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Pontius Pilate
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • “Sublime . . . The definitive study of Pilate.”— The Washington Post Book World
“Compelling, eloquent and vivid . . . In a superb blend of scholarship and creativity, Wroe brings this elusive yet pivotal figure to life.”— The Boston Globe
One of Esquire ’s Best Biographies of All Time • Finalist for the Samuel Johnson Prize
The foil to Jesus, the defiant antihero of the Easter story, mocking, skeptical Pilate is a historical figure who haunts our imagination. For some he is a saint, for others the embodiment of human weakness, an archetypal politician willing to sacrifice one man for the sake of stability.
In this dazzlingly conceived biography, Ann Wroe brings man and myth to life. Working from classical sources, she reconstructs his origins and upbringing, his career in the military and life in Rome, his confrontation with Christ, and his long journey home. We catch glimpses of him pacing the marble floors in Caesarea, sharpening his stylus, getting dressed shortly before sunrise on the day that would seal his place in history. What were the pressures on Pilate that day? What did he really think of Jesus?
Pontius Pilate lets us see Christ's trial for the first time, in all its confusion, from the point of view of his executioner.
“Compelling, eloquent and vivid . . . In a superb blend of scholarship and creativity, Wroe brings this elusive yet pivotal figure to life.”— The Boston Globe
One of Esquire ’s Best Biographies of All Time • Finalist for the Samuel Johnson Prize
The foil to Jesus, the defiant antihero of the Easter story, mocking, skeptical Pilate is a historical figure who haunts our imagination. For some he is a saint, for others the embodiment of human weakness, an archetypal politician willing to sacrifice one man for the sake of stability.
In this dazzlingly conceived biography, Ann Wroe brings man and myth to life. Working from classical sources, she reconstructs his origins and upbringing, his career in the military and life in Rome, his confrontation with Christ, and his long journey home. We catch glimpses of him pacing the marble floors in Caesarea, sharpening his stylus, getting dressed shortly before sunrise on the day that would seal his place in history. What were the pressures on Pilate that day? What did he really think of Jesus?
Pontius Pilate lets us see Christ's trial for the first time, in all its confusion, from the point of view of his executioner.
433 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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About the author
Ann Wroe
15 books90 followersAnn Wroe is a journalist and author - working as Briefings and Obituaries editor of The Economist. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Royal Society of Literature and the English Association.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
October 15, 2015
While the publishers call it a biography, and some critics a study, I'd go a little further to describe this book as a meditation on Pontius Pilate - one of the critical figures in the framework of the Christian religion. Pilate is largely a cipher, not as a symbol but as a human being, due to the meager amount of evidence we possess of his existence. Ann Wroe, through great research and even greater thought, has pressed herself into providing context for the man who played such a fundamental role in seeding the faith.
Using every resource at her disposal - be it historical, biblical, philosophical, artistic - Wroe sets the stage for us in a series of elegantly elaborate vignettes. Some are straightforward and describe, for instance, how a Roman received the governorship of a Middle Eastern province; what he thought about it, how he traveled there, where he made his home, the way he spent his day. At the opposite end of this vignette-spectrum sit the scenes Wroe uses to convey certain psychological shadings, such as her depiction of Castro's Cuba as a setting for the subversive tones in the role of Judas Iscariot. The breadth of scholarship necessary to achieve these ends is daunting. The sheer scope of reference is exhaustive, and astonishing.
It is also quite demanding. While not a difficult work, this meditative approach requires a heightened clarity of mind from the reader. I found the level of openness it necessitated genuinely taxing. Some might call it concentration, but it's more an operational tranquility that's being asked of me, and to a degree that permits Wroe the canvas she needs to convey her understandings. Make no mistake, this is a joint effort. Beautifully rendered, though, for all the labor it asks.
Using every resource at her disposal - be it historical, biblical, philosophical, artistic - Wroe sets the stage for us in a series of elegantly elaborate vignettes. Some are straightforward and describe, for instance, how a Roman received the governorship of a Middle Eastern province; what he thought about it, how he traveled there, where he made his home, the way he spent his day. At the opposite end of this vignette-spectrum sit the scenes Wroe uses to convey certain psychological shadings, such as her depiction of Castro's Cuba as a setting for the subversive tones in the role of Judas Iscariot. The breadth of scholarship necessary to achieve these ends is daunting. The sheer scope of reference is exhaustive, and astonishing.
It is also quite demanding. While not a difficult work, this meditative approach requires a heightened clarity of mind from the reader. I found the level of openness it necessitated genuinely taxing. Some might call it concentration, but it's more an operational tranquility that's being asked of me, and to a degree that permits Wroe the canvas she needs to convey her understandings. Make no mistake, this is a joint effort. Beautifully rendered, though, for all the labor it asks.
June 22, 2018
I couldn't finish this.
I'd wanted to read it very much. The character I'd grown up with (every time I had to repeat, as a kid and later, "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried" in the Creed) fascinated me. This seemed such a wasted opportunity but perhaps the order was too tall.
I'd wanted to read it very much. The character I'd grown up with (every time I had to repeat, as a kid and later, "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried" in the Creed) fascinated me. This seemed such a wasted opportunity but perhaps the order was too tall.
June 21, 2018
"There was indeed, as far as we can see, nothing remarkable in Pilate; he was one of the most common characters to be met with in passing through life; a timid, time-serving man, with just conscience enough to make himself uncomfortable, and with just integrity enough to ruin the best of causes, and even to increase, as he obviously did, the suffering of Him whom he desired to save."
- Rev. Henry Blunt, 1835
Anyone who grew up going to church or has any familiarity at all with the Easter story knows who Pontius Pilate was: the Roman governor of Judea who officiated the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. He didn't find any fault, the Bible says, with the so-called "King of the Jews," but--pestered by the religious establishment and the crowds and afraid for his career--he "washed his hands" of the innocent man's death and allowed the execution to take place.
I was taught growing up that Pilate was a Bad Guy, a coward who was too weak-willed to stand up for what he knew was right, and I assumed this was more or less the accepted interpretation. As a result, I always felt a little bit guilty for sympathizing with the guy--sure he failed in the end, but he did try to do the right thing, at least until the pressure became overwhelming. Wouldn't most people do the same in his shoes (er, sandals)? How likely is it that I would do any better? And does that mean Pilate is okay after all, or just that most of us aren't as great as we like to think?
