What is known about equites that might have supported Paul in his mission to Spain as described in Romans 15:22-29?

Question

In The Clementine Gospel Tradition by Dennis Barton, the following comments are made:

Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215) was a pupil of Pantoris, the first great Christian teacher at Alexandria in Egypt. Clement records that he himself had travelled widely, meeting and listening to ‘truly notable men’ from all over the Roman Empire (EH 5, 11).

In his Adumbrationes in Epistolas Canonicas, Clement commented on 1 Peter 5, 13. As Eusebius did not copy the full quotation, we are using here the Latin translation by Cassiodorus:

Mark, the follower of Peter, while Peter was publicly preaching the Gospel at Rome before some of Caesar’s knights and producing many testimonies about Christ, being begged by them that they should be able to record what was said, wrote the Gospel which is called the Gospel of Mark, from the things said by Peter - just as Luke is recognized as the pen that wrote the Acts of the Apostles and as the translator of the Letter of Paul to the Hebrews (RDCA, RO 166r).

The idea of Peter preaching to the equites or knights of Caesar in Rome is fascinating. It somewhat parallels the Acts of Peter:

And Dionysius and Balbus from Asia, Roman Knights, illustrious men, together with a senator named Demetrius, took a hold of Paul's right hand and said, "Paul, I should like to leave the city and be always with thee, if Iwere not a state's officer." In like manner spoke Cleobius and Iphitus and Lysimachus and Aristeus of the house of Caesar...

And on Sunday Peter spoke to the brethren and encouraged them in the belief on Christ. And many senators and knights and wealthy women (and) matrons were present...

A Wikipedia article notes the following:

The equites (/ˈɛkwɪtiːz/; literally "horse-" or "cavalrymen", though sometimes referred to as "knights" in English) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an eques (Latin: [ˈɛ.kʷɛs]).

... senators and equites combined constituted a tiny elite in a citizen-body of about 6 million (in AD 47) and an empire with a total population of 60–70 million.[65][66] This immensely wealthy elite monopolised political, military and economic power in the empire. It controlled the major offices of state, command of all military units, ownership of a significant proportion of the empire's arable land (e.g., under Nero (r. 54–68 AD), half of all land in Africa Proconsularis province was owned by just six senators) and of most major commercial enterprises.[67]

Overall, senators and equites cooperated smoothly in the running of the empire. In contrast to the chaotic civil wars of the late Republic, the rule of this tiny oligarchy achieved a remarkable degree of political stability. In the first 250 years of the Principate (30 BC – AD 218), there was only a single episode of major internal strife: the civil war of 68–69.

Is there any historical evidence that the equites or knights of Caesar were given assignments in other locations, such as Spain or in other parts of the Roman Empire? The relevance being that if Paul actually did make it to Spain (Romans 15:22-29), as many of the church fathers claim, the rapid growth of the church there might be explained in part by the equites joining with him in that missionary trip. The hermeneutical impact of this historical judgment would be analogous to archeologists finding evidence of fulfilled prophecies such as the destruction of Jerusalem.

Answer 1

I see 2 questions here, one of which strikes me as in scope for the site and one out of scope:

• The historical setting in which Mark was written (in scope)
• The details of the lives of wealthy Romans (out of scope)

The "knights" or "equestrians" were a class of wealthy, prominent Romans, as the OP notes. We do not know the names or biographical details of these specific equestrians, although Eusebius does indicate that later in the 1st century there were still prominent Romans who were Christian (see discussion by Edmundson on p. 224 here), and names one of them: Flavia Domitilla. Paul also indicates that there were Christian members of Caesar's household (see Philippians 4:22).

This statement by Clement is intriguing, because many scholars--based upon the Olivet discourse and a disbelief in prophecy--date Mark to the Roman-Jewish war of AD 66-73. However, Clement indicates that at the time Mark was written, it was safe for prominent Romans to be associating with Christian missionaries and listening to Christian leaders. It is very difficult to believe that such Romans would be begging the colleague of an executed Christian outlaw (Peter) for said outlaw's teachings at or near a time when Nero was scapegoating Christians for arson and burning them alive for "hatred against mankind" (see Tacitus Annals 15.44).

Ergo, Clement's testimony indicates that the Gospel of Mark was written before Nero turned on the Christians. We do not know who these specific equestrians were.

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As for the travels of the equestrians, there was no prohibition against their traveling to other parts of the empire, but the center of Roman political & financial life for senators & equestrians was Rome itself.