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Claudius

Emperor living at the time of the New Testament

Claudius was the Roman emperor during part of Paul's ministry.

🗺 Places mentioned alongside Claudius on the map →

Also known as Caesar · Cesar

Claudius, also referred to as Caesar, was the Roman emperor during a significant portion of Paul's ministry. He is mentioned in several contexts throughout the book of Acts.

In Act.11.28, the prophet Agabus foretold a great famine that would occur during the reign of Claudius, which prompted the disciples to send relief to the believers in Judea.

Act.18.2 mentions that Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome, which led Aquila and Priscilla to move to Corinth, where they met Paul.

In Act.17.7, the accusers of Paul and Silas in Thessalonica claimed that they were acting against the decrees of Caesar, likely referring to Claudius.

During Paul's trial in Acts 25-26, Claudius is mentioned as the emperor to whom Paul appealed for justice (Act.25.8,10,11,12,21; 26.32).

In Act.27.24, an angel told Paul that he must stand before Caesar, referring to Claudius or his successor.

Finally, in Act.28.19, Paul stated that he was compelled to appeal to Caesar because of the Jews' opposition.

These references to Claudius provide historical context for the events in Acts and demonstrate the Roman Empire's significant influence on the early Christian church.

Connections

Part of: Paul's Circle · The Jerusalem Church · Roman Officials

Expelled from Rome under Claudius

HometownWidely accepted

Aquila and Priscilla had recently come from Italy because Claudius ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Suetonius mentions an expulsion over disturbances instigated by "Chrestus", which historians usually link to this event and to early Christian-Jewish tension in Rome.

AquilaJewish Christian tentmaker, co-worker with PaulPriscillaChristian teacherClaudiusRoman Emperor
Where the text shows it: Acts 18:2 — Claudius commanded all Jews to leave RomeRomans 16:3-5 — Later back in Rome with a house church

Sources: Scripture · Suetonius, Life of Claudius 25

More background: search Wikipedia ↗

Bible dictionary

Claudius Easton Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

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).

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Claudius Smith Smith’s Bible Dictionary (1863)

(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.

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Claudius Hastings Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898)

CLAU'DIUS (lame), the fourth Roman emperor, successor of Caius Coin of Claudius. (British Muesum.) Caligula, a.d. 41-54. Acts 11:28. Herod Agrippa I. was mainly instrumental in securing him the throne. Several different famines took place during his reign, one of which, predicted by Agabus, was very severe, and lasted three years. In the ninth or twelfth year of his reign he banished the Jews, probably including the Christian converts, from Rome. Acts 18:2,

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Claudius Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

CLAU'DIUS (lame), the fourth Roman emperor, successor of Caius Coin of Claudius. (British Muesum.) Caligula, a.d. 41-54. Acts 11:28. Herod Agrippa I. was mainly instrumental in securing him the throne. Several different famines took place during his reign, one of which, predicted by Agabus, was very severe, and lasted three years. In the ninth or twelfth year of his reign he banished the Jews, probably including the Christian converts, from Rome. Acts 18:2,

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Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Claudius appears

11 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G2804

Acts11

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.