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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2009
The text of Acts 16.12 in the UBS4/NA27 designates Philippi as πρώτηςμερίδος τῆς Μαĸεδονίας πόλις, despite almost negligible manuscript evidence. The most widely attested reading of πρώτη τῆς μερίδος Μαĸεδονίας πόλις, is rejected by most scholars because it is not factually correct. However, an understanding of civic pride in Greco-Roman antiquity provides a context in which to better understand this latter reading, suggesting that it should be retained in the text of Acts 16.12.
1 In fact, although the decision to emend the text was that of the majority of the UBS committee, in the textual commentary on this verse Bruce Metzger and Kurt Aland register their dissent. Thus, the majority decision was reached by a vote of 3 to 2. See Metzger, B. M., A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (London: United Bible Societies, 1971) 446.Google Scholar
2 For the various readings and the attestation see UBS4 and NA27. P. Pilhofer notes the variants, but with an incomplete list of attestation (Philippi, Band 1, Die erste christliche Gemeinde Europas [WUNT 87; Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck, 1995] 164).Google Scholar
3 Fillion, L. (‘Philippi’, in Dictionnaire de la Bible 5/1 [Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané 1922] 275)Google Scholar claims that coins from Philippi attest to the title πρώτη πόλις in the first century CE. As evidence he cites Rettig, , Quaestiones Philippenses (Giessen, 1831) 5.Google Scholar I was not able to obtain this latter work. Lemerle, P. (Philippes et la Macédoine orientale à I'époque chrétienne et byzantine [BEFAR 158; Paris: Boccard, 1945] 22Google Scholar n. 3) also cites Fillion and he too could not obtain a copy of Rettig. As a result Lemerle ignores this evidence as inconclusive.
4 Metzger, , Textual Commentary, 445.Google Scholar
5 Metzger, , Textual Commentary, 445.Google Scholar
6 See further Wikgren, A. P., ‘The Problem in Acts 16:12’, in New Testament Textual Criticism: Its Significance for Exegesis (ed. Epp, E. J. and Fee, G. D.; Oxford: Clarendon, 1981) 176–8.Google Scholar
7 The conjecture is based on the reading of three Vulgate manuscripts (doubt c, Par. lat.115052), and Provencal (Old French) and Old High German translations; see Wikgren, ‘Problem in Acts 16:12’, 174. The more commonly found reading πρώτη τῆς μερίδος is explained as due to the accidental reduplication of the letters τη or a misunderstanding of a manuscript in which a copyist has written πρώτη over which the letters της were written as a later correction (see Metzger, , Textual Commentary, 446).Google Scholar
8 Livy's description (45.29) of the first district of Macedonia lying between Strymon and Nessus suggests that Philippi was in the first of the four districts.
9 See Wikgren, , ‘Problem in Acts 16:12’, 173–4Google Scholar; Lemerle, , Philippes, 21Google Scholar n. 1. However, it has only recently entered into the text of the critical edition, beginning with UBS3 and NA26. The emendation is not generally reflected in most modern English versions.
10 Contrary to the claim of Wikgren, (‘Problem in Acts 16:12’, 173)Google Scholar and Pilhofer, (Philippi, 163)Google Scholar. Of those commentators consulted, most adopt the emendation: e.g., Haenchen, E., The Acts of the Apostles: A Commentary (Oxford: Blackwell, 1971) 494Google Scholar; Conzelmann, H., Acts (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 2nd ed. 1987) 130;Google ScholarBruce, F. F., The Book of Acts (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2nd ed. 1988) 308.Google Scholar A few commentators adopt the better attested reading and explain it with reference to civic pride, although rather naively and without any data to support their claim: e.g., Fillion, , ‘Philippi’, 275Google Scholar; Williams, C. S. C., A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles (BHNTC; London: A. & C. Black, 1964) 193Google Scholar; Neil, W., The Acts of the Apostles (NCBC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973) 181.Google Scholar
11 For example, see Lemerle, , Philippes, 22.Google Scholar
12 For example, Pilhofer, (Philippi, 164Google Scholar) rejects the strongly attested reading because of its non-conformity with the factual situation at Philippi. He goes on to argue that the details of the account of Paul at Philippi prove that Luke was himself from Philippi and was Paul's travelling companion there (p. 205; cf. pp. 156–8).
13 Wikgren, (‘Problem in Acts 16.12’, 176Google Scholar) suggests that the use of the litotes ‘a not undistinguished city’ as a laudatory remark in Acts 21.39 militates against such special treatment for Philippi. However, he ignores the fact that while at 21.39 we have the words of Paul as written by Luke, in Acts 16.12 we have the words of a Lukan source, the so-called ‘we’-writer; see below.
