The Apostolic Age · AD 4–70 · External witness
Claudius Lysias
fl. AD 57–59 · Tribune of the cohort at Jerusalem · Jerusalem
External witness
Who Claudius Lysias was
The χιλίαρχος commanding the garrison at the Antonia, who pulled Paul out of the mob in the Temple court and, in doing so, kept him alive to reach Rome. He first took him for the Egyptian agitator, then ordered him examined **by scourging** — and stopped when Paul asked whether it was lawful to scourge a Roman uncondemned.
The exchange that follows is one of the sharpest social details in Acts. The tribune says **“With a great sum obtained I this freedom”** — he had bought his citizenship — and Paul answers **“But I was free born.”** His name records the purchase: Claudius is the emperor under whom such grants were sold, taken as the new citizen’s praenomen.
**His letter to Felix is quoted verbatim in Acts 23:26–30** — one of the very few Roman administrative documents preserved in the New Testament, and a document in which he quietly improves his own conduct, writing that he rescued Paul **“having understood that he was a Roman”**, which is not the order in which Luke has just narrated it.
He is an external witness: a Roman officer who never professes anything, and whose significance is procedural. He is also the reason there was a trial at all.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When was Claudius Lysias active?
Claudius Lysias is dated fl. AD 57–59 in the archive, which places Claudius Lysias in the Apostolic Age (AD 4–70).
Which early sources mention Claudius Lysias?
Claudius Lysias is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Luke. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Claudius Lysias from?
The archive associates Claudius Lysias with Jerusalem.
Who were Claudius Lysias’ contemporaries?
The archive links Claudius Lysias to 3 other figures, including Paul of Tarsus, Antonius Felix and Ananias son of Nedebaeus. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Scripture record
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Acts 22:25–28
c. AD 57And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? … Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.Luke · read ↗
Acts 23:26–30
c. AD 57Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting. This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. … And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers, that they say before thee what they had against him. Farewell.Luke · read ↗
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 30 · Crucifixion, Resurrection and Pentecost, AD 30–33
- AD 44 · Persecution under Herod Agrippa I, AD 44
- AD 49 · The Council of Jerusalem, AD 49
- AD 57 · Paul writes Romans, AD 57
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Claudius Lysias.