ROMAN EMPEROR · NEW TESTAMENT

Claudius. Named twice: a great famine, and Jews ordered out of Rome.

RULEDi

Not given AD 41–54 (dates vary)

SEAT

Rome

HOUSE

Not stated 11th of 17 in Rome

SCRIPTURE SAYS

“Agabus "signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to…”

PROPHETS

Agabus

ROME: 17 RULERS HEROD THE GREAT → PORCIUS FESTUS

SUCCESSION

Before and after

WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS

What Scripture says of him

  • Agabus "signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cæsar." Acts 11:28
  • At Corinth Paul found Aquila and Priscilla, "lately come from Italy ... because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome". Acts 18:2

THE SEAT

Rome, where he sat

The city he ordered the Jews to leave

TRIALS AND HEARINGS

The hearings held

UNDATED IN SCRIPTURE

THE NATION

What the nation did

  • The disciples sent relief "every man according to his ability". Acts 11:29
  • Aquila, "born in Pontus", and his wife Priscilla were among the Jews who left Rome. Acts 18:2

PROPHETS

Prophets of the reign

  • Ag Agabus “there should be great dearth throughout all the world”

ON THE WORLD STAGE

The powers of the day

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · REIGN OF CLAUDIUS, AD 41-54 (NO YEAR GIVEN)

Suetonius on the expulsion

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · PLACED BY DIO EARLY IN THE REIGN

Dio Cassius on the Jews of Rome

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · AD 52

His letter to Delphi naming Gallio

DATES DIFFER

When was it?

SCRIPTURE'S NUMBERS

No years given

None (Acts 11:28; 18:2).

ROMAN RECORDS

AD 41–54[27]

Began to reign 25 January AD 41 (Rolfe's note); died 13 October AD 54, 'in the sixty-fourth year of his age and the fourteenth of his reign' (Suetonius, Claudius 45).

Christ, under a common misspelling

E. H. Plumptre (Ellicott's commentary, about 1880); A. C. Hervey (Pulpit Commentary, 1884); R. J. Knowling (1900); J. C. Rolfe (1914); E. Schürer (1885) allows the inference

Chrestus is taken as Christus: the disturbances arose among Rome's Jews over preaching about Christ, like those Acts records at Antioch in Pisidia and Thessalonica. Rolfe calls Chrestus "another form of Christus" and thinks it probable that Suetonius erred in his chronology. Acts 18:2 Acts 13:50 Acts 17:5 [3][18][11][27][25]

A Jewish agitator named Chrestus

H. A. W. Meyer (English translation 1877-80), after Wieseler and Ernesti

Meyer: "Chrestus was actually a current Greek and Roman name", so the phrase should be read as naming a Jewish agitator at Rome. Rolfe also leaves open that Suetonius means "some Jew of that name". Acts 18:2 [15][27]

It cannot be decided

J. R. Lumby (Cambridge Bible, 1885)

Lumby sets out both readings and a third, a movement of Jews against Christians, and says "we cannot tell". Acts 18:2 [14]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 3

Acts 11 Acts 12 Acts 18

PASSAGES · 3

Acts 11:27–30 Acts 12:25 Acts 18:1–3

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Acts does not say why Claudius ordered the Jews out of Rome.
  • Acts does not say whether Aquila and Priscilla were already Christians when Paul met them.
  • Scripture says nothing of Claudius's death or of who followed him.

IDENTIFICATIONS THIS PAGE RELIES ON

  • From the textActs names Claudius twice (Acts 11:28; 18:2). The site's person record also gives him "the decrees of Cæsar" at Thessalonica, which fall in his reign by date but name no emperor, and the "Caesar" of Paul's appeal in Acts 25-28. Acts 11:28 Acts 18:2 Acts 17:7 Acts 25:11

