Pilate dedicated a building at Caesarea — his seat of government — to the emperor Tiberius, and the dedication slab survived because later builders recycled it into the theatre. Three broken Latin lines still read “…tius Pilatus, prefect of Judaea.” It is the only inscription of the man ever found, and it settles a small point in the Gospels' favour: his real title was prefect, as the Gospels' generic “governor” allows, where later Roman historians anachronistically wrote “procurator.”
- What it is
- A limestone building dedication with a Latin inscription, reused in antiquity as a theatre step
- Date of artifact
- AD 26–36
- Discovered
- the Roman theatre at Caesarea Maritima, Israel, 1961 (Antonio Frova's Italian excavation)
- Where it is now
- Israel Museum, Jerusalem (replica on site at Caesarea)
- Related to
- Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who sentenced Jesus
- Scripture
- Matthew 27 · Luke 3:1 · John 18–19
What this find showsPilate was the Roman prefect governing Judaea under Tiberius — the right man, rank and decade for the trial narratives.
What it does not proveIt attests the office-holder, not the trial: nothing about Jesus, a sentence, or a washing of hands is on the stone.
Sources & further reading