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In The Clementine Gospel Tradition by Dennis Barton, the following comments are made:
Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215) was a pupil of Pantoris, the first
great Christian teacher at Alexandria in Egypt. Clement records that
he himself had travelled widely, meeting and listening to ‘truly
notable men’ from all over the Roman Empire (EH 5, 11).In his Adumbrationes in Epistolas Canonicas, Clement commented on 1
Peter 5, 13. As Eusebius did not copy the full quotation, we are using
here the Latin translation by Cassiodorus:Mark, the follower of Peter, while Peter was publicly preaching the
Gospel at Rome before some of Caesar’s knights and producing many
testimonies about Christ, being begged by them that they should be
able to record what was said, wrote the Gospel which is called the
Gospel of Mark, from the things said by Peter – just as Luke is
recognized as the pen that wrote the Acts of the Apostles and as the
translator of the Letter of Paul to the Hebrews (RDCA, RO 166r).
The idea of Peter preaching to the equites or knights of Caesar in Rome is fascinating. It somewhat parallels the Acts of Peter:
And Dionysius and Balbus from Asia, Roman Knights, illustrious men,
together with a senator named Demetrius, took a hold of Paul’s right
hand and said, "Paul, I should like to leave the city and be always
with thee, if Iwere not a state’s officer." In like manner spoke
Cleobius and Iphitus and Lysimachus and Aristeus of the house of
Caesar…And on Sunday Peter spoke to the brethren and encouraged them in the
belief on Christ. And many senators and knights and wealthy women
(and) matrons were present…
A Wikipedia article notes the following:
The equites (/ˈɛkwɪtiːz/; literally "horse-" or "cavalrymen", though
sometimes referred to as "knights" in English) constituted the second
of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the
senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an
eques (Latin: [ˈɛ.kʷɛs]).… senators and equites combined constituted a tiny elite in a
citizen-body of about 6 million (in AD 47) and an empire with a total
population of 60–70 million.[65][66] This immensely wealthy elite
monopolised political, military and economic power in the empire. It
controlled the major offices of state, command of all military units,
ownership of a significant proportion of the empire’s arable land
(e.g., under Nero (r. 54–68 AD), half of all land in Africa
Proconsularis province was owned by just six senators) and of most
major commercial enterprises.[67]Overall, senators and equites cooperated smoothly in the running of
the empire. In contrast to the chaotic civil wars of the late
Republic, the rule of this tiny oligarchy achieved a remarkable degree
of political stability. In the first 250 years of the Principate (30
BC – AD 218), there was only a single episode of major internal
strife: the civil war of 68–69.
Is there any historical evidence that the equites or knights of Caesar were given assignments in other locations, such as Spain or in other parts of the Roman Empire? The relevance being that if Paul actually did make it to Spain (Romans 15:22-29), as many of the church fathers claim, the rapid growth of the church there might be explained in part by the equites joining with him in that missionary trip. The hermeneutical impact of this historical judgment would be analogous to archeologists finding evidence of fulfilled prophecies such as the destruction of Jerusalem.
