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Pontius Pilate
Contributed by: Clay
  • 1. Which event is Pontius Pilate most famously associated with?
A) The baptism of Jesus
B) The sermon on the mount
C) The resurrection of Jesus
D) The crucifixion of Jesus
  • 2. According to the Gospels, how did Pilate attempt to absolve himself of responsibility?
A) He condemned Jesus himself
B) He washed his hands
C) He fled Jerusalem
D) He put it to a vote
  • 3. Which Roman Emperor was in power during Pilate's governance?
A) Augustus
B) Tiberius
C) Nero
D) Caligula
  • 4. Which Jewish festival was occurring during Jesus' trial?
A) Tabernacles
B) Pentecost
C) Passover
D) Hanukkah
  • 5. Who did Pilate release instead of Jesus?
A) Barabbas
B) Lazarus
C) Matthew
D) Simon
  • 6. How is Pilate viewed in Christian theology?
A) As a hero
B) As a martyr
C) As a figure of moral conflict
D) As a villain only
  • 7. What was Pilate's primary concern during the trial?
A) The truth of the accusations
B) Maintaining order and avoiding unrest
C) The opinions of the Pharisees
D) Justice for Jesus
  • 8. Which Gospel contains the most detailed account of Pilate's interaction with Jesus?
A) Luke
B) Matthew
C) John
D) Mark
  • 9. Which ancient historian reports that Pilate was dismissed after a Samaritan uprising?
A) Josephus
B) Suetonius
C) Tacitus
D) Pliny the Younger
  • 10. What does the cognomen 'Pilatus' potentially mean?
A) "Skilled with the javelin (pilum)"
B) "Descendant of a Roman emperor"
C) "Leader of the Jewish council"
D) "Follower of Jesus Christ"
  • 11. What might the cognomen 'Pilatus' refer to if it is not related to military skill?
A) "A Roman legion"
B) "An ancient city in Italy"
C) "The pileus or Phrygian cap, possibly indicating a freedman ancestor"
D) "A title of nobility in Judaea"
  • 12. What does the name 'Pontius' suggest about Pilate's ancestry?
A) "An ancestor came from Samnium in central, southern Italy"
B) "An ancestor lived in Jerusalem"
C) "An ancestor was a Greek philosopher"
D) "An ancestor was a Roman emperor"
  • 13. What was the original social status of Pilate's family before becoming ennobled?
A) "Plebeian origin"
B) "Slave origin"
C) "Noble origin"
D) "Patrician origin"
  • 14. According to historian Alexander Demandt, where might Pilate have had a military command?
A) "With a legion stationed at the Rhine or Danube"
B) "In Jerusalem"
C) "In Egypt"
D) "In Greece"
  • 15. What is the traditional tenure period for Pontius Pilate as governor of Judaea?
A) 19 to 29 AD
B) 30 to 40 AD
C) 26 to 36/37 AD
D) 17 to 27 AD
  • 16. What was the primary residence of Pontius Pilate as governor?
A) Jerusalem
B) Capri
C) Caesarea
D) Antioch
  • 17. Which Jewish High Priest did Pilate retain for his entire tenure?
A) Eleazar ben Ananias
B) Joseph ben Caiaphas
C) Jonathan ben Ananus
D) Ananus ben Ananus
  • 18. Which sect did Pontius Pilate work closely with during Jesus's execution according to Helen Bond?
A) Zealots
B) Sadducees
C) Pharisees
D) Essenes
  • 19. Which Jewish king did Pilate have a difficult relationship with, according to the Gospel of Luke?
A) Herod Antipas
B) Herod Agrippa I
C) Archelaus
D) Philip the Tetrarch
  • 20. Who was responsible for collecting tributes and taxes during Pilate's governorship?
A) Lucius Vitellius
B) Pontius Pilate
C) Herod Antipas
D) The Jewish Sanhedrin
  • 21. Which scholar argues that Pilate's governorship began in 19 AD?
A) E. Stauffer
B) Jean-Pierre Lémonon
C) Kenneth Lönnqvist
D) Daniel R. Schwartz
  • 22. What was the relationship between Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas after Jesus's execution?
A) Their relationship mended.
