Cornelius the Centurion
1 CE · Caesarea
Cornelius was a Roman centurion stationed at Caesarea on the coast of Judaea. Acts says he served in the 'Italian Regiment' and calls him devout, a man who 'feared God' with his whole household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly (Acts 10:1-2). This language is usually read as marking him as a Gentile sympathiser with Jewish worship rather than a convert to Judaism. According to Acts, an angel told him in a vision to send for Peter, who was staying in Joppa. Peter meanwhile had his own vision, which taught him not to call any person unclean (Acts 10:3-29). When Peter spoke in Cornelius's house, the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentile listeners, and Peter had them baptized (Acts 10:44-48). Peter then defended his visit before the Jerusalem believers (Acts 11:1-18). Acts presents the episode as a turning point: the first Gentile household brought into the community without first becoming Jewish. A later church tradition lists Cornelius as an early bishop of Caesarea.
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CaesareaקיסריהLand of Israel, Roman period
What they did here
Cornelius, a centurion of the 'Italian Regiment', lived at Caesarea Maritima, the Roman administrative capital of Judaea (Acts 10:1). There he received Peter, and he and his household were baptized (Acts 10:24-48). Acts does not date the event; c. 40 follows the existing Peter record.
About Caesarea
Caesarea Maritima lies on the Mediterranean coast of modern Israel. Herod the Great rebuilt an earlier Phoenician harbour town here around 22-10 BCE, naming it after Augustus, and after 6 CE it served as the seat of the Roman governors of Judaea. According to the Book of Acts, Peter baptized the centurion Cornelius here and Paul was held prisoner for two years. In the third century Origen taught in the city, whose library was among the largest of its time, and Eusebius later served as its bishop. Caesarea was also a centre of rabbinic learning, with an academy associated with Hoshaiah Rabbah and later Rabbi Abbahu. Muslim forces took it in 640; its ruins are now a national park.
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