3
Ephesus
Paul in Prison
THE KNOCK ON THE DOOR was not unexpected this time. With a simple acknowledgment by the prisoner, the door opened and revealed Tiro, the prison manager. Paul was sitting at the table, once again studying papyri.
“You asked to speak with me?” Tiro said.
“Yes I did, Tiro. Please come sit down.”
Paul had decided the best approach to the situation was to demonstrate his gratitude to the prison manager and to pay honor to him. So, standing in front of the prison manager, he began the conversation by saying, “I want to thank you again for the many liberties you allow me to enjoy in this prison cell. While the circumstances are not of my choosing, I am grateful for the freedom I have to continue my work with the churches, even if from behind the locked door you control.”
“It’s the least I can do for you, especially after the way that you looked after my son,” Tiro responded.
“Yes, well, I happened to be at the right place at the right time. I suppose a few seconds later and he would have been seriously injured.”
Nearly a year ago, Paul had been walking through the streets of Ephesus on his way to the school of Tyrannus, located among the gymnasia in the harbor district. The way to the school took him through the Tetragonos agora. The city that day was calm, almost serene. The only activity was of merchants making money. Paul passed people buying and selling while others, like himself, were using the agora as a convenient shortcut. At that time of the morning it was not unusual to see groups of men heading in the direction of the harbor gymnasium and baths.
The apostle noticed a young boy wandering rather aimlessly through the market, seeming to enjoy the sights and smells of the early morning commerce. The boy was walking along the edges of the agora, peering into the various shops and gazing with curiosity at various items.
Suddenly, something caught the boy’s attention across the agora at one of the shops on the north side. Overpowered by curiosity and unaware of his surroundings, he began to walk into the middle of the agora. He did not see the horse pulling a large quantity of Colossian wool. Had it not been for the quick hands of the apostle, the boy would have been crushed.
The boy, shaken from his curiosity-induced trance, looked up to see who had seized him. Seeing the apostle, and oblivious to his brush with danger, he yelled and tried to pull away from Paul back into the direction of the carts. As the two struggled, a shrill voice cried out from behind them. The boy suddenly went limp. The voice cried out again, but this time the words were perceptible. “Appius, come over here.”
The voice belonged to the boy’s mother. She thanked Paul and explained that, although a good boy, he was constantly wandering off in the crowded streets and markets. She feared his wanderlust would one day lead to injury. She tried to reward Paul, but the apostle refused and was only too happy to be on his way.
A few days later a visitor arrived to hear Paul preaching. The man was Tiro, and he was accompanied by his wife, Myrto, the mother of the boy Paul had saved from being trampled. Tiro approached Paul and explained that after he had left his wife and son the other day, Appius had again escaped his mother and followed the apostle to the school of Tyrannus. When Tiro and Myrto learned where Paul was teaching, they decided to try once more to reward him. But now that they had heard what Paul was teaching, they had many questions. Over the course of the next weeks, Tiro continued to attend Paul’s lectures. Eventually Tiro, Myrto, and Appius were all baptized and began meeting with the church at Demas’s home.
Temple of Artemis
One thing that everyone who visited the city wanted to see was the Temple of Artemis. The temple was well known throughout the Roman Empire and was declared by Herodotus to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Religious tourists would travel to Ephesus to see its temples and worship there. The temple Paul would have seen was not the original. An earlier temple had been destroyed by arson, carried out by a fame seeker named Herostratus. The Ephesian residents were so angered by this senseless, destructive act that they refused to speak his name ever again. A legend relates that on the very same night that the temple was burned, Alexander the Great was born. The story describes Artemis as preoccupied with Alexander’s birth and unable to save her burning temple. Perhaps aware of the legend, Alexander later offered to pay for its rebuilding, but the Ephesians refused. The temple was eventually restored after Alexander’s death. When the Romans arrived, they called Artemis by the name Diana, which was the name of one of their own goddesses. But no matter whether she was called Artemis or Diana, she was known to all as the Lady of Ephesus, and her temple was one of the largest worship sites in the empire.
