Was the biblical Paul a Roman citizen or not?

[Twilight Hue]

Scholars would agree that while not impossible , it would have been unlikely.

Paul and Roman Citizenship

Could a Jew even be a Roman citizen?

 

[oldbadger]

Scholars would agree that while not impossible , it would have been unlikely.

Paul and Roman Citizenship

Could a Jew even be a Roman citizen?

Roman citizenship could be extended to foreign folks, I reckon. Honorary citizenship possibly?

But I reckon that Paul was a Levite Jew.

 

[ChristineM]

Scholars would agree that while not impossible , it would have been unlikely.

Paul and Roman Citizenship

Could a Jew even be a Roman citizen?

Any one could be granted roman citizenship by the people, generals or the Emperor for service to the empire.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Any one could be granted roman citizenship by the people, generals or the Emperor for service to the empire.

From what I read so far in the historical record, it seems to be a little harder than that.

 

[crossfire]

Scholars would agree that while not impossible , it would have been unlikely.

Paul and Roman Citizenship

Could a Jew even be a Roman citizen?

Josephus was.
Josephus - Wikipedia

 

[Augustus]

Scholars would agree that while not impossible , it would have been unlikely.

Paul and Roman Citizenship

Could a Jew even be a Roman citizen?

Numbers of Roman citizens appear to have increased massively around that time

Tarsus became the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia around 67BC after Pompey defeated Cilician pirates who had been causing trouble.

It is possible that Paul's father/grandfather became a Roman citizen around this time, either as they were part of the local upper-class or because they had rendered some service to Rome.

There is no way to be certain, but it is definitely plausible that Paul was a Roman Citizen by birth.

 

[crossfire]

Quote from Philo of Alexandria: Regarding Caesar Augustus (Gaius [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavius_(praenomen)']Octavius)[/URL]

Philo, The Embassy to Gaius verses 155-158
How then did he show his approval ? 155 He was aware that the great section of Rome on the other side of the Tiber is occupied and inhabited by Jews, most of whom were Roman citizens emancipated. For having been brought as captives to Italy they were liberated by their owners and were not forced to violate any of their native institutions. He knew therefore that they have houses of prayer 156 and meet together in them, particularly on the sacred sabbaths when they receive as a body a training in their ancestral philosophy. He knew too that they collect money for sacred purposes from their first-fruits and send them to Jerusalem by persons who would offer the sacrifices. Yet nevertheless he 157 neither ejected them from Rome nor deprived them of their Roman citizenship because they were careful to preserve their Jewish citizenship also, nor took any violent measures against the houses of prayer, nor prevented them from meeting to receive instructions in the laws, nor opposed their offerings of the first-fruits. Indeed so religiously did he respect our interests that supported by wellnigh his whole household he adorned our temple through the costliness of his dedications, and ordered that for all time continuous sacrifices of whole burnt offerings should be carried out every day at his own expense as a tribute to the most high God. And these sacrifices are maintained to the present day and will be maintained for ever to tell the story of a character truly imperial. Yet more, in the monthly doles in his own city when 158 all the people each in turn receive money or corn, he never put the Jews at a disadvantage in sharing the bounty, but even if the distributions happened to come during the sabbath when no one is permitted to receive or give anything or to transact any part of the business of ordinary life, particularly of a lucrative kind, he ordered the dispensers to reserve for the Jews till the morrow the charity which fell to all.

pages 78-80 of this pdf:
https://ryanfb.github.io/loebolus-data/L379.pdf
​

 

[columbus]

There is no way to be certain, but it is definitely plausible that Paul was a Roman Citizen by birth.

I was taught that Paul was a citizen.
And story told about him didn't suggest differently. He was a very unusual dude.

He did, and got away with, a ton of unlikely stuff. I suspect that only a citizen could have gotten away with promulgating such an anti-Imperialist ideology.
Tom

 

[lukethethird]

I was taught that Paul was a citizen.
And story told about him didn't suggest differently. He was a very unusual dude.

