Pontius Pilate (pronounced /ˈpɒntʃəs ˈpaɪlət/, or /ˈpɒnti.əs/); Latin Latin is an Italic language historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Italian, French, Catalan, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese are descended from Latin, while many others, especially European languages, including: Pilatus, Greek Greek , an Indo-European language native to the southern Balkan peninsula, is the language of the Greeks. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical Ancient Greek literature: Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος) was the Prefect A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief administrator of Roman law throughout one or more of the many provinces constituting the Roman Empire. A Roman governor is also known as a propraetor or proconsul of the Roman Empire The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor, Augustus. The nearly 500-year-old Roman Republic,'s Judaea Province Iudaea is the term used by historians to refer to the Roman province that extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel. It was named after Herod Archelaus's ethnarchy of Judea of which it was an expansion, the latter name deriving from the Kingdom of Judah of the 6th century BCE from the year AD 26 until AD 36. Typically referenced as the fifth Procurator of Judea, he is best known as the judge at Jesus Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity, and within most Christian denominations he is venerated as the Son of God and as God incarnate. Christians also view him as the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament; however, Judaism rejects this claim. Islam considers Jesus a prophet, while several other' trial The Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus is an event reported by all the Canonical Gospels of the Bible. . These accounts report that after Jesus Christ and his followers celebrated Passover as their Last Supper, Jesus was betrayed by his apostle Judas Iscariot, and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane (sometimes known as the garden of tears by some hymn and the man who ordered his crucifixion The crucifixion of Jesus is an event that occurred during the first century A.D. in which Jesus was arrested, tried by the Jewish Sanhedrin, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged and finally executed on a cross. Collectively referred to as the Passion , Jesus' redemptive suffering and death by crucifixion represents a critical aspect of, as attested by the non-Christian Cornelius Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus (ca. 56 – ca. 117) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman (who doesn't mention the method of execution itself)[1], the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph, son of Matthias) and, after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. His works give an important insight into first-century Judaism[2] and by the Bible.

Pilate appears in all four canonical A Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community, generally in Judaism or Christianity. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example: Christian Adherents of Christianity, known as Christians, believe that Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible . Orthodox Christian theology claims that Jesus suffered, died, and was resurrected to open heaven to humans. They further maintain that Jesus ascended into heaven, and most denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge all humans, Gospels In Christianity, a gospel is to be generally one of the first four books of the New Testament that describe the birth, life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. The four canonical texts are the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John, probably written between AD 65 and 100 (see also the Gospel according. Mark, depicting Jesus as innocent of plotting against Rome, portrays Pilate as extremely reluctant to execute Jesus, blaming the Jewish hierarchy for his death.[3] In Matthew, Pilate washes his hands of Jesus and reluctantly sends him to his death.[3] In Luke, Pilate not only agrees that Jesus did not conspire against Rome, but Herod Antipas Herod Antipas (before 20 BC – after 39 AD) was a first century AD ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter"). He is best known today for his purported role in the events that led to the executions of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth, both from the accounts of these events in the New, the tetrarch, also finds nothing treasonous in Jesus' actions.[3] In John, Jesus' claim to be the Son of Man The phrase 'son of man' is a primarily Semitic idiom that originated in Ancient Mesopotamia, used to denote humanity or self. The phrase is also used in Judaism and Christianity or the Messiah to Pilate or to the Sanhedrin The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel. In total there were 71 members. The Great Sanhedrin was made up of a Chief/Prince/Leader called Nasi , a vice chief justice (Av Beit Din), and sixty-nine general members. In the Second Temple period, the Great Sanhedrin met in the Hall of Hewn Stones in the Temple in Jerusalem. The court is not portrayed.[3]

Pilate's biographical details before and after his appointment to Judaea are unknown, but have been supplied by tradition, which include the detail that his wife Pontius Pilate's wife is unnamed in the New Testament, where she appears a single time in the Gospel of Matthew. Alternate Christian traditions named her Procula, Proculla, Procla, Prokla, Procle or Claudia. Also combinations like Claudia Procles or Claudia Procula are used. No verifiable biography exists on the life of Pilate’s wife. Details of's name was Claudia Procula (she is canonized as a saint A saint is a human being who is believed to have been 'called' to holiness or has, consciously or unconsciously, fulfilled the criteria set for sainthood by a religious institution in the Greek Orthodox Church The Orthodox Church of Albania, whose liturgy is conducted in Koine Greek only in certain areas of Albania, has also been described as the Greek Orthodox Church of Albania however this is complicated by tensions between the Greek and Albanian governments over the ethnic Greek minority in Albania the majority of which are followers of the Orthodox) and competing legends of his birthplace.