Turns out I'm not alone in my confusion about, and subsequent fascination with, Pontius Pilate. For almost two millennia, western literature has been full of dramatizations, retellings, and forgeries purporting to complete the tale of the Judean governor and to offer insight into his character that the Gospel writers didn't bother with in their own versions. And it's pretty amazing how far these accounts diverge from one another: in most medieval European versions, Pilate is so wicked that even the demons in Hell are impressed by his loathsomeness; in the Coptic tradition, he's a literal saint. The Victorians viewed him as a prototype to some of the British Empire's colonial administrators, and weren't quite sure what to make of that comparison; writers in 20th-century Russia drew parallels with their own provincial governors, toeing the Stalinist party line and sending revolutionaries to the gulags for daring to think for themselves. Anti-Semites contended that the Jews were the ones truly at fault in the Easter story, and some early Christians may actually have embraced the figure of Pilate in an effort to showcase their goodwill toward the Roman empire that persecuted them.
The "historical" Pilate is even trickier to pin down. Outside of the rather brief biblical account, only a couple of contemporary or near-contemporary accounts survive, and even these are not without their agendas and limitations. A bit more can be inferred from the lives and correspondence of other Roman governors, from the etymology of Pilate's name, from the surviving artifacts of his rule, and from our knowledge about the period, the region, and human nature in general. Obviously this is highly speculative work (I was reminded of Stephen Greenblatt's similar treatment of Shakespeare in Will in the World ), and some readers may scoff or wonder what the point is. I personally think it's worthwhile to imagine, even if we can never know for sure.
This is a strange book: contrary to what the title seems to imply, Wroe is not arguing that Pilate himself was "invented," though that is a common enough approach when it comes to studies of biblical figures. (It's worth mentioning that, while Wroe is not, so far as I can tell, a practicing Christian, she frames her work largely in religious terms, and generally takes a respectful--if not totally unskeptical--view of the faith.) Instead, her interest lies in discussing the manifold ways in which Pilate has been "invented" throughout history, and weaving this folklore with what we know or can guess about the real man. Her breadth of research is truly impressive, spanning the literature and history of thousands of years and many regions and languages, and her writing, even more impressively, actually manages to do this information justice. It's a poetic work that straddles the line between history and legend, fiction and nonfiction, and in that regard it reminded me very positively of Helen Macdonald's gorgeous H is for Hawk (though without the autobiographical element). The end result is that--paradoxically, though maybe not unintentionally--we feel even less certain of who this Pilate character really was, and less convinced that such a thing can or needs to be known. As Wroe herself sums it up, "[Pilate] is all men facing, considering, and ultimately rejecting Truth. . . . Like an audience at a show, [we] love to watch him teeter, struggle, almost save himself, and fall. In some sense, [we] feel [we] are watching [our]selves."
- Rev. Henry Blunt, 1835
Anyone who grew up going to church or has any familiarity at all with the Easter story knows who Pontius Pilate was: the Roman governor of Judea who officiated the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. He didn't find any fault, the Bible says, with the so-called "King of the Jews," but--pestered by the religious establishment and the crowds and afraid for his career--he "washed his hands" of the innocent man's death and allowed the execution to take place.
I was taught growing up that Pilate was a Bad Guy, a coward who was too weak-willed to stand up for what he knew was right, and I assumed this was more or less the accepted interpretation. As a result, I always felt a little bit guilty for sympathizing with the guy--sure he failed in the end, but he did try to do the right thing, at least until the pressure became overwhelming. Wouldn't most people do the same in his shoes (er, sandals)? How likely is it that I would do any better? And does that mean Pilate is okay after all, or just that most of us aren't as great as we like to think?
Turns out I'm not alone in my confusion about, and subsequent fascination with, Pontius Pilate. For almost two millennia, western literature has been full of dramatizations, retellings, and forgeries purporting to complete the tale of the Judean governor and to offer insight into his character that the Gospel writers didn't bother with in their own versions. And it's pretty amazing how far these accounts diverge from one another: in most medieval European versions, Pilate is so wicked that even the demons in Hell are impressed by his loathsomeness; in the Coptic tradition, he's a literal saint. The Victorians viewed him as a prototype to some of the British Empire's colonial administrators, and weren't quite sure what to make of that comparison; writers in 20th-century Russia drew parallels with their own provincial governors, toeing the Stalinist party line and sending revolutionaries to the gulags for daring to think for themselves. Anti-Semites contended that the Jews were the ones truly at fault in the Easter story, and some early Christians may actually have embraced the figure of Pilate in an effort to showcase their goodwill toward the Roman empire that persecuted them.
The "historical" Pilate is even trickier to pin down. Outside of the rather brief biblical account, only a couple of contemporary or near-contemporary accounts survive, and even these are not without their agendas and limitations. A bit more can be inferred from the lives and correspondence of other Roman governors, from the etymology of Pilate's name, from the surviving artifacts of his rule, and from our knowledge about the period, the region, and human nature in general. Obviously this is highly speculative work (I was reminded of Stephen Greenblatt's similar treatment of Shakespeare in Will in the World ), and some readers may scoff or wonder what the point is. I personally think it's worthwhile to imagine, even if we can never know for sure.
This is a strange book: contrary to what the title seems to imply, Wroe is not arguing that Pilate himself was "invented," though that is a common enough approach when it comes to studies of biblical figures. (It's worth mentioning that, while Wroe is not, so far as I can tell, a practicing Christian, she frames her work largely in religious terms, and generally takes a respectful--if not totally unskeptical--view of the faith.) Instead, her interest lies in discussing the manifold ways in which Pilate has been "invented" throughout history, and weaving this folklore with what we know or can guess about the real man. Her breadth of research is truly impressive, spanning the literature and history of thousands of years and many regions and languages, and her writing, even more impressively, actually manages to do this information justice. It's a poetic work that straddles the line between history and legend, fiction and nonfiction, and in that regard it reminded me very positively of Helen Macdonald's gorgeous H is for Hawk (though without the autobiographical element). The end result is that--paradoxically, though maybe not unintentionally--we feel even less certain of who this Pilate character really was, and less convinced that such a thing can or needs to be known. As Wroe herself sums it up, "[Pilate] is all men facing, considering, and ultimately rejecting Truth. . . . Like an audience at a show, [we] love to watch him teeter, struggle, almost save himself, and fall. In some sense, [we] feel [we] are watching [our]selves."
October 22, 2007
I really, really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't get past the first 30 pages. Ann Wroe was all, "Maybe Pontius Pilate did this. Maybe Pontius Pilate did that. Maybe Pontius Pilate did a little bit of this and a little bit of that." Snoresville.
Maybe I'll try to read it again someday. Maybe I won't.
Maybe I'll try to read it again someday. Maybe I won't.
