Pontius Pilate, (died c. ad 36), Roman prefect (governor) of Judaea (ad 26–36) under the emperor Tiberius; he presided at the trial of Jesus and gave the order for his crucifixion.
According to the traditional account of his life, Pilate was a Roman equestrian (knight) of the Samnite clan of the Pontii (hence his name Pontius). He was appointed prefect of Judaea through the intervention of Sejanus, a favourite of the Roman emperor Tiberius. (That his title was prefect is confirmed by an inscription from Caesarea.) Protected by Sejanus, he incurred the enmity of the Jews by insulting their religious sensibilities, as when he hung worship images of the emperor throughout Jerusalem and had coins bearing pagan religious symbols minted. After Sejanus’s fall (ad 31), Pilate was exposed to sharper criticism from the Jews, who may have capitalized on his vulnerability by obtaining a legal death sentence on Jesus (John 19:12). The Samaritans reported him to Vitellius, legate of Syria, after he had attacked them on Mt. Gerizim (ad 36). He was then ordered back to Rome to stand trial for cruelty and oppression, particularly on the charge that he executed men without proper trial. According to an uncertain 4th-century tradition, Pilate killed himself on orders from Emperor Caligula in ad 39.
Judgments of the man himself must be made inferentially, almost entirely on the basis of later Jewish and Christian writings, chiefly Josephus and the New Testament. Josephus’s references appear to be consistent. They seem to picture a headstrong, strict, authoritarian Roman leader who, although both rational and practical, never knew how far he should go in a given case. He provoked both Jews and Samaritans to riot. Josephus tells us that “in order to abolish Jewish laws,” and with the intent of diminishing privileges Jews had hitherto enjoyed, Pilate ordered his troops to encamp in Jerusalem and sent them into the city with images of the emperor attached to their ensigns. When the Jews demonstrated in Caesarea, Pilate’s city of residence, he threatened them with death unless they desisted; but when the Jews showed their readiness to die, he ordered the images removed. Josephus states his inferential judgment that Pilate “was deeply affected with their firm resolution,” suggesting his own strength of character.
The New Testament suggests that Pilate had a weak, vacillating personality. Would the mob be just as happy if he released Barabbas instead of Jesus on the feast day (Mark 15:6 ff.)? Pilate weakly capitulates. His wife sends him word of her dream (Matt. 27:19), and Pilate abdicates his responsibility to the emperor. In the Gospel According to John (19:7–11), Pilate is depicted as having accepted the Christian interpretation of the meaning of Jesus, and he rejects the Jews’ reminder that Jesus has merely said that he is “the king of the Jews” (19:21). On the other hand, John’s picture of Pilate delivering judgment from a tribunal in front of the prefect’s mansion fits typical Roman procedure. Clearly, as an index to the character and personality of Pilate, the New Testament is devastating. But it is preoccupied with concerns of the nascent Christian communities, increasingly making their way among the Gentiles and anxious to avoid giving offense to Roman authorities. Eventually, in Christian tradition, Pilate and his wife became converts, and the latter is a saint in the Eastern Church.