Roman Emperor
Claudius Caesar
KLAW-dee-us SEE-zer · Also called Claudius
The Roman emperor during whose reign a severe famine struck Judea as predicted by the prophet Agabus, and who ordered Jews expelled from Rome — the reason Paul's coworkers Aquila and Priscilla were in Corinth when he met them.
Life and work
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus became emperor unexpectedly in AD 41 after the assassination of his nephew Caligula, having been overlooked for public office for much of his life due to physical infirmities that led his own family to underestimate him. He reigned until AD 54, presiding over the empire's expansion (including the conquest of Britain begun in AD 43) and significant administrative reform.
Acts 11:27-28 records the prophet Agabus predicting 'a great famine over all the world,' adding the note 'this took place in the days of Claudius.' Josephus corroborates a severe famine affecting Judea during Claudius's reign, roughly AD 46-48, severe enough that Queen Helena of Adiabene, a Jewish convert, purchased grain from Egypt to relieve it (Antiquities 20.2.5, 20.5.2) — widely understood as the same famine Agabus foretold, prompting the relief collection the church at Antioch sent to Judea.
Acts 18:1-2 records that Paul met Aquila and his wife Priscilla in Corinth, 'having recently come from Italy... because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome.' The Roman biographer Suetonius corroborates an expulsion of Jews from Rome under Claudius, writing that Claudius 'expelled the Jews from Rome, who were constantly making disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus' (Life of Claudius 25.4). Many historians read 'Chrestus' as a garbled reference to 'Christus' (Christ), suggesting the disturbances arose from conflict within Rome's Jewish community over messianic claims about Jesus, though this is debated — 'Chrestus' was also an attested ordinary personal name, and some scholars think Suetonius may mean an otherwise unknown agitator by that name living in Rome at the time. The precise date of the expulsion is likewise debated, with the 5th-century Christian writer Orosius dating it to AD 49, a date many scholars accept though it cannot be independently confirmed from Suetonius alone.
- Occupation
- Fourth Roman emperor, AD 41-54
- Places
- Rome
Extra-biblical evidence
Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars (Claudius) Life of Claudius, 25.4
Suetonius writes that Claudius 'expelled the Jews from Rome, who were constantly making disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus' (Iudaeos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantis Roma expulit) — widely, though not universally, understood as a garbled reference to disputes over Christ.
Weight: An independent Roman source corroborating the expulsion described in Acts 18:2, though the identity of 'Chrestus' and the exact date of the expulsion remain genuinely debated among historians.
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 20.2.5 (51-53); 20.5.2 (101)
Josephus describes a severe famine affecting Judea during the tenure of the procurators Cuspius Fadus and Tiberius Alexander, in the reign of Claudius, relieved in part by grain purchased by Queen Helena of Adiabene.
Weight: An independent corroboration of a major famine in Judea under Claudius, generally identified by historians with the famine predicted by Agabus in Acts 11:28.
Cassius Dio, Roman History 60.6.6
Dio states that early in his reign Claudius did not expel the Jews from Rome outright (given their numbers) but restricted their right of assembly — a detail sometimes read as describing an earlier, lesser measure distinct from the fuller expulsion Suetonius and Acts describe later in the reign.
Weight: A useful but complicating independent source; historians differ on how to reconcile Dio's account with Suetonius's, which adds to the genuine uncertainty around the expulsion's exact date and scope.
Scripture references
- Acts 11:27-28 — Agabus predicts a famine that occurs in the days of Claudius
- Acts 18:1-2 — His expulsion of Jews from Rome is why Paul finds Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth
Further reading
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