Ephesians 6:10–20 describes how Christians should put on the armor of God and stand firm against a formidable force. It is the last metaphor in a book that argues for unity. Hoehner suggests that Paul used this image because he is chained to a Roman soldier. Arnold argues that Isaiah’s Divine Warrior primarily inspires Paul’s image. This paper presents a new view: The Battle of Watling Street primarily inspired Paul, and Ephesians 6:10–20 likely alludes to this battle.
Circa 60 AD, according to Tacitus and Cassius Dio, after the death of King Prasutagus, ruler of the Iceni in Britain, Rome beat Prasutagus’s wife, Queen Boudica, raped his daughters, took his land, and mistreated the Iceni. Queen Boudica led a revolt that destroyed three cities and killed 80,000 people.
In the Battle of Watling Street, General Caius Suetonius Paullinus, the Roman commander in Britain, fought defensively with a force of 10,000 against Boudica and her army of 230,000. Suetonius resoundingly defeated Boudica with minimal losses. Numerous factors contributed to Suetonius’s victory. One key factor was the discipline of the Roman forces to join ranks and hold their wedge formations using their shields and swords.
The Roman Empire had an efficient news system (Wright). The Battle of Watling Street was among the top three Roman battles in the first century AD (Elliott). Hence, the entire Empire would have known about this battle.
Paul wrote Ephesians circa 61 AD. Any military reference to soldiers standing firm in this period would invoke the image of Suetonius’s victory. Lincoln rightly notes that Ephesians 6:10–20 is a peroratio (a conclusion to engage the audience’s emotions) and is similar to generals’ speeches before battles. Paul is alluding to the Battle of Watling Street using military language to invoke his readers’ emotions and command them, like Suetonius’s soldiers, to armor up and stand firm.
Following Paul’s theme of unity—and using all plural verbs in this passage—the allusion to the Battle of Watling Street is a tremendous call to unity: Ten thousand unified soldiers defending against and defeating an army of 230,000 with minimal losses. This allusion has teaching implications: Images of soldiers working together in formation, standing their ground, and protecting each other with their shields must replace pictures of a single soldier in armor. While Cohick does not use the formation metaphor, she rightly points out that we must “keep watch for each other.”
If Ephesians is pseudonymous, it is still reasonable that the author is alluding to the Battle of Watling Street. The pseudonymous author is writing as if it was 61 AD. This battle was one of the most famous in the first century AD; it would be known 30 years later.
This allusion has some issues: The term πάλη (wrestle) suggests hand-to-hand combat (Baugh). The Early Church Fathers do not mention it. And is Paul supporting the ill-treatment of Boudica, her daughters, and the Iceni people?