Claudius

Claudius
    n 1: Roman Emperor after his nephew Caligula was murdered;
         consolidated the Roman 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}, {Claudius I}, {Tiberius Claudius Drusus
         Nero Germanicus}]
    

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).