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Pontius ruled Jerusalem and Judea on behalf of Rome for a decade, from the years 26 to 36. He was the fifth governor of Judea. The reason we know so much more about him than his predecessors or successors, is obviously ’cause Jesus was executed under his rule, so he has our attention. We know of him from the gospels, from historians Flavius Josephus and Publius Cornelius Tacitus, and from contemporary philosopher Philo of Alexandria.
The Pilate stone, on display in Jerusalem. Wikimedia
Unfortunately after Jesus’s death and resurrection, a lot of Christians made up a lot of fanfiction about him. It means Pontius’s history beyond these first-century sources isn’t all that reliable. But I’ll briefly go over what we have.
Pontius was a member of the Pontii family, a plebeian-caste family from south central Italy. A number of Pontii held high positions in the Roman government, including consul; a few later became leaders in the ancient Christian church, and are considered saints. Pilatus means “skilled with a javelin,” so either he (or one of his ancestors, whom Pontius was named for) got named that because of military skill. And Pontius did have to serve in the Roman cavalry before he could hold office. He was married,
Pontius took office in 26. That’s the same year Caesar Tiberius retired to Capri and left his job largely to his Praetorian prefect, Lucius Aelius Sejanus. So there’s some question whether Lucius appointed Pontius instead of Caesar. But after Caesar had Lucius executed for treason in 31, he didn’t prosecute or fire Pontius, so clearly he didn’t consider Pontius to be mixed up in Lucius’s business.
Pontius’s rule.
When Caesar Augustus split Israel into provinces and decided he’d rule Judea instead of any of the squabbling Herod brothers, he obviously didn’t rule it in person: He sent military governors. The job wasn’t seen as a prestigious one, since it was so far away from Rome. Plus the governors didn’t answer directly to the emperor, but to the legate of Syria. But it was seen as a profitable job: The governor got to choose Jerusalem’s head priest, and the priests seemed to have no trouble outbidding their competitors with the very best bribes. Hence Israel went through a lot of head priests after the Romans took over—though Pontius actually had the same head priest, Joseph bar Caiaphas, throughout his term.
Pontius apparently held two titles: Prefect at first, procurator later. The bible just calls him
Flavius Josephus shared these stories about Pontius:
1. In the winter of 27, Pontius sent Roman troops to Jerusalem for garrison duty in Antonia, the fort which overlooked the temple. As usual, the troops carried Roman iconography—eagles, and images of the emperor—and displayed them in the fort. Apparently Romans hadn’t done such a thing before, and the Judeans loudly objected, ’cause Romans worshiped these images, and they understandably didn’t want pagan idols overlooking their temple. Protesters went to the governor’s office in Cæsarea to protest, and after six days Pontius told them to go home or he’d sic his soldiers on them. They called his bluff and dared him to kill them right there. So he backed off and had the standards taken down. Antiquities 18.3.1
Philo of Alexandria told a similar story about Pontius putting up some gilt shields which likewise outraged the Judeans, Embassy to Gaius 38-39 which is either the same incident with some details mixed up, or Pontius actually tried this more than once.
2. In 28, Pontius decided to divert a stream of water to Jerusalem, and pay for it with temple taxes. Again protesters; tens of thousands of them. This time he did sic his soldiers on them, and “a great number” were killed and wounded. Antiquities 18.3.2 Possibly this is what Luke meant by the Galileans “whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices,”
Lk 13.1 though for all we know, that could be another, different crackdown.KJV 3. In 33, Pontius had Jesus killed. Historians are entirely sure some Christian later edited Josephus’s version of events, ’cause we seriously doubt he wrote “He was Christ.” So we don’t know what’s original, and what’s updated. We only know Jesus’s death did get a mention. Antiquities 18.3.3
4. In 36, a Samaritan decided he was gonna storm the Samaritan temple, take the sacred vessels which Moses had supposedly put there, and show them to the people. He got together a large group of armed Samaritans, but the night before they were about to invade, Pontius and his troops came in and killed a bunch of them. The Samaritan senate believed Pontius murdered them for other, political reasons—and went over his head to the Syrian legate, Lucius Vitellius Veteris, who had Pontius recalled to Rome. Antiquities 18.4.1-2
Pontius may not have been popular with the Judeans, and I doubt he cared so much about that; he was more interested in keeping Caesar Tiberius happy by tamping down any uprisings, and keeping the taxes flowing. The fact Pontius remained in office till Caesar’s death indicates he did just fine in the job, as far as the Romans were concerned.
Pontius’s retirement.
When Lucius Vitellius Veteris sent Pontius to Rome, it was so the emperor could decide over the Samaritan incident. Caesar Tiberius had died, so the case went to his successor, Caesar Gaius (better known by his nickname Caligula), who by most accounts hadn’t gone mad yet. And here’s where we lose track of him.
The popular story of Pontius going mad and obsessively washing his hands for the rest of his life? The idea was swiped from Lady Macbeth losing it in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth; it’s a modern invention. But Christians love the irony of the idea, and spread it everywhere.
According to Eusebius of Cæsarea, Pontius was found guilty, and obligated to kill himself. Church History 2.7 Either he found his situation so humiliating, his sense of honor forced him to; or Caesar ordered him to commit suicide. Thing is, Eusebius is the only one who tells this story. The pagan apologist Celsus, and Origen of Alexandria who wrote a book refuting Celsus, both of whom wrote two centuries before Eusebius, stated Pontius hadn’t died any shameful or humiliating death. And of course neither Josephus, Philo, nor Tacitus say anything one way or the other.
Ancient Christians began to circulate “letters” which claimed to be a report from Pontius to Rome about Jesus’s trial. Or from other officials (like Caesar Tiberius at the time, or Caesar Nero Caesar years later) officially rebuking Pontius for his actions. Some of them denounce Jesus and Christianity; some report miracles which “prove” Jesus is Lord, like the Acts of Pilate. Some of them exonerate Pontius of any guilt he might have for sending Jesus to his death, choosing to blame the Judean senate and people instead. Some even claim Herod Antipas, not Pontius, had Jesus killed. Various ancient Christians read them… and apparently believed them. St. Justin Martyr made a reference to Pontius’s trial documents in one of his second-century writings, and Tertullian of Carthage had read ’em and came away convinced Pontius had become Christian.
Fact is we don’t know what became of him. Likely he just retired, and lived the rest of his life comfortably, thanks to all those bribes he racked up as governor. It’d be nice if Pontius became Christian. But human nature being what it is, he’d choose to forget the whole thing; Jesus is just one of many, many people he’d sent to their death to maintain the Roman sense of order.
But who knows?—maybe Jesus ultimately got to him. Grace can do that, y’know.
