Sergius Paulus

Lucius Sergius Paulus or Paullus was a Proconsul of Cyprus under Claudius (1st century AD). He appears in Acts 13:6-12, where in Paphos, Paul, accompanied by Barnabas and John Mark, overcame the attempts of Bar-Jesus (Elymas) "to turn the proconsul away from the faith" and converted Sergius to Christianity.

Elymas the sorcerer is struck blind before Sergius Paulus. Painting by Raphael from the Raphael Cartoons.

A boundary stone of Claudius mentioning Sergius was discovered at Rome in 1887.[1] It records the appointment (AD 47) of the Curators of the banks and the channel of the river Tiber, one of whom was Sergius. Since Paul's journey to Cyprus is usually dated to the first half of the 40s (and some scholars date his visit even earlier), it is thought Sergius may have first served three years as Proconsul at Cyprus, then returned to Rome, where he was appointed curator.[2] Another inscription was discovered in 1887 at Soli, Cyprus, by Luigi Palma di Cesnola which mentions a proconsul Paulus.[3] This inscription was dated to the middle of the first century by D.G. Hogarth.[4] T.B. Mitford noted that based on epigraphic grounds the inscription cannot be dated earlier than this and is probably considerably later.[5] As he is not greeted in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, it is possible he died before it was written.[6]

Some medieval legends have anachronistically identified Sergius Paulus with Paul of Narbonne.

Sergius Paulus may have been the first of several successive senators named Lucius Sergius Paullus, of Antioch, Pisidia, including one who was consul suffectus c. 70, and another who was twice consul, Lucius Sergius Paullus, the father of Sergia Paulla, who married Quintus Anicius Faustus, Legate of Numidia in 198, and had Quintus Anicius Faustus Paulinus, governor of Moesia Inferior between 229 and 232.[7]

References
  1. "Sergius Paulus," Easton's Bible Dictionary.
  2. However, Jack P. Lewis, Historical Backgrounds of Bible History (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1971), 153, suggests that Sergius held the curatorship of the Tiber before going to Cyprus.
  3. di Cesnola, Luigi Palma (1877). Cyprus: It's Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. John Murray. p. 229.
  4. Hogarth, D.G. (1889). Devia Cypria. Henry Frowde. p. 115.
  5. Mitford, T.B. (1947). "Notes on Some Published Inscriptions from Roman Cyprus". The Annual of the British School at Athens. 42: 205.
  6. "Sergius Paulus," Easton's Bible Dictionary.
  7. Anthony Wagner, Pedigree and Progress, Essays in the Genealogical Interpretation of History, London, Philmore, 1975. Rutgers Alex CS4.W33., p. 59


Sources
  • Anthony Wagner, Pedigree and Progress, Essays in the Genealogical Interpretation of History, London, Phillimore, 1975. Rutgers Alex CS4.W33.
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