Acts 16:38

"And the sergeants reported these words unto the magistrates: and they feared when they heard that they were Romans" They feared because they had been guilty of doing something illegal. "The colonists in Philippi would turn against the praetors if they learned the facts, proud as they were of being citizens" (Robertson p. 265). "If the prisoners pressed charges, the magistrates could be stripped of their office, and would never be allowed to hold office again. In 44 A.D., by order of the emperor Claudius, the people of Rhodes lost their own privileges of citizenship because they did not regard the fact that some prisoners they executed by crucifixion were Roman citizens" (Reese p. 595).