August 13, 2020
Azt gondoltam, majd jó sok mindent megtudok róla, erre mindjárt a bevezetőben azzal szembesültem, hogy mintha csak kitörölték volna a történelemből, nem maradt fenn róla egy kődarabnál meg néhány érménél több. Tacitus írásának is pont az a két fejezete veszett el, amiben megemlíthette. De végülis mit várunk, egy szimpla kis hivatalnok volt, valószínűleg ő lett volna a legjobban meglepődve, ha megtudja, hogy még kétezer évvel később is ismerni fogja mindenki a nevét. Gondolom, nem vágyhatott ilyen hírnévre.
Mivel az élete, származása teljes homályba vész, Wroe inkább történelmi kontextusba helyezi, hogyan élhetett, honnan indulhatott és hogyan jutott el odáig, hogy Júdea helytartója lehessen. Ami egészen addig a pár bekezdés erejéig roppant izgalmas is volt, amíg a valós történelmi kort járjuk körbe, de ez tényleg csak röpke ideig tart, mert aztán előveszi a későbbi korok mindenféle kitalációját, amitől az egész értelmetlen és fárasztó lett. Régen örökített meg író ennyi ostobaságot egyetlen könyvben. Jobb lett volna, ha inkább ír egy fikciót, kiválasztva egy szálat a sokból, és azt felépíti rendesen.
Csalódott vagyok, de ez lehet, hogy nem az írónő hibája, hacsak annyiban nem, hogy írt egy könyvet arról, hogy van egy személy, akiről semmit nem tudunk, nézzük meg, az utóbbi 2000 évben ki mit talált ki róla, és gondolt bele a karakterébe. Szóval igazából fantáziálhatunk mi is nyugodtan Pilátusról, hogy milyen ember lehetett. Elég szerintem visszagondolni a legutóbbi utunkra a bürokraták között, csak tegyünk hozzá némi vérgőzös passzivitást, és máris közelebb kerültünk egy kicsit az emberhez.
Mivel az élete, származása teljes homályba vész, Wroe inkább történelmi kontextusba helyezi, hogyan élhetett, honnan indulhatott és hogyan jutott el odáig, hogy Júdea helytartója lehessen. Ami egészen addig a pár bekezdés erejéig roppant izgalmas is volt, amíg a valós történelmi kort járjuk körbe, de ez tényleg csak röpke ideig tart, mert aztán előveszi a későbbi korok mindenféle kitalációját, amitől az egész értelmetlen és fárasztó lett. Régen örökített meg író ennyi ostobaságot egyetlen könyvben. Jobb lett volna, ha inkább ír egy fikciót, kiválasztva egy szálat a sokból, és azt felépíti rendesen.
Csalódott vagyok, de ez lehet, hogy nem az írónő hibája, hacsak annyiban nem, hogy írt egy könyvet arról, hogy van egy személy, akiről semmit nem tudunk, nézzük meg, az utóbbi 2000 évben ki mit talált ki róla, és gondolt bele a karakterébe. Szóval igazából fantáziálhatunk mi is nyugodtan Pilátusról, hogy milyen ember lehetett. Elég szerintem visszagondolni a legutóbbi utunkra a bürokraták között, csak tegyünk hozzá némi vérgőzös passzivitást, és máris közelebb kerültünk egy kicsit az emberhez.
June 26, 2010
I approached this book with a fair amount of ambivalence. Speculative history is generally not something I have any interest in. Wroe does her share of grasping at straws and makes no excuse for the necessity to conjecture, surmise, even fabricate. Every solitary detail is noticed and given some significance, from the political climate to the type of thorns that Jesus wore. What saves her, and what made the book sort of grow on me, was her willingness to let the importance of the story carry the book forward; because of the moment of the occasion, the attention to every detail comes across as respectful, even reverential, rather than pedantic.
It's not a great book. There are limits to history that shouldn't be ignored, merely in order to tell a story. But the appeal of this particular story is undeniable, and so the guesswork, respectful and thoughtful as it is, is appreciated.
It's not a great book. There are limits to history that shouldn't be ignored, merely in order to tell a story. But the appeal of this particular story is undeniable, and so the guesswork, respectful and thoughtful as it is, is appreciated.
September 6, 2016
Pontius Pilate is where the classical world meets the Biblical, a pagan European man in the monotheistic Middle East, the Imperial governor over a notoriously rebellious region, and a player in perhaps the most famous execution in history. "What is truth?" Pilate says in the Book of John, a retort to Jesus' claim, "The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth." I have often thought of that conversation, wondered what Pilate really thought, how he viewed Jesus, the Jews, his job. Who was this man? What is truth?
Ann Wroe must have wondered the same thing, because this book is a 400-page exploration of Pilate in history, legend, and literature. Very little information about Pilate survives from his time: just the Gospel texts, some coins, an architectural fragment, and paragraphs from contemporary historians. To supplement this, Wroe pulls information from multiple other sources. She cites Pilate's colleagues to give an idea about what the life of a Roman governor was like. She quotes numerous texts from ancient gnostic, coptic, and early church legend books, as well as plays from the middle ages, to see how they embellished Pilate's tale. She references film and novels, and points out different locations in Europe that claimed to have a Pilate connection.
All of these sources provide multiple lenses for seeing Pilate. He is a violent oppressor, a sycophantic bureaucrat, a machiavellian conspirator, a man in over his head, a drunk, a blowhard, even a deeply apologetic convert. He's a saint in Ethiopia. Spaniards forged long-lost documents by him. His "childhood pants" were long displayed in a small German town, and, on Fridays, his ghost haunted a lake in the Alps. Because so little of Pilate is actually known, people have projected their ideas, their fears, their hatred, their idolization on him for centuries.
I was impressed with Wroe's ability to weave all these together. She takes Pilate's life, from birth to death, and explains how each text or legend describes those moments. She quotes these sources heavily, though Wroe's own writing is stylish, intelligent, and sometimes beautiful. The book does get long in the tooth in some spots, but whenever a lengthy quote from Cicero about the Roman idea of morality made my eyes glaze over, the next page featured a scene from a medieval play where Pilate steals the Holy Grail. By the end of the book, Wroe seems to take Pilate's question—"What is truth?"—and presents dozens of people's answers from throughout history, allowing us to decide.
Ann Wroe must have wondered the same thing, because this book is a 400-page exploration of Pilate in history, legend, and literature. Very little information about Pilate survives from his time: just the Gospel texts, some coins, an architectural fragment, and paragraphs from contemporary historians. To supplement this, Wroe pulls information from multiple other sources. She cites Pilate's colleagues to give an idea about what the life of a Roman governor was like. She quotes numerous texts from ancient gnostic, coptic, and early church legend books, as well as plays from the middle ages, to see how they embellished Pilate's tale. She references film and novels, and points out different locations in Europe that claimed to have a Pilate connection.
