Centurion: A Commander of Approximately One-Hundred Soldiers in the Roman Army

Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask if this was so.

When Pilate had confirmed it with the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

Immediately he took some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

But as they stretched him out to strap him down, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?”

On hearing this, the centurion went and reported it to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.”

Then he called two of his centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea in the third hour of the night.

He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard, but to allow him some freedom and permit his friends to minister to his needs.