Pontius Pilate

Medallion of Pontius Pilate

Pontius Pilate is the Roman Procurator of Judea, Idumea, and Samaria, but not Galilee. He is married to Claudia Procula. He has curly hair, a lazy gait, a skeptical smile. He is a fickle character:

"Pilate is just a water reed that bends in the direction of the hurricane, trying to avoid it. He never lacks sincerity, because he is always convinced of his decision at the very moment. But the next moment, under the effect of an opposing hurricane, he forgets."

He is motivated by ambition:

"His pettiness, his greed, his Pride push him to reign to have a lot of money and to dominate a bunch of submissive subjects."

Claudia Procula, his woman, plays on all the contradictions that animate him. She threatens to separate (and with her the high Protection she represents) if he does not do what she wants. Pilate is a politician: he trusts little the reports of his centurions. He judges them skilled for battle, but not for political analyses. For that, he relies on his wife:

"who uses intelligence and skill to get reliable information. In truth, the Proconsul is Claudia," sums up Simon the Zealot (Apostle).        

Jesus tempers the portrait of Pilate:

"They say he is honest, at least in Family."    

He is not opposed to Jesus but only annoyed by the agitations he causes among the members of the Sanhedrin. He avoids taking sides. Lazarus, son of a former governor of Syria, is welcome with The Romans. Faced with the growing hostility of the Sanhedrin that has just condemned Jesus, he comes to ask the favorable intervention of the Proconsul. But Pontius Pilate confirms his neutrality:

"I am determined to no longer concern myself with him, neither in Good nor evil. I wash my hands of it. I will strengthen the guard because I do not want disorders. In this way, I will please Caesar, my wife, and myself, that is to say the only ones I care for in a sacred manner. And for the rest, I will not lift a finger."

When Jesus appeared before him, he hesitated: the resurrection of Lazarus, which occurred a few months earlier, had shaken him: he fears the power of Jesus. This fear is reinforced by the warning his woman sends him: he must not concern himself with the affairs of this righteous one. He opposes only his skepticism and ends up obeying the cries of the crowd.

Later, his attitude and the unrest caused by the death of Jesus are reprimanded by Rome.

His name

In Latin: Pontius Pilatus. Pontius is his name (nomen) and Pilatus his surname (cognomen) but his first name (praenomen) is unknown. Every Roman had three names. Ex: Caius Julius Caesar or Tiberius Claudius Nero.

Where is he mentioned in the work?

EMV 255 EMV 282
EMV 329 EMV 379 EMV 393
EMV 426
EMV 531 EMV 540 EMV 546 EMV 549 EMV 563 EMV 566 EMV 570 EMV 576 EMV 578 EMV 582 EMV 583 EMV 588 EMV 592 EMV 598
EMV 604 EMV 604 EMV 644

Learn more about this character

Excerpts from the Dictionary of Gospel Characters, Salton Maria Valtorta (Mgr René Laurentin, François-Michel Debroise, Jean-François Lavère, Éditions Salvator, 2012):

Pontius Pilate is named in both versions of the Christian Credo: the Apostles' Creed as well as the Nicene Creed. He is one of the three names cited along with Jesus and the Virgin Mary.    

His condemnation of Jesus is confirmed by Tacitus (1st century): speaking of the fire of Rome under Nero for which Christians were blamed, he notes that "this name (of Christians) comes from a certain Christos who, under the reign of Tiberius, was condemned to punishment by the procurator Pontius Pilate".

Pontius Pilate was the son of Marcus Pontius, a Spaniard who became a Roman citizen. Pilate was appointed prefect of Judea by Tiberius in 26. As such, he combined the functions of Procurator, responsible for collecting taxes, and of Governor, responsible for maintaining order. The presence, among his collaborators, of Roman aristocrats and their wives was therefore to be expected.

Philo of Alexandria (1st century) described Pilate as "cruel by nature, not shrinking from anything. He ruled with Pride, arrogance as well as corruption".

Flavius Josephus (1st century) describes him as brutal and unconcerned about Jewish religious sensitivities. But he adds that he was cunning and knew how to use the diplomacy and flexibility necessary.

At the end of the year 36, his superior, the governor of Syria Lucius Vitellius, ordered him to go to Rome to justify before Tiberius his violent repression of an armed insurrection in Samaria. This was not his first error: the episode of the Galileans massacred on his order is reported by the Gospels. In 37 it was the new emperor Caligula who received him. He was exiled to Vienne, in Gaul or Lucerne (Switzerland). He died shortly afterward. It is unknown whether he committed suicide or was executed.

Mount Pilat, in the region of Vienne, sub-prefecture of Isère, is said to be named after Pontius Pilate.

Another hypothesis, held by some Eastern Churches, gives him as converted to Christianity by his wife. In 64, he would have been a victim of the persecution of Nero. These Churches celebrate him together with his wife on June 25.

A 4th-century apocryphal text: The Gospel of Nicodemus or Acts of Pilate portrays him favorably.