Claudia Procula
This patrician Roman belongs to the imperial Family: "I belong to the gens Claudia. I have more power than all the nobles of Israel because, behind me, there is Rome."[1] The imperial Family belongs to this gens Claudia. "A lady who holds great powers" confirms a centurion.
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[2], 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.[3]
Moved by Jesus' deeds and words, whom she considers "a wise man, a great philosopher", 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: "Great, truly great will be Rome and the Earth, when they place this Name on their standards and when its sign will be on the banners and on the Temples, on the arches and on the columns."[4]
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 Doubt: "She was so deeply shocked that she doubted You and the holiness of your Doctrine. For now, you appear to her as a rebel, an usurper, greedy, false... She wants an immediate response 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 are truly the Just One I had anticipated … no one but You can bring a dead man to life (Lazarus) and give sight to a [Confessiongle] (Sidonia)".[6]
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: "Claudia left Jerusalem two days after the Sabbath and, it is said, indignant, even frightened to remain near her husband... Claudia separates her responsibility from that of her husband. For she had told him not to pursue the Just One, for it was better to be persecuted by men than by the Most High whose Master was the Messiah".[7]
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 Woman "very beautiful, about thirty years old." Tall, slender, of high stature. Her regular and serious Face has "eyes gentle yet commanding"[8].
Apostolic journey
She walks, like the group of Roman women, on the path of faith: "Claudia believes in the Nazarene. To her he is greater than any other man."[9] Shortly before the Passion, Valeria, a recently converted Roman woman, tells Jesus: "After me, (Claudia) is the one who follows your Doctrine most closely and honors you most."[10]
Her name
Claudia designates the Gens from which she descends, an imperial lineage.
Where is she mentioned in the work?
EMV 116 EMV 154 EMV 155 EMV 158 The second Easter journey: EMV 192 Apostolate in Judea: EMV 204 EMV 362 The penultimate Passover: EMV 370 EMV 371 EMV 372 EMV 378 In Judea: EMV 379 EMV 393 EMV 400 Pentecost, Decapolis and Plain of Esdraelon: EMV 425 EMV 426 EMV 429 EMV 431 Summer in Nazareth: EMV 433 EMV 442 EMV 448The Feast of Dedication: EMV 531 EMV 549 The exile in Samaria: EMV 563 EMV 566 The return to Jerusalem: EMV 583 EMV 586
Holy Week: EMV 596 The Passion: EMV 604 EMV 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 Woman 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 Woman in Jerusalem, as confirmed[11], 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[12], 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 Procla known by history at the end of the 2nd century, the estimated date of the sarcophagus, according to Father René Mouterde.[13]