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Need information on the court of Pontius Pilate.
#1
I am looking to recreate the scene of Pilates chamber or court room when he tried Christ. What items could we reasonably assume would have been present? Was Pilate entitled to a fasces?
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#2
Pilate was an equestrian prefect, so would not have had fasces - they were reserved for the emperor and for senatorial magistrates and provincial commanders.

The room decor maybe depends where his 'praetorium' actually was - either in Herod's old palace or in the Antonia fortress both seem possible. The palace would presumably appear more opulent than the fortress! If it was an official court chamber, the furnishings would perhaps be rather spartan. Pilate would have a chair to sit on, as would the several scribes taking records, and there would be a small altar for making official sacrifices, but there probably wouldn't be much else - the Romans don't seem to have gone in for desks.

There's a thread here about room furnishings in 1st century Judea.

The 'judgement before Pilate' was a popular scene on later Roman sarcophagi: the costumes are 4th century, but the simple seat, the altar and the pillars of the hall are clearly shown:

[Image: 385381566_a74f1c6e95_z.jpg?zz=1]
Nathan Ross
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#3
So pilate would not have had any lictors?
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#4
Quote:So pilate would not have had any lictors?

Probably not. Entitlement to lictors varied at different times, and later in the empire all sorts of officials seem to have got them, even magistrates of provincial cities had a couple, although without the proper fasces. Pilate, as a prefect of the earlier empire, probably did without them though. Christopher Fuhrmann (Policing the Roman Empire) notes that, in the early empire, 'gubernatorial procurators would normally not have lictors' (p.186), and Pilate was effectively filling a procuratorial role even if he was actually a prefect.

Instead, Pilate's staff would be composed of imperial slaves and freedmen, acting as everything from doormen to clerks, and soldiers detached from the auxiliary units under his control, or perhaps even from the legions in Syria. These soldiers, called beneficiarii, sometimes seem to have carried a special ornamental spear to denote their status. They would have served as immediate bodyguards, messengers and general assistants. The staff would be headed by a cornicularius, and include viators (messengers) and praecones (heralds). As an important official, Pilate would have had a sizeable entourage with him wherever he went!
Nathan Ross
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#5
Maybe a statue or bust of the reigning emperor, Tiberius? Or at least some image of him, say, on a standard?

Below is a sixth century depiction of Pilate enthroned from the Rossano Gospels.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...Pilate.jpg

~Theo
Jaime
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#6
I'm of the mind that nobody would have likely been in full armor and such, as any trained-soldier handful of guards would be quite sufficient for the task of guarding the room, armed with only their swords, spears and shields. The population was not allowed to carry war weapons, and the spy network would almost certainly know if a significant uprising was imminent.

It's important to note that Jesus' trial was a quickly convened affair, lacking all the normal protocol. It is possible that the whole thing had no paperwork to support it, being an internal business put forth by Jewish priest/Sanhedrin plaintiffs. Remember, Jesus was arrested just the night before, and brought to Pilate sometime the next morning. To me, it seems that's the reason Pilate was not very decisive in the Gospel accounts: he didn't have any information about the case ahead of time, and possibly had never even heard of Jesus before that day.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)

Saepe veritas est dura.
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#7
"To me, it seems that's the reason Pilate was not very decisive in the Gospel accounts: he didn't have any information about the case ahead of time, and possibly had never even heard of Jesus before that day."

I am not sure it was quite as simple as that. I subscribe more to the view argued in this article:

http://paulbarnett.info/tag/pontius-pilate/

Further to the content of the article, it has also been convincingly argued that Pilate's appointment at the same time Sejanus took charge might indicate that his appointment was by Sejanus and that there might even have been a patronage relationship between them. Therefore, if this was the case he might be expected to follow his patron's opinions in his actions, hence the harsh and insensitive actions described by Josephus and Philo. Philo states categorically that Sejanus hated the Jews.

It is also possible that some members of the Sanhedrin may have had their own contacts in Rome. There had been a Jewish delegation to Rome some years before and it is possible, if not probable that both Ananus and Caiaphus were part of it. Pilate also consulted Caiaphus prior to taking up his appointment, suggesting the Caiaphus may have visited Rome in AD26. Therefore, the Sanhedrin could easily blackmail Pilate into doing what they wanted with the threat that they knew enough people in Rome to ruin his career, once Tiberius was back in power.

Sorry to pull this somewhat OT

Crispvs
Who is called \'\'Paul\'\' by no-one other than his wife, parents and brothers.  :!: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_exclaim.gif" alt=":!:" title="Exclamation" />:!:

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#8
Excellent article, Crispvs! Thanks!
And of course, nothing much is as simple as we'd like it concerning the ancient world.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)

Saepe veritas est dura.
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