Pontius Pilate Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Sources=== Sources on Pontius Pilate are limited, although modern scholars know more about him than about other [[Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135)|Roman governors of Judaea]].{{sfn|Carter|2003|p=12}} The most important sources are the ''Embassy to Gaius'' (after the year 41) by contemporary Jewish writer [[Philo]] of Alexandria,{{sfn|Demandt|2012|p=34|ps=. "Nach dem Tod des Caligula, unter Claudius, schrieb Philo seine 'Legatio'."}} the [[The Jewish War|''Jewish Wars'']] ({{circa|74}}) and ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' ({{circa|94}}) by the Jewish historian [[Josephus]], as well as the four canonical Christian [[gospel]]s, [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] (composed between 66 and 70), [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] (composed between 85 and 90), [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] (composed between 85 and 90), and [[Gospel of John|John]] (composed between 90 and 110);{{sfn|Carter|2003|p=12}} he is also mentioned in the [[Acts of the Apostles]] (composed between 85 and 90) and in the [[First Epistle to Timothy]] (written in the second half of the 1st century). [[Ignatius of Antioch]] mentions him in his epistles to the [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians|Trallians]], [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians|Magnesians]], and [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans|Smyrnaeans]]{{sfn|Bayes|2010|p=79}} (composed between 105 and 110).{{sfn|Trebilco|2007|p=631}} He is also briefly mentioned in ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'' of the Roman historian [[Tacitus]] (early 2nd century), who simply says that he put Jesus to death.{{sfn|Carter|2003|p=12}} Two additional chapters of Tacitus's ''Annals'' that might have mentioned Pilate have been lost.{{sfn|Wroe|1999|p=xii}} The written sources provide only limited information, and each has its own biases, with the gospels in particular providing a theological rather than historical perspective on Pilate.{{sfn|Carter|2003|pp=12–19}} Besides these texts, dated coins in the name of emperor Tiberius minted during Pilate's governorship have survived, as well as a fragmentary short inscription that names Pilate, known as the [[Pilate stone|Pilate Stone]], the only inscription about a Roman governor of Judaea predating the [[Jewish–Roman wars]] to survive.{{sfn|Carter|2003|pp=12–13}}{{sfn|MacAdam|2001|p=75}}<ref>The Pilate Stone at the ''Inscriptions of Israel-Palestine'' project: https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/caes0043/ (2019)</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page