THIS MIGHT SURPRISE YOU

"When Tacitus mentions Pontius Pilate, he gives him the title Pilate actually held in his own day." Agree or disagree?

The answer

Disagree. Tacitus calls Pilate a procurator. In Pilate's day the Roman governor of Judea was a prefect. Procurator became the title only from 41 AD, after Pilate had gone.

Why it’s interesting

Tacitus wrote around 115 AD, long after the title changed. Even so, his report agrees with other sources that Jesus was executed on Pilate's orders while Tiberius ruled.

Scholarly consensus

Learn the Bible.

Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.