Chapter XV.--ST. PAUL LEAVES PHILIPPI. It would seem that the magistrates of Philippi, upon thinking calmly over the matter, felt that they had acted hastily and unjustly, in commanding two men to be scourged and put into prison, without a trial; for we read, "And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants," officers under their command, to the jailor, "saying, Let those men go." The keeper of the prison, well pleased to receive such an order, told this to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. But Paul said unto" the serjeants who stood by, "They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out." Now in order to understand all this, we must remember that the Romans, who thought themselves greatly superior to any other people in the world, were very jealous of their power and privileges as citizens of Rome. Thus, if a Roman citizen was ill treated, the Roman Government would severely punish any one who had dared to ill treat him. All persons whose parents were natives and citizens of Rome, were looked upon as _free-born_ citizens; and enjoyed from their birth, all the rights and privileges given by the Roman Government to her subjects. Persons not born of Roman citizens, if they had done good service, either by fighting for Rome, or in any other way, were often rewarded by receiving the _Freedom of the City_; that is, by being looked upon and treated as Roman citizens, and having an equal share in all the privileges and benefits, granted to such Romans as _were_ free-born. St. Paul was not a native of Rome, nor were his parents; for they were Jews, settled at Tarsus, in Cilicia: probably some of his ancestors, his grandfather or great-grandfather, had served in the Roman armies, and been rewarded for some great service, by receiving the freedom of the city: after which, all his descendants would be looked upon as free-born citizens of Rome. The Roman Emperors sometimes allowed strangers to _buy_ the privileges: the Emperor Claudius did so: and for a large sum of money allowed people to have _for themselves_ the privileges of a Roman citizen--a great advantage in those days, as the rulers of every Roman province were bound to protect every Roman citizen in it, and not suffer any one to be ill treated. To scourge and imprison a Roman citizen, without having first _proved_ him to have been guilty of some great crime, was an offence which the Roman Government punished most severely; and therefore, we find that when the serjeants went back, and "told these words unto the magistrates, they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. And they came and besought them" not to report the treatment they had received, "and brought them out" of prison, "and desired (or entreated) them to depart out of the city."