14 With this approach we have the added benefit of not assuming that ‘the oldest extant reading … is already corrupt’ (Zuntz, G., ‘Textual Criticism of Some Passages of the Acts of the Apostles’ Classica et Mediaeualia 3 [1940] 34).Google Scholar
15 For a summary of scholarly investigation of civic competition and city titles see Friesen, S., ‘The Cult of the Roman Emperors in Ephesos: Temple Wardens, City Titles, and the Interpretation of the Revelation of John’ in Ephesos, Metropolis of Asia: An Interdisciplinary Approach to its Archaeology, Religion, and Culture (ed. Koester, H.; HTS 41; Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1995) 236–15.Google Scholar
16 On the intercity rivalry surrounding imperial festivals in the cities of Asia Minor see Price, S. R. F., Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1984) 126–32.Google Scholar
17 MacMullen, R., Enemies of the Roman Order: Treason, Unrest, and Alienation in the Empire (London and New York: Routledge, 1966) 185–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18 MacMullen, , Enemies, 185.Google Scholar
19 MacMullen, , Enemies, 185Google Scholar; Macro, A. D., ‘The Cities of Asia Minor Under the Roman Imperium’, ANRW 2.7.2 (1980) 683.Google Scholar Also at stake was the possible financial gain to be gleaned from the recognition by others of a city's preeminence; see Mitchell, S., Anatolia: Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor (Oxford: Clarendon, 1993) 1:206.Google Scholar For other factors at work see the summary in Friesen, , ‘Cult of the Roman Emperors’, 238–9.Google Scholar
20 Millar, F., The Emperor in the Roman World (31 BC–AD 337) (London: Duckworth, 1977) 433.Google Scholar
21 For a list of such titles used in Asia Minor see Broughton, T. R. S., ‘Roman Asia Minor’ in An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome 5 (ed. Frank, T.; Baltimore: John Hopkins University, 1938) 742–3Google Scholar; Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor (Princeton: Princeton University, 1950) 635–9.Google Scholar
22 Broughton, , ‘Roman Asia Minor’, 741Google Scholar; cf. Magie, , Roman Rule, 636–7.Google Scholar
23 Macro, , ‘Cities of Asia Minor’, 683.Google ScholarContra the discounting of πρώτη for Philippi because it never legally held this title (i.e., Wikgren, , ‘Problem in Acts 16:12’, 176).Google Scholar
24 Jones, C. P., The Roman World of Dio Chrysostom (Cambridge and London: Harvard University, 1978) 87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25 Millar, , ‘Emperor in the Roman World’, 433Google Scholar; cf. Cormack, J. M. R., ‘The Nerva Inscription in Beroea’, JRS 30 (1940) 52Google Scholar; Cormack includes the text of the inscription on p. 50.
26 Some inscriptions add άγιωτάτης(‘hallowed’) before Artemis; e.g. lEphesos 304.
27 See also IEphesos 304, 649, 2039, 2040, 2054, 2056, 2066, 1910/2, 1915/1, 1923; cf. lEphesos 300. More fragmentary examples have been reconstructed along the same line; see lEphesos 300a, 1532,1551,1902,1904,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910/1, 1915/2, 2055, 3052.
28 Hicks, E. L., The Collection of Ancient Greek Inscriptions in the British Museum 3/2 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1890) 154.Google Scholar Cf. Dio, ChrysostomOration 34.48 and 24–9Google Scholar; Aristides, Oration 23.12 and 59–67.Google Scholar
29 Marco, , ‘Cities of Asia Minor’, 683.Google Scholar
30 Abbott, F. F. and Johnson, A. C., Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1926) 422.Google Scholar
31 ISmyrna 815a, 11.12–15. Unfortunately it is necessary to restore the crucial reading πρώτη πόλεων as the stone is damaged. However, it is a fairly certain reading based on analogy with other inscriptions, particularly those of Ephesos and the partially restored readings of ISmyrna 603, 628, 817. See also the more expanded formula in ISmyrna 640, 665, 666, 667, all from later in the III CE. Other cities from Roman Asia minor that claimed a version of the title πρώτη include Pergamum and Miletus (Magie, , Roman Rule, 636)Google Scholar, Sardis (πρώτης Έλλάδος; ISardBR 64, 68, 69, 70), Tralles (πρώτων Έλλάδος; Head, B. V., Historia Numorum: A Manual of Greek Numismatics [Oxford: Clarendon, 1911] 660)Google Scholar, and Mysia, Side, and Amaseia (Broughton, , ‘Roman Asia Minor’, 742–3).Google Scholar
