Pt1-16-CLAUDIUS CÆSAR:

CLAUDIUS CÆSAR:
FRIEND OF HEROD AGRIPPA Acts 11:28;Acts 18:2

AFTER the reign of Augustus, Rome was not happy in her Emperors for many years. Though Jesus was born in an era in which civil strife was hushed, the empire was organised, arts and letters flourished, and philosophy and religion were encouraged, ere He died internal strife was developing, informers were at their deadly work, suicides were frequent, and the government was in the hands of a tyrant who could exclaim, "After my death, perish the world in fire!" Tiberius was followed by Caius Caligula (A.D. 37-41), a cruel profligate who is said to have spent £80,000 in a single banquet, and to have commanded the works of Virgil and Livy to be removed from the libraries as wanting in learning and genius. Caius was murdered by the tribunes, and some began to clamour for a return to republican rule. But certain of the prætorian guards came upon a person of royal blood, who had concealed himself in fear, and in a moment of freakish behaviour compelled the Senate to declare him Emperor. This was Claudius, nephew of Tiberius, related through his mother to Augustus. He was fifty years of age when he came to the throne of the Cæsars, and his reign covered the period A.D. 41-54.

Roman writers present a very unfavourable picture of the personal qualities of Claudius. They refer to his feeble health, shambling gait, deformed limbs and weak intellect. Suetonius declares that his mother called him a "monster of a man", and that if she wished to accuse anyone of dullness she would say that he was "a bigger fool than her son Claudius". Augustus himself feared to present the youth in public lest the people should scoff. It is even suggested that Claudius used his own stupidity as an excuse to escape from a difficult position. Modern historians, however, place him in a better light. They show that he occupied himself in historical and literary pursuits, and set himself to work for the public welfare. He conciliated the Senate, and gave considerable power to his officers. He had definite views on citizenship, and admitted Gallic nobles to the Senate, arguing ancient precedent. Under his orders, a harbour was constructed on the right bank of the Tiber, two and a half miles from the mouth, to avert floods, and a mighty aqueduct was built, which brought water to the city over a distance of forty-five miles, spanning the Campagna by arches, ruins of which can be seen to this day. "He devoted himself personally to the administration of law, tiring out his judges and assessors by his unwearied application to business." Some things related of him are not to his credit. He was given to self-indulgence, and his bad habits undermined his already weak constitution. Gladiatorial shows had become popular, and writers state that to outdo his rivals he ordered a naval battle to be fought on Lake Fucinus. Under the gaze of multitudes of spectators who lined the sloping banks, nineteen thousand gladiators manned the fleets, and the fighting was so grim that the waters of the lake were stained with blood.

Claudius Cæsar is of interest to us, however, in a much more direct way. It was he who conquered Britain and named it "Britannia" as a Roman province (A.D. 43). Caractacus, who offered a stubborn resistance, was at last taken captive. Brought to Rome, he was astonished at the magnificence of the city, and exclaimed, "How can people possessed of such splendour at home envy Caractacus his humble cottage in Britain!" Claudius, moved by a speech from the prisoner, spared his life, and thus put a check to the practice of slaying defeated generals brought to grace the triumph of the conqueror.

Although Claudius is mentioned in the New Testament only twice, the references involve important matters, and his contact with sacred history is closer than it seems. One thing which helps us to picture the "background" of the New Testament narrative is the fact that Claudius was a friend of Herod Agrippa I. This persecutor of the apostles, who slew James, was grandson of Herod the Great. He was educated at Rome with Claudius, and made friends with Caius Caligula, when the latter was heir presumptive to the throne. His advocacy of Caligula’s claims led to his imprisonment by Tiberius, but when Caligula gained the imperial crown he liberated Herod and made him king over a portion of Palestine. When the crown was pressed upon Claudius, it was Agrippa who urged him to accept it. In consequence, Judea and Samaria were added to his domain in A.D. 40. Agrippa’s death was tragic. He held a festival in honour of Cæsar, and appeared in a garment made of silver. As the light shone upon this costly raiment, and as his voice was heard in eloquent speech, a cry went up from the spectators that he was a god--a compliment which he accepted without rebuke. Immediately he complained of illness, and after five days of agony died a wretched death (cf. Acts 12:21-23; Josephus, Ant. XIX, ch. 8). In Acts 11:28, it is recorded that a famine, predicted by Agabus, came in the days of Claudius Cæsar. It seems that famines were rather frequent during the reign of Claudius in various parts of the Empire, so much so that the Emperor became sensitive of criticism of his administration, and allowed a dream of approaching dearth to influence his mind and thus compass the ruin of two Roman knights. But there was one famine which specially attacked Jerusalem and Judea, and Josephus records that the Syrian Queen Helena of Adiabene supplied the city with corn and figs. This help was due to the fact that Queen Helena and her son had embraced the Jewish faith. In Acts 18:2, mention is made of the fact that Claudius had issued a decree by which all Jews were compelled to leave Rome. In consequence of this Aquila and Priscilla were found by Paul at Corinth. This decree by the Emperor is somewhat surprising, in view of the fact that, by reason of his friendship with Herod, his attitude to Jews was on the whole favourable. But that such a decree was issued is attested by Suetonius, who records in his Claudius: Judæos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantes Roma expulit. Translated literally, this sentence becomes: "He banished from Rome Jews continuously making uproar, Chrestus being instigator." There is some ambiguity. The words may refer (1) to riots headed by someone actually called "Chrestus"; or (2) to disturbances due to disputes among the Jews about the Christ, the name "Chrestus" being a variant of "Christus". Perhaps Suetonius thought that Christ was actually in the flesh at that date. Whatever the precise meaning of the decree, it is obvious that it cannot have been strictly enforced, or at the most was of temporary application, for there were many Jews in Rome shortly after this, and a few years later Paul could address his epistle to a strong church in Rome, composed of Jewish and Gentile Christians.

Claudius, then, makes definite contact with Scripture history, and a knowledge of his life helps the Bible student to sketch the background of the New Testament record. Secular history completes the story of his reign. In his last alliance by marriage, he took as wife Agrippina, mother of the cruel Nero. This infamous woman made Nero’s position secure, on a level with that of Britannicus, son of Claudius by a former wife. She then set herself to remove Claudius, and so make the way to the throne clear for her son. Giving her husband a dish of mushrooms, a favourite delicacy, she effected his death by poison.

Dr. Deissmann cites inscriptions which prove that Claudius shared with other Emperors the honours of deification. Nero is called "Son of the greatest of the gods, Tiberius Claudius". The title of honour, "Saviour of the World", was also bestowed upon Claudius Cæsar. While, as a modern annotator, writes, "this deification of the Emperors was no mere act of flattery, but grew naturally out of the old Roman worship of the Manes and Lares, the departed spirits of the dead", in the case of Claudius, some Romans did not regard it seriously. Seneca wrote a skit on the deification (commonly called the "pumpkinification") of Claudius Cæsar, in which he depicted the Emperor being refused a place in heaven because of his crimes, and being condemned to play dice for ever with a bottomless dice-box. "Facilis descensus Averno!"