Emperor Claudius

Roman Emperor from 41 to 54 AD. Claudius is mentioned twice in the NT: 1) in passing in Acts 11:28 in reference to Agabus' prediction of a severe famine that would engulf the entire Roman world, and 2) in Acts 18:2, in reference to Paul's first encounter with Aquila and his wife Priscilla in Corinth "because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome."

Grandson of Augustus Caesar and brother to Germanicus (Caligula's father), Claudius had suffered from physical problems from infancy serious enough for his own mother to call him a "monster," and to be rejected as having any possibility of public service. When Augustus died, Claudius was name in his will as an "heir in the sixth part," i.e., a non-relative. Beneath his disabilities, however, was a brilliant mind and oratorical skills, and he grew to gain the respect of the populace.

His disabilities served actually to protect him from the often fatal intrigues of the Roman court; "defective," he was viewed as no threat to anyone. When Caligula was murdered in 41, the Julio-Claudio family was already so severely decimated he was the only one the Praetorian Guard could find to install as an acceptable emperor.

He surprised many in the Senate who had looked upon him as a freek, and upset many of them. Surrounding himself with able freedmen to run his administration, Claudius introduced a stability to the empire that had been absent in the days of Caligula. He had a new harbour in Ostia constructed to better serve the growing needs of Rome. Under him Britain was finally successfully invaded and conquered, an accomplished that had eluded even Julius Caesar. Herod Agrippa I was a bosom-friend of Claudius and gained much, when he was awarded the additional control of Judea and Samaria.

Claudius was less successful in his marriages. He divorced his first two wives for adultery and, in 48, put to death his third wife—the scandalous Valeria Messalina, who had the reputation of checking into a brothel one night to see if she could serve more men in a night than an experienced prostitute. Almost immediately Claudius fell into the arms of his niece, the ambitious Agrippina and already mother of the future Emperor Nero. Five years later Claudius was served poisoned mushrooms by Agrippina. He was succeeded by the 16-year-old Nero.