As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion
standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even
been found guilty?”
When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and
reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman
citizen.”
The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman
citizen?”
“Yes, I am,” he answered.
Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my
citizenship.”
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
Those who were about to
interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he
realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. Acts 22:25-29
The
empire of Roman was very civilized towards its own people and cruel to
outsiders. If you were a Roman citizen,
you had the right to a fair trial, you could not be whipped/scourged, you could
vote, run for office, write up contracts, take others to court, and, if you requested
it, you could state your case to higher officials, such as Caesar.
You
could obtain this Roman citizenship three ways—through birth, by paying a huge
fee and by serving in the Roman army.
Paul said he received this citizenship by birth. This stopped the flogging against him and
immediately meant the Romans had to treat him differently.