He did, and got away with, a ton of unlikely stuff. I suspect that only a citizen could have gotten away with promulgating such an anti-Imperialist ideology.
Tom

Paul was a religious fanatic to the extreme so people probably gave him a wide berth just to avoid him.

 

[sooda]

Scholars would agree that while not impossible , it would have been unlikely.

Paul and Roman Citizenship

Could a Jew even be a Roman citizen?

Yes. He was a Roman citizen because Tarsus was part of the Roman Empire.

Those born in such free cities (like the Apostle Paul) were deemed to be citizens of the Roman Empire and could therefore exercise the privileges and rights granted to those with a Rome-based citizenship.

 

[columbus]

Paul was a religious fanatic to the extreme so people probably gave him a wide berth just to avoid him.

Paul clearly had a strong personality. Doubtless he elicited strong responses from the people around him.
Tom

 

[sooda]

Roman citizenship could be extended to foreign folks, I reckon. Honorary citizenship possibly?

But I reckon that Paul was a Levite Jew.

Paul was freeborn in Tarsus, Turkey which was part of the Roman Empire.

 

[firedragon]

Scholars would agree that while not impossible , it would have been unlikely.

Paul and Roman Citizenship

Could a Jew even be a Roman citizen?

Maybe Pauls's grandfather or someone like that served in the Roman army. Julius caesar was known to have granted citizenship of such.

 

[Augustus]

Yes. He was a Roman citizen because Tarsus was part of the Roman Empire.

Those born in such free cities (like the Apostle Paul) were deemed to be citizens of the Roman Empire and could therefore exercise the privileges and rights granted to those with a Rome-based citizenship.

Unless your parents were citizens, you weren't a citizen by birth simply because your hometown was part of the empire.

 

[sooda]

Unless your parents were citizens, you weren't a citizen by birth simply because your hometown was part of the empire.

Family Background of Saul of Tarsus | Things Paul & Luke
Family Background of Saul of Tarsussaul-of-tarsus
Mar 14, 2011 · Paul’s father was a Pharisee and probably a master tentmaker living in Tarsus. “The black tents of Tarsus were used by caravans, nomads, and armies all over Asia Minor and Syria.” [

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Most inhabitants of the Roman Empire were subjects, not citizens. Some important cities had citizenship, while in others it was given to local officials, so it's quite possible that Paul's family had acquired it. They were obviously well-off, for him to be able to go off to in Jerusalem and travel about later on. It's very silly to assume that everything you read in the Bible has to be wrong!

 

[sooda]

Most inhabitants of the Roman Empire were subjects, not citizens. Some important cities had citizenship, while in others it was given to local officials, so it's quite possible that Paul's family had acquired it. They were obviously well-off, for him to be able to go off to in Jerusalem and travel about later on. It's very silly to assume that everything you read in the Bible has to be wrong!

Some of the garrisons who served under Titus were Syrian, Egypt and Arabs of the Roman Empire. It was a path to Roman citizenship.

 

[firedragon]

Most inhabitants of the Roman Empire were subjects, not citizens. Some important cities had citizenship, while in others it was given to local officials, so it's quite possible that Paul's family had acquired it. They were obviously well-off, for him to be able to go off to in Jerusalem and travel about later on. It's very silly to assume that everything you read in the Bible has to be wrong!

Nope. Paul could have very well been a Roman citizen. You are right, everything in the bible is not wrong. Most if not almost all scholars are certain Paul was a Roman citizen.

But your idea that "Cities had Citizenship" has no basis on the matter because Paul of Tarsus is of Tarsus, and Tarsus was a colony. But, it was a military center and it was known emperors like Julius made souldiers citizens of the roman empire, even Jews. So since Paul was roaming around in the mid 1st century, maybe 150 years before him his grandfather was a Jewish, roman soldier.

All of this is "Maybe's" and there are many possibilities. Nevertheless whats pretty much a unanimous consensus is that Paul was a Roman Citizen.

 

[Ebionite]

He did, and got away with, a ton of unlikely stuff. I suspect that only a citizen could have gotten away with promulgating such an anti-Imperialist ideology.

How was Paul anti-imperialist?

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Romans 13:1

 

[`mud]

Did I see anything about Saul ?