Contents

Etymology of the name Pilatus

There are several possible origins for the cognomen Pilatus.

A commonly accepted one is that it means "skilled with the javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily for casting as a ranged weapon. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand unlike the arrow and slingshot which are projectiles shot from a mechanism. However, hurling devices do exist to assist the thrower in achieving greater distance. The word javelin comes from Middle English and it derives from". The pilum The pilum was a heavy javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about two meters long overall, consisting of an iron shank about 7 mm in diameter and 60 cm long with pyramidal head. The iron shank may be socketed, but more usually widens to a flat tang; this was secured to a wooden shaft. A pilum usually weighed (= javelin) was five feet of wooden shaft and two feet of tapered iron Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe (Latin: ferrum) and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element. Iron and iron alloys (steels) are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use. Fresh iron surfaces are lustrous and silvery-grey in color, but oxidise in air to form a red or. When the point penetrated a shield, the shaft would bend and hang down, thus rendering it impossible to throw back.[4]

Another definite origin of Pilatus was the name given to a hat worn by the devotees of the Dioskouroi. The Castorian cult was well established throughout the empire and persisted well into the 5th Century AD particularly among the Dacian and Sarmatian soldiers throughout the frontiers of the empire. The name Pileatus was used as a cognomen by the descendants of Burebista of Dacia whose descendants are known to have been soldiers who were stationed in Judea, Britain, Spain, Gaul, and Germany.

Birth, life and death in legend

Pilate's date and place of birth are unknown. The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article on Pilate said that Pontius suggested a Samnite Samnium is a historical region of the south central Apennines in Italy, that was home to the Samnites, a group of Sabellic tribes that controlled the area from about 600 BC to about 290 BC. Samnium was delimited by Latium in the north, by Lucania in the south, by Campania in the west and by Apulia in the east. The principal cities of the region origin—among the Pontii—and his cognomen The cognomen was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary (and thus more like a family name). The term (with an Anglicized plural cognomens) has taken on a less specific meaning Pileatus, if it derived from the pileus or cap of liberty The Phrygian cap is a soft, red, conical cap with the top pulled forward, worn in antiquity by the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia. In artistic representations it signifies freedom and the pursuit of liberty — perhaps by a confusion with the pileus, the manumitted slave's felt cap of ancient Rome — and is sometimes called, implied that he was either descended from, or had been himself a freedman A freedman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either by manumission or emancipation, (granted freedom as part of a larger group). It is also commonly believed that the name 'Pontius' implies that he was descended from Gaius Pontius, the Samnite General.[4].

One tradition relates that he married Claudia Procula, daughter of illigitimate birth to Julia, Augustus' only natural offspring and adopted by Tiberius who had previously been married to Julia.[5]

Eusebius [6] quoted some early apocryphal accounts which he did not name, that said Pilate suffered misfortune in the reign of Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his cognomen Caligula (pronounced /kəˈlɪɡjʊlə/), was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty (AD 37–41), was exiled to Gaul and eventually committed suicide there in Vienne.

Italian legends

In Italy, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Pilatus, including Bisenti[citation needed] in today's Abruzzi region which lies in the ancient Samnitic territory. Among the ruins from the period of Tiberius, there is a house known by local tradition as "Pilatus' home"[citation needed].

There is a family legend/story among the ancient MacLabhrain Clan of Balquidder (the modern MacLarens) which states that Pilate's father lived in Perthshire and married a woman from the clan. The product of this 'marriage' was a child who came to be known as Pontius Pilate. Thus many contemporary MacLarens claim a blood relationship with Pilate.

