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Roman road system enabled the bankers to work with one another
both locally and regionally, processing transactions as travel and trade
demanded. In many parts of the Middle East today, such informal
banking systems still exist. Ive used them myself in both Jerusalem
and Cairo.
Paul would certainly have had access to such a banking system,
but he probably didnt need it all that often, for he and his companions
could easily have carried cash. The smallest Roman currency of any
real value was the denarius and drachma, each equal to ones day
labor, and there were gold coins valued at twenty-five times the value
of the drachma/denarius.
Today we can economically travel through the U.S. on $35-50 per
day, staying in campgrounds, cooking our own meals and using public
transportation or walking. We know that Paul walked to many of his
destinations and he almost always stayed with friends once he arrived.
Therefore, the cost of his time in transit could easily have been
financed by half a days wages or less, as he stayed at way stations. If
Paul took several gold coins, and he used friends and the local
population for hospitality, his travels would require something on the
order of five gold coins for each year of travel for each person in his
group. Of course, such a plan could sometimes break down. Paul tells
us that at times he would be hungry and cold, going without sleep,
perhaps due to being robbed or simply running short on cash, in which
case he would use the services of the local bankers.
More difficult problems would arise when Paul encountered legal
difficulties, as he so often did. In Philippi during his second missionary
journey, Paul is arrested, flogged and imprisoned, and again in
Jerusalem he is arrested and about to be flogged. In both instances,
Paul asserts his rights as a Roman citizen. When he does, his legal
status instantly changes, for Roman citizens had considerable rights
under Roman law.
One might reasonably ask how Paul would prove his citizenship.
The Roman Empire of Pauls day was a hierarchical and classconscious society. In general, Roman society could be divided into two
categories: 1) the upper classes, which included the senatorial class
and the equestrian class and 2) the lower classes, which included the
commons, Latins, freedpeople and slaves.
The basis for the senatorial class was political, and it included all
men who served in the senate. Senators had to prove that they had
property worth at lease 1,000,000 sesterces; they collected no salary
for serving in the senate; and they were prohibited from engaging in
nonagricultural business, trade or public contracts. The basis for the
equestrian class was economic. An equestrian had to prove that he
had stable wealth (usually in the form of property) worth at least
400,000 sesterces.
Among the lower classes, the commons were all other freeborn
Roman citizens. They had the right to contract a legal marriage with
another Roman citizen, beget legitimate children who were also Roman
citizens, vote, and enjoy all the benefits of Roman law. The Latins were
freeborn citizens of Italy. Freedpeople were men and women who had
been slaves but who had bought their freedom or been freed by their
masters. When Philemon frees Onesimus, this is the category into
which he would fit. Finally, slaves were the property of their owners.
Roman slavery was not racially based. Typically, a person was sold into
slavery through war, piracy or financial difficulties. Although slaves
were the property of their owners, they could buy their freedom or be
granted it by their owner.
When Paul is asked by the Roman commander in Jerusalem, Tell
me, are you a Roman citizen? Paul answers, Yes, I am. To which the
commander replies, I had to pay a big price for my citizenship. And
Paul says, But I was born a citizen (Acts 22: 27-28). The Roman
commander had probably been a man captured in war and sold into
slavery, but who had bought his freedom and become a member of the
freedpeople; Paul, however, was born a Roman citizen and was
probably a member of the commons.
Since Roman citizenship carried such important legal rights as
the ability to enter into contracts, the right to a trial in the presence of
ones accusers, and the right to judicial appeal, Paul doubtless would
have carried evidence of his citizenship on his extensive travels
throughout the Empire.
The University of Michigans Papyrus Collection offers a sample
of such evidence. Among its collections is a wood and wax document
certifying the Roman citizenship of Marcus Cornelius Justus. Dating
from A.D. 103, the document originated in the Roman province of
Alexandria, Egypt, and it reads, in part: . . . [Cornelius] Justus, the son
of Marcus, whose census rating is 20 [thousand] sesterces, [registered]
in the monthly record as a Roman citizen [my son] Marcus Cornelius
Justus, born [. . .] Heras, daughter of Marcus, on the 4th day before the
ides of September past. The document measures 13.5 x 7.2 cm
(approximately 4 x 2 inches); it is durable; and it is portable.
University of Michigan
Papyrus Collection, Item #2737
[Reproduced by Permission.]