Topical Encyclopedia
Claudius, formally known as Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, was the Roman Emperor from AD 41 to 54. His reign is noted in the New Testament, particularly in the context of the early Christian church and its interactions with the Roman Empire. Claudius was the fourth emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, succeeding Caligula.
Historical ContextClaudius was born on August 1, 10 BC, in Lugdunum, Gaul (modern-day Lyon, France). Despite being considered an unlikely candidate for the throne due to his perceived physical disabilities and lack of political experience, he ascended to power after the assassination of his nephew, Caligula. His reign was marked by significant administrative reforms, expansion of the Roman Empire, and notable public works.
Claudius in the New TestamentThe New Testament references Claudius in the context of events affecting the early Christian community. One of the most significant mentions is found in the Book of Acts, which records a famine during his reign:
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Acts 11:28 : "One of them, named Agabus, stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the entire Roman world. This happened during the reign of Claudius."
This famine, corroborated by historical sources, had a profound impact on the regions under Roman control, including Judea. The early church responded by organizing relief efforts, demonstrating the communal and charitable spirit that characterized the early Christian movement.
Another significant mention of Claudius is in relation to the expulsion of Jews from Rome:
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Acts 18:2 : "There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them."
This decree, often referred to as the "Edict of Claudius," is believed to have been issued around AD 49. The expulsion likely stemmed from disturbances in the Jewish community, possibly related to disputes over the emerging Christian faith. This event had significant implications for the spread of Christianity, as it led to the dispersion of Jewish Christians, including Aquila and Priscilla, who became prominent figures in the early church.
Claudius' Impact on Early ChristianityClaudius' reign indirectly influenced the spread of Christianity. The expulsion of Jews from Rome facilitated the movement of Jewish Christians to other parts of the Roman Empire, contributing to the dissemination of the Gospel. Additionally, the administrative stability and infrastructure improvements during his reign, such as roads and communication networks, aided the missionary journeys of apostles like Paul.
While Claudius himself did not directly engage with the Christian faith, his policies and the socio-political climate of his reign played a role in shaping the early church's development. The references to Claudius in the New Testament highlight the intersection of Roman political authority and the nascent Christian movement, underscoring the challenges and opportunities faced by early believers in a diverse and often hostile environment.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Claudius(lame), fourth Roman emperor, reigned from 41 to 54 A.D. He was nominated to the supreme power mainly through the influence of Herod Agrippa the First. In the reign of Claudius there were several famines, arising from unfavorable harvests, and one such occurred in Palestine and Syria. (Acts 11:28-30) Claudius was induced by a tumult of the Jews in Rome to expel them from the city. cf. (Acts 18:2) The date of this event is uncertain. After a weak and foolish reign he was poisoned by his fourth wife, Agrippina, the mother of Nero, October 13, A.D. 54.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Lame.
(1.) The fourth Roman emperor. He succeeded Caligula (A.D. 41). Though in general he treated the Jews, especially those in Asia and Egypt, with great indulgence, yet about the middle of his reign (A.D. 49) he banished them all from Rome (Acts 18:2). In this edict the Christians were included, as being, as was supposed, a sect of Jews. The Jews, however soon again returned to Rome.
During the reign of this emperor, several persecutions of the Christians by the Jews took place in the dominions of Herod Agrippa, in one of which the apostle James was "killed" (12:2). He died A.D. 54.
(2.) Claudius Lysias, a Greek who, having obtained by purchase the privilege of Roman citizenship, took the name of Claudius (Acts 21:31-40;22:28;23:26).
