Claudia, Wife of Pontius Pilate

by Taylor, Diana Wallis

  The people were coming into the city in droves as usual for this High Holy Day, and there was more shouting and singing than usual. Claudia and Hotep took Doros along to watch Jesus enter the Holy City in triumph. He rode on a donkey and the people were spreading their clothes and flowers in his path. As the people proclaimed him a king and shouted their hosannas, Claudia felt the shadow of fear creep across her heart. There was no king but Caesar in the Roman world, and she wondered at this man of God who rode so regally, though it was only upon a donkey. He had the bearing of a king, and when she listened to the words the people were shouting, she feared for him.

  Slipping back to the palace with Doros, she asked Chuza and Joanna to keep her informed on what was happening with the Teacher.

  She paced the floor of their quarters, trying to understand this feeling of apprehension that gripped her. It was Joanna that brought her the first foreboding news.

  “My lady, he has devastated the Temple! He entered and made a whip of cords and chased the money changers out. It was chaos. He overturned their trading tables, opened the cages of doves and let them go, then opened the pens for the lambs. People were picking up money until the Temple police arrived and drove them away. Animals were running everywhere . . .”

  Claudia’s eyes widened. “This will not set well with the high priest and the other leaders.”

  “No, it won’t. They wanted to arrest him, but the people were cheering him, so they could not without causing a riot.”

  “Oh, Joanna. I fear he has created danger to himself. To teach is one thing, and heal the sick, but to openly defy the Pharisees is reckless. Did he give a reason for all this?”

  Joanna nodded. “He said, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.’” She went on, “When the chief priests and scribes saw what he was doing and heard the people crying out, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant. When they objected, the Teacher merely said, ‘Have you never read, “Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants, You have perfected praise”’?”

  ‘What a strange thing to say. Did the leaders not arrest him?”

  “No, my lady. They were angry, but they stalked away. I think they feared the people. They believe he is the Messiah, the promised king.”

  Claudia listened and her heart was heavy. If the Jewish leaders did not arrest him, the Roman soldiers no doubt would. Her emotions were in turmoil. To believe in him as the Son of the Living God and to follow his teaching was one thing. To challenge Caesar as a king was another.

  Joanna hurried away to her other duties, and Claudia went to the window and stared out at the city a long time.

  Hotep brought Doros back from the garden and took him to his small room adjoining their quarters for his nap. They had discovered the room by accident, turning a carved flower attached to the wall. It turned out to be a handle and opened to a lovely sunlit room, perfect for a nursery. Because the thick stone walls muffled any sounds from Claudia’s room, Hotep was moved in to share the other room with her small charge.

  At their evening meal, Lucius joined her but was obviously angry. He reclined on his couch in a huff and glared at her.

  “Your Teacher nearly caused a riot in the city today. You should have seen the grand procession. Fools shouting, ‘Hosanna to the king!’” He sneered and flung one hand in the air. “Don’t you know he could be accused of treason?”

  She faced him calmly. “Joanna told me what happened. The Jewish leaders could have arrested him and they didn’t. I don’t think he meant any harm.”

  “No harm? Claudia, he entered the city as though he were a king! My sources say the people view him as the Messiah. If the people proclaim him as such, how do I explain this to the emperor?”

  “Were the people not just excited? He has healed so many.” She waited for him to realize what she did not say.

  His shoulders slumped. “Yes, he healed our son. I have not forgotten.” Then he suddenly pounded his fist into his palm. “But I must have order in this city. That is my job. I cannot risk further confrontation with the Jews. Tiberius has ordered me to respect their beliefs.”

  “You had word from the emperor?”

  “After the incident with the banners.”

  “You never mentioned that.”

  “I feared a recall to Rome for a while, but nothing further was said, and I’m still here. I didn’t want to worry you.”

  She put a hand on his arm. “Oh, dear Lucius, how you must have worried over that.”

  He smiled at her then. “Always soothing words from you, beloved. What would I do without you?”

  She gave him a saucy look. “I hope you never have to find out.”

  Doros wanted to see Jesus again, but after the incident in the Temple, Claudia did not feel it was safe for her to go again. Yet her hunger to hear his teaching won out, and while Joanna agreed there was danger, she also wanted to hear him. Chuza was persuaded to go with them as before, but Doros was left at home.

  She didn’t tell Doros where she was going, only that if he was good and minded Hotep, she would bring him a sweet from the marketplace.

  The three stole quietly through the throngs in the city, Claudia’s face well-covered by her heavy stola. Chuza led them through some back streets and Claudia prayed for safety and that she would not be recognized.

