pontius pilate

In 1961, archaeologists discovered a plaque fragment at Caesarea Maritima, an ancient Roman city along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. The plaque was written in Latin and imbedded in a section of steps leading to Caesarea’s Amphitheatre. The inscription includes the following:pontius pilate

Cornelius Tacitus, a well-known first-century Roman historian, also mentioned Pontius Pilate in one of his texts:

In John’s Gospel, Pontius Pilate speaks to Jesus and the Jewish crowds from the Roman judgment seat in a place called “the Pavement” (Gabbatha in Aramaic):

Many archaeologists believed that Pontius Pilate was a fictional character, but it was later discovered that he was a real historical person. This is further evidence that Jesus Christ was a real historical person too.

  1. Tacitus, Annales, Historiae , Chapter 15, paragraphs 54 and 55.
  2. William Albright, The Archaeology of Palestine, Penguin Books, 1960.
  3. Jewish Antiquities 18:35.
  4. Jewish Antiquities 18:95.

Sources: Randall Niles, www.AllAboutGOD.com, www.GotQuestions.org, and www.AllAboutTheJourney.org.