Spanish legend

Tarraco (now Tarragona Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia and east of Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. As of the 2009 census, the city had a population of 155,563, and the population of the entire urban area was estimated to be 675,921) in Spain Spain /ˈspeɪn/ (Spanish: España, pronounced [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), or the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.[note 6] Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north by France, also claims to be the true location of Pilate's birth (torreon de pilatos).[citation needed]

German legends

A German legend recounts that he was an illegitimate son of Tyrus, king of Mayence Mainz (French: Mayence) is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz (see: Archbishopric of Mainz) under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the, Germany, who sent him to Rome as a hostage. There he committed a murder and was sent to Pontus, where he proved himself by subduing the barbarous tribes and consequently received the name of Pontius, and was sent to Judea.[citation needed]

Forchheim and its suburb Hausen in Germany Germany (pronounced /ˈdʒɜrməni/ ), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south[7] has likewise developed its own unique legend claiming that he was born there as a farmer's son and was sent to Nuremberg to learn the art of Gold Smithing. Moving to the imperial courts he eventually was appointed as prefector of Iudaea, through which he amassed a fortune and built a city near his home town. But at the very moment that he pronounced the unjust sentence the city sank into an abyss, the region still being known as 'Pilodes'. The legend continues that one day when the spire of Pilate's city is unearthed, the city will rise again.

Titles and duties

Bronze prutah minted by Pontius Pilate. Reverse: Greek letters TIBEPIOY KAICAPOC (Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced his father and was remarried to Octavian Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Emperor An emperor is a (male) monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor (empress consort) or a woman who rules in her own right (empress regnant). Emperors and Empresses are generally recognized to be above) and date LIS (year 16 = 29/30 A.D) surrounding simpulum (libation ladle). Obverse: Greek letters IOYLIA KAICAPOC (Julia Livia Drusilla, after 14 AD called Julia Augusta (58 BC-29 AD) was the wife of Augustus and one of the most powerful women in the Roman Empire, being Augustus' faithful advisor. She was also mother to Drusus and Tiberius, grandmother to Germanicus and Claudius, great-grandmother to Caligula and Agrippina the Younger and great-great-grandmother to Empress An emperor is a (male) monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor (empress consort) or a woman who rules in her own right (empress regnant). Emperors and Empresses are generally recognized to be above), three bound heads of barley, the outer two heads drooping.

Pontius Pilate's title was traditionally thought to have been procurator A promagistrate is a person who acts in and with the authority and capacity of a magistrate, but without holding a magisterial office. A legal innovation of the Roman Republic, the promagistracy was invented in order to provide Rome with governors of overseas territories instead of having to elect more magistrates each year. Promagistrates were, since Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus (ca. 56 – ca. 117) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman speaks of him as such. However, an inscription on a limestone block known as the Pilate Stone — apparently a dedication to Tiberius Caesar Augustus — that was discovered in 1961 in the ruins of an amphitheater at Caesarea Maritima Caesarea Maritima , called Caesarea Palaestina from 133 AD onwards, was a city and harbor built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BC. Today, its ruins lie on the Mediterranean coast of Israel about halfway between the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, on the site of Pyrgos Stratonos ("Strato" or "Straton's Tower", in Latin Turris refers to Pilate as "Prefect Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition of Judaea".

The title used by the governors of the region varied over the period of the New Testament The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament. The New Testament is sometimes called the Greek New Testament or Greek Scriptures, or the New Covenant. When Samaria Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank, Judea Judea or Judæa is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל‎ Eretz Yisrael), an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank (itself partly under Palestinian Authority administration and Israeli military rule) proper and Idumea Edom is a name given to Esau in the Hebrew Bible, as well as to the nation descending from him. The nation's name in Assyrian was Udumi; in Syriac, ܐܕܘܡ; in Greek, Ἰδουμαία (Idoumaía); in Latin, Idumæa or Idumea were first amalgamated into the Roman Judaea Province,[8] from 6 to the outbreak of the First Jewish Revolt The first Jewish-Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt (Hebrew: המרד הגדול‎, ha-Mered Ha-Gadol), was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Iudaea Province against the Roman Empire (the second was the Kitos War in 115–117; the third was Bar Kokhba's revolt, 132–135) in 66, officials of the Equestrian order The Roman equestrian order constituted the lower of the two aristocratic classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the Senatorial Order (ordo senatorius). A member of the order was known as an eques (plural: equites), which in Latin has the general meaning of any person mounted on a horse (equus), but in this context carries the specific meaning of & (the lower rank of governors) governed. They held the Roman title of prefect until Herod Agrippa I was named King of the Jews by Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I (Tiberius Claudius Drusus from birth to AD 4, then Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus from then until his accession) was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from 24 January AD 41 to his death in AD 54. Born in Lugdunum in Gaul (modern-day Lyon, France),. After Herod Agrippa's death in 44, when Iudaea reverted to direct Roman rule, the governor held the title procurator. When applied to governors, this term procurator, otherwise used for financial officers, connotes no difference in rank or function from the title known as prefect. Contemporary archaeological finds and documents such as the Pilate Inscription from Caesarea attest to the governor's more accurate official title only for the period 6 through 44: prefect Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition. The logical conclusion is that texts that identify Pilate as procurator are more likely following Tacitus or are unaware of the pre-44 practice.

