The Acts of the Apostles

36 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
whom the Apostle was sent,^ and that his transport to
Rome must have taken place in the first half of the
reign of this emperor.
Moreover, the individual reader, who was better
instructed in this or that direction, would derive yet
more exact information from his study of the book.
If he were a Jewish Christian and a native of Jeru-
salem he could orient himself in chronology from the
statements that St. Paul had been a pupil of Gamaliel,
that he appeared before the high- priest Ananias, and
that St. Peter had been tried before the high-priest
Annas and before Caiaphas. If he were acquainted
with the history of the Roman rule in the provinces
he could find out when Sergius Paulus was proconsul
in Cyprus, and when Gallio, the brother of Seneca,
was proconsul in Corinth. If he were a Jewish
Christian of Rome he could easily ascertain in what
year Claudius had decreed the banishment of the
Jews. If he were an Ephesian Christian he would
find much in the book relating to the ministry of
* Can it be that the name of Nero was purposely omitted ? In
after times his name was mentioned with reluctance. In xxv. 8,
10, 11, 12, 21 ; xxvL 32, xxvii. 24, xxviii. 19, where Nero is meant
we find only 6 Kalaap; and in xxv. 21, 25, 6 le^aarbs. On the con-
trary, Claudius is mentioned simply by name without any title {vide
supra). Moreover, St. Luke never calls the emperor 6 /SacriXei/s, as
was the custom with so many orientals (so also 1 Timothy, 1 Peter,
and the Apocalypse, but not St. Paul). Only the Jews in Thessalonica
who accuse St. Paul and the Christians before the judgment-
seat are allowed to say that these people act contrary to the decrees
of Caesar, /SacriX^a 'irepov X^yovres eXvai 'Irjaovv. It is even possible to
deduce an important inference as to the date of the Acts from the
author's reluctance to use the title, seeing that 6 ^aaiXevs as a title
for the emperor very quickly established itself in the East, indeed
completely since the time of Domitiaa.