- magistrates
- Officials in the Roman Empire, holding various titles, had duties on the bench—Asiarchs in Ephesus looked after patriotic events, and were friendly towards Paul (Acts 19:31), politarchs in Thessalonica after a riot released Jason on bail (Acts 17:9), the pro-consul of a senatorial province, Gallio at Corinth, dismissed a charge against Paul (Acts 18:17), and strategoi at Philippi apologized to Paul for false imprisonment (Acts 16:39).
Dictionary of the Bible.