Proconsul

A proconsul (Latin pro consule, "in place of the consul") was the governor of a senatorial province — one assigned by lot to the Roman Senate rather than directly by the emperor. Senatorial provinces were generally the more pacified territories, while the emperor retained control of frontier and militarily sensitive provinces through his own legates (propraetors). The proconsul held civilian and military authority within his province and served a term of one year.

Two proconsuls appear by name in Acts. Sergius Paulus was proconsul of Cyprus when Paul and Barnabas visited, and he believed after the blinding of Elymas the sorcerer (Acts 13:7–12). Gallio was proconsul of Achaia (Greece) when the Jews brought Paul before his tribunal in Corinth (Acts 18:12–17); he refused to adjudicate what he considered an intra-Jewish religious dispute and dismissed the case. An inscription discovered at Delphi confirms Gallio's proconsulship around A.D. 51–52, providing one of the most important chronological anchors for Pauline chronology.