All of these sources provide multiple lenses for seeing Pilate. He is a violent oppressor, a sycophantic bureaucrat, a machiavellian conspirator, a man in over his head, a drunk, a blowhard, even a deeply apologetic convert. He's a saint in Ethiopia. Spaniards forged long-lost documents by him. His "childhood pants" were long displayed in a small German town, and, on Fridays, his ghost haunted a lake in the Alps. Because so little of Pilate is actually known, people have projected their ideas, their fears, their hatred, their idolization on him for centuries.
I was impressed with Wroe's ability to weave all these together. She takes Pilate's life, from birth to death, and explains how each text or legend describes those moments. She quotes these sources heavily, though Wroe's own writing is stylish, intelligent, and sometimes beautiful. The book does get long in the tooth in some spots, but whenever a lengthy quote from Cicero about the Roman idea of morality made my eyes glaze over, the next page featured a scene from a medieval play where Pilate steals the Holy Grail. By the end of the book, Wroe seems to take Pilate's question—"What is truth?"—and presents dozens of people's answers from throughout history, allowing us to decide.
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October 21, 2007http://nhw.livejournal.com/540718.html[return][return]So little is known about the historical Pilate that Ann Wroe has bulked out the book considerably with stories told about him (the Copts seem to have had a lot). A couple of points I hadn't realised - the image of the emperor on Roman coins made them unacceptable for use in Temple rituals, which adds extra point to "Render unto Caesar" and also explains what the money-changers were doing at the Temple. But most of the book reflects on the stories we tell about ethics and political morality. "The intriguing thing about Pilate is the degree to which he tried to do the good thing rather than the bad. He commands our moral attention not because he was a bad man, but because he was so nearly a good man." (A quote from a 1996 interview with Tony Blair.) All very thought-provoking, though I wish it had been a little shorter.
April 14, 2009
This is an excellent book, precisely, and absolutely, as its title says, the "biography of an invented man". Who was Pilate? He could, as Wroe suggests, be any one of three individuals: born of the tribe of Pontii, the Samnite nobility in the ancient Roman empire, relative of Gavius Pontius; a Spaniard, born in Seville, whose "residents had the right of Roman citizenship", "saturnine and ingratiating, [who:] hung around Rome, and especially round the court of the emperor; or, thirdly, A German, born at Forscheim, near Mainz, from "the appalling German forest gloomy with pines and overrun with wolves", wearing "barbarians' cloth trousers, his hair flaxen, and in his cold blue eyes the gleam of the north."
I have sympathy with a previous reviewer, who states that the first 30 pages of the book never really get off the ground, and if we find ourselves becoming impatient with all of this conjecture, then perhaps it is much better to start reading from the place that we already - or may - know of: the Pilate of the Gospels and, here, it is principally John's Gospel from which Wroe weaves her stories. For there is more than one story, Pilate is nothing if not multi-faceted. Try starting, for example, with Chapter 5, "The great equivocator". Wroe sets the scene on the morning of Christ's trial and execution. It is dark, Pilate is roused by a servant, "his head aching from the fun of the night before; hung-over and resentful" he embarks on the day "that was to seal his place in history".
Wroe draws on a wide variety of sources: from the earliest texts of Josephus, Catallus, Seneca, Cicero; through the Apocrypha, the Gospels, the various cycles of Mystery Plays with their often Rabelaisian take on events: here, for example, Pilate placing the guards around the tomb of the newly dead Christ, to ensure that no one comes to snatch him away in order to proclaim that he has risen from the dead.
At his side trotted an attendant with wax in a bowl and a torch to melt it. Behind him came the soldiers, a reluctant posse. These were the same men Pilate had cheated of the seamless garment; they dragged their feet and grumbled, "Look here", moaned one, "what the hell's the point of watching him, if he's dead?"
"If they're going to pay me, I don't care what he is. Just give me the money, mate."
They marched on. Eventually, through the trees, came a glimpse of the new tomb". Pilate approached it and touched it, as if to defy any magic that lurked there. Then, stepping back, he barked: "Set the watch, men."
"Right sir! They could set a whole mob on us, and we wouldn't let him out!"
"I could kill a hundred thousand with one hand sir!"
Pilate beckoned to each in turn [with their:] exotic armour and big ridiculous weapons. Over these lumpen auxiliaries, Pilate fussed and fretted: "My good man Boas!", the clumsiest of the soldiers, was placed to the east and ordered to be nimbler than usual. He rattled his good sword Klinger in its scabbard, promising to "split the pants" of anyone who came past.
"If anyone comes here he's a dead man, sir!" cried Affraunt. "I'll guard his feet sir, even if both Jack and Jill come to get him!" Arfaxat shouted. "He'd rather he had the whooping cough, I tell you!"
"I only hope he really is dead", the governor muttered.
"Dead as a log sir! He's not going anywhere."
Whatever we think of Pilate, and whether we believe, or not, the Gospels, this is an excellent account of a man trapped by events both political and religious, who lost control, of himself and of the wider events at the time and ultimately of his own destiny. Who wanted desperately to ingratiate himself with, and also to protect himself from, the emperor Tiberious and his wrath and who, returning, summoned, to Rome, by overland journey through freezing Anatolia and Greece, covering some 2,000 Roman miles at a rate of at most 40 a day, to a fate he dreaded, he finds people laughing in the streets, dancing. "The Circus and the Aventine laid waste by fire, and the houses by the Tiber still flooded with mud and refuse. Quickly enough, the explanation reaches him: Tiberious was dead; and the blank-eyed, monkey-haired Gaius was emperor in his place." (pp332-333). Pilate is deflated, or perhaps more terrified than ever: he remembers having once insulted Gaius' mother.
History and its various interpretations come so vividly to life in this superbly written book. One can only wonder whether, when Wroe quotes Blair, in an interview in the Sunday Telegraph in 1996, there is an ironic intention. Blair opines:
"It is possible to view Pilate as the archetypal politician, caught on the horns of an age-old political dilemma. We know he did wrong, yet his is the struggle between what is right and what is expedient that has occurred throughout history. The Munich Agreement of 1938 was a classic example of this, as were the debates surrounding the Great Reform Act of 1832 and the Corn Laws. And it is not always clear, even in retrospect, what is, in truth, right. Should we do what appears principled or what is politically expedient? Do you apply a utilitarian test or what is morally absolute?" Such are the very interesting questions posed a man who has left us his messes in Iraq, who was the only head of European government to advocate the bombing of Palestinian citizens, and who is now a self-proclaimed "peace" envoy in the Middle East. Pilate is multi-faceted: he may well also be multi-lived.
