Historical Plausibility of Paul's Story

I guess the discussion has since moved on, but I was just wondering if one of Paul's parents could have been a freed slave? In Rome a slave could become free through a ceremony called manumissio. The freed slave (called a liberi) did not have full rights and was obliged to work for their former master a set number of days each year as a client. However, any child born to the liberti would enjoy full Roman citizenship. Also if this was the case, could Rufus and his mother be the son and wife of the former slave master. If Paul was making regular visits accompanying his client parent to the former master he may have struck up a relationship with these people.
Anyway, just a suggestion don't know if it's plausible. By the way, not done any of this since school, got most of the details from this wikipaedia article.

From what I could find Paul was a free born Roman citezen and a Jew. Two reasons given where either that Tarsus, his home town, was a free teritory (or was freed at some point by Rome) or because his Father was free, and therefore he was free born. There are several ways for one to become free, one was service to the state/country/government or purhaps as you suggest his father worked for his freedom.

It sounds plausible based on the one line statement in the article you cite "Their children had no prohibitions" but I would need more information about Roman law before I could venture an answer to your question. I wonder whether both parents would have to be emancipated before their child could be considered "free born." I also wonder whether a female child born to an imancipated pair would enjoy the same status as a male child. Do you know anything about women's rights in ancient Rome?These are interesting questions but I don't feel compelled to answer them. I no longer consider Paul's gospel important to my salvation, so I'm not very concerned about his status with Rome.At any rate: I wouldn't fault him for lying about it in order to save his neck from that mob of angry towel-heads.

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