The procurators' and prefects' primary functions were military, but as representatives of the empire they were responsible for the collection of imperial taxes,[9] and also had limited judicial functions. Other civil administration lay in the hands of local government: the municipal councils or ethnic governments such as — in the district of Judea and Jerusalem — the Sanhedrin The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel. In total there were 71 members. The Great Sanhedrin was made up of a Chief/Prince/Leader called Nasi , a vice chief justice (Av Beit Din), and sixty-nine general members. In the Second Temple period, the Great Sanhedrin met in the Hall of Hewn Stones in the Temple in Jerusalem. The court and its president the High Priest This page gives one list of the High Priests of Ancient Israel up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. Because of a lack a historic data, this list is incomplete and there may be gaps. But the power of appointment of the High Priest resided in the Roman legate of Syria Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War. It remained under Roman, and subsequently Byzantine, rule for seven centuries, until 637 when it fell to the Islamic conquests or the prefect of Iudaea in Pilate's day and until 41. For example, Caiaphas was appointed High Priest of Herod's Temple by Prefect Valerius Gratus and deposed by Syrian Legate Lucius Vitellius. After that time and until 66, the Jewish client kings exercised this privilege. Normally, Pilate resided in Caesarea but traveled throughout the province, especially to Jerusalem, in the course of performing his duties. During the Passover, a festival of deep national as well as religious significance for the Jews, Pilate, as governor or prefect, would have been expected to be in Jerusalem to keep order. He would not ordinarily be visible to the throngs of worshippers because of the Jewish people's deep sensitivity to their status as a Roman province.

Equestrians such as Pilate could command legionary forces but only small ones, and so in military situations, he would have to yield to his superior, the legate of Syria, who would descend into Palestine with his legions as necessary. As governor of Iudaea, Pilate would have small auxiliary forces of locally recruited soldiers stationed regularly in Caesarea and Jerusalem, such as the Antonia Fortress, and temporarily anywhere else that might require a military presence. The total number of soldiers at his disposal numbered in the range of 3000.[10]

The "Pilate Inscription" or "Pilate Stone" from Caesarea

Limestone block discovered in 1961 with Pilate's tribute in Latin to Tiberius. The words [...]TIVS PILATVS[...] can be clearly seen on the second line.

The first physical evidence relating to Pilate was discovered in 1961, when a block of limestone was found in the Roman theatre at Caesarea Maritima, the capital of the province of Iudaea, bearing a damaged dedication by Pilate of a Tiberieum.[11] This dedication states that he was [...]ECTVS IUDA[...] (usually read as praefectus iudaeae), that is, prefect/governor of Iudaea. The early governors of Iudaea were of prefect rank, the later were of procurator rank, beginning with Cuspius Fadus in 44.

This inscription was discovered in Caesarea (Israel) by a group led by Antonio Frova and has been dated to 26-37 AD. Currently the inscription has been in housed in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.[12]

Pilate in the canonical Gospel accounts

Christ before Pilate, Mihály Munkácsy, 1881
Major events in Jesus' life from the Gospels
This box:

According to the canonical Christian Gospels, Pilate presided at the trial of Jesus and, despite stating that he personally found him not guilty of a crime meriting death, handed him over to crucifixion. Pilate is thus a pivotal character in the New Testament accounts of Jesus.

