by Jean-Jacques COURTEY, Doctor in Economic Geography, Ph. D
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Today, behind the title of this article, we are also aiming at talking about a very famous man worlwide.
You certainly know him, but the angle we have chosen to rediscover him will surprise you !
Try to guess whom we are writing about, by being revealed astonishing things concerning those extremely important women both for him and History, Maria and Claudia !
And get ready for amazing revelations !
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The story is starting in Palestine, at a time it was a Roman province.
An innocent man was sentenced to death the Roman way, for causing trouble to the Roman public order. The problem for the one who had to pronounce this penalty, was he was totally against death for this innocent. He didn't consider him at all as an enemy of Rome, but as a wise man. And he really tried his best to avoid this bad end.
At a moment, he truly thought the final choice he gave to the people would help him.
But no, adverse circumstances obliged him nolens volens to pronounce this fateful sentence !
His very pretty wife herself, Claudia Procula, interceded and tried to save this "just man", but he couldn't do anything. And that was the start of his personal marital drama.
Two days after, so before the man was executed, Claudia parted from him and left him abruptly as she was very angry. He thought she wanted to come back to Rome, as she was from the Imperial Family, and then to "Narbo Martius" (Narbonne, in Roman Gaul) where she was born.
The centurion who had to direct the public execution came to see him, and said that obviously the legs of this man would be broken as usually in this case. But the great Roman we are talking about, absolutely forbade him to do that. This unhappy story caused already enough damage in his personal life. He didn't want to hurt his wife more, if one day a reconciliation was possible.
He knew his wife had been extremely impressed by this innocent man, she saw as a luminous personality - just like him, by the way. And he was aware that Claudia had in between become very friendly with this wiseman's wife, Maria, a very beautiful woman too.
She wanted to learn more about them, their refreshing beliefs, and also their previous way of life.
Do you guess who is our character of the day, at this stage ? Not yet probably, but you feel it's coming !
After the death of this innocent, something extremely unusual happened. There was quickly rumors that this man had reappeared alive, and without any injury on the body (feet, hands, and flank), to his wife Maria first. This event was totally out of the blue !
The great Roman got to know about those news very swiftly, and his surrounders advised him to help extinguishing them. But he did exactly the opposite, with the secret hope the woman he loved would forgive him and come back to him, if she was learning the good news. He was then suddenly happy and trembling of joy. Yet, Claudia didn't come back, and he felt really sad and depressed.
In the background, he finally got to know she was comforting Maria, and wanted to help her leaving Judea for a safer shelter. And it's her who suggested her new friend to take refuge in the "Gaule Narbonnaise", her native region (founded in 118 BC as the most ancient Roman colony).
As a matter of fact, Maria knew some unexpected difficulties with a certain Simon, who was a previous friend of her husband. He wanted to take his succession, and was denying this role to her brother in law Jacob, and obviously to her as she was a woman.
Jacob happened to be murdered (by a certain Saul). Maria felt more than ever in danger for her life, and it was becoming urgent to leave.
Instead of preventing Maria to go, the great Roman, in the lasting hope to recover one day his wife Claudia, created for her discrete facilities to emigrate to the "Gaule Narbonnaise". And at the same time, fearing something bad may happen to her, he protected her in the shadow with his spies,
Finally, Maria was able to take a Roman boat. She thought this was due to the only help of Claudia but during the travel to "Gaule Narbonnaise", she realized that her husband was also involved in her rescue : she received indirectly from him a second purse for her extra-expenses.
After she landed in "Gaule Narbonnaise", Claudia rejoined her also.
They talked very long together and Maria asked her to forgive her husband, who was not a bad man. Claudia swept then about her past marital happiness.
Maria added that if her husband was forced by adverse circumstances to make a fault, he had done everything to repair it : that she could testify. And anyway, her innocent spouse was alive anew, so herself she had already forgiven him.
Hence her deepest wish, was they would reconciliate and come back together.
Claudia was touched in the heart by her appeasing words. And she felt stressed her beloved husband wasn't beside her. But unexpectedly, events helped Maria to grant her intimate wish.
As political troubles occurred in Judea, Claudia's husband who couldn't stop them, was called back to Rome... and exiled to "Gaule Narbonnaise" !
Strangely, a lot of historians took that as a great defeat for him... when it ended up to be on the contrary his greatest victory in life ! The resurrection of Jesus who was definitively married (Saint John, III-29) had provoked at the end a totally unexpected miracle : the passionate reconciliation of our mysterious character of the day with his wife Claudia. After languishing, they were reunited for good in total happiness !
As an epilog, because of the happy accident of this exile, our great Roman Pontius Pilatus, ex-prefect of Judea, could at last see again his beloved wife, Claudia Procula, who had forgiven him !
As a result, he even became one of the first "Christians" like his wife, according to Oriental Christian sources !
That's it, you got his name now. But we have the intuition you were already guessing who was our mysterious character of the day : "Ponce Pilate" in French !
You just didn't know who was Claudia Procula, and never imagined this Roman princess was a very early Christian, in what is presently the South of France !
And the other very important woman called Maria, who acclaimed to this reconciliation, was Maria Magdalena, Partner of Jesus-Christ : she effectively docked in the "Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer", and died in La Sainte Baume near "Massilia" (Marseille) years after !
Christianity has often taken unexpected paths to finally experience its rise in Rome, and throughout the world. Its beginnings are full of astonishing details, that most believers are still ignoring nowadays, two millenaries after.
The Coptic Church of Egypt, like the Ethiopian one are actually celebrating the "Couple Pilatus" every June 25th, as Christian saints, which seems to be almost totally ignored in the West.
But even Saint Paul (previously called Saul of Tarsus), who never showed any noticeable sympathy for Maria Magdalena, recognized in his writings the role played from the right beginning by great Roman ladies like Claudia - as he was calling her !
