The final chapter of Romans provides “some of the strongest evidence for the mixed Jewish-gentile composition of the Christian community at Rome ...”1 Of the thirty-five persons mentioned by name, eight are with Paul on the sending end at Corinth, twenty-six are addressed on the receiving end at Rome, while Phoebe (vv. 1-2) may have been on both ends.
Three of the Roman saints are expressly identified as Paul’s “kinsmen” [συγγενεῖς] (vv. 7, 11), whereas others bear names derived from pagan deities, indicative of a non-Jewish background, including the name Phoebe (v. 1), from the god of the sun Phoebus (“radiant”) Apollo; Hermes (v. 14), messenger of the gods; Nereus (v. 15), a god of the sea; also Olympas (v. 15), from the home of the Greek pantheon of gods Mount Olympus. Being a Christ-follower in the first-century Roman world necessarily involved a life-change (1:21-23; 2:4; 6:1-4), but a name-change apparently was not required.
Greetings to the Roman Saints
Since the Christian community in Rome had been established independently of Paul’s missionary activities (cf. 1:8-13; 15:22-24), how did he know so many people to send greetings to (twenty-six by name + two unnamed family members + five households!)? It is unnecessary to assume he had personal connections with each of these individuals,2 and it is likely that at least some of them had encountered Paul on their travels eastward (cf. Acts 2:10), or like Phoebe already knew him before having moved to or visited Rome, or like Prisca and Aquila were expatriates who became his friends before returning to Rome.
The letter began with a lengthy salutation, introducing Paul’s gospel and apostolic mission followed by a summary of his plans for the near future (1:1-17). The letter now ends, preceded by a summary of his future plans (15:14-32), with a long list of people who could serve as personal references.3 The aorist imperative “greet” [ἀσπάσασθε] is directed sixteen times to the entire community of believers (16:3-16), indicative of the common bond already shared through so many mutual acquaintances and further establishing a relationship of trust. Although the chapter begins as a commendation of sister Phoebe, the entire letter itself is essentially a commendation of Paul.4
Onomastic Observations
Eighteen of the greeted names are Greek.5 At least seven, probably eight, are Latin.6 Aquila, despite his Latin name and having first immigrated from Asia Minor, was ethnically Jewish (Acts 18:2), as were Andronicus, Junia(s), and Herodion (Greek and Latin names), whom Paul explicitly identifies as his (ethnic) “kinspeople” [συγγενεῖς] (vv. 7, 11).7 The only potentially Semitic name in this section is Mary (Miriam?),8 but since she is not mentioned among the ones expressly recognized as Jewish, there seems to be a stronger case for the Latin Maria. If these names are representative of the ethnocultural makeup of the mid-first century Roman churches, Jewish Christians appear to have been the minority.
The etymology of a name, of course, reveals little if anything about the geographical provenance or ethnicity of a person. Roman male citizens typically had at least three names (tria nomina): a first personal name (praenomen), a clan name or family surname (nomen), and a hereditary paternal name or nickname (cognomen). Female citizens ordinarily had two names, often feminine forms of their father’s nomen and cognomen. Slaves were either unnamed or had a single name. But with changes in life’s circumstances (e.g., adoption, manumission, advancement), names could change. In formal settings, all the names of a person would be cited, but in less formal situations (like sending greetings in a letter), only one name was appropriate.9
From a sociocultural perspective, inscriptional evidence of Rome’s imperial period, narrowed down to the time approximating Paul’s life, indicates a nearly certain or probable eastern origin of fourteen of the ones greeted,10 while the rest, though not necessarily excluded, lack comparable attestation. The same evidence confirms Christianity having spread to all levels of society, even the imperial family,11 and a valid case can be made that several of the names listed in this chapter belonged to prominent households, inclusive of slaves and freed persons.12 Slave origins, whether among the general slave population or former slaves or having slave ancestry,13 can be reasonably inferred for ten of these people,14 while four were almost certainly freeborn15 and the rest undeterminable.16
On the original reading audience and the forty-five Christians explicitly named in the NT who had been to Rome or lived in Rome, see K. L. Moore, “Introducing Romans (Part 2)” Moore Perspective (25 Oct. 2023), <Link>.
