GALLIONE. – Brother of Seneca; proconsul at Corinth: he drove away the Jews accusing St. Paul, refusing to concern himself with their religious questions (Act. 18, 11-17).
Marcus Annaeus Novatus, the firstborn son of the rhetorician Seneca, was called Junius Annaeus G. after his adoption by Lucius Junius Gallio. Seneca celebrates his gentleness: “he was greatly loved, even by those who were scarcely capable of loving” (Natur. quest., 4, prol.); Statius calls him dulcis (Silv. 2, 7, 3). A man of broad culture, he entered the magistracy at a young age and advanced rapidly in his career (Seneca, Diol., 12, 7). In 51-52 he was proconsul at Corinth (inscription of Delphi; cf. Seneca, Epist., 104, 1); on his return to Italy, consul suffectus.
An able administrator and subtle diplomat, he consistently favored a policy of compromise and accommodation. As a good Roman, he shared the prejudices against the Jews, whom his brother called geni sceleratissima (Seneca, Prog., ed. F. Hease, III, p. 427). Before departing for Corinth, he had witnessed the disturbances that had broken out in Rome and led Claudius to expel the Jews (Suetonius, Claud., 25). This explains his diplomatic and contemptuous conduct in Act. 18, 11-17. Of weak constitution, he was soon seized by fevers and left Corinth: “in ore erat domini mei Gallionis, qui cum in Achaia febrem habere cospisset, pretinus navem ascendit clamitans non corporis esse sed loci morbus” (Seneca, Epist., 104, 1).
The inscription of Delphi, discovered by L. Bourguet in 1912, shows that G. was appointed proconsul by the Emperor (line 6: “my friend”) in Achaea, then a senatorial province (Suetonius, Claud., 25); and that Claudius wrote in May-June of 52 (lines 1-3: acclaimed emperor for the twenty-sixth time), since at the inauguration of the aqueduct bearing his name (1 Aug. 52: Frontinus, De aquis, I, 13), he had already received the twenty-seventh acclamation (inscription, portal of S. Maria Maggiore, Rome). If the Emperor (line 6, reconstructed by A. Deismann) was replying to a report by G., G.’s arrival in Corinth must be placed in May 51 (E. Jacquier, D. Plocii). In that case G. would have remained in Achaea for little more than a year. Many do not consider the aforementioned condition necessary, place G.’s arrival in May 52, and reduce his stay to a few months (cf. Seneca, Epist., 104, 1). There is no decisive evidence. St. Paul’s stay in Corinth is restricted by the former group to the eighteen months of Act. 18, 11, understood as a general indication (T. Zahn, W. Larfeld), whereas by the latter it is extended to approximately two years (Act. 18, 11, 18): November 50 to August-September 52 (E. Ruffini, A. Tricot, W. M. Ramsey, B. Alle, L. Hennequin).