100 Reasons to Believe New Testament History
62. Seutonius
Seutonius was a contemporary of Tacitus, and chief secretary to the Emperor Hadrian. Seutonius records that
“…because the Jews of Rome [were] indulging in constant riots at the instigation of Chrestus [Claudius] expelled them from the city.” Seutonius, “Claudius”, 25:4 Almost all scholars agree that “Chrestus” is a variant form of Christos, the Greek rendering of the Hebrew “Messiah”, or “anointed one”. The term “Christ”, as it is well known, is the anglicized version, and became the claimed title for Jesus of Nazareth.
This expulsion of the Jews from Rome under Claudius is mentioned in the book of Acts (18:2), and its cause can probably be deduced. Most likely Christian doctrine had reached the Roman populace, to the disapproval of many synagogue members there. The result was the “rioting in ghettos”, which Claudius promptly addressed. Blaiklock states,
“There is a quite authentic touch of Claudius’ well documented whimsicality and carefulness in the result. Unable to decide the issue he banished all Jews.” E.M. Blaiklock, “The Archaeology of the New Testament”, Revised and Updated, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984, p. 74
Again, we must consider the likelihood that the worship of a crucified man could persist in great numbers only thirty years after the fact, if there was not at least some compelling evidence supporting the resurrection account.