You Can't Hear "Aeneas" without Thinking of Rome

Abstract

The long-standing connection between Trojan and Rome was advertised throughout empire in various ways, but scholars rarely draw from this cultural capital when interpreting Acts 9:32–35, an account of Peter healing a man named Aeneas. They often assume both that is well attested as a personal name during first and second centuries of Common Era (it is not) and that Luke inherited this name from a source (which is possible but insufficient). Acts 9:31 is a summary statement on progress of church in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Readers who recall Jesus's commission in Acts 1:8 will wonder about the end of earth. Given proximity of pericope to Luke's summary statement and fact that narrative of Acts ends in Rome, I argue that story of can be read as a literary signpost for Rome (comparable to Luke 9:51–53 and Jerusalem). Luke's use of Aeneas as a structuring device works in tandem with Joppa in Acts 9:36–43, which signals inclusion of gentiles by evoking thought world of Jonah. The balance of Luke's narrative consists of negotiating and expanding gentile mission and progressively moving toward city of Rome. In this way, two proper nouns function as metonymic signposts to foreshadow direction of narrative, in both ethnic and geographic terms.