Lysias, Claudius
The chief captain (chiliarch) who commanded the Roman troops in Jerusalem, and sent Paul under guard to the procurator Felix at Caesarea (Acts 21:31-38;22:24-30). His letter to his superior officer is an interesting specimen of Roman military correspondence (23:26-30). He obtained his Roman citizenship by purchase, and was therefore probably a Greek. (seeCLAUDIUS.)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
CLAUDIUSklo'-di-us (Klaudios): Fourth Roman emperor. He reigned for over 13 years (41-54 A.D.), having succeeded Caius (Caligula) who had seriously altered the conciliatory policy of his predecessors regarding the Jews and, considering himself a real and corporeal god, had deeply offended the Jews by ordering a statue of himself to be placed in the temple of Jerusalem, as Antiochus Epiphanes had done with the statue of Zeus in the days of the Maccabees (2 Maccabees 6:2). Claudius reverted to the policy of Augustus and Tiberius and marked the opening year of his reign by issuing edicts in favor of the Jews (Ant., XIX, 5), who were permitted in all parts of the empire to observe their laws and customs in a free and peaceable manner, special consideration being given to the Jews of Alexandria who were to enjoy without molestation all their ancient rights and privileges. The Jews of Rome, however, who had become very numerous, were not allowed to hold assemblages there (Dio LX, vi, 6), an enactment in full correspondence with the general policy of Augustus regarding Judaism in the West. The edicts mentioned were largely due to the intimacy of Claudius with Herod Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great, who had been living in Rome and had been in some measure instrumental in securing the succession for Claudius. As a reward for this service, the Holy Land had a king once more. Judea was added to the tetrarchies of Philip and Antipas; and Herod Agrippa I was made ruler over the wide territory which had been governed by his grandfather. The Jews' own troubles during the reign of Caligula had given "rest" (the American Standard Revised Version "peace") to the churches "throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria" (Acts 9:31). But after the settlement of these troubles, "Herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the church" (Acts 12:1). He slew one apostle and "when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize" another (Acts 12:3). His miserable death is recorded inActs 12:20-23, and in Ant, XIX, 8. This event which took place in the year 44 A.D. is held to have been coincident with one of the visits of Paul to Jerusalem. It has proved one of the chronological pivots of the apostolic history.
Whatever concessions to the Jews Claudius may have been induced out of friendship for Herod Agrippa to make at the beginning of his reign, Suetonius records (Claud. chapter 25) "Judaeos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantes Roma expulit," an event assigned by some to the year 50 A.D., though others suppose it to have taken place somewhat later. Among the Jews thus banished from Rome were Aquila and Priscilla with whom Paul became associated at Corinth (Acts 18:2). With the reign of Claudius is also associated the famine which was foretold by Agabus (Acts 11:28). Classical writers also report that the reign of Claudius was, from bad harvest or other causes, a period of general distress and scarcity over the whole world (Dio LX, 11; Suet. Claud. xviii; Tac. Ann. xi. 4; xiii0.43; see Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, chapter ix; and Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of Paul, I).
J. Hutchison
CLAUDIUS LYSIAS
klo'-di-us lis'-i-as (Klaudios Lysias): A chief captain who intervened when the Jews sought to do violence to Paul at Jerusalem (Acts 21:31;Acts 24:22). Lysias, who was probably a Greek by birth (compareActs 21:37), and who had probably assumed the Roman forename Claudius (Acts 23:26) when he purchased the citizenship (Acts 22:28), was a military tribune or chiliarch (i.e. leader of 1,000 men) in command of the garrison stationed in the castle overlooking the temple at Jerusalem. Upon learning of the riot instigated by the Asiatic Jews, he hastened down with his soldiers, and succeeded in rescuing Paul from the hands of the mob. As Paul was the apparent malefactor, Lysias bound him with two chains, and demanded to know who he was, and what was the cause of the disturbance. Failing amid the general tumult to get any satisfactory reply, he conducted Paul to the castle, and there questioned him as to whether he was the "Egyptian," an postor that had lately been defeated by Felix (Josephus, BJ, II, xiii, 5; Ant, XX, viii, 6). Upon receiving the answer of Paul that he was a "Jew of Tarsus," he gave him permission to address the people from the stairs which connected the castle and the temple. As the speech of Paul had no pacifying effect, Lysias purposed examining him by scourging; but on learning that his prisoner was a Roman citizen, he desisted from the attempt and released him from his bonds. The meeting of the Sanhedrin which Lysias then summoned also ended in an uproar, and having rescued Paul with difficulty he conducted him back to the castle. The news of the plot against the life of one whom he now knew to be a Roman citizen decided for Lysias that he could not hope to cope alone with so grave a situation. He therefore dispatched Paul under the protection of a bodyguard to Felix at Caesarea, along with a letter explaining the circumstances (Acts 23:26-30. The genuineness of this letter has been questioned by some, but without sufficient reason.) In this letter he took care to safeguard his own conduct, and to shield his hastiness in binding Paul. There is evidence (compareActs 24:22) that Lysias was also summoned to Caesarea at a later date to give his testimony, but no mention is made of his arrival there. It is probable, however, that he was among the chief captains who attended the trial of Paul before King Agrippa and Festus (compareActs 25:22). For the reference to him in the speech of Tertullus (seeActs 24:7 the Revised Version, margin), see TERTULLUS.
