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