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • A. Deissmann, tr. L. R. M. Strachan, St. Paul: A Study in Social and Religious History (1912), Appendix I, The Proconsulate of L. Junius Gallio, pp. 235-260 (Orosius on p. 257).
  • Cassius Dio, tr. E. Cary, Roman History, book 60 (Loeb Classical Library, vol. 7) (1924), 60.6.6.
  • E. H. Plumptre, in C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A New Testament Commentary for English Readers, Notes on Acts 18:2 and 27:1 (about 1880), read on Bible Hub.
  • E. H. Plumptre, in C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A New Testament Commentary for English Readers, Notes on Luke 2:2 and 3:1 (about 1880), read on Bible Hub.
  • Eusebius, tr. A. C. McGiffert, Church History, book 2 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1) (1890), 2.2.1-2; 2.6.3-7; 2.7; 2.8.1; 2.25.5.
  • Eusebius, tr. A. C. McGiffert, Church History, book 9 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1) (1890), 9.5.1.
  • John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament, note on Acts 25:21 (1746-48), read on Bible Hub.
  • Seneca, tr. R. M. Gummere, Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 104 (Loeb Classical Library, vol. 3) (1925), 104.1 and Gummere's note 2.
  • The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Latin dedicatory inscription mentioning Pontius Pilate (IAA 1961-529), collection catalogue entry (facts only) (online catalogue, read 2026), findspot, date range, material, number, catalogue heading and the museum's English reconstruction of the text (checked by web search 2026-10-07; the Latin letters were not checked).
  • Justin Martyr, tr. M. Dods and G. Reith, The First Apology (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1) (1885), chs. 34, 35, 48.
  • R. J. Knowling, The Acts of the Apostles (Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. 2), on Acts 18:2 (1900), read on Bible Hub.
  • J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, 4th ed. (1878), p. 30 note 1; detached essay 'Caesar's Household', pp. 171 ff..
  • J. B. Lightfoot, Essays on the Work Entitled Supernatural Religion (1889), Appendix, pp. 292-296 (the proconsul of Cyprus).
  • J. R. Lumby, The Acts of the Apostles (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges), on Acts 18:2 (1885), read on Bible Hub.
  • H. A. W. Meyer (English translation), Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the Acts of the Apostles, on Acts 18:2 (1877-80), note on Acts 18:2 with notes 73 and 75; read on Bible Hub.
  • Philo, tr. C. D. Yonge, On the Virtues and Office of Ambassadors (the Embassy to Gaius), The Works of Philo Judaeus vol. 4 (1855), chapters 37-38 (Yonge's numbering), pp. 164-166.
  • A. Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to S. Luke (International Critical Commentary) (1896), on Luke 3:1, pp. 81-84.
  • A. C. Hervey, Acts (Pulpit Commentary), on Acts 18:2 (1884), read on Bible Hub.
  • W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen (1895), Chronological Index (as tabulated in the Letters research, pauls-letters-part1.md section 1.2).
  • W. M. Ramsay, Was Christ Born at Bethlehem? A Study on the Credibility of St. Luke (1898), chs. VII-VIII (pp. 131-173); ch. X, pp. 199-202 and note I, p. 221; ch. XI, pp. 227-245.
  • W. M. Ramsay, The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament (1915), ch. XII, pp. 150-162.
  • Augustus, tr. F. W. Shipley, Res Gestae Divi Augusti (Loeb Classical Library) (1924), chapter 34.
  • Augustus, tr. F. W. Shipley, Res Gestae Divi Augusti (Loeb Classical Library) (1924), chapter 8.
  • A. T. Robertson, Paul, the Apostle (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), part 3, III. Chronology of Paul's Career; read online, not yet checked against a scan.
  • E. Schürer, tr. S. Taylor and P. Christie, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division 2, vol. 2 (1885), section 31, pp. 236-238 with notes 67-70.
  • Suetonius, tr. J. C. Rolfe, The Life of Augustus (Loeb Classical Library) (1914), 100.1.
  • Suetonius, tr. J. C. Rolfe, The Life of Claudius (Loeb Classical Library) (1914), 18.2; 25.4 with Rolfe's note 75; 28; 45; Rolfe's note 79 (accession 25 January 41); note 81 (Felix's wives).
  • Suetonius, tr. J. C. Rolfe, The Life of Nero (Loeb Classical Library) (1914), 16.2; 57.1.
  • Suetonius, tr. J. C. Rolfe, The Life of Tiberius (Loeb Classical Library) (1914), 73.1.
  • Tacitus, tr. A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb, The Annals of Tacitus (1884), 3.48; 12.43; 12.54; 15.44; 15.73, with the translators' notes (1884 printing; first published 1876).
  • Tacitus, tr. A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb, The History of Tacitus (1888), 5.9 (1888 printing; first published 1864).
  • Tertullian, tr. S. Thelwall, Apology (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3) (1885), chs. 5 and 21.

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