Key Takeaways
At its peak , theRoman Empireincluded 40 responsibility covering much of Europe , North Africa and the Middle East , yet historiographer have it off very niggling about the men put in thrill of governing these Roman outstation . Pontius Pilate is one of the exception .
Pilate preside for 10 years as the regulator or " prefect " of Judea , from 26 to 36 C.E. , and his name is immortalized in the New Testament as the human who oversaw the trial and crucifixion of Jesus . Yet theBibleisn’t the only ancient author of information about Pilate . historian like Josephus and Philo of Alexandria filling in a portrait of Pilate as an unprepared and irascible ruler of a problematic province .
" You have the mental picture that Pilate does n’t understand the complexity of the state and the sensitivity of the mass he was governing , " saysHelen Bond , professor of Christian extraction at The University of Edinburgh and author of " Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation . " " On the other hand , they were n’t cause it very easygoing for him . It was a bit of a minefield . "
Where Did Pilate Come From?
We do n’t know much about Pilate ’s life before his posting in Judea , but some things can be inferred from his title " prefect " orpraefectusin Latin , which means " one who stands in front . "
" Praefectus is a military title , " say Bond . " Judea had only been under direct romish rule for 20 years when Pilate arrived , so it was still a military posting . The whole full point is to suppress the native and keep natural law and order . "
Prefects like Pilate come from second - tier stately phratry , says Bond , and were chosen because of their ability on the battlefield . Pilate ’s home namesPontiusandPilatusmay have referred to the realm the family to begin with hailed from — possibly the Kingdom of Pontus on the southerly coast of the Black Sea — or some association with javelin throwers , becausepilatusmeans " spear . " Pilate would have had a first name , too , like Marcus or Gaius , but that ’s been lost to history .
James Bond says that as a military man , Pilate would have had limited experience and education in diplomacy or governance , something papist authorities may not have deemed necessary for an insignificant outstation like Judea .
" Pilate was in Judea seeing to national surety and he leave behind the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. - to - day government to the chief priests in Jerusalem , " tell Bond . " Mostly he was just making certain there were no riots . "
Pilate the Pawn
The trial of Jesus is recounted with tenuous variations in all four New Testament gospels : Matthew , Mark , LukeandJohn . The evangel paint a exculpated picture of Pilate as a light governor being bullied by the Judaic authorities into condemn an innocent humankind to a slow and agonizing death .
" I find nothing wrong with this man ! " Pilate distinguish the angry crowd inLuke . Andin John , Pilate is desperate not to get involved , and state Caiaphas , the chief priest of the Jewish Temple , to " take [ Jesus ] away and judge him by your own law . "
When the Judaic leaders refuse , tell Pilate they do n’t have the authority to execute Jesus , Pilate tells the crew that they can release one of two prisoners , the innocent Jesus or Barabbas , a manslayer . They howl " Barabbas ! " and insist that Pilate bedevil Jesus for claiming to be " King of the Jews . " Literally " moisten his hands " of guilt , Pilate orders the execution .
" The Bible ’s enactment of Pilate is not a very electropositive pictorial matter of a papistical governor , " says Bond . " I think a first - century interview would have been quite aghast . "
Even if Pilate was afraid of a riot and want to " pacify the crowd,“as it order in Mark , it was in full within his authority as regulator to refuse the trump out - up charge against Jesus . The truth is that historian have no idea what in reality happened at Jesus ' tryout ( if there was one ) and must rely on the creed accounts , which have their own biases .
" The main thing that the gospel writers want to show was that Jesus is ingenuous , " say Bond , " and that his excruciation was a mixture of Judaic air pressure and a pretty hopeless regulator who wanted to get disembarrass of the case . "
Pilate the Saint
The books of the New Testament are n’t the last Holy Writ on Pilate . There are a number of early Christian writings that did n’t make it into the Bible ( called the " Apocrypha " ) but were in wide circulation in the first centuries of Christianity . Some present an progressively positive view of Pilate and a few even drop him as a true believer .