According to the New Testament, Jesus was brought to Pilate by the Sanhedrin, who had arrested Jesus and questioned him themselves. The Sanhedrin had, according to the Gospels, only been given answers by Jesus that they considered blasphemous pursuant to Mosaic law, which was unlikely to be deemed a capital offense by Pilate interpreting Roman law.[13] The Gospel of Luke[14] records that members of the Sanhedrin then took Jesus before Pilate where they accused him of sedition against Rome by opposing the payment of taxes to Caesar and calling himself a king. Fomenting tax resistance was a capital offense.[15] Pilate was responsible for imperial tax collections in Judea. Jesus had asked the tax collector Levi, at work in his tax booth in Capernaum, to quit his post. Jesus also appears to have influenced Zacchaeus, "a chief tax collector" in Jericho, which is in Pilate's tax jurisdiction, to resign.[16] Pilate's main question to Jesus was whether he considered himself to be the King of the Jews, and thus a political threat. Mark in the NIV translation states: "Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate. "It is as you say," Jesus replied. However, quite a number of other translations render Jesus' reply as variations of the phrase:"Thou sayest it."(King James Version, Mark 15:2); "So you say." (Good News Bible, Mark 15:2). Whatever degree of confirmation modern interpreters would derive from this answer of Jesus, according to the New Testament, it was not enough for Pilate to view Jesus as a real political threat. In the same Gospel of Mark, 15 verse 5 of King James Version we read, that "Pilate marvelled" ("was amazed" in Good News Bible).

Following the Roman custom, Pilate ordered a sign posted above Jesus on the cross stating "Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews" to give public notice of the legal charge against him for his crucifixion. The chief priests protested that the public charge on the sign should read that Jesus claimed to be King of the Jews. Pilate refused to change the posted charge. This may have been to emphasize Rome's supremacy in crucifying a Jewish king; it is not unlikely, though, that Pilate was quite irritated by the fact, that the Jewish leaders had used him as a marionette and thus compelled him to sentence Jesus to death contrary to his own will (according to Mathew 27:19, even Pilate's wife asked him on Jesus' behalf).

The Gospel of Luke also reports that such questions were asked of Jesus, in Luke's case it being the priests that repeatedly accused him, though Luke states that Jesus remained silent to such inquisition, causing Pilate to hand Jesus over to the jurisdiction (Galilee) of Herod Antipas. Although initially excited with curiosity at meeting Jesus, of whom he had heard much, Herod (according to Luke) ended up mocking Jesus and so sent him back to Pilate. This intermediate episode with Herod is not reported by the other Gospels, which appear to present a continuous and singular trial in front of Pilate. Luke, however, made further reference to this involvement of Herod along with Pilate into Jesus' execution and linked it with the prophecy about the Messianic King found in Psalm 2, as we can read in Luke's other book, Acts 4:24-28. This explains why he counted this episode of importance.

Unlike the synoptic gospels, the Gospel of John gives more detail about that dialog taking place between Jesus and Pilate. In John, Jesus seems to confirm the fact of his kingship, although immediately explaining, that "[his] kingdom [was] not of this world"; of far greater importance for the followers of Christ is his own definition of the goal of his ministry on earth at the time. According to Jesus, as we find it written in John 18:37, Jesus thus describes his mission: " [I] came into the world ... to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to [my] voice", to which Pilate famously replied, "What is truth?" (John 18:38)...

Whatever it be that some modern critics want to deduce from those differences, the ending result was the same for Jesus and Pilate, as it was in all the other 3 Gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke). In the same chapter of John 18 verse 38 (King James Version, compare with other versions) the conclusion Pilate made from this interrogation:"I find in him no fault at all".

The Synoptic Gospels and John then state that it had been a tradition of the Jews to release a prisoner at the time of the Passover. Pilate offers them the choice of an insurrectionist named Barabbas or Jesus, somewhat confusing because Barabbas had the full name Jesus Barabbas, and bar-Abbas means son of the father. The crowd may not have understood whose release they were asking for, and were particularly susceptible to suggestions from the Jewish leaders. The crowd states that they wish to save Barabbas.

Pilate agrees to condemn Jesus to crucifixion, after the Jewish leaders "kindly" explained to him, that Jesus presented a threat to Roman occupation through his claim to the throne of King David as King of Israel in the royal line of David. The small crowd in Pilate's courtyard, according to the Synoptics, had been coached to shout against Jesus by the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Gospel of Matthew adds that before condemning Jesus to death, Pilate washes his hands with water in front of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; you will see."

