In medieval drama Pilate's wife is often given names such as Livia or Pilatessa, and further variants are found in more recent works. Historical and biblical origins It is likely that Pontius Pilate was married. It is possible that his wife accompanied him to his post as governor of Judaea (26–36/37 CE); while governors were forbidden to bring their wives to their posts under the Republic and Augustus, the law was later repealed by the Senate. Jean-Pierre Lémonon says this most likely took place during the reign of Tiberius, while Alexander Demandt gives 20 CE as the year that the rule was abolished. However, the only early mention of Pilate's wife is a single sentence in the Gospel of Matthew: And while [Pilate] was sitting on the judgment-seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that righteous man; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. (Matthew 27:19, American Standard Version) However, according to scholars Demandt, Helen Bond, and Jean-Pierre Lémonon, this mention is legendary rather than historical. Raymond E. Brown suggested that the episode has been modeled according to a common trope, found in the works of the Jewish historian Josephus, in which a noble pagan woman is favorable towards Judaism. In the early sixteenth-century, François de Bivar suggested, based on Pilate's wife's name in later tradition, that the Claudia mentioned by Paul in Second Timothy (2 Timothy 4:21) might have been Pilate's wife. Colum Hourihane discounts this possibility, however. Archaeology In the 1920s, a lead sarcophagus was discovered in Beirut containing two bracelets inscribed with the name Claudia Procula in Greek ( and respectively). René Mouterde dated the find to the third century, possibly the early third century, although he noted that some elements appeared much more archaic in style. He suggests that it is possible that the author of the Gospel of Nicodemus may have been inspired by the death of this woman to name Pilate's wife after her, although he notes that there is no evidence to connect the Gospel of Nicodemus with Beirut. Primarily on the basis of the grave goods found with the sarcophagus, but also taking into account the archaic features noted by Mouterde, Jill Carington Smith redated the find to the last three quarters of the first century CE. Smith notes that this is a time period when it is plausible