The Apostolic Age · AD 4–70 · External witness
Gallio (Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus)
d. c. 65 · Proconsul of Achaia · Brother of Seneca · Corinth
External witness
Who Gallio (Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus) was
Seneca’s elder brother, proconsul of Achaia when the Corinthian synagogue arraigned Paul — and the author, by refusal, of a landmark: “If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness… reason would that I should bear with you: but if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.” Rome, at first instance, declined jurisdiction over the gospel. The Delphi inscription bearing his name dates his year to 51–52 — the fixed point from which all Pauline chronology is hung. He perished in the purge that took his brother, forced to suicide under Nero.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When did Gallio die?
Gallio (Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus) is dated d. c. 65 in the archive, which places Gallio in the Apostolic Age (AD 4–70). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Gallio?
Gallio (Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus) is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Seneca the Younger, Luke and Cornelius Tacitus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Gallio from?
The archive associates Gallio (Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus) with Corinth.
Who were Gallio’s contemporaries?
The archive links Gallio (Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus) to 4 other figures, including Paul of Tarsus, Sosthenes of Corinth, Emperor Nero and Seneca the Younger. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Scripture record
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Seneca, Moral Letters 104.1
c. AD 64When, in Achaia, my master Gallio began to feel feverish, he took ship at once, insisting that the disease was not of the body but of the place.Seneca the Younger · read ↗
Acts 18:14–15
c. AD 85…if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.Luke · read ↗
Annals XV.73 (after Seneca's fall)
c. AD 116Junius Gallio, terror-stricken at the death of his brother Seneca, humbly pleaded for his life.Cornelius Tacitus · Annals XV.73 · source text
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
- AD 62 · James the Just stoned, AD 62
- AD 64 · The Great Fire and Nero’s persecution, AD 64
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Gallio.