C. M. Kerr
Greek
2804. Klaudios --Claudius, the name of an Emperor, also an army......Claudius, the name of an Emperor, also an army officer. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: Klaudios Phonetic Spelling: (klow'-dee-os) Short
...3079. Lusias -- Lysias, a Roman
... Lysias, a Roman. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Lusias Phonetic
Spelling: (loo-see'-as) Short Definition:Claudius Lysias Definition:Claudius...
Library
Claudius
...Claudius.Claudius, Matthias, the son of a Lutheran Pastor, was born at Reinfeld,
near Lubeck, August 15, 1740. He entered the university...
HowClaudius was Seized Upon and Brought Out of his House and...
... CHAPTER 3. HowClaudius Was Seized Upon And Brought Out Of His House And Brought
To The Camp; And How The Senate Sent An Embassage To Him....
HowClaudius, the Second of the Romans who came into Britain...
... III. HowClaudius, the second of the Romans who came into Britain, brought the islands
Orcades into subjection to the Roman empire; and Vespasian, sent by hint...
Concerning the Government ofClaudius, and the Reign of Agrippa....
... CHAPTER 11. Concerning The Government OfClaudius, And The Reign Of Agrippa.
Concerning The Deaths Of Agrippa And Of Herod And What...
HowClaudius Restored to Agrippa his Grandfathers Kingdoms and...
... CHAPTER 5. HowClaudius Restored To Agrippa His Grandfathers Kingdoms And Augmented
His Dominions; And How He Published An Edict In Behalf....
Epistle cxx. ToClaudius in Spain .
... Epistle CXX. ToClaudius in Spain . ToClaudius in Spain [78] . Gregory
toClaudius, &c. The renown of good deeds being fragrant...
Claudius Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis, and Apologist.
... Fragments from His Five Books of Commentaries on the Acts of the Church.
Claudius Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis, and Apologist....
The Famine which Took Place in the Reign ofClaudius.
... Book II. Chapter VIII."The Famine which took Place in the Reign ofClaudius....
24, ad 41, and was succeeded by his uncleClaudius....
What Things King Agrippa did forClaudius; and HowClaudius when...
... CHAPTER 4. What Things King Agrippa Did ForClaudius; And HowClaudius When He Had
Taken The Government Commanded The Murderers Of Caius To Be Slain....
After what Manner Upon the Death ofClaudius, Nero Succeeded in...
... CHAPTER 8. After What Manner Upon The Death OfClaudius, Nero Succeeded
In The Government; As Also What Barbarous Things He Did....
Thesaurus
Claudius (3 Occurrences)... (2.)
Claudius Lysias, a Greek who, having obtained by purchase the privilege of
Roman citizenship, took the name of
Claudius (Acts 21:31-40; 22:28; 23:26).
...Claudius's (1 Occurrence)
...Claudius's (1 Occurrence).... He and his wife Priscilla had recently come from Italy
because ofClaudius's edict expelling all the Jews from Rome....
Procurator
... Josephus (Ant., XX, i, 2), however, employs epitropos (procurator) for the time
ofClaudius, and it is convenient to follow common usage and assume that this...
Lysias (3 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Lysias,Claudius.... He obtained his Roman citizenship by
purchase, and was therefore probably a Greek. (seeCLAUDIUS.). Int....
Aquila (7 Occurrences)
... on his first visit to Corinth (Acts 18:2). Along with his wife Priscilla he had
fled from Rome in consequence of a decree (AD 50) byClaudius commanding all...
Narcissus (2 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Daffodil, a Roman whom Paul salutes (Romans 16:11). He
is supposed to have been the private secretary of the emperorClaudius....
Gallio (3 Occurrences)
... He was "deputy", ie, proconsul, as in Revised Version, of Achaia, under the
emperorClaudius, when Paul visited Corinth (Acts 18:12)....
Agabus (2 Occurrences)
... 11:27, we find him at Antioch foretelling "a great famine over all the world,"
"which," adds the historian, "came to pass in the days ofClaudius." This visit...
Felix (11 Occurrences)
... fe'-liks, an-to'-ni-us (Phelix, from Latin felix, "happy"): A Roman procurator of
Judea, appointed in succession to Cumanus by the emperorClaudius....
Claudia (1 Occurrence)
... she was a British maiden, the daughter of king Cogidunus, who was an ally of Rome,
and assumed the name of the emperor, his patron, TiberiusClaudius, and that...
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