  Jesus had returned to the Temple in the morning and was teaching as usual. As the crowd settled down to listen, Joanna recognized the disciples and some of the other women who followed Jesus. Claudia was introduced to Susanna and a woman called Mary from the city of Magdala, but only as “Procula,” Claudia’s family name, which she seldom used. For the first time she heard herself referred to as a Godfearer and believer.

  The eyes of the two Jewish women held curiosity, but they asked no questions and finally moved on to greet other believers and some of the disciples of Jesus.

  Claudia, Joanna, and Chuza slipped into the shadows of a large pillar to listen unobtrusively. As Jesus began to teach, some of the chief priests and elders confronted him.

  “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?”

  Jesus answered, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: the baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”

  The leaders reasoned among themselves, their voices low but fierce as they sought an answer. Finally they turned to Jesus. “We do not know.”

  Jesus sighed. “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

  He spoke to them in parables, and sometimes Claudia had to strive in her mind to understand his point.

  Now he was speaking of wicked vinedressers who were to care for a vineyard for a certain landowner. When he sent servants to receive the harvest, his servants were beaten, stoned, and killed. Finally he sent his son, thinking they would respect him, but the wicked vinedressers, knowing this was the heir, killed the son to seize his inheritance. Jesus looked around at the crowd. “When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”

  One of the priests answered, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” As the crowd digested those words, Jesus spoke directly to the Jewish leaders. “Have you never read in the Scriptures,

  “‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

  This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’?

  “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

  Claudia realized that he was speaking directly of the chief priests and Pharisees, and she watched their faces as they listened. One priest’s face was almost purple with anger and outrage.

&nb
sp; Jesus faced the multitude in the courtyard and also his disciples gathered nearby. “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen of men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogue, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi,’ for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, he who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant, and whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in . . .”

  As Jesus went on, berating the scribes and Pharisees, Claudia looked around, expecting the Temple police to appear at any moment to arrest the Teacher for his vehement scolding of the leaders. The disciples also looked uncomfortable and surreptitiously glanced around. She reasoned that they were thinking the same thing she was.

  “Joanna,” she whispered. “How can he get away with such words?”

  “They fear the people,” Joanna whispered back.

  When Jesus finished his rant against the scribes and Pharisees, they turned and plowed back through the crowd, their eyes flashing against anyone in their way and their jaws clenched in anger.

  Oh, dear Lord, please be careful, she pleaded in her mind. She turned to Chuza and whispered again, “What will they do? He has greatly angered them.”

  Chuza shook his head and answered softly, “He speaks the truth, but they do not wish to hear. They will retaliate, but I fear it will not be when he is in front of the crowds.”

  The three slipped out of the Temple area again, and Claudia kept her head down to keep from being recognized. Only when they had reached the courtyard of the castle did she sigh with relief. She was doubly relieved to learn that Lucius was at the Antonia and had not yet returned.

  In the quiet of her quarters, with Doros down in the garden with Hotep, Claudia knelt and prayed fervently for the safety of the Teacher. “Please protect him, Most Sovereign God.” She prayed for Lucius, for understanding and enlightenment. She sensed the turmoil in her husband. On the one hand, he could not help but acknowledge his son’s miracle, but on the other hand, his mind was that of a soldier, hardened by years in the army. Above all, there was the need to keep peace in the city he ruled, and he was ruthless in accomplishing what was needed. She had heard stories that caused her no end of grief in her spirit. She could not breech that barrier no matter how many times she tried. Once or twice she had gone too far and earned a quick rebuke. He loved her but never forgot that he was the governor and the paterfamilias of his household with absolute rule over her and their son.

  36

  She had lain in Lucius’s arms the night before, soothing his concern as only a wife can do. At times she thought of him as a little boy who had taken on a task too great for him. She knew he was doing his best, but the responsibility was taking a toll on him. His hair was beginning to show signs of gray and the worry lines in his forehead became grooves that were permanent now.

  When she at last fell asleep, the dream came to her again. Once more she saw the face of the man covered in blood from a crown of thorns on his head. It was running down his face and his eyes were sad. There was no fear in the face, only great sorrow. Angry voices shouted in the background and with a shock of recognition, Claudia realized who the man was. It was the Teacher, Jesus. Her heart pounded as she suddenly sat up in bed and reached for Lucius, but he had gone. Many times he was summoned for one reason or another in the early hours of the morning. Could they not let the man have a night’s sleep?

  She came down to breakfast and found Lucius with his friend Trajanius. She was apprehensive. Trajanius did not travel all the way to Judea just for a visit. He always brought news for Lucius. Her husband’s face was thoughtful. She joined them and looked from one to another. “What news is there from Rome?”

  “Livia Drusilla, the mother of the emperor, is dead, my lady.”

  “Livia? Was it illness or . . . ?”

