Pontius Pilate (Pontius Pilatus) - the fifth Roman governor of Judea ("ruler", "hegemon", έπιτρόπος) in 26-36 AD. e. under the Roman emperor Tiberius. Tacitus calls him the procurator of Judea. According to the testimony of Philo of Alexandria, the rule of Pontius Pilate was extremely harsh, corrupt, and characterized by massive violence and executions without trial. The provocative actions of the procurator, insulting the religious beliefs of the Jews, extortion and tax oppression caused popular uprisings, which he brutally suppressed.
Pilate was appointed governor of Judea by Tiberius in 26 AD. e. The wife of Claudius Proculus (the illegitimate daughter of Claudius and the granddaughter of Emperor Augustus) came with him. By the time of his procurator's office, which lasted for about 10 years, the main evangelical events are related: the preaching of John the Baptist and all the social activities of Jesus Christ.
Ultimate villain
Very little is known about Pontius Pilate. Samnite in origin, the generic name Pontius, indicates his belonging to the Roman family of Pontius. He is described by Jewish authors Josephus Flavius and Philo of Alexandria as a greedy and cruel man, whose reign was marked by a series of conflicts between the Romans on the one hand, and the Jews and Samaritans on the other. The atrocities of the procurator complained to the Roman emperor of the Jewish king Agrippa I. The governor was removed from office and sent to Rome. There is no historically reliable information about his further fate. According to Eusebius of Caesarea, Pilate was exiled to Gaul, where in 39 he committed suicide.
A victim of circumstance
In the New Testament, the procurator Pontius Pilate is mentioned primarily in the story of the trial and execution of Jesus Christ. In the third and fourth Gospels - from Luke and John - Pilate constantly speaks about the innocence of Jesus, retreating only under the pressure of the high priests and the crowd, gave him to be crucified: “he took water and washed his hands before the people” (Matthew 27:24), thus to the ancient Jewish custom, which symbolized innocence in the shedding of blood (hence the expression "wash your hands"). The Roman historian Tacitus mentions that it was Pontius Pilate who executed Jesus Christ (Annals, 15:44; some of the modern scholars consider this place a late insertion).
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Historical confirmation of Pilate's existence
Until 1961, only literary sources existed, with a mention of Pilate. But here two archaeologists from Italy began excavations in the Mediterranean port of Caesarea, which was once the capital of the Roman governor in Palestine. And among other finds, they found a stone about 70 x 100 cm in size with a Latin inscription. Antonio Frova decoded it and read to his own surprise: "Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea, introduced Tiberius to the Caesareans." This was the first find that confirmed Pilate's historical existence.
Pilate is a believing Christian
Early Christian writers of the second century argue that in reality Pilate considered Christ to be the King of the Jews, and he himself was a believing Christian. This version is confirmed by the fact that the inscription on the board, attached to the crucifix, made at the behest of the procurator, read: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." So he came into conflict with the high priests, who demanded that something different should be written on the board, namely, the guilt of Jesus: "The man who considered himself the King of the Jews."
There is a fragment of Coptic papyrus, which is now kept in Oxford, where it is said that the fifth procurator Pontius Pilate believed in God, whom he gave to the Crucifixion. By the way, in the Coptic and Ethiopian Churches, Pilate was canonized as a martyr who died for the faith. And the day of St. Pilate is celebrated on June 25.
In the Christian tradition, Pilate is portrayed as a just but weak ruler who has become an "instrument" in the hands of the Jewish temple nobility. According to Tertullian, Pilate converted to Christianity and preached to the emperor Tiberius; Blessed Augustine considered him equal to the Gospel Magi. The image of the procurator washing his hands after the trial of Christ is found on a number of Christian sarcophagi of the 4th century.
Pagan pilate
Pilate was a pagan and when he heard from Christ about His divine dignity, he was confused that Jesus could be a demigod (a man born of the love of a deity and a man). The spouse of the procurator also spoke out against the execution. Wanting to "secure" himself, the official decided to limit himself to whipping the Condemned. However, the Jewish elders threatened the procurator with a complaint to the emperor if he did not approve the death sentence.
As a result, career considerations outweighed their fear of the "local Deity" and the Savior was sentenced to death. After sentencing, he chose from the local religious law the most appropriate ritual (wash his hands) for his own defense.
Appearance of the procurator after death
The fate of Pontius Pilate became the subject of various legends, one of which leads to connection with his disastrous fate in the Swiss town of Hergiswil, on the shores of the famous and beloved by tourists and by the Swiss themselves, Lake Lucerne (or Lucerne), where he seems to still appear every year in Good Friday and washes his hands, in vain trying to cleanse himself of complicity in a terrible crime (article: "The path of the accursed Pontius Pilate after death").
Testimony of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The Greek Hermidius, the official biographer of the ruler of Judea, compiled the biography of Pilate. His messages deserve special attention for two reasons. First, they contain a lot of accurate data on the history of Palestine, Rome and Judea. Secondly, Hermidius stands out sharply in his manner of presentation. This person is not able to give in to any impressions, be surprised, carried away. The testimony of Hermidius is also valuable because, according to his own testimony, he was at first opposed to Christ and persuaded the governor's wife not to deter her husband from passing the death sentence on the Savior. Until the crucifixion, he believed that Christ was a deceiver.
But here is what he wrote about Pilate: “Not long before the crucifixion of Christ, in Judea, coins were to be minted with a large image of Caesar (Tiberius) on one side and with a small image of Pilate on the other. On the day of the trial of Christ, when the official’s wife sent people to him, through whom she tried to convince her spouse not to pass the death sentence on Christ (for she suffered a lot for Him in a dream), she asked him: “How can you redeem really the Son of God and not a criminal?
The viceroy answered her: If He is the Son of God, then He will rise again, and then the first thing I will do is forbid minting my image on coins while I am alive. (It should be noted that being depicted on coins was considered a very high honor among the Romans.) The most striking thing, says the biographer Hermidius, that the procurator kept his promise. After making sure that Jesus Christ was resurrected, he actually forbade portraying himself on coins.
It would be possible to treat with distrust the biographer's message, but it is fully confirmed by modern numismatics. Since that time, coins in Jerusalem began to be minted only with the image of Caesar, without the image of Pilate. Thus, the Roman proconsul became a direct historical witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.