Figure 3.1. Artemis was depicted in different ways throughout the Greco-Roman world. In Ephesus she was worshiped as a mother goddess and depicted with multiple protrusions that have been interpreted in a variety of ways including breasts, eggs, grapes, acorns, and bull testes.
Paul’s relationship with Tiro proved to be a blessing when later, while he was preaching, a riot broke out. Demetrius, a local a silversmith, made a handsome profit selling souvenir replicas of Artemis to religious tourists. Paul’s preaching about the Jewish “Son of God” who had been raised from the dead was attracting attention. This in itself would not have been a problem, since the average citizen and religious tourist in Ephesus worshiped any number of gods. But Paul’s message was not merely about another god. It included the claim that the Jewish God was the only true god and that Artemis and all the other gods of the empire were in fact not gods at all.
When Demetrius realized that his livelihood was being threatened, he organized a meeting of tradesmen in the agora. The tradesmen, all with families to feed and taxes to pay, immediately saw the sense in Demetrius’s concern and decided to organize a protest.
The tradesmen entered the center of the agora chanting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians” over and over again, working themselves and those around them almost into an ecstatic frenzy. The response was more than they could have hoped for. Some misunderstood that someone was threatening the very structure of Artemis’s temple, others that it was the Romans who were threatening the temple. The whiff of protest and chaos was too much for some to resist. Those who made it a habit of complaining about Roman rule or corrupt local officials took up the chant, but not in defense of the temple. They chanted for the city of Ephesus and the pride they felt for it. Still others did not know what was happening and were swept up by the mass of people moving through the agora toward the theater, depositing them there like silt in the harbor from the River Cayster. Some chanted along with the tradesmen, while others shouted political slogans, while many others walked around wondering about the cause for such a demonstration. For two hours this continued until the town clerk was able to quiet the crowd and convince them to disperse before they were forced to answer for this illegal assembly.
Demetrius and his allies saw that their organized protest had come close to disaster, but it also had the desired effect. Taking the town clerk’s advice, they brought charges against Paul and his followers. At first the members of the court were unwilling to act. After all, there was no real threat to Artemis’s temple.
But Demetrius was undeterred and presented several witnesses. The first group spoke about supposed miracles Paul had performed. The sick were healed through his personal touch or by pieces of cloth he had touched. But the magistrates remained unconvinced, since the practice of magic was well supported in the city. However, their reply was the opening that Demetrius had been hoping for. He immediately pushed forward a second group of witnesses, who explained that even the practice of magic was being hindered. Paul’s influence had grown to such a degree that a large number of citizens recently burned copies of magical spells, worth fifty thousand drachmas!
It was the last charge that gained the magistrates’ attention. The average daily wage for a skilled worker was one drachma. The magistrates realized that this new religion was a financial threat to the city of Ephesus and ordered that Paul be arrested for inciting riots. When the soldiers arrested him in the agora, he was accompanied by Epaphras, and both were taken to prison.
During the silversmith riot it was Tiro who brought Paul a message warning him not to enter the theater and attempt to address the crowd. And it was by God’s grace that when Paul was arrested, he ended up in Tiro’s prison. Paul’s relationship with Tiro and his status as a Roman citizen were what helped him receive better treatment than most prisoners, including Epaphras, who was located deeper in the prison.
Now the two men sat together, talking in Paul’s cell, as they had several times since his arrest. Continuing his strategy of honoring Tiro, Paul asked a question to which he already knew the answer.
“Remind me, Tiro, how did you come to be the director of this prison?”
“As you well know, Paul, I had already worked in the prison for more than ten years. When the former director retired, I was selected to replace him.”
“So you were a public slave then?” Paul asked.
Tiro seemed to wince involuntarily when Paul mentioned the word slave but recovered quickly.
“Yes, like most prison guards, I was owned by the city of Ephesus. I worked various jobs, but when it was discovered I could read I was sent to assist the prison manager. When he retired I was granted my freedom and made manager.”
“Were you born a slave?”
“No, I was born free,” Tiro replied with a clear mixture of pride and regret. “I was the son of a local merchant. We lived comfortably here in Ephesus. My father owned a home and a few slaves, one of whom taught me to read.”
