Dionysius of Halicarnassus’s Roman Antiquities as a Comparative Text for Luke–Acts

Abstract

Carl R. Holladay illustrates some of the problems and possibilities of using Greek and Roman classical texts to illuminate passages in the New Testament. His chapter focuses on the account of the trial of Gaius Marcius Coriolanus in Dionysius of Halicarnassus’s Roman Antiquities and how it can inform a reading of Luke’s account of the trials of Paul in Acts 21–26. Holladay identifies linguistic and thematic connections between the two accounts of the trials, mentions methodological issues involved in using Dionysius’s Roman Antiquities as a comparative text for interpreting Luke-Acts, and concludes with brief observations about moving the discussion forward.