The Roman Army and the Expansion of the Gospel: The Role of the Centurion in Luke-Acts

Description

Although Roman centurions appear at crucial stages in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, the significance of the centurion’s office for the development of Luke’s story has not been adequately researched. To fill in that void, this study engages the relevant Greco-Roman and Jewish sources that reflect on the image of the Roman military and applies the findings to the analysis of the role of the Roman centurion in the narrative of Luke-Acts. It argues that contemporary evidence reveals a common perception of the Roman centurion as a principal representative of the Roman imperial power, and that Luke-Acts employs centurions in the role of prototypical Gentile believers in anticipation of the Christian mission to the Empire. Chapter 1 outlines the current state of the question. Chapter 2 surveys the background data, including the place of the centurion in the Roman military organization, the role of the Roman army as the basis of the ruling power, the army’s function in the life of the civilian community, Luke’s military terminology, and the Roman military regiments in Luke-Acts. Chapter 3 reviews Greco-Roman writings, including Polybius, Julius Caesar, Sallust, Livy, Velleius Paterculus, Tacitus, Appian, Cornelius Nepos, Plutarch, Suetonius, Plautus, Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Petronius, Quintilian, Epictetus, Juvenal, Fronto, Apuleius, as well as non-literary evidence. Chapter 4 engages the Jewish witnesses, including 1 Maccabees, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Talmudic sources, and non-literary sources. Chapter 5 examines the relevant accounts of Luke-Acts, focusing on Luke 7:1–10 and Acts 10:1–11:18. The Conclusion reviews the findings of the study and summarizes the results. Acknowledgements 1 Introduction 1.1 The Prominence of Centurions in Luke-Acts and the Current State of the Study 1.2 The Scope, Methodology, and Argument of the Study 1.3 The Plan of the Study 2 Luke-Acts in the Roman Military Setting 2.1 The Purpose and Scope of this Chapter 2.2 The Significance of the Centurion’s Office in the Roman Army 2.2.1 The Place and Role of the Centurion in the Structure of a Legion 2.2.2 The Role of the Centurion in an Auxiliary Cohort 2.3 The Army and the Ruling Power 2.3.1 The Army and the Julio-Claudian Emperors 2.3.2 The Army in the Year of the Four Emperors 2.3.3 The Role of the Centurion as Representative of the Imperial Authority 2.4 The Roman Army in the Civilian Context 2.5 The Roman Army in Palestine 2.5.1 Judaea—From Kingdom to a Province 2.5.2 Sebasteni Auxiliary Units 2.5.3 Roman Military Regiments in Luke-Acts 2.5.3.1 Military Terminology in Luke-Acts 2.5.3.2 The Cohors Italica 2.5.3.3 Roman Troops in Jerusalem 2.5.3.4 The Cohors Augusta 2.5.4 The Jewish Revolt and the Roman Response 2.6 Conclusion 3 The Image of the Roman Soldier in Greco-Roman Sources 3.1 The Purpose and Scope of this Chapter 3.2 The Roman Soldier in Greco-Roman Literature 3.2.1 The Image of the Soldier in the Works of History 3.2.1.1 Polybius 3.2.1.2 Julius Caesar 3.2.1.3 Sallust 3.2.1.4 Livy 3.2.1.5 Velleius Paterculus 3.2.1.6 Tacitus 3.2.1.7 Appian 3.2.1.8 Summary of the Section 3.2.2 The Image of the Soldier in the Works of Biography 3.2.2.1 Cornelius Nepos 3.2.2.2 Plutarch 3.2.2.3 Suetonius 3.2.2.4 Summary of the Section 3.2.3 The Image of the Soldier in Other Literary Sources 3.3 The Roman Soldier in Non-Literary Sources 3.4 Conclusion 4 The Image of the Roman Soldier in Jewish Sources 4.1 The Purpose and Scope of this Chapter 4.2 The Roman Soldier in Jewish Literature 4.2.1 The Roman Army in Jewish Literature Prior to 63 B.C.E.: 1 Maccabees 4.2.2 The Roman Army in Jewish Prophetic Literature 4.2.2.1 Dead Sea Scrolls 4.2.2.2 Psalms of Solomon 4.2.2.3 Assumption of Moses 6–7 4.2.2.4 Sibylline Oracles 4.2.2.5 Jewish Apocalyptic Sources: 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, and Apocalypse of Abraham 4.2.2.6 Summary of the Section 4.2.3 The Roman Army in the Works of Philo 4.3 Non-literary Sources 4.4 The Roman Army in Talmudic Sources 4.5 The Roman Army in the Works of Josephus 4.6 Conclusion 5 The Roman Military in Luke-Acts 5.1 The Purpose and Scope of this Chapter 5.2 The Roman Army in the Gospel of Luke 5.2.1 The Soldiers and John the Baptist (Luke 3:14) 5.2.2 The Roman Army in the Prophecies Against Jerusalem and Its Temple (Luke 13, 19, 21, 23) 5.2.3 The Roman Military in the Passion Narrative (Luke 23) 5.3 The Roman Army in the Acts of the Apostles 5.3.1 Paul in the Protective Roman Custody (Acts 21–23) 5.3.2 The Roman Military and Paul on a Voyage to Rome (Acts 27) 5.4 The Figure of the Centurion in Luke 7 and Acts 10 5.4.1 Jesus and the Centurion (Luke 7:1–10) 5.4.2 The Story of the Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10–11) 5.5 Conclusion 6 Conclusion Bibliography Index of Modern Authors Index of Subjects Index of Primary Sources