The monograph «Scoppiò un grande tumulto» (At 19,23-40). Efeso, la ‘Via’ e gli argentieri: studio esegetico e storico-giuridico (G. Giappichelli, Torino 2021) moves from the exegesis of a text of the Acts of the Apostles about the conclusion of Paul of Tarsus’ mission in Ephesus in the mid-1st cent. AD. The author, studying the legal, literary and archaeological sources, reconstructs the context of the events and examines the status of the city, its administrative and judicial structures, the functions of the assembly and of the local magistrates in the rule of the pólis and in the criminal repression, the religious and economic role of the Artemision, the configuration of professional associations and the laws that repressed the urban riots caused by them. Acts 19:23-40 presents - with narrative vivacity and a remarkable concentration of historically reliable details - the conclusion of the Pauline mission in the city of Ephesus. The text does not mention the God of Israel, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or theological themes spread in Acts, but right from the ‘title’ (Acts 19:23) it concerns the ‘Way’, i.e. the Christian community. Paul remains in the background of the scene, without being the protagonist, and the Jews are present, but, unlike other mob scenes presented in the book, they do not cause the riot that is at the heart of the episode, and which derives from economic and religious tensions about Artemis, the goddess of Ephesus, and her cult, exploded due to the speech of the silversmith Demetrius. The research proposes, using a lot of non-biblical sources, a historical framework of the Ephesian milieu of the period of the events. The status of the pólis under Roman domination is clarified, showing how, in the middle of the first cent. AD, was not a civitas libera, but a civitas stipendiaria; then the cultural and economic-financial role of the Artemision, the sociological and economic-juridical configuration of the professional associations operating in the city, the framework of the proconsular province of Asia are outlined. The numerous legal and socio-economic elements attested by the passage are the subject of specific investigation, from which emerges the precise Luke’s knowledge of the Ephesian milieu, but also of the language and of the administrative and judicial procedures that characterized the application of Roman law and local laws in Ephesus at the time of the Pauline mission. The pericope is subjected to a close reading aimed to highlight the literary features, which emerge from the text, due to the consistent use of the vocabulary of riot, and to clarify the many exegetical issues suggested as emerging. In particular, in the light of documentary sources (above all epigraphic and papyrus) and legal and literary ones, the following are examined: Demetrio’s role as leader in the association of silversmiths; the laws that repressed urban riots caused by trade associations (excluding the relevance of the lex Iulia de collegiis in such cases and proposing that of the lex Iulia de vi); the accusations leveled against the Pauline group; the role of popular assemblies and local magistrates – primarily the asiarchs and the γραμματεύς – in the provincial context of the setting of the events; the relationship between local autonomies and the Roman authorities, especially in criminal repression and in the various phases of the administration of justice. The historical-critical analysis - in the peculiar historical-legal perspective - is integrated with the contributions of redactional criticism, rhetorical and narratological analysis, also considering the comparison with episodes presented with an analogous literary form in the book of Acts and in contemporary writings. The ecclesiological and theological themes that emerge from the text are also presented, helping to motivate their placement in the Lukes’ macro-narrative. The research clearly reveals the heuristic fecundity of an interdisciplinary approach – unitary and integrated – to a text like Acts 19:23-40, which shows not only appreciable theological and literary elements, but also copious documentary data significant for the reconstruction of the historical context, and in particular historical-juridical context, of the city of Ephesus in the middle of the first cent. AD. This source provides valuable material for a more precise classification of the Pauline evangelization in the province of Asia, but also of the relations between city administrations and Roman dominion in the heart of the early Empire.
«Scoppiò un grande tumulto» (At 19,23-40). Efeso, la ‘Via’ e gli argentieri: studio esegetico e storico-giuridico
Paolo Costa
2021-01-01
Abstract
The monograph «Scoppiò un grande tumulto» (At 19,23-40). Efeso, la ‘Via’ e gli argentieri: studio esegetico e storico-giuridico (G. Giappichelli, Torino 2021) moves from the exegesis of a text of the Acts of the Apostles about the conclusion of Paul of Tarsus’ mission in Ephesus in the mid-1st cent. AD. The author, studying the legal, literary and archaeological sources, reconstructs the context of the events and examines the status of the city, its administrative and judicial structures, the functions of the assembly and of the local magistrates in the rule of the pólis and in the criminal repression, the religious and economic role of the Artemision, the configuration of professional associations and the laws that repressed the urban riots caused by them. Acts 19:23-40 presents - with narrative vivacity and a remarkable concentration of historically reliable details - the conclusion of the Pauline mission in the city of Ephesus. The text does not mention the God of Israel, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or theological themes spread in Acts, but right from the ‘title’ (Acts 19:23) it concerns the ‘Way’, i.e. the Christian community. Paul remains in the background of the scene, without being the protagonist, and the Jews are present, but, unlike other mob scenes presented in the book, they do not cause the riot that is at the heart of the episode, and which derives from economic and religious tensions about Artemis, the goddess of Ephesus, and her cult, exploded due to the speech of the silversmith Demetrius. The research proposes, using a lot of non-biblical sources, a historical framework of the Ephesian milieu of the period of the events. The status of the pólis under Roman domination is clarified, showing how, in the middle of the first cent. AD, was not a civitas libera, but a civitas stipendiaria; then the cultural and economic-financial role of the Artemision, the sociological and economic-juridical configuration of the professional associations operating in the city, the framework of the proconsular province of Asia are outlined. The numerous legal and socio-economic elements attested by the passage are the subject of specific investigation, from which emerges the precise Luke’s knowledge of the Ephesian milieu, but also of the language and of the administrative and judicial procedures that characterized the application of Roman law and local laws in Ephesus at the time of the Pauline mission. The pericope is subjected to a close reading aimed to highlight the literary features, which emerge from the text, due to the consistent use of the vocabulary of riot, and to clarify the many exegetical issues suggested as emerging. In particular, in the light of documentary sources (above all epigraphic and papyrus) and legal and literary ones, the following are examined: Demetrio’s role as leader in the association of silversmiths; the laws that repressed urban riots caused by trade associations (excluding the relevance of the lex Iulia de collegiis in such cases and proposing that of the lex Iulia de vi); the accusations leveled against the Pauline group; the role of popular assemblies and local magistrates – primarily the asiarchs and the γραμματεύς – in the provincial context of the setting of the events; the relationship between local autonomies and the Roman authorities, especially in criminal repression and in the various phases of the administration of justice. The historical-critical analysis - in the peculiar historical-legal perspective - is integrated with the contributions of redactional criticism, rhetorical and narratological analysis, also considering the comparison with episodes presented with an analogous literary form in the book of Acts and in contemporary writings. The ecclesiological and theological themes that emerge from the text are also presented, helping to motivate their placement in the Lukes’ macro-narrative. The research clearly reveals the heuristic fecundity of an interdisciplinary approach – unitary and integrated – to a text like Acts 19:23-40, which shows not only appreciable theological and literary elements, but also copious documentary data significant for the reconstruction of the historical context, and in particular historical-juridical context, of the city of Ephesus in the middle of the first cent. AD. This source provides valuable material for a more precise classification of the Pauline evangelization in the province of Asia, but also of the relations between city administrations and Roman dominion in the heart of the early Empire.
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