Cast of Characters: Apostle Paul and Female Apostles (Phoebe, Priscilla/Prisca, Persis, Junia) Romans 16
- Elaine R Kelly
- Oct 29, 2025
- 7 min read
Apostle Paul credits many female co-workers in Romans 16, which he likely wrote in the late AD 50s. My historical fiction trilogy, From Broken to Bold, spans AD 27 - 50. In addition to fictional characters, my novels contain backstories for the biblical figures named in Romans 16.
Many Women Were Followers, Disciples, and Patrons of Jesus
The historical events of the Gospels occurred in a three-year period between AD 27 and 34. My novel, set in the Gospels, Forgotten Followers: From Broken to Bold, features stories of Mary of Clopas and Joanna, set in a harmony of the Gospels. I outline in separate posts:
The novel's twelve woman disciples and
Were Women Involved in the Early Church After the Gospels?
By shining the spotlight on women and other minorities, I hope the reader will see how the early church overcame differences and formed one body of Christ.
Because She Was Called is set in Acts 2-11 and covers AD 35-37. It follows three female patrons named in Luke 8:1-3. It imagines Susannah moving to Caesarea and being pulled between romance and following her call to teach and baptize. Susannah is friends with Tabitha of Joppa (Acts 9). Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene and Joanna go to Rome and encounter many of the people named in Romans 16. In Rome, we meet members of the Jewish and Greek congregations and discover backstories for Prisca and Aquila, Persis, Tryphaena and Tryphosa, Philologus and Julia, Rufus of Cyrene, and Nereus.
Romans 16
Women | Men | Notes |
Phoebe v. 1-2 | Delivering the letter, Deacon of the church in Cenchreae (near Corinth), has been the benefactor of many, including Paul | |
Priscilla/Prisca v. 3-4 | Aquila v. 3-4 | Co-workers in Christ, risked their lives for Paul. All the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. They host a church at their house. |
Epenetus v. 5 | Paul's first convert to Christ in Asia | |
Mary v. 6 | Works hard for you, the church of Rome. Some traditions say this is a reference to Mary Magdalene. | |
Junia v. 7 | Andronicus v. 7 | Paul's kinsmen and once his fellow prisoners. Both held in high esteem among the apostles, they were in Christ before Paul. |
Ampliatus v. 8 | friend in the Lord | |
Urbanus v. 9 | co-worker | |
Stachys v. 9 | friend | |
Apelles v. 10 | proven faithful to Christ | |
household of Aristobulus v. 10 | Perhaps Aristobulus is not there but his family or household staff are there. | |
Herodion v. 11 | kinsmen or fellow Jew | |
household of Narcissus v. 11 | ||
Tryphena and Tryphosa vs. 12 | women who work hard in the Lord, possibly sisters or twins. | |
Persis v. 12 | A | woman who worked hard in the Lord, likely Greek, loved by the Roman church. |
Rufus's mother | Rufus v. 13 | Rufus's mother has been a mother to Paul |
Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas Hermas | Greet the brothers and sisters that are with them. | |
Julia v. 15 | Philologus | They are a Jewish couple who may have hosted and led a house church. |
Nereus's sister | Nereus v. 15 | Jewish believers |
Olympas v. 15 |
Phoebe
Paul calls her a trusted and important colleague and asks the Romans to receive her with honour and give her any help she needs.
Delivering the letter, likely reading it aloud, explaining it and teaching the listeners.
Deacon (minister) of the church in Cenchreae (near Corinth), where Paul worked for several years.
A benefactor (patron) of many, including Paul. She may have sponsored his letter to Rome.
Prisca (Priscilla is the diminutive form, like saying Jenny instead of Jennifer)
Aquila, a Jew, a native of Pontus in the northeast area of Asia Minor, working as a tentmaker; Aquila and Prisca (Priscilla is the diminutive form) are married and live in Rome until Emperor Claudius orders Jews out (Acts 18:1-3).
Prisca and Aquila later teach and plant churches in Corinth and Ephesus (Acts 18:18-20).
Prisca and Aquila teach Apollos, another teacher (Acts 18:24-26).
Prisca and Aquila are Paul’s co-workers; patrons who risked their lives for Paul and all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them; they host a church in their home (Romans 16:3-5).
Aquila and Priscilla host a church in their house in Ephesus and greet the Corinthians warmly when Paul writes to Corinth (1 Corinthians 16:19).
Aquila and Priscilla are greeted in Ephesus (2 Timothy 4:19).
Peter is traditionally the founder of the church in Rome, and since residents of Pontus and Rome were in Jerusalem for Pentecost (Acts 2:9-10), I imagine Prisca and Aquila became followers of Jesus after Peter preached and baptized them. Peter may have hidden in Rome, calling it Babylon (1 Peter 5:13).
In the AD 40s, before the Jerusalem Council, members of The Way obeyed the Jewish laws requiring circumcision and keeping separate, not eating with Gentiles. They may not meet together to share the Last Supper ritual. I portray Prisca and Aquila hosting a congregation in their home in Rome because later, they plant churches in Corinth and Ephesus and host them in their home. During the period of my historical fiction, I show disturbances between The Way and the established Jewish religion because later, Emperor Claudius will cite these disputes in ordering all Jews to leave Rome (Acts 18). When Emperor Nero ends the edict expelling Jews from Rome, Prisca and Aquila returned to Rome (Romans 16:3-5).
