Paulina Beturia (also known as Veturia Paulla, Beturia Paulla, or Beturia Paulina; known after her conversion as Sara) was a Roman woman who converted to Judaism. Her exact dates of birth and death are unknown, but she is estimated to have lived sometime between 200 CE and 600 CE, with some sources placing her around the 1st century CE (c. 50 CE).
Historical Record
The primary source of information about Paulina Beturia is a Latin epitaph found on a fragment of her sarcophagus in the Jewish catacombs of Rome. The inscription was first recorded in 1592 by a Flemish tourist who copied the inscriptions he encountered in the catacombs. According to the epitaph, she was eighty-six years and six months old at the time of her death, and she had been a Jew for the final sixteen years of her life.
Conversion and Role in the Jewish Community
Upon her conversion to Judaism, she adopted the Hebrew name Sara. The epitaph honors her as "mother of the synagogues" (mater synagogarum) of the Campesian and Volumnian Jewish communities in Rome. This title indicates she was a prominent benefactor and patroness within these synagogues, a role that wealthy women sometimes held in the ancient Jewish diaspora.
Possible Talmudic Identification
The Jewish Encyclopedia notes that a proselyte mentioned in Talmudic sources under the names Beluryah, Beruryah, Belurit, and Beruẓia—who was learned in Jewish law and who encouraged her slaves to become proselytes (Mekhilta, Bo, 15; Rosh Hashanah 17b; Yevamot 46a; Gerim ii. 4)—is perhaps identical with Beturia Paulina.
Significance
Paulina Beturia is notable as one of the relatively few documented Roman converts to Judaism from the ancient world. Her epitaph provides valuable evidence of the role of women as patrons and leaders within ancient synagogues, as well as the presence and organization of Jewish communities in imperial Rome.
