CLAUDIUS (Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus), Roman Emperor. - Fourth emperor (41-54 A.D.), son of Drusus and Antonia, uncle of Caligula, whom he succeeded in the Empire at the age of fifty. Although he had no great aptitude for governing, being weak and timid by nature, he nevertheless rendered good services to the empire through fortunate military enterprises and wise administration. He revoked some senseless measures of his predecessor, granted an amnesty and recalled the exiles, among them his niece Agrippina, whom he later married. He brought the port of Ostia to completion, built in Rome the great aqueduct that goes under his name, and for the city's provisioning promoted regular shipments of grain. But precisely during his reign, on account of persistent drought, the provinces of the Empire were afflicted by a grave famine, remembered not only by Suetonius (Claud., 5, 18) and Cassius Dio (LX, 11), but also by Acts 11:28. On the occasion of this famine, which tried Palestine harshly in the years 44-48, St. Paul promoted collections in the Churches of Syria and Asia to succor the poor Christians of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 11:29; Gal. 2:10; I Cor. 16:1).
Among the military enterprises of Claudius are remembered the victorious campaign in Britain, in which the valiant commander and future emperor Vespasian distinguished himself, and the annexation of Mauretania. He extirpated the druidic cult in Gaul. He had, however, the weakness of letting himself be dominated by the women who succeeded one another on the throne, Messalina and Agrippina, and by certain powerful freedmen, such as Callistus, Narcissus and Pallas, brother of the procurator of Judea, Antonius Felix, and administrator of the imperial finances.
The policy of Claudius with regard to the Jews is interesting for its repercussions on the Christian religion. Since at the death of Caligula (41 A.D.) bloody conflicts had occurred in the city of Alexandria between pagans and Jews, as a consequence of the erroneous policy of that emperor, Claudius hastened to restore order and tranquility with the famous Letter to the Alexandrians, promulgated on 10 Nov. 41 and preserved for us in a Greek papyrus that came to light in 1924 (Pap. 1912 of the British Museum). By virtue of this decree, full rights and the ancient privileges were restored to the Jews, together with the free profession of their religious faith, while the divine cult of the emperor was abrogated, which had been imposed by Caligula even on the Jews because of his "great folly and madness" (Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Iud., XIX, 5, 2). In this way the principal cause of the disorders was eliminated and a regime of mutual tolerance was established between pagans and Jews. The ordinance, extended to the whole Empire, closes with a warning to the Jews, that they should take care not to welcome or attract into that city coreligionists coming from the rest of the province or from Syria, "from which thing, adds the emperor, I would be forced to conceive greater suspicions: otherwise I will punish them in an absolute manner, as fomenters of an evil (pestilence) that spreads throughout the whole world." Someone (e.g., H. Janne) believed he saw in this last expression a veiled allusion to the nascent Christian religion, which was already beginning to spread rapidly throughout the Empire. In that case we would have the most ancient profane document attesting the existence and the development of the new religion. But the connection, too ingenious, is supported neither by the text nor by the sequence of events, and is commonly rejected. Rather, in that expression one should see a testimony of Jewish cosmopolitanism and of the esprit de corps that united the various communities of the diaspora.
Among the other acts in favor of the Jews, C. confirmed to his friend Agrippa, as a sign of gratitude for the precious support he had received in his elevation to the throne, the possession of the territories already obtained from Caligula in 41 (tetrarchies of Philip and of Lysanias with Galilee) and added to them those subject to the Roman procurator (Judea, Samaria and Idumea), thus re-establishing the administrative unity of Palestine under the Herodian dynasty.
Subsequently, between 49 and 50, the Jews of Rome were struck by a decree of expulsion: among the exiles figure the two Christian spouses Aquila and Priscilla (v.), who met with St. Paul at Corinth (Act. 18, 2). The reason for the measure is indicated by Suetonius in the famous passage:
"Iudaeos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantes Roma expulit" (Claud., 25). The allusion to the Christian religion cannot be doubted. The Chrestos, fomenter, according to the pagan historian, of the Jewish tumults, is the Christos or Messiah: and the dissensions in the Jewish community were provoked precisely by the messianic question: some among the Jews of Rome regarded Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ or Messiah, and these were the Christians (called in ancient times sometimes also Chrestians, from Chrestos for Christos); the others, on the other hand, did not believe it, and the contrast between the two parties gave rise to impassioned discussions and tumults. Nevertheless the edict of expulsion must have been applied with great leniency or was limited to forbidding public gatherings. In fact a few years later, under his successor Nero, the Jewish colony of Rome was still very numerous and perhaps more powerful than before. There is reason to think that this edict had consequences of great importance for the Christian community, inasmuch as it helped to break the last threads that still bound it to the Synagogue. Subsequently it developed in full autonomy, with the clear predominance of gentile Christians: thus, after 50, Synagogue and Christian community in Rome remained completely divided (cf. Act. 28, 17 ff.). C. died on 3 Oct. 54 of poison, made to be administered to him by his wife Agrippina. He was succeeded by Nero (v.), son of the same Agrippina.
Bibliography11 works
Gaetano Stano