Responsibility for Jesus' death

Main article: Responsibility for the death of Jesus

In all gospel accounts, Pilate hesitates to condemn Jesus, but is eventually forced to give in when the crowd insists and the Jewish leaders remind him that Jesus's claim to be king is a challenge to Roman authority. Roman magistrates had wide discretion in executing their tasks, and some readers question whether Pilate would have been so captive to the demands of the crowd. Pilate was later recalled to Rome for his harsh treatment of the Jews.[17][18]

With the Edict of Milan in AD 313, the state-sponsored persecution of Christians came to an end, and Christianity became officially tolerated as one of the religions of the Roman Empire. Afterward, in AD 325 the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea promulgated a creed which was amended at the subsequent First Council of Constantinople in 381. The Nicene Creed incorporated for the first time the clause was crucified under Pontius Pilate (which had already been long established in the Old Roman Symbol, an ancient form of the Apostles' Creed dating as far back as the 2nd century AD) in a creed that was intended to be authoritative for all Christians in the Roman Empire.

Pilate in Jewish literature

According to Philo, Pilate was "inflexible, he was stubborn, of cruel disposition. He executed troublemakers without a trial." He refers to Pilate's "venality, his violence, thefts, assaults, abusive behavior, endless executions, endless savage ferocity."[19]

According to Josephus, Pilate repeatedly almost caused insurrections among the Jews due to his insensibility to Jewish customs. While Pilate's predecessors had respected Jewish customs by removing all images and effigies on their standards when entering Jerusalem, Pilate allowed his soldiers to bring them into the city at night. When the citizens of Jerusalem discovered these the following day, they appealed to Pilate to remove the ensigns of Caesar from the city. After five days of deliberation, Pilate had his soldiers surround the demonstrators threatening them with death. He finally removed the images after realizing that the Jews would rather die than have their traditions disrespected.[20][21]

Josephus recounts another incident in which Pilate spent money from the Temple to build an aqueduct. When Jews again protested his actions, Pilate had soldiers hidden in the crowd of Jews while addressing them. After giving the signal, Pilate's soldiers randomly attacked, beat, and killed scores of Jews to silence their petitions.[22]

Pilate in the Apocrypha

Little enough is known about Pilate, but mythology has filled the gap. A body of fiction built up around the dramatic figure of Pontius Pilate, about whom the Christian faithful hungered to learn more than the canonical Gospels revealed. Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiae ii: 7) quotes some early apocryphal accounts that he does not name, which already relate that Pilate fell under misfortunes in the reign of Caligula (AD 37–41), was exiled to Gaul and eventually committed suicide there in Vienne.

Other details come from less respectable sources. His body, says the Mors Pilati ("Death of Pilate"), was thrown first into the Tiber, but the waters were so disturbed by evil spirits that the body was taken to Vienne and sunk in the Rhône: a monument at Vienne, called Pilate's tomb, is still to be seen. As the waters of the Rhone likewise rejected Pilate's corpse, it was again removed and sunk in the lake at Lausanne. The sequence was a simple way to harmonise conflicting local traditions.

The corpse's final disposition was in a deep and lonely mountain tarn, which, according to later tradition, was on a mountain, still called Pilatus (actually pileatus or "cloud capped"), overlooking Lucerne. Every Good Friday, the body is said to reemerge from the waters and wash its hands.

There are many other legends about Pilate in the folklore of Germany, particularly about his birth, according to which Pilate was born in the Franconian city of Forchheim or the small village of Hausen only 5 km away from it. His death was (unusually) dramatised in a medieval mystery play cycle from Cornwall, the Cornish Ordinalia.

Pilate's role in the events leading to the crucifixion lent themselves to melodrama, even tragedy, and Pilate often has a role in medieval mystery plays.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Claudia Procula is commemorated as a saint, but not Pilate, because in the Gospel accounts Claudia urged Pilate to have nothing to do with Jesus. In some Eastern Orthodox traditions, Pilate committed suicide out of remorse for having sentenced Jesus to death.

