Pontius Pilate governed Judea for Tiberius from about 26 to AD 36, with the title prefect (praefectus), as the inscription found at Caesarea Maritima confirms. Josephus and Philo describe clashes with the Jewish population over military standards, an aqueduct funded from Temple money, and violence; he was recalled after a massacre of Samaritans.
The Gospels, Tacitus, Josephus’ Testimonium in its core, and the early creeds all name him as the governor who had Jesus crucified. The Gospels portray him as reluctant and pressured by the Jerusalem authorities, a portrait historians weigh against his reputation for harshness. Later legend, as in the Acts of Pilate, made him a witness to Jesus’s innocence.
Where to start
Every mention
28 writings- 530 BCDaniel: the vision of the Son of ManThe Prophets1×
- AD 31The Pilate inscription (Caesarea Maritima)Stones and Scrolls13×
- AD 50The heel bone of Yehohanan (Giv’at HaMivtar)Stones and Scrolls2×
- AD 70The Gospel of MarkThe New Testament11×
- AD 85The Gospel of MatthewThe New Testament9×
- AD 85The Gospel of LukeThe New Testament13×
- AD 85The Acts of the ApostlesThe New Testament3×
- AD 93Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book 18: the Testimonium Flavianum and John the BaptistWitnesses Outside the Church19×
- AD 95The Gospel of JohnThe New Testament21×
- AD 100The First Letter to TimothyThe New Testament3×
- AD 110Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the SmyrnaeansThe Early Church2×
- AD 116Tacitus, Annals 15.38–44: the Great Fire and Nero’s punishment of the ChristiansWitnesses Outside the Church6×
- AD 150The Gospel of Peter (Akhmim Fragment)The Other Gospels15×
- AD 153Justin Martyr, First ApologyThe Early Church9×
- AD 170Tatian’s DiatessaronThe Other Gospels39×
- AD 180Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book IThe Early Church2×
- AD 180Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book IIIThe Early Church1×
- AD 248Origen, Against Celsus, Book IThe Early Church1×
- AD 320Eusebius, Church History, Book IThe Early Church7×
- AD 400The Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate) and the Pilate LettersThe Other Gospels105×
- AD 627Qur’an, Surah 4 (An-Nisa): WomenOther Voices1×
- 2026Registry of Gospels and Their Canonical StatusThe Other Gospels10×
- 2026Guide to the research and the world before JesusThe Dossier3×
- 2026Jesus’s life: a chronological catalogue of the canonical narrativesThe Dossier10×
- 2026The prophecies associated with Jesus: a critical catalogueThe Dossier1×
- 2026The documentary record of Jesus and the movements that interpreted himThe Dossier13×
- 2026What the evidence can and cannot establishThe Dossier3×
- 2026Sources and further readingThe Dossier8×