  Trajanius nodded. “She was eighty-six and has been ill for the past year.” His tone was disdainful now. “The emperor did not see the need to visit her nor did he personally attend to the laying out of her body. There was a public funeral, but no matters of importance.”

  Claudia was horrified. “But she was his mother. Did he not seek to honor her?”

  “Tiberius forbade deifying her and conducted business as usual. The senate, however, because of her good works among the women of the country, voted to build an arch in her name. An unusual and unprecedented move, if I may say so.”

  “Where was she buried?” This from Lucius.

  “In the mausoleum of Augustus, Excellency.”

  Lucius nodded. “And how are things in Rome?”

  “Tiberius remains in Capri. The winds of change blow over the city, and Sejanus, with all the honors Tiberius has heaped on him, is rumored to be in line for the consulship, the highest magistracy in Rome. There is no reason not to give it to him, considering he rules in the place of our absent emperor.”

  Lucius had listened thoughtfully, but now spoke what was truly on his mind. “And is there word of Judea?”

  Claudia, picking up a cup of mulsa, paused, her hand in midair.

  “My sources in the senate have not mentioned any unfavorable news. I believe you are secure in your position here, at least for now. As long as Sejanus is in charge of Rome, you have no reason for concern. Also, as long as there are no riots among the Jews or circumstances like the issue over the banners, Tiberius will not concern himself with matters of the far provinces. He seems content to remain in seclusion in Capri.”

  Lucius digested that news, chin in hand, and Claudia inwardly sighed with relief.

  Trajanius turned to Lucius. “It is rumored that you and Herod had a falling out. What happened?”

  Lucius shrugged and glanced at Claudia. Puzzled, she waited for his explanation.

  They had seen little of Herod other than one banquet they had attended. She found Herod overbearing and his eyes, rheumy with drink, had ogled her body shamelessly when Lucius was looking the other way. She had endeavored to hide her disgust and be pleasant to Herod’s wife, Herodias. Later she learned Lucius had been aware of Herod’s attention to her and couldn’t wait to leave the palace as soon as the appropriate opportunity presented itself. They had to be civil to the man, since they were living in one of his palaces.

  Then Joanna had told her of the beheading of the Baptizer by Herod on a whim of his stepdaughter, Salome, who had performed the dance of the seven veils so seductively that Herod, inflamed with lust in his drunken state, offered her anything she asked for. At her mother’s instigation, the girl had boldly asked for the head of the Baptizer whom Herod had imprisoned. He had no choice but to order the deed carried out. Claudia shuddered, hearing of the incident. Joanna told her that even the Teacher, Jesus, wept at the news.

  She prompted Lucius. “What incident with Herod?”

  “It was a matter of shields again. The golden shields I set up in my headquarters. While they didn’t have the image of Caesar on them, only a bare inscription of dedication to Tiberius, the Jews, with the help of Herod, formally protested to the emperor. I received a very terse reply from the emperor to transfer the shields to a temple in Caesarea and that I was to uphold all the religious and political customs of his Jewish subjects!”

  “You never mentioned this.”

&nb
sp; He glanced at his friend and, with a touch of irritation, murmured, “It is not necessary to inform you of all that goes on in Judea, my dear.”

  She felt the rebuke like a slap in the face but swallowed her first impulse to respond and, instead, inclined her head toward him. “Of course, Lucius, there are many matters of government that I’m sure do not concern me.”

  She had showed herself a submissive wife and not embarrassed her husband in front of his friend but knew now that there were things going on in her husband’s realm that he did not wish to share with her.

  “So you and Herod have not spoken because of the shields?” Trajanius said.

  “That was five months ago. It will pass. I intend to invite Herod to a banquet and mend our relationship. He will be in Jerusalem for the Passover as usual.”

  Claudia sensed they wished to talk more, without her presence. At the end of the meal, Lucius stood, as did Trajanius, and politely waited for her to excuse herself. She nodded to Trajanius, who bowed his head in return.

  Doros was awake when she came into his room and Hotep was dressing him for the day in a small tunic. She held out her arms and he went into them. “Pray, Mater?” he asked.

  “Yes, Doros. We will pray.” She had begun with Hotep after the healing of Doros’s foot to pray daily to the Most High God. She had cautioned Doros not to talk about their prayers to his father. “Pater is very busy and Jesus is not his friend yet, as he is ours.”

  The three of them knelt by the side of her son’s bed and prayed earnestly for Lucius, for wisdom and protection, and that he would see Jesus for who he truly was, the Son of the Living God.

  She didn’t see Lucius until the next evening. He’d slept in the small austere quarters he’d used after Claudia had given birth and had been gone all day on affairs of the province. He finally joined her for dinner, but was subdued. He picked up a slice of melon and stared at it absentmindedly.

  “Your thoughts are deep, my husband. Is it the news Trajanius brought you last night?”