Aside from the Gospel accounts, the historians Flavius Josephus and Philo are the main sources of information on Pilate. Roman historian Tacitus also states that Pilate executed Christus, from whom Christians took their name.

What Happened to Pilate?

The last recorded incident in Pilate’s career was another conflict. Josephus says that a multitude of armed Samaritans gathered on Mount Gerizim in hopes of uncovering treasures that Moses had supposedly buried there. Pilate intervened, and his troops slew a number of the crowd. The Samaritans complained to Pilate’s superior, Lucius Vitellius, governor of Syria. Whether Vitellius thought that Pilate had gone too far is not stated. In any case, he ordered Pilate to Rome to answer to the emperor for his actions. Before he arrived, however, Tiberius died.

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This inscription identifying Pontius Pilate as prefect of Judaea was found at Caesarea