Archaeology
Gallio Inscription (Delphi)
- Era
- AD 51–52
- Location
- Delphi, Greece
- Discovered
- 1905
A Greek inscription found at Delphi naming Lucius Junius Gallio as proconsul of Achaia. It's the kind of document that lets historians fix an absolute date for Paul's ministry in Corinth.
The find
Discovered in fragments at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi in 1905 and reconstructed by Émile Bourguet, the inscription is a copy of a letter from the emperor Claudius referring to "Lucius Junius Gallio my friend and proconsul of Achaia." Proconsuls served one-year terms, and the imperial acclamation numbers in the letter pin Gallio's tenure to roughly July AD 51 – July 52. Because Acts 18 reports Paul appearing before Gallio in Corinth, scholars can anchor Paul's 18-month Corinthian stay (and by extension much of the Pauline chronology) to this absolute date.
Why it matters
This is one of the most precise synchronisms we have in all of New Testament chronology. Acts 18:12–17 places Paul before Gallio, and the inscription independently dates Gallio's proconsulship to AD 51–52.
Cross-linked Scripture
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Sources
Image: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)
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