Perhaps after the soldiers had laid him on the ground, while Joseph of Arimathea was at Pontius Pilate's asking for Christ's body, Nicodemus was gathering his mixture of myrrh and aloes, and the others had gone home to mourn.

The exact nature of the wanderer's indiscretion varies in different versions of the tale, as do aspects of his character ; sometimes he is said to be a shoemaker or other tradesman, while sometimes he is the doorman at Pontius Pilate's estate.

Josephus notes that while Pilate's predecessors had respected Jewish customs by removing all images and effigies on their standards when entering Jerusalem, Pilate allowed his soldiers to bring them into the city at night.

As a literary game when Latin was the common property of the literate, Latin anagrams were prominent: two examples are the change of " Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum " ( Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord with you ) into " Virgo serena, pia, munda et immaculata " ( Serene virgin, pious, clean and spotless ), and the anagrammatic answer to Pilate's question, " Quid est veritas?

Pontius Pilate's title was traditionally thought to have been procurator, since Tacitus speaks of him as such.

Pilate's main question to Jesus was whether he considered himself to be the King of the Jews in an attempt to assess him as a potential political threat.

His body, says the Mors Pilati (" Death of Pilate "), was thrown first into the Tiber, but the waters were so disturbed by evil spirits that the body was taken to Vienne and sunk in the Rhône: a monument at Vienne, called Pilate's tomb, is still to be seen.

As the waters of the Rhone likewise rejected Pilate's corpse, it was again removed and sunk in the lake at Lausanne.

Other legendary versions of Pilate's death exist: Antoine de la Sale reported from a travel in central Italy on some local traditions asserting that after death the body of Pontius Pilate was driven to a little lake near Vettore Peak ( 2478 m in the Sibillini Mountains ) and plunged in.

* The Collection of Short Stories The Night Chicago Died by Tom Wessex contains a story entitled " An Afternoon on Skull Hill ", in which the author supposes that Gestas, one of the thieves crucified with Christ, was in fact Pilate's illegitimate son.

* A song by UK-based songwriter Howard Dobson called This Is Jesus ( King of the Jews ) looks at the Passion of Christ from Pilate's perspective and was a semi-finalist in the 2011 UK Songwriting Contest.

This word was based on the transliteration " Kawana " (= ' governor '), which had been invented by Bible translators to explain Pontius Pilate's authority in Judaea.

The story of this successful resistance is told by Josephus — who does not say who the leader was, but does tell of Pilate's crucifixion of Jesus just two paragraphs later in a passage whose authenticity is heavily disputed.

Their nickname as Pontius Pilate's bodyguard, originated from a 17th century boasting contest with the French Regiment of Picardy, who boasted that prior to the Resurrection Christ's tomb was guarded by the French regiment.

Father Lucci is revealed to be Cartaphilus, a Roman Centurion and Pilate's porter who struck Jesus before his death and was sentenced to wander the Earth until Christ returned to judge mankind.

Urrutia contends that Rabbi Yeshua Bar Abba was the historical Jesus of Nazareth and was the leader of the successful nonviolent Jewish resistance to Pilate's attempt to place Roman eagles — symbols of the worship of Jupiter — on Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

On the site are three early 19th-century Roman Catholic churches, taking their names from these events ; the Church of the Condemnation and Imposition of the Cross, Church of the Flagellation, and Church of Ecce Homo ; a large area of Roman paving, beneath these structures, was traditionally regarded as the pavement () described by the Bible as the location of Pilate's judgment of Jesus.

A letter, purportedly written in Latin by Pilate's wife from " a little Gallic mountain town " several years after Pilate left Jerusalem, was first published in English by Pictorial Review Magazine in April 1929.

The English version of the letter was provided by writer Catherine Van Dyke and it states that Pilate's wife successfully sought Jesus ' aid to heal the crippled foot of her son Pilo.

This was the oldest infantry regiment in the British army ( known as " Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard ").

In " Pilate's Evening ", the weary governor wonders why Jesus ' friends and relatives did not come to try and save him, and wishes that they had.

