The Erastus Inscription

A Latin pavement inscription discovered in Corinth in 1929 that reads: “ERASTUS PRO AEDILITATE S.P. STRAVIT” (“Erastus, in return for his aedileship, laid this pavement at his own expense”). Romans 16:23 mentions “Erastus, the city treasurer” (or director of public works) in Corinth. An aedile was exactly this; a municipal official responsible for public buildings and finances. The inscription dates to the mid-first century AD, the same period Paul was writing to the Corinthian church. The convergence of name, title, location, and date makes it unlikely to be a different Erastus. This is one of many cases where Paul’s casual mention of a local official; the kind of detail a forger would not think to invent; has been confirmed by an unrelated archaeological find.