One of the most mysterious and mystical persons in Roman history is Pontius Pilate - the prefect of Judea, as the office of the head of the city was called in the old days. But in some sources he is called the procurator, that is, by today's standards, he was a judge.
One of the most mysterious and mystical persons in Roman history is Pontius Pilate - the prefect of Judea, as the office of the head of the city was called in the old days. But in some sources he is called the procurator, that is, by today's standards, he was a judge.
Tyrant and philanthropist
Many legends are associated with the name and personality of the “great procurator of Judea” Pontius Pilate. Some of them talk about his life, about his cruel character, about the ambiguity of his actions, while others say that the procurator was a very educated and perspicacious man. For example, it was Pilate who ordered the construction of a water supply system in Jerusalem, while the inhabitants of the city for centuries carried water in clay pots from streams that were located under the city walls.
Pilate was a philanthropist, giving considerable funds for libraries, supporting a number of artists and sculptors.
However, numerous sources claim that along with quite noble deeds, Pilate committed atrocities "never before seen by the empire or the world." By the atrocities, the chroniclers meant, of course, the intransigence of Pontius Pilate with the supporters of the new faith, the numerous orders to commit bloody massacres given by the procurator.
Pilate and Christ
Legends say that Pontius Pilate lived during the time of Christ, who, at the age of 30, came to Judea and told its inhabitants about faith in God, one and great, in a creator who can give life or take away. Pilate, too, bestowed and took away life, and therefore the stories and the beggar, who tells something in the squares, he listened especially attentively for a year and a half, until the informers began to report that this beggar was preaching not only a new faith but also a new kingdom. Christ offered the people the kingdom of God, while Pilate was worried about the kingdom of the earth. Having ordered one of Christ's disciples to be brought in for questioning, Pilate personally interrogated him, it was he who seized from Peter the records of Jesus Christ's speeches, which partly - again thanks to Pilate - have come down to our days and are jealously kept by the clergy.
The order to execute Christ was also given by Pilate, having pardoned at the same time two thieves who were condemned together with Jesus. It is believed that the crucifixion, which, by the way, was by no means a novelty for Judea - as all the thieves were executed, was the beginning of the end of the great procurator.
According to one version, he went mad from fear of being killed by his own confidants, or from the realization of his own atrocities. According to another version, the emperor removed him from office, because the people were weary of the cruelty of the procurator's decisions. According to the third, Pilate was imbued with the speeches of Christ and ended his life in seclusion, leaving his post and acquired wealth.