“So how did you end up a slave?”
Tiro sighed. “My father was not a wise manager of his household. His pursuit of wealth and greater status landed him in debt. When his debts became greater than his wealth and status, he decided to sell me and my sister to pay his creditors. He already had two older sons and thus no need for a third. And he had even less need for a daughter, who would only end up costing him the price of a dowry someday. I haven’t seen her in more than twenty years. I’m not sure whether she is alive or dead.”
“And yet here you are, a freedman living in a wealthy city serving as the master of those with whom you were once enslaved,” observed Paul.
“I was fortunate, I suppose. Unlike my sister, I was able to stay in Ephesus, and although I would have preferred serving in the home of a wealthy individual, fate seems to have put me on a more prosperous path. While becoming a public slave was not my choice, I was able to move up within the prison and gain my freedom. Now, as you know, I am married to someone who is also a former slave, and together we hope to help Appius to escape the stigma of slavery.”
“You have much to be thankful for, my friend,” Paul said. “You understand the difference between slavery and freedom in a way that many do not. I suspect that your new life in Christ has helped you to appreciate freedom from a variety of types of slavery, including from that of sin.”
The two sat in silence for a few moments together until Paul decided it was time to broach the subject of Onesimus.
“I have a matter on which I need your advice, Tiro.”
“Tell me, and I will see how I can help.” Tiro’s answer suggested he’d been expecting Paul to ask him some favor.
“Demas recently brought me a visitor from the Lycus Valley, from the household of Philemon in Colossae.”
“He is another believer?” Tiro asked.
“No, but he is from Philemon’s household.”
“What does he need? Money? A place to stay?”
“No, I simply need some advice, since your past provides you with a unique perspective,” Paul said.
At this last statement, a somewhat bemused expression arose on Tiro’s face. “How exactly can my past help this individual?”
“Onesimus is a slave owned by Philemon, and the two have become—how shall I put it—separated from each other.”
“Separated in what way?” Tiro asked, now looking anxious.
“I haven’t asked for details,” Paul explained. “But something has happened that caused Onesimus’s absence. More important at the moment, however, is for me to learn what options lay before us in this situation.”
“Options?” retorted Tiro. “If I understand your vague description of his ‘separation’ from Philemon correctly, then the only option is to alert the local authorities immediately.”
“Yes, I am aware that reporting him is one option, Tiro,” Paul said. “But I wonder whether there might be another way for us to respond.”
“And how would there be any other option?” Tiro asked, incredulous.
“Because you were sold into slavery as a child, yet now you are a freedman with authority over many slaves. You know what it is like to long for freedom and fight the urge to flee. You also understand the importance of helping a master get back his property. So you should understand both sides of this story. And since Onesimus is here among Philemon’s friends, shouldn’t we do what we can to bring about reconciliation quickly?”
Tiro knew he was painted in a corner. Paul hadn’t asked about his personal history to hear a repeat of the well-known story. Rather, he wanted Tiro to remember his own story as he considered that of Onesimus. The only thing that made the whole situation slightly bearable was Paul’s intention to send Onesimus home. He only hoped that Philemon wouldn’t report them once the whole story was known.
“I will speak to those among the magistrates whom I know,” Tiro said, resigned. “They were willing to help in the past. Perhaps they can offer the kind of advice that keeps you from getting into further trouble.”
“I appreciate your willingness to help,” Paul said with a smile.
Tiro got up and headed for the door. As he was about to exit, Paul said, “Oh, Tiro, one other thing.”
“Yes?”
“Since I am unable to leave the prison, it will be necessary for Onesimus to visit me here from time to time. Would you mind letting the guards know?”
Tiro couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Paul wanted to bring a fugitive slave into his prison? He was ready to refuse but realized it was of no use. Paul would find some way to back him into another corner. Besides, Tiro thought shrewdly, if he decided to have the slave arrested, it would be easier to do it in a prison cell than somewhere out in the city.
“All right, but don’t bring him here too many times,” a frustrated Tiro responded.