Aulus Pudens was a native of

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

and a centurion in the

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in the late 1st century. He was a friend of the poet

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', pu ...

, who addressed several of his ''Epigrams'' to him. He has been identified by some with Saint Pudens, an early Roman

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Martial writes of Pudens' marriage to "''Claudia Peregrina''" ("Claudia the Foreigner") in ''Epigrams'' IV:13, who is likely identical with Claudia Rufina, a Briton he writes of in ''Epigrams'' XI:53. Martial also writes of Pudens's passions for young male slaves, his desire to own original copies of Martial's poems, and his ambitions of being promoted to ''Primus Pilus'', the chief centurion of a

Roman legion The Roman legion (, ) was the largest military List of military legions, unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens serving as legionary, legionaries. During the Roman Republic the manipular legion comprised 4,200 i ...

. In one poem (''Epigrams'' VI:58) he writes of a nightmare that Pudens had been killed in action in

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Identification as Saint Pudens

It has long been speculated that Pudens and his wife Claudia may be identified with the Claudia and Pudens mentioned in 2 Timothy in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. William Camden's 1586 work ''Britannia'' makes this identification, citing John Bale and Matthew Parker. Camden's contemporary, the Vatican historian Caesar Baronius, came to the same conclusion in his '' Annales Ecclesiastici'', and it was followed by ecclesiastical historians such as James Ussher in the 17th century and

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

in the 19th. However, beyond the coincidence of names - the name Claudia was borne by every female member of the '' gens Claudia'', a prominent aristocratic Roman family, and Pudens was not uncommon as a Roman ''

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...

'' - there is no evidence of a link between the Claudia and Pudens mentioned by Martial and the Claudia and Pudens referred to in 2 Timothy. Martial wrote in the 90s, while 2 Timothy is traditionally dated to the 60s. Some scholars consider the Pastoral Epistles to be pseudepigraphical, which would allow them to be dated to the 90s, but make their contents doubtful. The fact that the names Claudius and Pudens are separated in 2 Timothy by the name Linus also suggests they were not a married couple. Whether or not the Pudens of 2 Timothy is the same person as the saint of that name is also disputed.George Edmundson, ''The Church in Rome in the First Century''
Note C: the Pudens Legend
1913

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pudens, Aulus Ancient Roman soldiers 1st-century Romans