Nero Archives

Christians Accused of Being Troublemakers — Roman Emperor Claudius

Recently, we noted that Paul caused trouble for the silversmiths who made idols of Artemis in Ephesus. So many people were converting to Christianity that it was hurting the sale of Artemis idols. A riot broke out when Demetrius the silversmith accused the apostle Paul of being a troublemaker. History records other instances of Christians accused of being troublemakers.

During Emperor Claudius’s reign in AD 49, a series of riots erupted among the Jews in Rome. At that time, many Jews were becoming Christians, and the Jews who rejected the gospel didn’t like it. Claudius decided to expel all the Jews from the city. Roman historian Suetonius, who served as chief secretary to Emperor Hadrian (117-138), recorded this event. Though he wrote later, his position gave him access to the imperial records. He wrote:

“Because the Jews at Rome caused continuous disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from the city.”

“Chrestus” is a variant spelling of “Christ,” and Suetonius could not distinguish between Christ and the Christians. They were Christians accused of being troublemakers. We read in Acts 18:1-2 about two of the Jewish Christians who were expelled from Rome:

“After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.”

Suetonius’s account provides evidence from a reputable Roman historian supporting the biblical record. After meeting Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth, Paul preached to the Jews there, telling them Jesus was the Christ (Acts 18:5). However, the Jews “opposed Paul and became abusive” (verse 6), just as they had in Rome. This led Paul to declare that he was free from his responsibility to the Jews. He said, “From now on, I will go to the Gentiles.”

Suetonius also wrote about the great fire in Rome, likely started by Nero, who blamed it on Christians. More on that tomorrow. The key point is that Roman history confirms the biblical account. Earlier in Thessalonica, Christians accused of being troublemakers were called “these who have turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). Actually, they were turning it right side up, and we still have much work to do in that regard today.

The November/December 2020, issue of Archaeology, the journal of the Archaeological Institute of America, carried an interesting article titled “The Price of Purple.” It tells about an archaeological site known as Tel Shikmonan in northern Israel, where there is a very long history of securing purple dye for coloring textiles.

Textiles colored with purple dye were listed along with precious metals in trade and tax records indicating prestige and royal status. In Jesus’ time, Roman high officials wore distinctive purple togas. In Mark 15:17, Jesus was clothed in purple when the Romans wanted to portray Him as king of the Jews. In Luke 16:19, the rich man in Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus was clothed in purple to indicate his status.

In the New Testament, we read the story of Lydia (Acts 16:14-15, 40). Paul had arrived in Philippi, which was a “chief city” of that part of Macedonia. There he met Lydia, who came from Thyatira, which was a city near Philippi. Lydia was a “seller of purple” (verse 14). Verse 15 tells us that she owned a house and other people lived in the house with her. Selling purple dye was a high scale business. A woman owning a home and having a household indicated wealth and prestige in the Roman culture. Verse 40 tells us that the Church was meeting in Lydia’s house.

Skeptics have attempted to deny this account, but excavation at Tel Shikmona has strongly supported the Bible. Tel Shikmona is located on the coast at the foot of Mount Carmel near the present-day port city of Haifa, Israel. The ocean is shallow and rocky at Tel Shikmona, and there are large populations of murex snails in those waters. Liquid extracted from the hypobranchial glands of murex sea snails formed the purple dye when treated with light or oxygen. The sea snails at Tel Shikmona can produce large quantities of the purple dye that stains textiles like no other known dye. People had ground up lapis lazuli, which we rock hounds know is a blue color, but it fades and was not as unique as the murex purple.

Joseph Elgavish excavated Tel Shikmona in the 1960s and found thousands of artifacts. Later excavations convinced archaeologists that this was an industrial site focused on the purple dye industry. Roman rulers starting with Julius Caesar (46-44 BC) and continuing through Nero (AD 54 – 68) had laws to fine anyone wearing murex purple without permission. So Lydia was indeed a special woman with connections and clout with people at the top of the social structure. These facts strongly support her ability to use her status to help Paul in his work at Philippi.

Tag: Nero

Christians Accused of Being Troublemakers

Purple Dye and the Bible