B) It deteriorated further.
C) They became political allies.
D) Herod Antipas was removed from power.
  • 23. What policy is Joan Taylor known for attributing to Pontius Pilate during his governorship?
A) Implementing tax reforms
B) Reducing military presence in Jerusalem
C) Building new infrastructure projects
D) Promoting the imperial cult
  • 24. What does Bond suggest about the number of Galileans killed?
A) Thousands were killed
B) The number does not seem particularly high
C) Only a few dozen were affected
D) All Galileans in Jerusalem were killed
  • 25. Who attested to Pilate's role in condemning Jesus to death outside the Gospels?
A) Tacitus
B) Cicero
C) Seneca
D) Pliny the Younger
  • 26. According to Josephus, who requested Jesus's execution by Pilate?
A) Nero
B) Pontius Pilate himself
C) Prominent Jews
D) Roman soldiers
  • 27. Which form of trial did Pilate likely use to judge Jesus?
A) Repetundae
B) Judicium publicum
C) Cognitio extra ordinem
D) Lex Julia de adulteriis
  • 28. What was the crime for which Jesus was brought to Pilate and executed?
A) Theft
B) Blasphemy
C) Treason against Rome
D) Sedition
  • 29. Which Gospel is considered the earliest one, showing Jews and Pilate in agreement about executing Jesus?
A) John
B) Mark
C) Luke
D) Matthew
  • 30. Which historian argued that Pilate unhesitatingly executed Jesus as a rebel?
A) Josephus
B) Philo
C) Tacitus
D) S. G. F. Brandon
  • 31. Where did Pontius Pilate slaughter a group of armed Samaritans?
A) Tirathana near Mount Gerizim
B) Jerusalem
C) Caesarea Maritima
D) Bethlehem
  • 32. Who was the governor of Syria when Pilate's removal as governor occurred?
A) Tiberius
B) Lucius Vitellius the Elder
C) Augustus
D) Caligula
  • 33. Who was the new emperor when Pontius Pilate returned to Rome after Tiberius's death?
A) Nero
B) Claudius
C) Vespasian
D) Caligula
  • 34. Which historian claims that Pontius Pilate committed suicide after being recalled to Rome?
A) Philo
B) Eusebius
C) Josephus
D) Tacitus
  • 35. In which play does Pilate instruct flagellators on how best to whip Jesus?
A) Alsfelder Passionsspiel
B) Arnoul Gréban's fifteenth-century Passion
C) Frankfurter Passionsspiel
D) Benediktbeuern passion play
  • 36. In which text does Pilate's body experience demonic visitations?
A) The Evangelium Gamalielis
B) The Mors Pilati
C) The Vindicta Salvatoris
D) The Cura sanitatis Tiberii
  • 37. What type of coins did Pontius Pilate mint?
A) Denarius
B) Perutah
C) Aureus
D) Sestertius
  • 38. Which Spanish city has a first-century Roman tower called 'Torre del Pilatos'?
A) Seville
B) Tarragona
C) Huesca
D) Lyon
  • 39. Where did King Atus live according to the legend?
A) Mainz
B) Vienne
C) Rome
D) Jerusalem
  • 40. In what year was the Pilate Stone found by archaeologists?
A) 1984
B) 1955
C) 1970
D) 1961
  • 41. In what year was the inscription on a sealing ring attributed to Pontius Pilate uncovered?
A) 2000
B) 19th century
C) 2018
D) 2021
  • 42. Which village in Scotland claims to be Pilate's birthplace?
A) Vienne
B) Bamberg
C) Tarragona
D) Fortingall
  • 43. In which language is the Book of the Cock preserved?
A) Greek
B) Hebrew
C) Latin
D) Ge'ez (Ethiopic)
  • 44. Which play includes legendary scenes of Pilate's life before the passion?
A) Frankfurter Passionsspiel
B) Ludus de Passione from Klosterneuburg
C) Alsfelder Passionsspiel
D) Mystère de la Passion d'Angers by Jean Michel
  • 45. What stereotype was often given to Pilate in thirteenth-century depictions?
A) Angelic characteristics
B) Roman imperial attributes
C) Stereotyped Jewish features
D) Greek philosopher traits
  • 46. What action led to Pilate being sent as a hostage to Rome?