I have sympathy with a previous reviewer, who states that the first 30 pages of the book never really get off the ground, and if we find ourselves becoming impatient with all of this conjecture, then perhaps it is much better to start reading from the place that we already - or may - know of: the Pilate of the Gospels and, here, it is principally John's Gospel from which Wroe weaves her stories. For there is more than one story, Pilate is nothing if not multi-faceted. Try starting, for example, with Chapter 5, "The great equivocator". Wroe sets the scene on the morning of Christ's trial and execution. It is dark, Pilate is roused by a servant, "his head aching from the fun of the night before; hung-over and resentful" he embarks on the day "that was to seal his place in history".
Wroe draws on a wide variety of sources: from the earliest texts of Josephus, Catallus, Seneca, Cicero; through the Apocrypha, the Gospels, the various cycles of Mystery Plays with their often Rabelaisian take on events: here, for example, Pilate placing the guards around the tomb of the newly dead Christ, to ensure that no one comes to snatch him away in order to proclaim that he has risen from the dead.
At his side trotted an attendant with wax in a bowl and a torch to melt it. Behind him came the soldiers, a reluctant posse. These were the same men Pilate had cheated of the seamless garment; they dragged their feet and grumbled, "Look here", moaned one, "what the hell's the point of watching him, if he's dead?"
"If they're going to pay me, I don't care what he is. Just give me the money, mate."
They marched on. Eventually, through the trees, came a glimpse of the new tomb". Pilate approached it and touched it, as if to defy any magic that lurked there. Then, stepping back, he barked: "Set the watch, men."
"Right sir! They could set a whole mob on us, and we wouldn't let him out!"
"I could kill a hundred thousand with one hand sir!"
Pilate beckoned to each in turn [with their:] exotic armour and big ridiculous weapons. Over these lumpen auxiliaries, Pilate fussed and fretted: "My good man Boas!", the clumsiest of the soldiers, was placed to the east and ordered to be nimbler than usual. He rattled his good sword Klinger in its scabbard, promising to "split the pants" of anyone who came past.
"If anyone comes here he's a dead man, sir!" cried Affraunt. "I'll guard his feet sir, even if both Jack and Jill come to get him!" Arfaxat shouted. "He'd rather he had the whooping cough, I tell you!"
"I only hope he really is dead", the governor muttered.
"Dead as a log sir! He's not going anywhere."
Whatever we think of Pilate, and whether we believe, or not, the Gospels, this is an excellent account of a man trapped by events both political and religious, who lost control, of himself and of the wider events at the time and ultimately of his own destiny. Who wanted desperately to ingratiate himself with, and also to protect himself from, the emperor Tiberious and his wrath and who, returning, summoned, to Rome, by overland journey through freezing Anatolia and Greece, covering some 2,000 Roman miles at a rate of at most 40 a day, to a fate he dreaded, he finds people laughing in the streets, dancing. "The Circus and the Aventine laid waste by fire, and the houses by the Tiber still flooded with mud and refuse. Quickly enough, the explanation reaches him: Tiberious was dead; and the blank-eyed, monkey-haired Gaius was emperor in his place." (pp332-333). Pilate is deflated, or perhaps more terrified than ever: he remembers having once insulted Gaius' mother.
History and its various interpretations come so vividly to life in this superbly written book. One can only wonder whether, when Wroe quotes Blair, in an interview in the Sunday Telegraph in 1996, there is an ironic intention. Blair opines:
"It is possible to view Pilate as the archetypal politician, caught on the horns of an age-old political dilemma. We know he did wrong, yet his is the struggle between what is right and what is expedient that has occurred throughout history. The Munich Agreement of 1938 was a classic example of this, as were the debates surrounding the Great Reform Act of 1832 and the Corn Laws. And it is not always clear, even in retrospect, what is, in truth, right. Should we do what appears principled or what is politically expedient? Do you apply a utilitarian test or what is morally absolute?" Such are the very interesting questions posed a man who has left us his messes in Iraq, who was the only head of European government to advocate the bombing of Palestinian citizens, and who is now a self-proclaimed "peace" envoy in the Middle East. Pilate is multi-faceted: he may well also be multi-lived.
July 15, 2025
"To have a faceless bureaucrat at the heart of this drama was unacceptable: something had to be made of this man."
a tremendously well-reasoned examination of pilate's life, or rather what has subsequently been painted, projected, and presumed about him in the centuries since. with very little concrete material to go on, Wroe makes insightful assumptions based on known historical facts and comparable figures from the time and area.
but it's true strength is pitting the known and the assumable against the great mystery and illogic of the Passion of Christ. what role does a Roman bureaucrat play in things in which he does not understand? Did he have agency in his decisions, or was it the fulfillment of prophecy? What if both are true? Was he evil if he played his part correctly?
a tremendously well-reasoned examination of pilate's life, or rather what has subsequently been painted, projected, and presumed about him in the centuries since. with very little concrete material to go on, Wroe makes insightful assumptions based on known historical facts and comparable figures from the time and area.
but it's true strength is pitting the known and the assumable against the great mystery and illogic of the Passion of Christ. what role does a Roman bureaucrat play in things in which he does not understand? Did he have agency in his decisions, or was it the fulfillment of prophecy? What if both are true? Was he evil if he played his part correctly?
April 16, 2013
Saint Pontius Pilate? Ever since I learned that Pilate is venerated as a saint in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the figure of Pilate has intrigued me. On the one hand, bad man! Bad, bad man! On the other - wait a minute. Wasn't he a key figure in the working out of our salvation? After all, he sent Jesus to the cross, where in one explosive moment zenith became nadir became zenith, where the suffering and exhausted "it is finished" became words of triumph.
So it was with great curiosity and excitement that I approached Ann Wroe's Pontius Pilate. I was not disappointed.
Painstakingly researched and brilliantly imagined, Pontius Pilate combines everything that is best in historiography and historical fiction. Wroe presents several Pilates, each portrait exquisitely drawn and consistent with the research... and each portrait amazingly different from the others.
I guess I'd classify this book as speculative history. It is history through a prism, rather than a microscope.
I reread Pontius Pilate every year at Lent. It has yet to disappoint me or seem old and tired.
Highly recommend to anyone looking for an intelligent, fluid read that will invite you into a world only superficially similar to our own.
So it was with great curiosity and excitement that I approached Ann Wroe's Pontius Pilate. I was not disappointed.
Painstakingly researched and brilliantly imagined, Pontius Pilate combines everything that is best in historiography and historical fiction. Wroe presents several Pilates, each portrait exquisitely drawn and consistent with the research... and each portrait amazingly different from the others.
