Artemis and Asiarchs 345 becomes even more relevant if Luke-Acts is indeed a text from Ephesos (35): To be sure, the local colour is quite ambiguous (see above) and can hardly serve as a clear indication for the place of composition of Luke-Acts (36). But Luke devotes very much space to Paul’s stay in Ephesos (Acts 18,19–20,1.18-35), and he makes remarkable narrative efforts to present Paul as the first “proper” Christian missionary in Ephesos (Acts 18,19-28) and especially to have Paul deliver his farewell speech (Acts 20,18-35) — his only speech in Acts that is directed to a Christian audience and that clearly addresses the concerns of a Christian community in the time after Paul — to Ephesians. So it seems to be quite a plausible option that the two-volume work of Luke- Acts comes from Ephesos. As we have seen above, the office of asiarchs did exist before 89/90, but it was apparently only with the inauguration of the temple of the provincial imperial cult in Ephesos that it gained new prominence — to judge by the epigraphic record — and possibly some new quality. Now it could certainly be that in Acts 19,31 Luke refers to “old-style” asiarchs as already Strabon used to know them. In this case it would even be possible to consider this verse as a piece of historical reminiscence. This seems to be what C.J. Hemer meant when he wrote: “The Asiarchs are naturally situated in Ephesus, and the friendship of some of them with Paul is interesting, and not merely to be dismissed as ‘highly unlikely’” (37). Yet the occurrence of asiarchs in Acts 19,31 takes a peculiar and quite deliberate position in the narrative that points to an authorial intervention. The remarks in Acts 19,30-31 form an aside that interrupts the story of the riot of the silversmiths; the narrative would flow very well — maybe even better — without these two verses (38). (35) Cf. WITETSCHEK, Ephesische Enthüllungen 1, 255-262. For this locali- sation cf. also CONZELMANN – LINDEMANN, Arbeitsbuch14, 360; PERVO, Acts, 5-6. (36) Cf. also W. WEREN, “The Riot of the Ephesian Silversmiths (Acts 19,23- 40). Luke’s Advice to his Readers”, Luke and his Readers (FS A. DENAUX) (eds. R. BIERINGER – G. VAN BELLE – J. VERHEYDEN) (BETL 182; Leuven 2005) 441- 456, esp. 453-454. (37) HEMER, Book of Acts, 121; the last remark refers to E. HAENCHEN, Die Apostelgeschichte (KEK 3; Göttingen 1956) 514, n. 4. HEMER (Book of Acts) included the reference to asiarchs in Acts 19,31 among the instances of Luke’s “specific local knowledge” (104: “Specifics of local routes, boundaries, titles of city magistrates, and the like, which may not be closely controllable in date, but are unlikely to have been known except to a writer who has visited the districts”). (38) Cf. A. LOISY, Les Actes des Apôtres (Paris 1920) 750-751; W. ECKEY, Die Apostelgeschichte. Der Weg des Evangeliums von Jerusalem nach Rom II.