My previous entry was the last of the series involving Tacitus, but the first of a shorter series about Suetonius and the New Testament. In the book of Acts 18:1-3 it is recorded that the Jews were expelled during the reign of Claudius.
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. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.
A similar event is noted by Suetonius when he is listing a series of actions taken by Claudius at various points in his reign.
Claudius 25:
He banished from Rome all the Jews, who were continually making disturbances at the instigation of one Chrestus.
Whom this Chrestus is has been debated back and forth for a long time. Obviously some identify him as Christ, others say it is some unknown person. In either case Suetonius was aware of Christians as he mentions them when he talks about Nero.
Nero 16:
He likewise inflicted punishments on the Christians, a sort of people who held a new and impious superstition.
Tags: Suetonius