I guess I'd classify this book as speculative history. It is history through a prism, rather than a microscope.
I reread Pontius Pilate every year at Lent. It has yet to disappoint me or seem old and tired.
Highly recommend to anyone looking for an intelligent, fluid read that will invite you into a world only superficially similar to our own.
August 16, 2009
This book tries to navigate twenty centuries' worth of contradictory (and mostly imaginary) stories of Pilate's life - struggling, at times, to articulate a plausible one of its own.
"We do not even know [Pilate's:] praenomen, the name his mother and wife and friends called him by." (pg. xii)
"To have a faceless bureaucrat at the heart of [The Passion:] was unacceptable: something had to be made of this man." (pg. xii)
"But biography is often more specualtive, more selective - even more fictional - than writers admit or readers suppose...[The author's:] own sense of a man's importance - their own mythology of him - flavors every sentence. And through it all the real man slips, eluding capture." (pg. xiii)
Consider the philosopher Archytas on the dangers of sensual pleasure: "No more deadly curse than sensual pleasure has been inflicted on mankind by nature. It is a fruitful source of treasons, revolutions, secret communications with the enemy. In fact, there is no crime, no evil deed, to which the appetite for sensual pleasure does not impel us." (pg. 19)
"To the Roman Pilate, any man with more than one ring and a clutch of bangles would have been flagrantly effeminate." (pg. 39)
"There is almost no characterization of [Pilate:] that does not contain some peculiar, almost discordant element of innocence. The man may be a schemer but, in a deep way, he has barely the faintest notion of what he is doing." (pg. 46)
"A governor's job was not one that kept him too busy for reading or self-improvement; Cicero congratulated one friend on becoming a governor simple for the acres of leisure time he would have." (pg. 54)
Consider the ways in which the Diaspora made Pilate's job more difficult, as conflict in Judea could be taken up by Jews around the rest of the empire. (pg. 63)
"[Pilate's Idumean, Samarian, and Syrian forces:] were even more anti-Jewish than the governor himself was inclined to be, and less able to control themselves." (pg. 64)
"The horror of [crucifixion:], for non-Romans, was its savagery, and for Romans its disgrace; but not randomness. Rabble-rousing Jews could anticipate the cross as a matter of course." (pg. 66)
"The culture that Pilate carried with him and, indeed, loved, made him despised even before he reached Judea. He could no more simulate affection for the Jews than they could for him; and as soon as he landed, mistrust enfolded him like noxious fumes from the sea." (pg. 71)
Consider Caiaphas' gambit that "the Romans were the best protectors of the Temple against insurgents from the more violent Jewish sects." (pg. 81)
Consider Tacitus' description of Palestine as bearing the marks of "celestial vengeance." (pg. 84)
Consider the way in which Pilate got a lot of good press from late-19th and early-20th century British writers because his position mirrored well the Brittish position in India. (pg. 86)
"Ghandi was tried and convicted on a charge of sedition. It was the same charge on which Pilate tried and convicted Christ." (pg. 88)
Could it be that it is no accident that Tacitus' Annals for 30 and 31 are missing from the historical record? What information might they have had that was so troubling? And to whom? (pg. 100)
"[Pilate:] was not a Jew-hater as we, in our supposedly more civilized times, would understand the term. He did not like them; he felt superior. But in some ways, he believed he was there to make their lives better." (pg. 102)
"Immortality was a name and a life remembered by your children." (pg. 153)
"The trickiest part [of what Jesus said:] was God loved. Could the gods love like that, sweetly and paternally? They fell in love...And they loved in the sense that they picked people out to be showered with honors and elevated in the state. But this was benevolence, care for a man's interests, not the clamorous pain in the heart and that aching rush to embrace someone...A prayer to the gods was a petition to be loved in just that way...How could such prayers find purhcase, if God loved everyone?" (pg. 153)
"To the medieval mind, Pilate was dull when he was doubted. It was when he was bad that he bacame magnificent, the first great modern villain of the European theater...every bad prince that everyone knew." (pg. 176)
Consider whether or not Jesus was physically attractive in light of Isaiah's 4th Servant Song. (pg. 181)
"Restraint allows the tyrant to avoid making martyrs. Martyrs know the truth and, by dying for it, proclaim how strong it is. But if the tyrant toys with the truth, queries it, worries it, refuses to grant its importance and spares men the theatrical satisfaction of dying to uphold it, he remains the strongman and they become the fools." (pg. 187)
"Government could never learn to cherish its rebels, because it could not accept that the pointing out of its faults or absurdities in the system might be wisdom rather than sedition." (pg. 195)
"The four Pilates of the Gospel trial differ mostly in what they do, not in what they are, and they differ in what they do because they react to the widely varying characters given to Jesus...The governor probably spoke very few of the words the evangelists, and John especially, gave him." (pg. 229)
"People continue to cling to Pilate as the great equivocator. Like an audience at a show, they love to watch him teeter, struggle, almost save himself, and fall. In some sense, they feel they are watching themselves." (pg. 230)
"[Jesus':] silence was theologically important: the silence of the suffering servant as predicted in Isaiah, or of the God who does not want to reveal himself to men." (pg. 233)
"[Releasing a prisoner at Passover:] is not substantiated anywhere else for Judea, but it is not implausible." (pg. 247)
"A ridiculous thing to say. I find him innocent, but yes, kill him. Your immorality and illegality are fine with me. I'm only a Roman judge, what do I know?" (pg. 265)
"The law stands in extremis always on the state's side." (pg. 273)
"Pilate was such a precious witness that his evidence, if it did not exist, had endlessly to be invented." (pg. 289)
Consider the way that the Catholic liturgy mirrors Pilate's actions: showing Christ's body to the people, breaking it, substantiating his claims, washing his hands. "In actions small and large, routine or instinctive, the liturgy of the Church continues to shadow Pilate's performance." (pg. 290)
"[Pilate:] had a Roman's interest in the mechanics and the minutiae of death. There were always lessons in the men died, sometimes more than inn their lives." (pg. 302)
"Even [Jesus':] indifference to death - if he had truly been indifferent - was not the most beautiful or admirable thing [to a Roman mind.:] The most admirable was to lay down one's life to save the lives of others: to be the one man, as Caiaphas said, whose death would redeem the whole nation." (pg. 303)
"If you respected your enemy you handed his body over." (pg. 307)
"It was becoming clear that a man could not worship the emperor if he believed in Christ; and, if he did not worship the emperor, the glue of the empire would crumble." (pg. 335)