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 R. B. Hays, “The Gospel is the Power of God,” in Critical Review of Books in Religion 37. It has been surmised by a number of modern critics, albeit without convincing textual evidence, that chap. 16 was originally a separate document disconnected from the rest of the letter. On the Ephesus-destination hypothesis, see C. H. Dodd, Romans xvii-xxiv. “What is perplexing about the present state of affairs is how there can be so little consensus in regard to the original purpose for which Paul wrote Romans, and yet an increasing consensus that Romans 16 was not an original part of this letter…. it is far more probable that ch. 16 was an integral part of Paul’s original edition of Romans …” (K. P. Donfried, “A Short Note on Romans 16,” JBL 89.4 [1970]: 441). See also A. A. Dos, Solving the Romans Debate 10-23; J. D. G. Dunn, Romans 2:884-85; J. A. Fitzmyer, Romans 57-64; D. Guthrie, NT Introduction 400-414.
2 “Now, he had particular reasons for wishing to establish personal contacts with Rome, and may well have chosen for that reason to send greetings to any members of the church there with whom he had any connection, even indirect” (C. H. Dodd, Romans xx). The proposal that some or all of the greetings were from Paul’s amanuensis (H. Gamble, Textual History 94; E. R. Richards, The Secretary 171) is speculative and unconvincing.
3 Note also the greetings sent by Paul’s immediate colleagues (16:21-23), demonstrating he is not a lone maverick, a feature also occurring in the only other Pauline letter addressed to a Christian community with whom he was not personally acquainted (Col. 4:10-15; cf. Philem. 2, 23-24, also sent to Colosse) yet comparatively minimal in his other letters (1 Cor. 16:19-20a; 2 Cor. 13:13; Phil. 4:21b-22; 2 Tim. 4:21; Tit. 3:15a). Outside of Romans, directives to greet certain ones among the addressees are also meager, included in just two letters sent to volatile church environments (Tit. 3:15b; 2 Tim. 4:19).
4 P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus 156.
5 Epaenetus, Andronicus, Stachys, Apelles, Aristobulus, Herodion, Narcissus, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis, Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, Philologus, Nereus (with his sister), and Olympas.
6 Prisca, Aquila, Junia(s), Mary/Maria(?), Amplia[tu]s, Urbanus, Rufus (with his mother), and Julia.
7 Cf. Rom. 9:1-5; note also Col. 4:10-11. Obviously “the Roman Jews had accepted the Latin names of their Roman neighbors to a much greater extent than they had adopted the Latin language” (H. Leon, The Jews of Ancient Rome 107-108).
8 Some argue for “Junias” (v. 7) as a Hellenized form of the Hebrew Yěḥunnī. See A. Wolters, “ΙΟΥΝΙΑΝ (Romans 16:7) and the Hebrew Name Yěḥunnī,” JBL 27.2 (2008): 397-408.
9 See C. Ashby, “Roman Names,” Life in the Roman Empire (retrieved 11 June 2024), <Link>.
10 More or less certain for Aquila, Epaenetus, Andronicus, and Junia (assuming the latter name is correctly spelt); and probable for Stachys, Apelles, Herodion, Persis, Asyncritus, Phlegon, Patrobas, Hermas, Philologus, and Olympas. See P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus164-71; also F. F. Bruce, “Some Roman Slave-names,” in Proceedings of the Leeds Philosophical Society: Literary and Historical Section 5 1:44-60.
11 H. E. Fox, Christian Inscriptions in Ancient Rome 49.
12 According to Lightfoot’s research: Urbanus, Stachys, Apelles, Narcissus, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Phlegon, Patrobas, Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, possibly others. See J. B. Lightfoot, Philippians 173-77, postulating that some of these may have been among Caesar’s household (Phil. 4:22).
13 It has been estimated that one in five of the Empire’s population and one in three of Italy’s population were slaves (M. Cartwright, “Slavery in the Roman World,” Ancient History Encyclopedia [1 Nov. 2013], <Web>). First-century churches, like the general populace, included slave members (cf. 1 Cor. 7:17-24; 12:13; Eph. 6:5-9; Col. 3:22–4:9; Philem.10-16).
14 According to Lampe’s research: Junia, Ampliatus, Herodion, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis, Hermes, Julia, Nereus, and probably Mary/Maria. See P. Lampe, “The Roman Christians of Romans 16,” in K. P. Donfried, ed. The Romans Debate 227-29. While Greek names in Rome often betray slave ancestry (P. Huttunen, Social Strata 195-96), considering the significant numbers of eastern immigrants, this is in no way conclusive.
15 Prisca, Aquila, Urbanus, and Rufus – all Latin names. Contra J. Murphy-O
16 P. Lampe, “Roman Christians” 227-29; From Paul to Valentinus 183; cf. also F. F. Bruce, “Some Roman Slave-names” 44-60.
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