A) Attempting to escape
B) Refusing to obey orders
C) Stealing from the king
D) Killing another hostage
  • 47. What does Paul Maier note about the records of Pilate's suicide?
A) All historians agree on the details of Pilate's death.
B) Many records confirm Pilate's suicide.
C) Pilate's suicide is well-documented in Roman archives.
D) No other surviving records corroborate Pilate's suicide.
  • 48. How does Josephus view Pilate's governorship?
A) Very critical
B) Completely supportive
C) Mostly neutral
D) Hostile
  • 49. Why is there disagreement about the Pilate Stone's inscription?
A) It was damaged by natural causes.
B) It was written in an unknown language.
C) The inscription is fragmentary.
D) Pilate's name is missing.
  • 50. What was the general belief about the Ameria inscription at the turn of the 20th century?
A) It was considered a forgery.
B) It was believed to be an ancient myth.
C) It was accepted as genuine.
D) It was lost and forgotten.
  • 51. What did the earlier coins of Pontius Pilate read on the obverse?
A) ΠΟΝΤΙΟΣ ΠΙΛΑΤΟΣ
B) ΗΡΩΔΗΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ
C) ΤΙΒΕΡΙΟΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ
D) ΙΟΥΛΙΑ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ
  • 52. What is the earliest attestation of a positive tradition about Pilate?
A) Eusebius' Church History
B) Apocryphal texts
C) Tertullian's writings
D) Justin Martyr's writings
  • 53. Why is it unlikely that Pontius Pilate owned the copper-alloy sealing ring?
A) The inscription was in Latin.
B) The cheap material
C) It was discovered at Herodium.
D) It was dated to 2018.
  • 54. In which text does Pilate's suicide occur after exile by Emperor Nero?
A) The Evangelium Gamalielis
B) The Cura sanitatis Tiberii
C) The Vindicta Salvatoris
D) The Mors Pilati
  • 55. Where was the copper-alloy sealing ring with an inscription related to Pontius Pilate discovered?
A) Jerusalem
B) Rome
C) Solomon's Pools
D) Herodium
  • 56. Which ancient source is hostile towards Pontius Pilate?
A) Tacitus
B) Josephus
C) The Gospels
D) Philo
  • 57. What did Pilate grant Judas after he killed his own father?
A) A position in the court
B) Ruben's property
C) An army to fight with
D) Money and jewels
  • 58. In which country were passion plays used to satirize corrupt officials rather than stoke antisemitism?
A) Germany
B) France
C) England
D) Italy
  • 59. What is the earliest reference to Pilate's records of Jesus's trial?
A) Apocryphal texts
B) Tertullian in late first-, early second-century
C) Eusebius' Church History
D) Christian apologist Justin Martyr around 160
  • 60. What change occurred on the coins after Livia's death?
A) They began to feature Jewish symbols.
B) They started including a portrait of Tiberius.
C) They only read ΤΙΒΕΡΙΟΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ.
D) They were no longer minted in Jerusalem.
  • 61. Who rejected the theory that the coins' pagan symbols offended Jews?
A) Helen Bond
B) Joan Taylor
C) Henry MacAdam
D) Alexander Demandt
  • 62. Which emperor's persecution is associated with early apocryphal texts about Pilate?
A) Tiberius
B) Trajan
C) Maximinus II
D) Constantine
  • 63. In Anatole France's short story 'Le Procurateur de Judée,' where is Pontius Pilate banished?
A) Gaul
B) Egypt
C) Rome
D) Sicily
  • 64. What does the inscription on the sealing ring read in Greek?
A) ΠΙΛΑΤΟ(Υ) (Pilato(u))
B) ΜΑΞΙΜΙΝΟΣ (Maximinus)
C) ΣΙΚΑΡΙΟΙ (Sicarii)
D) ΤΕΡΩΝ (Tiberius)
  • 65. What is the name of the building mentioned in the inscription?
A) Aquila
B) Temple of Augustus
C) Caesarea Palace
D) Tiberieum
  • 66. What is the name of another aqueduct providing water to Solomon's Pools, dated to the mid-first century AD?
