Acts says Paul was hauled before the proconsul Gallio during his stay in Corinth. An imperial letter carved at Delphi happens to name Gallio in office in a way that can be dated, by Claudius's titles, to within months — he governed Achaia in AD 51–52. Since proconsuls served one-year terms, this single stone pins Paul's eighteen months in Corinth to a calendar, and from that fixed point the chronology of his whole career is counted backwards and forwards.
- What it is
- Fragments of a letter of the emperor Claudius, carved in stone, naming Gallio as proconsul of Achaia
- Date of artifact
- c. AD 52
- Discovered
- the temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece, 1905 (French excavations (nine fragments, assembled over years))
- Where it is now
- Delphi Archaeological Museum, Greece
- Related to
- Gallio, the Roman governor who dismissed the case against Paul in Corinth
- Scripture
- Acts 18:12–17
What this find showsLuke names the right official, with the right title, in the right province, at a datable moment — and gives Pauline chronology its one absolute anchor.
What it does not proveThe inscription does not mention Paul or the hearing; it fixes when Gallio governed, and the rest follows from Acts' own narrative.
Sources & further reading