The Gallio Inscription
The ancient city of Delphi, built upon the slopes of Mount Parnassus in Greece, was the location of the temple of Apollo and the Oracle. At Delphi, the priest interpreter would listen to the toxic fume induced babble of the Pythia High Priestess and make up a poetic oracle out of it which often influenced decisions of political, military, and religious leaders. It had been a primary religious center for the ancient Greeks, but by the time of the Roman Empire it had lost much of its influence because the Senate and the Emperor made their own decisions without consulting oracles. This loss of influence caused Delphi to be depopulated, and to prevent the abandonment of the city, Emperor Claudius ordered the proconsul Gallio to use incentives to persuade people to move to Delphi. This edict of Emperor Claudius, issued in about 52 AD, was recorded on stone inscription found at Delphi. The inscription also states that the proconsul or governor of the Province of Achaia was Junius Gallio and a friend of Emperor Claudius. (“Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus Highest Priest, invested with tribunician authority for the 12th time [52 AD], acclaimed Imperator for the 26th time…L. Junius Gallio, my friend and proconsul”). Gallio served a short term as proconsul of Achaia from late 51 AD to 52 AD, and is also known from Roman writings of the 1st and 2nd century such as Cassius Dio, Seneca, and Tacitus. This Roman politician had his official residence at Corinth, the capital of the province, where he encountered the Apostle Paul around 51 AD. As the provincial governor, Gallio would heard the most important cases at the bema seat. In one instance, the Jews of the synagogue who were opposed to the Gospel dragged Paul before Gallio, who was uninterested in being stationed in Corinth and stated he was unwilling to judge the accusation. His judgement probably fell under what the Romans called cognition extra ordinem, in which the judge could decide to accept or decline a novel accusation, and Gallio stated (Acts 18:12-17). The philosopher Seneca, brother of Gallio, implies that the proconsul left Achaia early because of distaste for the area, which can be seen in his apathetic behavior in Acts. The “Gallio Inscription” is an important artifact which not only confirms that Gallio was the prefect of Achaia based in Corinth at the time of Paul, as Luke records in Acts, but the inscription also is a precise chronological anchor for the book of Acts which places Paul in Corinth in 51 AD and helps to determine a timeline for Paul and his travels.
The Gallio Inscription
Dr. Titus Kennedy is a field archaeologist working primarily with sites and materials related to the Bible. He works with ColdWater Media and Drive Thru History® to maintain historical accuracy throughout their scripts and locations. Many of the archaeology blog posts are based on his publications, including Unearthing the Bible, Excavating the Evidence for Jesus, and The Essential Archaeological Guide to Bible Lands.