In describing the voyage from Caesareia to Malta, we are guided by the excellent work of James Smith, Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul (third edition, 1866); but as there are some points of interest which he has not explained satisfactorily, we shall briefly describe the voyage, and treat more elaborately such points as need to be added to Smith's results.
1. CiESAREiA TO MYRA. A convoy of prisoners was starting for Rome under charge of a centurion of the Augustan cohort, and a detachment of soldiers ; and Paul was sent along with it. He, of course, occupied a very different position from the other prisoners. He was a man of distinction, a Roman citizen who had appealed for trial to the supreme court in Rome. The others had been in all probability already condemned to death, and were going to supply the perpetual demand which Rome made on the provinces for human victims to amuse the populace by their death in the arena.
The cohorts of the Roman legions never bore sur- names, and it would therefore seem that this "Augustan cohort" was one of the auxiliary cohorts, which had regularly one or more surnames. But the duty which is here performed by the centurion was never performed
Sec. i. CcBsareia to Myra. 315
by an auxiliary officer, but only by an officer of a legion. It would therefore appear that an auxiliary officer is here represented in a position which he could not hold.
But, when we recollect (1) that Luke regularly uses the terms of educated conversation, not the strict tech- nical names, and (2) that he was a Greek who was careless of Roman forms or names, we shall not seek in this case to treat the Greek term (cnrelpa Zefiao-Trj) as a translation of a correct Roman name ; but we shall look for a body in the Roman service which was likely to be called " the troop of the Emperor " by the per- sons in whose society Luke moved at the time. We give the answer to which Mommsen seems to incline Berlin Akad. Sitzungsber, 1895, p. 501, adding the evidence of Luke's style, but otherwise quoting Mommsen. First we ask what officer would be likely to perform the duty here assigned to Julius. It would naturally be a legionary centurion on detached service for com- munication between the Emperor and his armies in the provinces (as described on p. 348). That the centurion whom Luke alludes to was one of this body is confirmed by the fact that, when he reached Rome, he handed Paul over to his chief. We conclude, then, that the " troop of the Emperor " was a popular colloquial way of de- scribing the corps of officer-couriers ; and we thus gather from Acts an interesting fact, elsewhere unattested but in perfect conformity with the known facts.
Luke uses the first person throughout the following narrative ; and he was therefore in Paul's company. But how was this permitted ? It is hardly possible to suppose that the prisoner's friends were allowed to
316 The Voyage to Rome. Chap. XIV.
accompany him. Pliny mentions a case in point {Epist. Ill 1 6). Paetus was brought a prisoner from Illyricum to Rome, and his wife Arria vainly begged leave to accompany him ; several slaves were permitted to go with him as waiters, valets, etc., and Arria offered her- self alone to perform all their duties ; but her prayer was refused. The analogy shows how Luke and Aristarchus accompanied Paul : they must have gone as his slaves, not merely performing the duties of slaves (as Arria offered to do), but actually passing as slaves. In this way not merely had Paul faithful friends always beside him ; his importance in the eyes of the centurion was much enhanced, and that was of great importance. The narrative clearly implies that Paul enjoyed much respect during this voyage, such as a penniless traveller without a servant to attend on him would never receive either in the first century or the nineteenth.