| Summary: | The fact of Paul's many and extended imprisonments constituted a great crisis to him, being at once an assault upon both himself and his identity as missionary. Luke is keenly aware of this fact and, in the light of the known and multifarious crises that imprisonment brought upon Paul and his mission, one of his objectives in Acts was to defend or justify the prisoner missionary to his readers. This thesis was tested by means of extensive reference to sources in the Greco-Roman world. The impact of various legal and social factors upon custodial deliberations in the Greco-Roman world were first considered. It was demonstrated that magistrates gave consideration not only to the severity of charges but also to the relative legal and social personae of the accused and accuser. Magistrates were also often open to the negative impact of power, influence and bribery. Various types of custody and degrees of severity in custody were possible and might be assigned on this basis. The matter of Paul's legal and social persona was specified on the basis of NT indications. Despite objections, evidence allows the quite confident assertion that he was indeed a Roman citizen, a Tarsian and a well-educated, well-off and politically well-connected Jew of Pharisaic commitment who had become a Christian. This mix of elements in his persona, however, resulted in serious troubles for him as he was subjected to the various custodial evaluations of which we read in the book of Acts.
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