Acts 22:25-30

When the soldiers stretched Paul out with ropes, he said to the captain, who was standing nearby, “Is it legal for you to torture a Roman citizen like this, without a proper trial?” When the officer heard this, he immediately went to his commander and reported it, saying, “This man is a Roman citizen. What should we do now?” The commander came to Paul and asked him, “Tell me the truth, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes I am,” he replied. The commander said, “I had to purchase my citizenship with a great sum of money.” Paul replied, “I was born as a citizen!” All of the soldiers who were about to whip Paul backed away, because they were afraid of the consequences for tying up and holding a Roman citizen against his will. The next day the commander ordered that the high priest and the supreme Jewish council be convened, because he wanted to find out exactly why the Jews were accusing Paul. So he had him untied and brought out to stand before them all.