"[Pilate's:] fate was not without theological implications. If Jesus was God, the theory went, Pilate's end should have been horrible; if he had lived on in comfort, Christ's claims were not to be beleived. True gods destroyed their destroyers." (pg. 357)
"We do not even know [Pilate's:] praenomen, the name his mother and wife and friends called him by." (pg. xii)
"To have a faceless bureaucrat at the heart of [The Passion:] was unacceptable: something had to be made of this man." (pg. xii)
"But biography is often more specualtive, more selective - even more fictional - than writers admit or readers suppose...[The author's:] own sense of a man's importance - their own mythology of him - flavors every sentence. And through it all the real man slips, eluding capture." (pg. xiii)
Consider the philosopher Archytas on the dangers of sensual pleasure: "No more deadly curse than sensual pleasure has been inflicted on mankind by nature. It is a fruitful source of treasons, revolutions, secret communications with the enemy. In fact, there is no crime, no evil deed, to which the appetite for sensual pleasure does not impel us." (pg. 19)
"To the Roman Pilate, any man with more than one ring and a clutch of bangles would have been flagrantly effeminate." (pg. 39)
"There is almost no characterization of [Pilate:] that does not contain some peculiar, almost discordant element of innocence. The man may be a schemer but, in a deep way, he has barely the faintest notion of what he is doing." (pg. 46)
"A governor's job was not one that kept him too busy for reading or self-improvement; Cicero congratulated one friend on becoming a governor simple for the acres of leisure time he would have." (pg. 54)
Consider the ways in which the Diaspora made Pilate's job more difficult, as conflict in Judea could be taken up by Jews around the rest of the empire. (pg. 63)
"[Pilate's Idumean, Samarian, and Syrian forces:] were even more anti-Jewish than the governor himself was inclined to be, and less able to control themselves." (pg. 64)
"The horror of [crucifixion:], for non-Romans, was its savagery, and for Romans its disgrace; but not randomness. Rabble-rousing Jews could anticipate the cross as a matter of course." (pg. 66)
"The culture that Pilate carried with him and, indeed, loved, made him despised even before he reached Judea. He could no more simulate affection for the Jews than they could for him; and as soon as he landed, mistrust enfolded him like noxious fumes from the sea." (pg. 71)
Consider Caiaphas' gambit that "the Romans were the best protectors of the Temple against insurgents from the more violent Jewish sects." (pg. 81)
Consider Tacitus' description of Palestine as bearing the marks of "celestial vengeance." (pg. 84)
Consider the way in which Pilate got a lot of good press from late-19th and early-20th century British writers because his position mirrored well the Brittish position in India. (pg. 86)
"Ghandi was tried and convicted on a charge of sedition. It was the same charge on which Pilate tried and convicted Christ." (pg. 88)
Could it be that it is no accident that Tacitus' Annals for 30 and 31 are missing from the historical record? What information might they have had that was so troubling? And to whom? (pg. 100)
"[Pilate:] was not a Jew-hater as we, in our supposedly more civilized times, would understand the term. He did not like them; he felt superior. But in some ways, he believed he was there to make their lives better." (pg. 102)
"Immortality was a name and a life remembered by your children." (pg. 153)
"The trickiest part [of what Jesus said:] was God loved. Could the gods love like that, sweetly and paternally? They fell in love...And they loved in the sense that they picked people out to be showered with honors and elevated in the state. But this was benevolence, care for a man's interests, not the clamorous pain in the heart and that aching rush to embrace someone...A prayer to the gods was a petition to be loved in just that way...How could such prayers find purhcase, if God loved everyone?" (pg. 153)
"To the medieval mind, Pilate was dull when he was doubted. It was when he was bad that he bacame magnificent, the first great modern villain of the European theater...every bad prince that everyone knew." (pg. 176)
Consider whether or not Jesus was physically attractive in light of Isaiah's 4th Servant Song. (pg. 181)
"Restraint allows the tyrant to avoid making martyrs. Martyrs know the truth and, by dying for it, proclaim how strong it is. But if the tyrant toys with the truth, queries it, worries it, refuses to grant its importance and spares men the theatrical satisfaction of dying to uphold it, he remains the strongman and they become the fools." (pg. 187)
"Government could never learn to cherish its rebels, because it could not accept that the pointing out of its faults or absurdities in the system might be wisdom rather than sedition." (pg. 195)
"The four Pilates of the Gospel trial differ mostly in what they do, not in what they are, and they differ in what they do because they react to the widely varying characters given to Jesus...The governor probably spoke very few of the words the evangelists, and John especially, gave him." (pg. 229)
"People continue to cling to Pilate as the great equivocator. Like an audience at a show, they love to watch him teeter, struggle, almost save himself, and fall. In some sense, they feel they are watching themselves." (pg. 230)
"[Jesus':] silence was theologically important: the silence of the suffering servant as predicted in Isaiah, or of the God who does not want to reveal himself to men." (pg. 233)
"[Releasing a prisoner at Passover:] is not substantiated anywhere else for Judea, but it is not implausible." (pg. 247)
"A ridiculous thing to say. I find him innocent, but yes, kill him. Your immorality and illegality are fine with me. I'm only a Roman judge, what do I know?" (pg. 265)
"The law stands in extremis always on the state's side." (pg. 273)
"Pilate was such a precious witness that his evidence, if it did not exist, had endlessly to be invented." (pg. 289)
Consider the way that the Catholic liturgy mirrors Pilate's actions: showing Christ's body to the people, breaking it, substantiating his claims, washing his hands. "In actions small and large, routine or instinctive, the liturgy of the Church continues to shadow Pilate's performance." (pg. 290)
"[Pilate:] had a Roman's interest in the mechanics and the minutiae of death. There were always lessons in the men died, sometimes more than inn their lives." (pg. 302)
"Even [Jesus':] indifference to death - if he had truly been indifferent - was not the most beautiful or admirable thing [to a Roman mind.:] The most admirable was to lay down one's life to save the lives of others: to be the one man, as Caiaphas said, whose death would redeem the whole nation." (pg. 303)
"If you respected your enemy you handed his body over." (pg. 307)
"It was becoming clear that a man could not worship the emperor if he believed in Christ; and, if he did not worship the emperor, the glue of the empire would crumble." (pg. 335)
"[Pilate's:] fate was not without theological implications. If Jesus was God, the theory went, Pilate's end should have been horrible; if he had lived on in comfort, Christ's claims were not to be beleived. True gods destroyed their destroyers." (pg. 357)
December 12, 2024
It’s not easy to write a book about a historical figure for whom little of his work has been saved. That’s the challenge Ann Wroe faced in writing “Pontius Pilate.” The author used different stories, plays and legends that are more than 2,000 years old.
