Claudia Procula
"I belong to the Claudi family. I am more powerful than all the mighty ones in Israel, because Rome is behind me."[1]The imperial family belongs to this Claudi family. "A lady [...] who can do a lot", confirms a centurion.[2]
Pontius Pilate, her husband, probably owes his position to her. Her origins undoubtedly explain why she does not reside in Rome as usually the Women of procurators do, but in Palestine.
She meets Jesus during the first year of his public life (November 27) on the occasion of a miracle,[3] then encounters him again in Caesarea on the Sea, the Roman port of Palestine where Jesus speaks to the galley slaves and calls for pity for the Romans.[4]
Moved by Jesus' deeds and words, whom she considers "a wise man, a great philosopher",[5] she talks about him in the small circle of Roman noblewomen who accompany her. She even secretly joins this group at a banquet of charity that Jesus gives in Jerusalem, in the Palace of Johanna of Chuza, a Jewish princess.
For Claudia, however, the glory of the heavenly kingdom preached by Jesus will serve the power of Rome. Unknowingly, she thus prophesies Christian Rome:"Rome and the Earth will be really great when they put that Name on their banners, and His sign will be on standards, temples, arches and columns."[6]She asks Judas to warn her in case of trouble, but through ambiguous remarks about the imminent kingship of Jesus, Judas makes her fear a plot against Rome. She doubts:
"She was so shocked that she began to doubt about You and the holiness of Your doctrine. [...] For the time being You seem a false greedy rebel and usurper to her… [...] she wants an immediate reply from You", reports Johanna of Chuza.[5]But Jesus' explanations reassure her and even more so his miracles, including the one that restores the tongue, although severed, of one of his slaves, Callistus:
"You really are the Just Man I foresaw! [...] only You can make a dead man revive and give eyes to the blind [Sidonia]."[7]Therefore, it is only natural that she tries to influence her husband at the time of the trial of Jesus as reported by Matthew 27:19, but the cowardice of Pontius Pilate precipitates the separation of the couple:
"But Claudia went away again two days after the Sabbath, and they say that she was indignant and even frightened of being near her husband… [...] Claudia, separates her responsibility from her husband’s. Because she had warned him not to persecute the Just Man, as it is better to be persecuted by men rather than by the Most High, Whose Messiah was the Master."[8]She retires, under the guard of the centurion Longinus, the one at Calvary, to the Roman garrison of Caesarea on the Sea with the core of Roman women united by the same admiration, even a faith in Jesus.
Character and appearance
"A beautiful woman about thirty years old".[9]
"Tall, slender [...] whose face is regular and serious, and whose eyes are kind but imperious."[10]
Apostolic journey
She walks, like the group of Roman women, on the path of faith:"Claudia believes in the Nazarene. According to her He is greater than any other man."[11]Shortly before the Passion, Valeria, a recently converted Roman woman, tells Jesus:
"After me, [Claudia] is the one who follows Your doctrine and honours You more."[12]
Her name
Claudia designates the family from which she descends, an imperial lineage.
Where is she mentioned in the work?
GRM 116 GRM 154 GRM 155 GRM 158 The second Easter journey: GRM 192 Apostolate in Judea: GRM 204 GRM 362 The penultimate Passover: GRM 370 GRM 371 GRM 372 GRM 378 In Judea: GRM 379 GRM 393 GRM 400 Pentecost, Decapolis and Plain of Esdraelon: GRM 425 GRM 426 GRM 429 GRM 431 Summer in Nazareth: GRM 433 GRM 442 GRM 448The Feast of Dedication: GRM 531 GRM 549 The exile in Samaria: GRM 563 GRM 566 The return to Jerusalem: GRM 583 GRM 586
Holy Week: GRM 596 The Passion: GRM 604 GRM 630
Learn more about this character
According to the estimates of Jean Aulagnier, she would have been 32 or 33 years old when she met Jesus.
The historicity of the character by Jean-François Lavère
If her name comes from the gens Claudia, to which she belongs, her nickname (procula or Procla) means "born in the absence of her father". She is indeed the illegitimate daughter of Julia, second wife of Emperor Tiberius, and thus granddaughter of Emperor Augustus.The apocryphal gospel of Nicodemus ("The Acts of Pilate") as well as Anne-Catherine Emmerich confirm the name Claudia Procula for the wife of Pontius Pilate. According to Maurice Laurentin, her portrait, in a red jasper intaglio, would be kept in the Cabinet of Medals in Paris ("Roman of Pontius Pilate", Paris 1926).
Speculation exists about Claudia’s natural father, but going back about thirty years, according to indications from Maria Valtorta, her mother Julia was condemned to exile by her father Augustus in -2 just after having been the mistress of consul Julius Antonius, the last living son of Mark Antony. (Velleius Paterculus, II, 100) For this reason, Julius was killed (Tacitus, Annals IV,44). This would explain both the distancing of Claudia Procula and the protection she enjoys.
The law Oppia forbade proconsuls from bringing their Women to the provinces they governed. If Pilate had his wife in Jerusalem, as confirmed,[13] this proves they had support in "high places" because, at that time, only Women of high rank accompanied their husbands on mission (Tacitus Annals L 3 33-34).
Claudia had been raised by Tiberius. According to Macrobius, chronicler of the 5th century of imperial Rome (Saturnalia): In the archives of the Diocese of Narbonne, correspondence from Claudia Procula to Fluvia Hersila would confirm this statement:
"I will not speak to you of my earliest years spent in Narbonne under the protection of my father (in –10, Tiberius was in Gaul and Narbonne was the capital of the Roman province) and under the care of your friendship. You know that, upon reaching my sixteenth year, I was united to Pontius, a Roman of a noble and ancient Family…"
As for Claudia Procula's adherence to the Christian faith, it is attested as early as the 2nd century by Origen (Homilies – Matthew 10:25). She is also honored as a saint by the Greek Church on October 27, and by the Coptic Church on June 25.
What became of her?
Some authors, such as François de Bivar (Commentaries on the "Chronicle of Dexter" - 1637), believe that it might be she whom Saint Paul refers to in his epistle to Timothy,[14] naming the most important Christian persons of Rome: "Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia".
Others, such as Jean Aulagnier (The First Christian Century - 1989), postulate that she followed her husband into exile in Gaul. This protection would be at the origin of the immigration of the powerful family of Lazarus, affected by the first persecutions of Herod Agrippa I in 44, according to a tradition strongly rooted in Provence.
Finally, in 1929, Carrington Smith believed he had discovered her tomb in Lebanon, in Achrafieh, near Beirut. But the two gold bracelets engraved with the name Claudia Procula that were discovered may belong to two other Claudia Procula known by history at the end of the 2nd century, the estimated date of the sarcophagus, according to Father René Mouterde.[15]