*This is the ninth post of twelve in my #12saints12days series. Support The ☧ost by becoming a subscriber today!
The centurion Julius of Acts 27 is not baptized and gives no indication he believes in Saul’s God. But as a scriptural soldier, the context surrounding him has some interesting implications.
Samaria(n)? Sailor?
Julius is called a centurion of the “Augustan” cohort, but in Greek, the unit is called sebastos. In 6 CE, Herod I renamed Samaria, the ancient capital of the Northern Tribes of Israel to Sebastia. Sebastos is the Greek equivalent of the Latin augustus, as a noun it is an object of worship. The unit is either from the area around Sebaste (i.e. Samaria) or it was one of many units bestowed with imperial favor for some reason. As Paul has exercised his right to plead his case in Rome, putting him in the care of a specialized unit makes sense. He also sails from Caesarea, the Roman capital of Judea, but despite Julius’ familiarity with seafaring he probably wasn’t a sailor.
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