4. T H E TRIAL. It is doubtful why Paul's trial was so long delayed. Perhaps his opponents, despairing of obtaining his condemnation, preferred to put off the trial as long as possible ; and there were then, as there are now, many devices in law for causing delay. Perhaps the case was being inquired into by the Imperial Office: the trial had to take place before the Emperor or one of his representatives (probably one of the two Prefects of the Praetorian Guard). The whole question of free teaching of an oriental religion by a Roman citizen must have been opened up by the case ; and it is quite possible that Paul's previous proceedings were inquired into.
Sec. 4. The Trial. 357
The trial seems to have occurred towards the end of A.D. 61. Its earliest stages were over before Paul wrote to the Philippians, for he says, I 12," the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the Good News ; so that my bonds became manifest in Christ in the whole Pratorium, and to all the rest ; and that most of the Brethren in the Lord, being confident in my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear". This passage has been generally misconceived and connected with the period of imprisonment ; and here again we are indebted to Mommsen for the proper interpretation. The Prce- torium is the whole body of persons connected with the sitting in judgment, the supreme Imperial Court, doubt- less in this case the Prefect or both Prefects of the Praetorian Guard, representing the Emperor in his capacity as the fountain of justice, together with the assessors and high officers of the court. The expression of the chapter as a whole shows that the trial is partly finished, and the issue as yet is so favourable that the Brethren are emboldened by the success of Paul's courageous and free-spoken defence and the strong im- pression which he evidently produced on the court ; but he himself, being entirely occupied with the trial, is for the moment prevented from preaching as he had been doing when he wrote to the Colossians and the Asian Churches generally.
That Philippians was written near the end of the imprisonment has been widely recognised, though the powerful opposition of Lightfoot has carried away the general current of opinion in England. When Paul was writing to the Church at Philippi, his custom of
358 Si. Paul in Rome. Chap. XV.
sending his subordinates on missions had stripped him of companions ; and so he says, " I have no man like- minded {with Timothy) who will show genuine care for your state, for they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ, but ye recognise his proved character " {Phil. II 20 f.). It seems impossible to believe that Paul could have written like this, if he had had with him Tychicus, " faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord," Aristarchus, Mark, and above all Luke. Yet, if anything is sure about that period, it is that Aristarchus and Luke had been with Paul from his arrival in Rome till after Coloss., Philem. and Eph. were written, while Tychicus probably joined him with Timothy in 6o. On our supposition, Mark and Tychicus had already been sent on missions to Asia ; Luke is either the "true yoke-fellow" addressed in Phil. IV 3, or was actually the bearer of the letter to Philippi ; Aristarchus also had been sent on a mission during the summer of 61 ; and Epaphras naturally had returned to the Lycos valley. There remained some friends with Paul (IV 21), probably Demas among them {Col. IV 14, Philem. 24) ; but he did not feel sure of their thorough trustworthiness, and his doubt about Demas was after- wards justified (II Tim. IV 10). Hence his eagerness to get back to the company of real and trusty friends (II 24 ff.).