A centurion was a leader in the Roman army who commanded 100 soldiers. The Roman army organized its soldiers into groups. Each large unit (called a legion) had 10 groups of 1,000 soldiers. Each group had six centurions who reported to senior officers called tribunes. For example, in Acts 22:26, a centurion asked his officer what to do about Paul. Centurions had a lot of power because they worked directly with the soldiers. They went to battles with them and made quick choices based on what was happening.
Being a centurion was often the highest position a normal soldier could reach. Many centurions started as regular soldiers and moved up because of their experience. After becoming a centurion, they could get even better jobs by moving to more important positions. The best job was being the main centurion of the first group of 1000 soldiers in a legion. This meant centurions often moved around the Roman Empire.
Centurions had many jobs besides keeping soldiers in line. They were in charge of death sentences (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39, 44–45; Luke 23:47). They were in charge of their soldiers all the time, whether the soldiers were Romans or hired from other places. Being a centurion was respected and paid well. Most people who became centurions stayed in that job for a long time.
The New Testament talks about six centurions. At least two of them seem to have become followers of Christ.
A centurion at Capernaum asked Jesus to save his dying servant. He believed that illnesses would listen to Jesus just like his soldiers listened to him (Matthew 8:5–13; Luke 7:2–10). Even though he was important, he was humble and knew he needed help. He cared for his servant. Jesus was amazed by his faith and healed the sick man.
The centurion in charge of the group that killed Jesus said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39) and “Surely this was a righteous man.” (Luke 23:47). The apocryphal Acts of Pilate, likely from the fourth century, called this centurion Longinus. Roman Catholics think of him as a saint. There is a stone statue of him in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome by the 17th-century artist Giovanni Bernini.
A centurion in Caesarea named Cornelius became a follower of Jesus after Peter told him about the gospel. Peter did not want to share the gospel with non-Jews at first, but God showed him a vision that changed his mind (Acts 10).
A centurion in Acts 22:25–26 helped save Paul from being beaten when he told his higher officer that Paul was a Roman citizen.
Another centurion helped save Paul from Jews who wanted to kill him (Acts 23:17–22).
A centurion named Julius had to guard Paul on his trip from Caesarea to Rome (Acts 27:1). When their ship broke in a storm, Julius stopped the soldiers from killing all the prisoners, including Paul (Acts 27:42–43).