Claudia
Claudia
Info
- #coworker #female
- Home:: Roman Church
- Other Locales:: None recorded
- References:: 2 Timothy 4#4:21
Notes
Summary
Claudia is mentioned once in 2 Timothy 4#4:21, as one of four named Roman believers who send greetings to Timothy: "Eubulus greets you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers."
Her name is distinctly Roman and aristocratic: the feminine form of the nomen gentilicium Claudius, one of Rome's most prominent patrician families. This does not necessarily mean she was from the senatorial Claudii, but the name suggests either direct patrician descent, freedwoman status from a Claudian household, or Roman citizenship with social aspirations associated with the name. "Claudia" carries higher social connotations than the slave-freedman names (like Tertius, Quartus, Secundus) found elsewhere in the Pauline network.
Some traditions identify this Claudia with a British-born woman mentioned by the Roman poet Martial (Epigrams 4.13, 11.53), or connect her to Pudens as his wife. These identifications are unverifiable and depend on coincidence of names, but they reflect the early church's interest in tracing Christianity's reach into Roman aristocratic circles.
Claudia is one of the last women named in the New Testament: a Roman believer who remained connected to Paul during his final imprisonment when the cost of association was highest.