Meaning: (Prior to
the Roman conquest in 146 B.C.E., Achaia properly referred only to a small
region in the Peloponnesus, stretching across the southern coast of the
Gulf of Corinth, in a position somewhat similar to that
occupied today by the section of the same name.
In Homeric poetry Greeks in general are spoken of under
the name of Achaians. Due to the prominence of the Achaean League, a
confederacy of cities, as the most powerful political body in
Greece at the time of its conquest, the Romans
thereafter generally spoke of all
Greece as Achaia.
In 27 B.C.E., when Caesar Augustus reorganized the
two provinces of
Greece,
Macedonia and Achaia, the name Achaia then
applied to all the Peloponnesus and to part of continental
Greece. The
province of
Achaia
was under the administration of the Roman Senate and was ruled through a
proconsul from its capital,
Corinth.
(2Co 1:1) Other cities of the
province
of
Achaia mentioned in the Christian
Greek Scriptures were
Athens
and Cenchreae. Achaia and its neighboring province to the N,
Macedonia, were
often linked together in common usage.—Ac 18:1, 18; 19:21; Ro 15:26; 16:1;
1Th 1:7, 8.
In the year 15 C.E., in response to complaints over
the severity of taxation, Tiberius placed Achaia and Macedonia
under imperial control, to be governed from the province of Moesia.
This continued until 44 C.E. when Emperor Claudius restored these
provinces to senatorial control, thereby causing a proconsul again to take up
governing powers in Corinth.
Due to ignorance of these facts, in the past some critics objected to the
Bible’s reference to Gallio as the “proconsul of Achaia,” before whom Paul was
brought. (Ac 18:12) However, the discovery of an inscription at Delphi made it evident that there was indeed a proconsul
at Achaia named Gallio at the time described by the historian Luke, writer of
Acts.
At Romans 15:26 the apostle Paul speaks of the generosity
of the Christians in the province of Achaia in providing help for their needy brothers in Jerusalem. During Paul’s
second and third missionary journeys a considerable part of his time was spent
in Achaia, and he expressed strong love for the brothers of that region.—2Co
11:10.)
Origin: (Greek, Hebrew, Biblical)
Pronunciation: (uh-KAY-uh, uh-KAY-yuh,
uh-shay-uh)
Gender: Female, Possibly Uni-Sex
Again I was reading the bible and I
saw the name Achaia. I think this is a unique and rare sounding name. It is
actually kind of beautiful. It has a good history. I am seeing this name
fitting well in a fantasy novel for some reason.
