Claudia, Wife of Pontius Pilate
by Diana Wallis Taylor
Pontius Pilate will ever be known as the man who condemned Jesus to death. That he was married is mentioned in the Biblical narrative only once at Matthew 27:19. But who was this woman?
Diana Taylor names her Claudia Procula, daughter of Julia, granddaughter of Augustus Caesar. According to the apocryphal book of Nicodemus she was a Jewish proselyte. Taylor brings this out as Claudia talks with the Jewish gardener at Pilate's villa. She hears about a rabbi ( Jesus) who is in Caesarea where the procurators lived and wants to know more about him. She conspires to find him with her servant Hotep, her Egyptian slave who has also been listening to the gardener. They continue to listen to him until Pilate finds out.
The story of Claudia begins in exile in Reggio, where she lived with her mother and grandmother Scribonia after her mother was moved there from her exile on Pandataria for adultery. When her mother is forced into starvation at the hands of Tiberius she and Scribonia are taken to Rome where Claudia will be raised by the emperor. When she is 16 a marriage is arranged for her with Pilate.
Lucius Pontius Pilate is in his 30's when he and Claudia are betrothed. (I can't find any sources, in my quick research that have Lucius as his first name) and it's love at first sight. Pilate is under the patronage of Sejanus, head of the Praetorian Guard, and, possibly from him, has developed a hatred of the Jews. Sejanus has not forgotten the first encounter with Claudia, which did not go well and arranges for Pilate to leave for Caesarea in Judea one hour after his wedding, and without Claudia. It is a while before she is given permission to join him.
I love the way Claudia submits to and helps her husband by her encouragement and building him up. And I also love the way Taylor has portrayed Pilate as something other than the Judean Procurator we see in the Bible. She makes him a whole person with likes and dislikes, fears, problems, and a heart, as well as a man frustrated and angry with the position Sejanus has placed him in.
There is more to Claudia's story after the crucifixion of Jesus, but I'm not going to share that with you. You'll have to read the book for yourself 😊
Diana Taylor names her Claudia Procula, daughter of Julia, granddaughter of Augustus Caesar. According to the apocryphal book of Nicodemus she was a Jewish proselyte. Taylor brings this out as Claudia talks with the Jewish gardener at Pilate's villa. She hears about a rabbi ( Jesus) who is in Caesarea where the procurators lived and wants to know more about him. She conspires to find him with her servant Hotep, her Egyptian slave who has also been listening to the gardener. They continue to listen to him until Pilate finds out.
The story of Claudia begins in exile in Reggio, where she lived with her mother and grandmother Scribonia after her mother was moved there from her exile on Pandataria for adultery. When her mother is forced into starvation at the hands of Tiberius she and Scribonia are taken to Rome where Claudia will be raised by the emperor. When she is 16 a marriage is arranged for her with Pilate.
Lucius Pontius Pilate is in his 30's when he and Claudia are betrothed. (I can't find any sources, in my quick research that have Lucius as his first name) and it's love at first sight. Pilate is under the patronage of Sejanus, head of the Praetorian Guard, and, possibly from him, has developed a hatred of the Jews. Sejanus has not forgotten the first encounter with Claudia, which did not go well and arranges for Pilate to leave for Caesarea in Judea one hour after his wedding, and without Claudia. It is a while before she is given permission to join him.
I love the way Claudia submits to and helps her husband by her encouragement and building him up. And I also love the way Taylor has portrayed Pilate as something other than the Judean Procurator we see in the Bible. She makes him a whole person with likes and dislikes, fears, problems, and a heart, as well as a man frustrated and angry with the position Sejanus has placed him in.
There is more to Claudia's story after the crucifixion of Jesus, but I'm not going to share that with you. You'll have to read the book for yourself 😊
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