Limestone cows block discovered in 1961 with Pilate's tribute in Latin to Tiberius.

The sources for Pilate's life are the four canonical gospels, Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, a brief mention by Tacitus, and an inscription known as the Pilate Stone, which confirms his historicity and establishes his title as prefect.

On the DVD commentary, Gilliam expresses great pride in one set in particular, the main hall of Pilate's fortress, which had been designed so that it accurately looked like an old Judean temple that the Romans had converted by dumping their structural artifacts ( such as marble floors and columns ) on top.

According to Matthew 27: 19, even Pilate's wife spoke to him on Jesus ' behalf.

In the Chester Mystery Plays ' portrayal of Christ's Passion, specifically his humiliation before his sentence to crucifixion, the accounts of the Gospels concerning the physical violence visited on Jesus during his trial before the Sanhedrin, and the humiliating crowning of thorns visited upon him in Pilate's palace ( or by Herod's soldiers, according to Luke ), is further confused by showing both actions as being carried out by jeering Jews.

Jesus, in this view, must have been the planner and leader of the Jewish nonviolent resistance to Pilate's plan to set up Roman Eagle standards on Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

Pontius Pilate's family owned a grotto on Ponza, which is still named after him.

Since little is said of her in the New Testament, and no verifiable biography exists, details on Pilate's wife are surmised from Christian tradition and legend.

Pilate's wife had seen Jesus in a dream earlier that day, and she forewarned Pilate to " have nothing to do with this righteous man " ().

It has been asserted that Pilate may have been born in Fortingall, Perthshire, in Scotland, the illegitimate son of a Roman ambassador sent to pacify the Picts and a Pictish girl, but the Romans did not invade Britain until some years after Pilate's birth and appear to have had relatively little contact with that part of Scotland even then.

Pilate's role in the events leading to the crucifixion lent themselves to melodrama, even tragedy, and Pilate often has a role in medieval mystery plays.

More of Pilate's fictional correspondence is found in the minor Pilate apocrypha, the Anaphora Pilati ( Relation of Pilate ), an Epistle of Herod to Pilate, and an Epistle of Pilate to Herod, spurious texts that are no older than the 5th century.

" Pilate's Creed " features a dialogue between Pilate and Joseph of Arimathea.

* The Dutch writer Simon Vestdijk's 1938 novel De nadagen van Pilatus ( The Last Days of Pilate ) presents an account of Pilate's life after the crucifixion.

* Barry Dennen, in Norman Jewison's musical Jesus Christ Superstar ( 1973 ), portrayed a cruel Pilate who after suffering a prophetic dream ( which in the Gospel of Matthew is dreamed by Pilate's wife ) is very reluctant to put Christ to death, but succumbs to mob pressures.

The film gives focus to the fragile relationship of Tiberius Caesar with Pontius Pilate through Pilate's discussion with his wife about imperial orders to avert further Judean revolts.

Though the Acta Pilati purports to be a report by Pontius Pilate containing evidence of Jesus Christ's messiahship and godhead, there is no record in early Christian lore of Pilate's conversion to Christianity.

Soloists sing the words of various characters, also in recitative ; in addition to Jesus, there are named parts for Judas, Peter, two high priests, Pontius Pilate, Pilate's wife, two witnesses and two ancillae ( maids ).

Pontius Pilate's wife is mentioned in the apocryphal Acts of Pilate ( Gospel of Nicodemus, probably written around the middle of the 4th century ), which gives a more elaborate version of the episode of the dream than Matthew.

Novels inspired by Pilate's wife include The Bride of Pilate ( 1959 ) by Esther Kellner and Pilate's Wife: A Novel of the Roman Empire ( 2006 ) & Claudia: Daughter of Rome ( 2008 ) both by Antoinette May.

He travelled from Norcia to the Monti Sibillini and the neighboring Pilate's Lake ( the final resting place of Pontius Pilate, according to local legend ).

* Play 31: Pilate's Wife, and the Second Trial Before Pilate