Sergius Paulus ☧
🗓 (No Feast Day)
This governor of Cyprus commanded all Roman forces on the island, which was also home to a large Jewish population. In Acts 13, he is converted to the faith after a visit from Psaul and Barnabas.
Mandatory Fun:
God is a Grunt, chapter 5
Day Eight, #12saints12days:
Proconsul
According to Acts 13, Sergius Paulus was an anthypatos, ”proconsul,” an administrative role synonymous with Governor at the time of Acts. When Rome was a Republic, the Proconsuls were formed and led their own armies to rule a particular area. Imperial provinces along Rome’s borders and the legions were stationed there, answered directly to the emperor. Provinces without legions, called Senatorial, were administered by Proconsuls.
Without legionarii to command and with little interest or support from the Italian peninsula, being a Proconsul was not the desired assignment for aristocratic Romans. But as the commander in chief of the regional auxilia and, at least formally, local numerii, Proconsuls were technically military commands, clinging like a shadow to their former status. The island of Cyprus would have been an especially bittersweet assignment, a Senatorial province surrounded by imperial provinces.
Convert
Sergius Paulus stands out in Luke-Acts as one of a few named figures who can be traced easily in the historical record. Based on other evidence, his reign in Cyprus can be dated pretty reliably to 45-47 CE, placing his encounter with Saul early in the missionary’s activity. His name may have been omitted from the epistle to the Romans because he died in the ten years from his conversion to the approximate time Saul composed the letter.
Saul does not have a habit of seeking out high-ranking officials, but he, Barnabas, and John Mark would be remiss not to visit the provincial capital while in Cyprus. When they reach Paphos, their first encounter is with a false prophet, Elymas, not the Proconsul. It is through Elymas that Sergius Paulus hears of the missionaries, and asks to see them out of interest in the word of God.
Elymas, seeing his relationship with the power-broker in danger, inserts himself in a way that angers Saul, who accuses him of “making crooked the straight paths of the Lord.” Saul points out that the Lord is against Elymas, and warns him to expect the same fate he suffered on the road to Damascus. Sure enough, Elymas stumbles off in search of someone to guide his (crooked) path, and Sergius Paulus is left in awe, believing in, pisteuō, the word of God he sought.
After a dishonorable discharge, he became an itinerant deacon in the French countryside with friends in high places. He catechized another emperor’s wife and was recruited against his will to the cathedral in Tours, where he was the first bishop to keep monastic habits.
Mandatory Fun:
Day Eight, #12saints12days
