(Ι᾿ταλικός ) occurs but once in Scripture, in the mention of the "Italian band," i.e. Roman cohort, to which Cornelius belonged (Acts 10:1). "This seems to have been a cohort of Italians separate from the legionary soldiers, and not a cohort of the ‘ Legio Italica,' of which we read at a later period (Tacitus, Hist. 1, 59, 64; 2, 100; 3:14) as being raised by Nero (Dio Cass. 55, 24; Sueton. Nero, 19). (See Biscoe, On the Acts, p. 300 sq.) Wieseler (Chronol. p. 145) thinks they were Italian volunteers; and there is an inscription in Gruter in which the following words occur: ‘ Cohors militum Italicorum voluntaria, quse est in Syria' (see Ackerman, Numismatic Illustrations, p. 34)" (Conybeare and Howson, St. Paul, 1, 113). There is a monograph on the subject: Schwarz, De cohorte Italica et Augusta (Altdorf, 1720). (See COHORT).
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More