"Ipse est nostra Pax". Alleanza, pace e cittadinanza in Efesini 2,11-22: suggestioni dall'ideologia imperiale coeva

The semantic density of the language of peace and its universal connotation in Eph 2:11-22 is frequently underlined in exegetical research. Similarly, numerous authors highlight the potential underlying contrast between the use of this language, serving the Christological proclamation, and the emphasis on the universal nature of the Pax Romana in the Greek and Roman sources of the early imperial period. Building upon these premises, the aim of this paper is twofold: 1) a critical evaluation of the merits and limits of the aforementioned exegetical opinions; 2) a focus on contemporary extrabiblical sources in the Greco-Roman context, where references to peace, linked to the imperium sine fine and understood as a result of the beneficial (and unilateral) politics of the principes, are expressed, as in Eph 2, through the use of covenant and alliance juridical language and with the reference to the theme of citizenship.