Extracted text by James Tabor sent to the Patreon on 12/25/2024.
Contrary to what many assume, given the Jewish revolts against Rome in the first and second centuries AD, Jews regularly served in the Roman army. Some were conscripted, others enlisted, to obtain Roman citizenship and advance their economic and social prospects. The most famous is the Alexandrian Jew, Tiberius Julius Alexander—also named in honor of the emperor—who was the nephew of the famous first century Jewish philosopher Philo. He and his brother Marcus both distinguished themselves in Roman military service and were appointed to high government offices.
Several Roman officers are mentioned prominently and positively in the New Testament.
- Among the baptized followers of John the Baptist were soldiers, whom he addressed directly, urging them to conduct themselves honestly and without violence (Luke 3:14).
- Jesus healed the slave of a Roman centurion at Capernaum and commended his faith as greater than many of those who were Jewish. He further stated that this centurion, and other such non-Jews, would be welcomed into the kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ahead of some who were Jewish (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10).
- The first non-Jew that Peter converted to faith in Jesus as Messiah was a centurion named Cornelius who was stationed at Caesarea—the coastal city built by Herod the Great (Acts 10:1-48).
Bullet formating is mine.
