Acts 19:29

Acts 19:29. And the whole city was filled with confusion. We can well understand how easily, when it was reported that a hitherto despised company of foreign Jews for as such the Christians of the first century were necessarily regarded were engaged in a conspiracy to discredit the worship of the goddess which was the source of the fame and wealth of their city, a vast crowd of Ephesians of all ranks and callings would rapidly be gathered together, and how soon the city would be disturbed by their excited questionings and cries.

And having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia. Gaius is the Greek equivalent for the well-known Latin name of Caius. Three other persons called ‘Gaius' are mentioned in the New Testament: Gaius of Derbe, Acts 20:4; Gaius of Corinth, 1 Corinthians 1:14; Gaius of Ephesus, to whom the Third Epistle of St. John was addressed. Aristarchus accompanied Paul on his journey to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4) which ended in his arrest by the Romans. He was with Paul in the memorable voyage which terminated in the shipwreck off Melita (Acts 27:2). He seems to have been the apostle's companion during his first imprisonment at Rome, as he is mentioned in the Epistle to the Colossians, chap. Acts 4:10, and in the little letter to Philemon, Acts 19:24. Subsequent history speaks of him as suffering martyrdom with Paul, and by a similar death. There is another tradition which alludes to him as Bishop of Apamæa.

They rushed with one accord into the theatre. The theatre of Ephesus was of vast size, and capable of accommodating, according to the usual computation, at least 20,000 persons. These mighty buildings were used not only for dramatic representations, but also for great shows of gladiators, who fought sometimes one with the other, sometimes with wild beasts. They were also favourite meeting-places for the citizens when on any momentous occasion they were called together. This was the custom in Greek, not in Roman cities.