100 Reasons to Believe New Testament History
38. First Century Rights of Roman Citizens
In Acts 16:37-38 Paul informs the authorities in the city of Philippi of his Roman citizenship after harsh treatment at their hands. Here, as in other places in the book of Acts, Paul makes much of his citizenship, which caused fearfulness in his captors.
The emphasis Paul places on his citizenship and the reactions of those in authority reflects specifically the first century period of Roman history. During that period, to be a Roman citizen was to be part of a special class endowed with certain legal rights not enjoyed by the provincials A.
38. First Century Rights of Roman Citizens - Notes and References
A. “The general importance attributed to the Roman citizenship in Acts fits the early period…The force of this feeling ultimately petered out with the large extension of the citizenship through the provinces, just as the privileges of Romans came to be whittled down at a similar rate. Acts breathes the climate of the earlier phase…The dramatic date of Acts belongs to the period when the spread of Roman status in the provinces was still on a small scale…In references to the citizenship Acts gets things right both at the general level, in its overall attitude, and in specific aspects…” A.N. Sherwin-White, “Roman Law and Roman Society in the New Testament”, Baker Book House, 1992 reprint from Oxford University Press Ed., 1963, pp. 172-173