources for a time. Com- radeship in trade is given as the reason why St. Paul lodged with Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth ; but their favourable attitude to Christianity must have been a strong inducement on both sides. Under St. Paul's influence they became not only earnest Christians, but also enthusiastic helpers of the Apostle. Writing to the Corinthian (Church in after years, the Apostle says : ' Aquila and Priscilla greet you much in the Lord' (1 Co 16^"). This is a warm personal greeting, in the way not merely of friendship but of love and service to Christ — a suitable gi'eeting from those who had helped St. Paul to found the Church.