Gospel of Peter

Main article: Gospel of Peter

The fragmentary apocryphal Gospel of Peter exonerates Pilate of responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus, placing it instead on Herod and the Jews, who unlike Pilate refuse to "wash their hands". After the soldiers see three men and a cross miraculously walking out of the tomb they report to Pilate who reiterates his innocence: "I am pure from the blood of the Son of God". He then commands the soldiers not to tell anyone what they have seen so that they would not "fall into the hands of the people of the Jews and be stoned".

Acts of Pilate

Main article: Acts of Pilate

The 4th century apocryphal text that is called the Acts of Pilate presents itself in a preface (missing in some MSS) as derived from the official acts preserved in the praetorium at Jerusalem. Though the alleged Hebrew original of the document is attributed to Nicodemus, the title Gospel of Nicodemus for this fictional account only appeared in mediaeval times, after the document had been substantially elaborated. Nothing in the text suggests that it is in fact a translation from Hebrew or Aramaic.

This text gained wide credit in the Middle Ages, and has considerably affected the legends surrounding the events of the crucifixion, which, taken together, are called the Passion. Its popularity is attested by the number of languages in which it exists, each of these being represented by two or more variant "editions": Greek (the original), Coptic, Armenian and Latin versions. The Latin versions were printed several times in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

One class of the Latin manuscripts contain as an appendix or continuation, the Cura Sanitatis Tiberii, the oldest form of the Veronica legend.

The Acts of Pilate consist of three sections, whose styles reveal three authors, writing at three different times.

Eusebius (325), although he mentions an Acta Pilati that had been referred to by Justin and Tertullian and other pseudo-Acts of this kind, shows no acquaintance with this work. Almost surely it is of later origin, and scholars agree in assigning it to the middle of the 4th century. Epiphanius refers to an Acta Pilati similar to this, as early as 376, but there are indications that the current Greek text, the earliest extant form, is a revision of an earlier one.

Justin the Martyr - The First and Second Apology of Justin Chapter 35-"And that these things did happen, you can ascertain from the Acts of Pontius Pilate."

The Apology letters were written and addressed by name to the Roman Emperor Pius and the Roman Governor Urbicus. All three of these men lived between AD 138-161.

Minor Pilate literature

Bronze coin of Pontius Pilate, Jerusalem mint, 26-36 AD.

There is a pseudepigrapha letter reporting on the crucifixion, purporting to have been sent by Pontius Pilate to the Emperor Claudius, embodied in the pseudepigrapha known as the Acts of Peter and Paul, of which the Catholic Encyclopedia states, "This composition is clearly apocryphal though unexpectedly brief and restrained." There is no internal relation between this feigned letter and the 4th-century Acts of Pilate (Acta Pilati).

This Epistle or Report of Pilate is also inserted into the Pseudo-Marcellus Passio sanctorum Petri et Pauli ("Passion of Saints Peter and Paul"). We thus have it in both Greek and Latin versions.

The Mors Pilati ("Death of Pilate") legend is a Latin tradition, thus treating Pilate as a monster, not a saint; it is attached usually to the more sympathetic Gospel of Nicodemus of Greek origin. The narrative of the Mors Pilati set of manuscripts is set in motion by an illness of Tiberius, who sends Volusanius to Judea to fetch the Christ for a cure. In Judea Pilate covers for the fact that Christ has been crucified, and asks for a delay. But Volusanius encounters Veronica who informs him of the truth but sends him back to Rome with her Veronica of Christ's face on her kerchief, which heals Tiberius. Tiberius then calls for Pontius Pilate, but when Pilate appears, he is wearing the seamless robe of the Christ and Tiberius' heart is softened, but only until Pilate is induced to doff the garment, whereupon he is treated to a ghastly execution. His body, when thrown into the Tiber, however, raises such storm demons that it is sent to Vienne (via gehennae) in France and thrown to the Rhone. That river's spirits reject it too, and the body is driven east into "Losania", where it is plunged in the bay of the lake near Lucerne, near Mont Pilatus — originally Mons Pileatus or "cloud-capped", as John Ruskin pointed out in Modern Painters — whence the uncorrupting corpse rises every Good Friday to sit on the bank and wash unavailing hands.

This version combined with anecdotes of Pilate's wicked early life were incorporated in Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend, which ensured a wide circulation for it in the later Middle Ages. Other legendary versions of Pilate's death exist: Antoine de la Sale reported from a travel in central Italy on some local traditions asserting that after death the body of Pontius Pilate was driven until a little lake near Vettore Peak (2478 m in Sibillini Mounts ) and plunged in. The lake, today, is still named Lago di Pilato.