32 Dio Chrysostom addresses a similar situation in Tarsus in Oration 34, esp. 7,10–14, 27, 43–8.
33 Hicks, , Ancient Greek Inscriptions, 154.Google Scholar
34 See Broughton, , ‘Roman Asia Minor’, 742Google Scholar; for a thorough study see Robert, L., ‘La titulature de Nicée et de Nicomédie: la gloire et la haine’, HSCP 81 (1977) 1–39.Google Scholar
35 Hicks, , Ancient Greek Inscriptions, 154.Google Scholar
36 Jones, , Roman World of Dio Chrysostom, 87.Google Scholar
37 This serves his overall rhetorical purpose in the oration in recommending harmony between the two cities.
38 Miller, S. S., ‘Intercity Relations in Roman Palestine: The Case of Sepphoris and Tiberias’, Association for Jewish Studies Review 12 (1987) 2.Google Scholar
39 Miller, ‘Intercity Relations, 5. Miller argues that the rivalry did not extend into the rabbinic period.
40 So Lake, K. and Cadbury, H. J. (English Translation and Commentary, vol. 4 of The Beginnings of Christianity 1: The Acts of the Apostles [ed. Foakes-Jackson, F. J. and Lake, ; London: Macmillan, 1933] 188)Google Scholar, who nevertheless would prefer the Acts 16.12 reading of πρώτης for factual reasons, if it had better textual support.
41 Under Roman rule it was discouraged but certainly did not disappear; see Magie, , Roman Rule, 635–9.Google Scholar
42 Cf. Friesen, , ‘Cult of the Roman Emperors’, 240.Google Scholar
43 On the honours granted to successful athletes see Harris, H. A., Greek Athletes and Athletics (London: Hutchinson, 1964) 47;Google ScholarGardiner, E. N., Athletics of the Ancient World (Oxford: Clarendon, 1930) 100, 106–7.Google Scholar
44 Marco, , ‘Cities of Asia Minor’, 682–5.Google Scholar
45 Tod, M. N., ‘Greek Inscriptions from Macedonia. I. Thessalonica and the Panhellenion’, JHS 42 (1922) 173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Lines 6–8 read πρῶτον γενόμενον ἄρϰοντα Πανελλήνων άπὸ τῆς λαμπροτάτης Θεσσαλονειĸέων πόλεω[ς]
46 For discussion see Porter, S. E., ‘The “We” Passages’ in The Book of Acts in its First Century Setting 2: The Book of Acts in its Graeco-Roman Setting (ed. Gill, D. W. J. and Gempf, C.; Grand Rapids and Carlisle: Eerdmans and Paternoster, 1994) 545–74,Google Scholar who concludes that the ‘we’ passages reflect a continuous source written by someone other than ‘Luke’ himself.
47 Although the city of Philippi had a definite Latin character and Roman culture seems to have predominated, there is strong evidence for the existence of a large native culture along with many foreign immigrants (Pilhofer, , Philippi, 85–92Google Scholar). Pilhofer, (Philippi, 155–8, 205Google Scholar) concludes that Luke himself was a native Greek speaking Macedonian from Philippi and refers to himself as ‘the man from Macedonia’ in Acts 16.9.I find the evidence unpersuasive for such a precise identification of the writer. The exact identification of the writer is unnecessary for the case presented here.
48 A census was taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria in 6 CE, after the death of Herod the Great and thus too late for the birth of Jesus.
49 In fact, Theudas led his band of rebels between 44 and 46 CE, after Judas the Galilean, not before, as the text of Acts 5.37 indicates.
50 The appeal of the title is both collective and individualistic. Cf. Dio Chrysostom's appeals to a collective body, but also to individuals within that body, concerning a bid for the title of ‘first city’ (Oration 38. 24–9)Google Scholar. Note also the cry of the membership of the association of the Iobacchi at Athens in 178 BCE: ‘now we are the first of all Bacchic Societies’ (νῦν πάντων πρῶτοιτῶν Βαĸϰείων, IG 112 1368 11. 26–7).
51 Cf. Broughton, , ‘Roman Asia Minor’, 741.Google Scholar
52 Other Lukan uses of πρώτος with the sense of ‘leading’ but also the sense of ‘most honoured’ are Acts 17.4 (‘leading women’), 25.2 (‘principal men of the Jews’) and 28.7 (‘the chief man of the island’).
53 It is debatable how much of the details of a particular city's status would have been known to the readers of the Acts narrative.
54 The account can still be ‘fictional’ and the details problematic. See White, L. M., ‘Visualizing the “Real” World of Acts 16: Toward Construction of a Social Index’ in The SocialWorld of the First Christians: Essays in Honor of Wayne A. Meeks (ed. White, L. M. and Yarbrough, L. O.; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995) 241–51,Google Scholar esp 243, who points out details of the text which call into question the factual accuracy of the account of Paul at Philippi.
55 Funding during the research and writing of this paper was provided by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Fellowship and a Catholic Biblical Association Memorial Stipend.
