Citizenship for freedom, A.V am a Roman for was free, A.V. A great sum ( πολλοῦ κεφαλαίου). The word is only found here in the New Testament in the sense of a "sum of money," but is so used in classical writers.
Citizenship; πολιτεία, for "freedom of the city," in Xenophon, AElian, Polybius, Dion Cassius, etc., and 3 Macc. 3:21. Dion Cassius (9 17) relates that Messaliua, the wife of the Emperor Claudius, used to sell the freedom of the city, and that at first she sold it ( μεγάλων ξρημάτων) for a very high price, but that afterwards it became very cheap.
In all probability Lysias had so purchased it, and in consequence took the name of Claudius. I am a Roman born. It is not known how St. Paul's family acquired the Roman citizenship.