The novel shows Prisca unveiling to reflect the first-century debate about unveiling (1 Corinthians 11:5-15). Veiling and unveiling were not symbolic of male authority but of class or marital status. In her book, Women and Worship at Corinth, Lucy Peppiatt discusses Paul quoting and refuting incorrect Corinthian thinking. Paul confirmed all believers will judge angels and a woman ought to have authority over her own head (1 Corinthians 11:10). The veil separated Moses from God, but Jesus removed the veil (2 Corinthians 3:12-18). The veil can also refer to the curtain that separated people from the Holy of Holies, which Jesus tore away (Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45). Jesus broke the dividing wall between people (Ephesians 2:14).
Persis
Since the Gentile believers are not permitted to eat with Jewish believers, or share the Lord's Supper with them, the Gentiles worship separately. Since Paul says that Persis is loved by many, I portray her as hosting a church in her home for non-Jews. When Prisca, Aquila, and all Jews are forced to leave Rome, Gentile Christians begin to run the church in Rome.
I imagine Persis as a Gentile from Pontus and Tabriz (Persia), a freedwoman (former slave), widow and mother. She makes Tabriz carpets and is a hard worker who hosts a Greek-speaking assembly of The Way in Rome. Gentiles who may attend the church in her home include:
Tryphena and Tryphosa, twin sisters, Greek ladies of high social standing, petite women with delicate constitutions, members of The Way.
Narcissus, a freedman, attends the Greek-speaking assembly of The Way
Rufus of Cyrene (today's Libya) is Jewish but cannot attend the Jewish synagogue because he is Black. His mother is active in The Way; his father, Simon of Cyrene, is deceased.
Junia
Finding Her Voice explores what the women may have been doing in the timeline of Acts 2-11, roughly AD 39-50. Susannah is married to Philip the Evangelist, is pregnant and nursing and wonders if she can raise her voice while raising a family. Joanna is forced to leave Jerusalem and use her Latin name, Junia, and advocates to go on her first mission journey. She meets up with Mariamne, Philip's sister, who is working as an apostle in Hierapolis. Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene has been working for the church in Rome and decides to go to Alexandria. Jesus's mother, Maria, is one of the worship leaders in Jerusalem. Mary, the mother of John, Mark and sister of Barnabas, is the head of her own house and has a servant named Rhoda, and her home is large enough to host meetings of the Way in Jerusalem.
In my fiction, Joanna is forced to move to Antioch and abandon her connection with her grandfather, Joanna uses the Latin version of her name, Junia. Finding Her Voice explores how she may become the female apostle named in Romans 16:7. Junia was outstanding among the apostles, Paul's co-worker and co-prisoner, a relative of Paul's, and she knew Christ before Paul. Some scholars erased this female apostle and other female apostles, but today’s scholars agree that Junia was both an apostle and a female.
Manaen is one of the prophets and teachers in Antioch, and he grew up as a step-brother to Herod Antipas. Joanna would have known him from her years as the wife of Chuza, chief steward for Herod Antipas. Syrian Antioch is a wealthy, multi-cultural trading community on both land and sea trade routes. They sponsor Paul's missionary journeys, and it is possible that they might also send Junia on her first journey as an apostle. My fiction imagines Andronicus is a trader based in Syrian Antioch, and he meets Joanna/Junia there. Later, Andronicus is named as an apostle and co-worker with Junia (Romans 16:7).
When might Junia and Andronicus have been in prison with Paul?
Acts shows many times when Paul was persecuted, but specifies just four times when he was put in prison:
Acts 16: 23-40 Philippi. After Paul frees a slave girl from a demon, he is imprisoned.
Acts 21:27-33 Jerusalem. Jews stirred up a crowd at the Temple and seized Paul, and he was imprisoned
Acts 23:35. Caesarea. Imprisoned under guard.
Acts 28, Rome. Imprisoned under house arrest.
Junia may have been with Paul on one of these occasions or on an occasion that is not outlined in Acts. On the other hand, Junia may have been imprisoned not "at the same time" as Paul, but "in the same cause" as Paul.
Other women in the New Testament and Early Church
Timothy's mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois.
Apphia in Colossae (Philemon 1:2).
Nympha in Laodicia (Colossians 4:15).
Lydia, Euodia, and Syntyche, all in Philippi
Prominent women of Thessalonica and in Berea oppose the apostles
Damaris, a distinguished woman of Athens
Chloe, in Corinth, sends her people to Ephesus for advice on divisions among believers; Paul responds with his letters to the Corinthians.
Elaine Ricker Kelly Author is empowering women with historical fiction about women in the Bible and early church and Christian blogs about women in leadership, church history and doctrine. Her books include:
Forgotten Followers from Broken to Bold, Book 1, A Novel (2022)
The Sword: A Fun Way to Engage in Healthy Debate on What the Bible Says About a Woman's Role (2023)
Because She Was Called from Broken to Bold, Book 2, A Novel of the Early Church (2024)
Walk with Mara on Her Healing Journey: 21 Steps to Emotional Resilience (2024)
Finding Her Voice from Broken to Bold, Book 3, Acts of Early Female Apostles: A Novel (2025)
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