" The Gospel of Nicodemus , " likely indite in the fourth century C.E. , is present as an eyewitness account of the tryout of Jesus by Nicodemus , a pharisee who is sympathetic to Jesus and his follower . The school text delineate R.C. standard - bearers bow to Jesus as he is led into the visitation , and Pilate raging against the Jewish self-confidence for forcing his hand to pillory " a just man . "
Later texts have sex as " The Letters of Herod and Pilate " purport to be actual correspondence between Pilate and Herod Antipas , the king of Galilee , about the trial run of Jesus . In Pilate ’s varsity letter , he and his married woman are natter by the resurrected Jesus , whom they recognise as the Son of God and beg pardon for their sins .
Bond says that while these schoolbook are " a million miles away from anything that may be historical , " they recast Pilate as a penitent evildoer who ultimately accepted Jesus as his Savior . In some Christian traditions , including the Ethiopian Church , Pilate and his wife Procla evenachieved sainthood .
Pilate the Harsh Ruler
Philo of Alexandria was a Judaic - Roman historiographer who hold up in Egypt at the same meter that Pilate was governor of Syria . His writings are the closest thing we have to a contemporary diachronic account of Pilate ’s land tenure in Judea — even the gospel were written decades later — but Philo had his own problems with Pilate .
" Philo really hat Pilate , " says Bond . " He does n’t have a just word to say . He says Pilate was vain , savage and stubborn , and that he put people to death without visitation . "
Philo ’s main beef with Pilate was that hebrought gild shields called " criterion " into Jerusalem , which insult the Judaic authorities and Temple non-Christian priest . When the Jewish leaders protested , Pilate refused to remove the statues . According to Philo , it took a sharply worded letter from Emperor Tiberius himself to convince Pilate to take down the standard .
Josephus was another Judaic - Romanic historiographer who was born soon after Pilate ’s stint in Judea . Josephus is famous for being the only nonbiblical ancient informant to mention Jesus , althoughhis brief accountwas " intelligibly make over by Christian editor , " says Bond , and must be taken with a grain of salinity .
As for Pilate , Josephus tells us of another reverse - up with the Jewish self-assurance , when Pilate tried again tohave some busts of the emperordisplayed in Jerusalem . When a crowd of Jewish protesters gathered out of doors of Pilate ’s home office in the coastal townspeople of Caesarea , Pilate order his soldier to surround them . fit in to Josephus , the Jews " astonish " Pilate with their willingness to die rather than endure the insult , so Pilate soften and removed the statues . In another incident , he hadan aqueduct constructedwith sacred funds from the United States Treasury of the Jewish temple . When people protested , Pilate had soldier go among the gang disguised as civilians with order under their coats which they used to beat the contestant , many to death .
Where Did Pilate Go After Judea?
The last intelligence we get word about Pilate also fall from the playpen of Josephus and involved another disceptation over a man take to be the Messiah .
In 36 C.E. , a Samaritan man declared that he was areincarnation of Mosesand led a group of followers on a trek up Mount Gerizim , where he vaticinate that corking marvel would be expose to them , including sanctified vessels buried there by Moses . Word flummox to Pilate that these men were plan an armed uprising .
" They all start to go up the mountain but Pilate decides the practiced thing is to squeeze this in the bud , " order Bond . " So , he sends in the cavalry , they kill burden of hoi polloi , execute the leaders and that ’s the end of the uprising . "
The Samaritans complained about Pilate ’s violence to the legate of Syria , a higher - ranking Roman governor , who ordinate Pilate to turn back to Rome and make his case straight to Tiberius , the emperor . But before Pilate touch Rome , Josephus says , Tiberius died and was replaced by Caligula . It ’s unknown whether Pilate ’s hearing went badly and he was removed from his post , or else he simply make up one’s mind to retire .
" Pilate had been in Judea for 10 years at that point , so it was plausibly a good time to have a change , " say Bond . " Once he blend in back to Rome , we know dead nothing more about what happens to him , aside from the non - sanctioned narrative and legends we hear about him . "
Inone of those fable , Pilate was banish from Rome and finish up dying ( committing suicide ? ) in Vienna , Austria , where he was believed to come forth every Easter from a local lake enclothe in empurpled robe , and anyone who looked at him would die within the class . A related fable order his last resting place onMount Pilatusnear Lucerne , Switzerland , where his evil spirit is said to be creditworthy for bouts of smutty weather .