In the Cornish cycle of mystery plays, the "death of Pilate" forms a dramatic scene in the Resurrexio Domini cycle. More of Pilate's fictional correspondence is found in the minor Pilate apocrypha, the Anaphora Pilati (Relation of Pilate), an Epistle of Herod to Pilate, and an Epistle of Pilate to Herod, spurious texts that are no older than the 5th century.

Veneration

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church recognized Pilate as a saint in the sixth century, based on the account in the Acts of Pilate.[23]

Pilate in later fiction

Plays and films dealing with life of Jesus Christ often include the character of Pontius Pilate due to the central role he played in the final days of Christ's life. Writers have found various reasons to make Pilate a main character and to fill in any unknown details of his life. Pilate has been portrayed in a number of different ways by various writers:

  1. A weak and harried bureaucrat
  2. A hard governor who ruled with an iron fist
  3. A man who clearly sees how the story of Jesus will affect human history
  4. A man who regrets his role in Jesus' death (to greater or lesser extents, depending on the work)
  5. A man who is oblivious to the significance of the Galilean he condemns to death
  6. A tired governor who doesn't care and wants Jesus out of his hands

Curiosities

References

Primary sources

The references to Pilate, outside the New Testament:

Secondary sources

Notes

  1. ^ Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, XV 44 or Penguin Classics (London, England, EU), 1996. p. 365 (chapter 14, par. 19)
  2. ^ Josephus, Antiquities 18.3.3
  3. ^ a b c d Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.
  4. ^ a b Ann Wroe: Pilate
  5. ^ Relics of Repentance: The Letters of Pontius Pilate & Claudia Procula, Issana Press (Lincoln, Nebraska), ISBN 0-9625158-2-5 http://issanapress.tripod.com
  6. ^ Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiae ii: 7
  7. ^ Batz, Gerhard, Das Pilatus-Puzzle: Bestandsaufnahme und Hintergründe einer europäischen Sage in Franken, Palm & Enke Publishing House(Erlangen, Germany, EU), 2003. ISBN 3-7896-0675-8 http://www.batz-hausen.de/pilateng.htm
  8. ^ H.H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish People, Harvard University Press, 1976, ISBN 0-674-39731-2, page 246: "When Archelaus was deposed from the ethnarchy in 6 CE, Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea were converted into a Roman province under the name Iudaea."
  9. ^ law.umkc.edu
  10. ^ "Administrative and military organization of Roman Palestine". http://www.usd.edu/~clehmann/erp/Palestine/administ.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-24.
  11. ^ The word Tiberieum is otherwise unknown: some scholars speculate that it was some kind of structure, perhaps a temple, built to honor the emperor Tiberius.
  12. ^ Inventory number is AE 1963 no. 104
  13. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=ElINAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=classical+roman+law+blasphemy&source=bl&ots=CyKy2iZbQN&sig=kD9puUh_WZSXd5mBEUYJYoG8c_s&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA111,M1
  14. ^ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2023:1-2&version=31
  15. ^ http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Majestas.html
  16. ^ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2019:1-9%20;&version=31;
  17. ^ Miller, 49–50.
  18. ^ Wise, Isaac Mayer (1880). History of the Hebrews' Second Commonwealth: With Special Reference to Its Literature, Culture, and the Origin of Rabbinism and Christianity. v. 41; v. 992. Bloch & co.. http://books.google.ca/books?id=Cpx86I5IapMC&pg=PA253&lpg=PA253&dq=pilate+slaughter+of+Samaritans&source=bl&ots=4GZVKxBehj&sig=dVrR9MVJVEEjgWYO8wlQ-B9rWb0&hl=en&ei=QhXgSaW9BJqutAOSj_W6CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#PPA254,M1.
  19. ^ Philo, On The Embassy of Gauis Book XXXVIII 299-305
  20. ^ Josephus, Jewish War 2.9.2-4
  21. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia article on Pilate, retrieved 5 May 2009
  22. ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18.3.2
  23. ^ Pontius Pilate from the Catholic Encyclopedia
  24. ^ http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/masterpiece/2002/01/14/sympathy/index.html
  25. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6595877/sympathy_for_the_devil

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