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Claudia Procla - Pilate's Wife
The painters strive and toil to visualize
This lady of convictions deep and strong,
And Rhapsodists attempt to verbalize
Her keen discernment between right and wrong.
Lo! - Pilate's wife, spouse of the Governor,
Of the Judean Province ruled by Rome,
Who left Tiberias with him to share
For Passover their lush Judean home.
Luxurious home, perched by Antonia's wall
The fortress, held by Roman soldiery
She watched from her abode the festival
And all occurrences that were to see..
From her high window Claudia could see
The goings-on upon the city's streets,
And took good note of the activity
Of noisy crowds and frightened drawn-out bleats.
A hearing was supposed to soon take place
Wherein her husband would in judgment sit,
And from her window she could watch and trace
Proceedings and engage her keen-edged wit.
But oh! a dream had come to her one night
With forebodings and omens dark and dread,
Ill spirits gathered, and she saw with fright
Their hideous dance around her husband's head.
Dreams, dreams, Calpurnia, Julius Cesar's wife,
Assassinated saw her spouse in dreams,
And breathing out his brave exalted life
While blood kept gushing forth in purplish streams.
But Claudia recalled her own bad dream,
And sent a messenger out speedily,
To seek her husband, Pilate to tell him:
"Judge not this holy man Sir, hear my plea!"
"Have naught to do with this, her message ran,
I had a dream so fearful, dark and dread,-
Oh Pilate don't condemn this wondrous man,
Dark evil spirits gather round your head!".
The captive's eyes were sad, but glints of light
Streamed from His swollen eye-lids to embrace
All humankind around the world so wide-
Oh wondrous countenance! oh wondrous gaze!.
Save husbands from decision wrong, Save!, Save!
From fatal verdict of the innocent,
Entreat them to be brave and not to cave
Before the shrieks of the Establishment.
And Pilate read her message, but the mob,
Shrieked ever louder out for death and doom,
Reminding him of Cesar, kings and job,
While Claudia Procla shuddered in her room.
Impassive stood the tribune to receive
His orders, egged on by the populace
To open prison gates and free a thief
The murderer and robber Barrabas.
Ah Claudia's voice had not been strong enough,
For soon she saw the captive on his way,
Through twisted streets with soldiers brute and rough
Called Via Dolorosa to this day.
But on the next day Lady Claudia left,
To change her course of life for evermore,
And Pontius Pilate was of wife bereft
And all the honors relished heretofore.
But Claudia set out with haste to find
The mother of the man from Galilee,
Who'd set aflame her heart, her soul and mind.
And would be master of her destiny.
And scripture tells of Claudia again*
And sculptors chisel, and the painters paint,
And rhapsodists and poets grasp the pen,
To honor Lady Claudia - The Saint.
Raised to the altars in the Christian East,
October 27 is her feast.
The poem is beautiful, as it was on first reading, but I do question the reference in the epistle to Timothy. I am presuming you refer to 2 Timothy 4:21. That particular Claudia was. most likely, not even born yet when Christ was crucified. She was a Welsh hostage whose given name was Gladys; the Roamsn could more easily pronounce Claudia, so she received that name upon her relocation to Rome. It is said that she was raised by the general, Aulus Plautius, whose wife was a grandchild of Vipsania, the beloved of Tiberius (and his divorce from her changed the course of Roman history). Anyhow, the pagan poet Martial wrote two poems about Claudia---one celebrating her famous beauty (local Roman girls were very jealous of her), and one celebrating her marriage to Pudens, the son of a Senator or, himself, a Senator (Martial is a little vague on that). It is said that Pudens and Claudia had several children, and that some of their children, or grandchildren, evangelized the Welsh. Furthermore, one of their daughters left her substantial home to the Roman congregation who converted it into one of the first non-house churches in Rome. The foundation of her house is said to still be standing. The association of Pilate's wife with the name Claudia is without documentation, and is probably fictive. One source actually suggested her name came from being the daughter of Tiberius, whose was a descendent of the Claudian family through his father. But Tiberius only had one child, a son, by Vipsania; and he did not remarry after their divorce. I have toyed with the idea that Pilate's wife (whose proper name is nowhere stated in Scripture) may have been, in fact, Asinia, the granddaughter of Vipsania (and Asinia has a most interesting history also); but I cannot prove it. That Pilate's wife was with him both in Caesarea and in the garrison in the Frotress Antonia suggests a supreme breach of Roman policy, as administrators were not permitted to bring spouses into imperial (as opposed to senatorial) provinces. Tiberius, the reigning emperor during Pilate's tenure, was extremely stern about imperial policy in the provinces. He was inflexible and made exceptions for no one. But, it is known that Asinia, at fifteen, looked just like her grandmother, Vipsania, at the same age (which was the age at which she and Tiberius had married). If Asinia got involved with Pilate romantically, and if she did not want to be parted from him during his tenure in Judea, she, alone, would have had sufficient influence to compel an exception from Tiberius, as he would have denied her nothing.
Starward
Superb!
Starward