Claudius

2 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Claudius
       n : Roman Emperor after his nephew Caligula was murdered;
           consolidated the Empire and conquered southern Britain;
           was poisoned by his fourth wife Agrippina after her son
           Nero was named as Claudius' heir (10 BC to AD 54) [syn: {Claudius
           I}, {Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus}]



From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Claudius
     lame. (1.) The fourth Roman emperor. He succeeded Caligula (A.D.
     41). Though in general he treated the Jews, especially those in
     Asia and Egypt, with great indulgence, yet about the middle of
     his reign (A.D. 49) he banished them all from Rome (Acts 18:2).
     In this edict the Christians were included, as being, as was
     supposed, a sect of Jews. The Jews, however soon again returned
     to Rome.
     
       During the reign of this emperor, several persecutions of the
     Christians by the Jews took place in the dominions of Herod
     Agrippa, in one of which the apostle James was "killed" (12:2).
     He died A.D. 54.
     
       (2.) Claudius Lysias, a Greek who, having obtained by purchase
     the privilege of Roman citizenship, took the name of Claudius
     (Acts 21:31-40; 22:28; 23:26).