A) Arrub aqueduct
B) Solomon's Pools
C) Wadi el-Biyar Aqueduct
D) Biar Aqueduct
  • 67. In Chingiz Aitmatov's novel 'Plakha,' what philosophical perspective does Pilate hold?
A) Materialist pessimism, believing mankind will soon destroy itself
B) Optimistic belief in human progress
C) Indifference to the fate of humanity
D) Faith in divine intervention
  • 68. Where were Pilate's coins minted?
A) Alexandria
B) Jerusalem
C) Rome
D) Antioch
  • 69. Which medium became prominent for depicting large-scale church paintings of Pilate in Italy?
A) Manuscript illuminations
B) Woodcuts
C) Large-scale church paintings
D) Ivory carvings
  • 70. Which material became less common for Pilate's depictions starting from the eleventh century?
A) Frescoes
B) Manuscripts
C) Ivory
D) Metal
  • 71. What skill was King Atus known for?
A) Architecture
B) Astrology
C) Medicine
D) Swordsmanship
  • 72. What does Géza Alföldy suggest the Tiberieum might have been?
A) A lighthouse
B) A temple dedicated to Tiberius
C) A Roman bathhouse
D) A marketplace
  • 73. Who argued that nothing bad happened to Pilate because the Jews were responsible for Jesus' death?
A) Eusebius
B) Origen
C) Celsus
D) Tacitus
  • 74. Which text records the destruction of an aqueduct from Solomon's Pools by the Sicarii?
A) Apocryphal texts
B) Church History
C) Talmud (Lamentations Rabbah 4.4)
D) Inscription on a sealing ring
  • 75. What title is associated with Pontius Pilate in the Ameria inscription?
A) Pontifex Maximus
B) Quattuorvir (IIIVIR)
C) Praetorian Prefect
D) Governor of Judaea
  • 76. In which text is Pilate portrayed as a true believer in Christ who is martyred for his faith?
A) The Evangelium Gamalielis
B) The Vindicta Salvatoris
C) The Mors Pilati
D) The Cura sanitatis Tiberii
  • 77. Which group targeted the aqueduct from Solomon's Pools during the First Jewish-Roman War?
A) Zealots
B) Sicarii
C) Roman soldiers
D) Temple treasury
  • 78. Which scholar argues that Pilate was a reasonably competent administrator?
A) Paul Maier
B) E. Stauffer
C) M. P. Charlesworth
D) Henry MacAdam
  • 79. What is one reason scholars are skeptical of the theory connecting Pilate with Sejanus?
A) "It was proven false by archaeological findings"
B) "Pilate's coins explicitly deny any connection"
C) "Sejanus never existed"
D) "The evidence depends entirely on Philo"
  • 80. According to some versions, where was Pontius Pilate born?
A) Rome
B) Bethlehem
C) Egypt
D) Jerusalem
  • 81. Which aqueduct did A. Mazar tentatively identify as being attributed to Pontius Pilate?
A) Solomon's Pools
B) Arrub aqueduct
C) Wadi el-Biyar Aqueduct
D) Biar Aqueduct
  • 82. In which century did legends about Pilate begin in Western Europe?
A) Fifth century
B) Ninth century
C) Seventh century
D) Eleventh century
  • 83. Who tentatively identified the aqueduct attributed to Pontius Pilate in the mid-20th century?
A) A. Mazar
B) Talmud
C) Josephus
D) Kenneth Lönnqvist
  • 84. In which text does Pilate's wife and two children also get crucified?
A) The Martyrium Pilati
B) The Cura sanitatis Tiberii
C) The Vindicta Salvatoris
D) The Evangelium Gamalielis
  • 85. Which philosopher questioned why God did not punish Pontius Pilate if Jesus was divine?
A) Plato
B) Aristotle
C) Celsus
D) Socrates
  • 86. What pattern does the word 'Tiberieum' follow?
A) Naming buildings after Roman emperors.
B) Naming public baths after senators.
C) Naming military structures after victories.
D) Naming religious sites after gods.
  • 87. On what date is Pontius Pilate venerated as a saint by the Ethiopian Church?
A) 15 August
B) 25 June
C) 25 December
D) 19 June
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