The book offers insights into the trial, crucifixion, and aftermath of Jesus Christ, focusing on the dynamics between Jesus, Pontius Pilate, and the Jewish authorities. It examines Pilate's ambivalence during the trial, contrasting his reluctance to condemn an innocent man with his inability to stand firm against public and political pressures. The book highlights Pilate's initial astonishment at Jesus' silence and his desperate attempts to navigate a "third way" to avoid the extremes of execution or release.
This portrayal of Pilate emphasizes his political instincts and failures, underscoring the tension between Roman authority and Jewish expectations.
As the events unfold, the book explores the theological and symbolic significance of the crucifixion. It examines the dramatic occurrences surrounding Jesus' death, including darkness, earthquakes, and the tearing of the Temple curtain, blending historical and symbolic interpretations.
Finally, the aftermath of Jesus’ death is portrayed in great detail, including Pilate's decision to release the body for burial, possibly driven by guilt.
The account of the resurrection brings the story to a climactic and mysterious conclusion, featuring the testimony of the guards who describe an extraordinary vision of angels taking Jesus’ body. This moment captures the tension between the earthly and the divine, leaving Pilate and others grappling with the implications of what they witnessed. Through meticulous detail and vivid storytelling, the book invites readers to reflect on the historical, spiritual, and moral dimensions of one of history's most pivotal events.
This is not a book steeped in religious dogma, rather, it is written as a historical biography of one of history’s most pivotal events.
Five Takeaways
• Pilate's Dilemma and Ambivalence: Pontius Pilate struggled with his role in Jesus’ trial, torn between finding no fault in him and succumbing to political pressure. His failure to fully defend Jesus reflects his prioritization of self-preservation and his inability to commit to a just decision.
• Theological and Symbolic Implications: Jesus' silence during the trial carries theological weight, representing the suffering servant foretold in Isaiah and emphasizing divine restraint in revealing God’s will to humanity.
• Manipulation by Religious Authorities: The high priests strategically leveraged Pilate's authority to secure Jesus’ death sentence, highlighting the interplay between Roman and Jewish legal systems and the political maneuvering to transfer responsibility for execution.
• Public Pressure and Mob Dynamics: The crowd, incited by the chief priests, demanded Jesus’ crucifixion and the release of Barabbas, showcasing the dangers of mob influence and the vulnerability of leadership to public opinion.
• Post-Crucifixion Speculation: Pilate’s potential guilt after Jesus' death and the mysterious resurrection narrative, with reports of angels and divine intervention, underscore the lingering impact of the events and their theological significance.
Significant Highlights
He may have wondered, from time to time, why he had been sent to Judaea. Any number of later theologians and scholars could have told him. He was sent because the stars were in alignment and the other players in place. This was what God had planned from the beginning of the world. His son would be put to death, a symbolic death on a tree, to save sinners. But it would appear to be a routine execution by a governor who did such things all the time.
It began in a garden. In the center of that garden, planted by God in Eden, grew the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Fruit hung from its branches. The Book of Genesis does not say what sort of fruits these were; the Arabs think they were figs, some say they were pomegranates or green plantains; but at least since the time of the apocryphal Gospels, men have imagined they were apples. The apple, malum, also meant “the bad thing.” It could not be evil in itself; it was the concentration of God’s sweetness. But men could not cope with it. It symbolized not only dangerous knowledge, but contention and power. Men longed for it almost without knowing why.
Adam and Eve in the garden desired the apple, ate, and fell. What is less well known is that Pilate followed them. The Golden Legend relates how one day he stood at the window of his palace, gazing at a nearby orchard. The trees were heavy with red apples, and Pilate was seized with such a fierce desire for the fruit that he almost fainted. He called his servant to him and said, “I want that fruit so much that if I don’t get some, I shall die.”
According to Luke, Jesus had added something more. He had said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The prayer encompassed everyone by the cross: thieves, bystanders, Romans. The evangelist also clearly implied it went further, over the chief priests and the Jewish crowd, and that it included the governor in his palace. So Pilate had been forgiven, if he wanted to know. This Jesus had loved his enemy, even though his enemy had scarcely left him the breath or the strength to do so. And, having forgiven, he died almost instantly. Far from putting up defenses against death, he seemed to invite it in.
Pilate was not bound to hand the body over. Corpses were usually removed from the cross on request, but most were thrown into a common pit. The corpse of a man found guilty of sedition was often granted not even that grace, but was left to the crows and the vultures as a final humiliation. In Judaea, the Jews demanded more respect for their dead criminals. This alone may have accounted for the speed of the transaction.
“Sir, beautiful angels came down. They came from the highest throne, and they took the man away from us. We were terribly frightened. I don’t know how, but something happened to me. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t hear. Look”—for he could sense Pilate’s anger again, see the tick of the vein in his neck—“believe me, sir, it wasn’t our fault. There we were, all lying by the grave. We could see everything clearly, absolutely clearly. The angels came—” “Angels,” said Pilate blankly. “Beings came, in great force, in wonderful clearness and beauty. They shone like lightning, like the snow. They robbed us of our wits and made us fall asleep. The angels came to the grave, and they took Jesus out. He was there among them, and they led him to a bright place, singing for joy all the time. And all this”—here his voice faltered again—“I noticed in my sleep, sir.”
The book offers insights into the trial, crucifixion, and aftermath of Jesus Christ, focusing on the dynamics between Jesus, Pontius Pilate, and the Jewish authorities. It examines Pilate's ambivalence during the trial, contrasting his reluctance to condemn an innocent man with his inability to stand firm against public and political pressures. The book highlights Pilate's initial astonishment at Jesus' silence and his desperate attempts to navigate a "third way" to avoid the extremes of execution or release.
This portrayal of Pilate emphasizes his political instincts and failures, underscoring the tension between Roman authority and Jewish expectations.
As the events unfold, the book explores the theological and symbolic significance of the crucifixion. It examines the dramatic occurrences surrounding Jesus' death, including darkness, earthquakes, and the tearing of the Temple curtain, blending historical and symbolic interpretations.
Finally, the aftermath of Jesus’ death is portrayed in great detail, including Pilate's decision to release the body for burial, possibly driven by guilt.
The account of the resurrection brings the story to a climactic and mysterious conclusion, featuring the testimony of the guards who describe an extraordinary vision of angels taking Jesus’ body. This moment captures the tension between the earthly and the divine, leaving Pilate and others grappling with the implications of what they witnessed. Through meticulous detail and vivid storytelling, the book invites readers to reflect on the historical, spiritual, and moral dimensions of one of history's most pivotal events.
This is not a book steeped in religious dogma, rather, it is written as a historical biography of one of history’s most pivotal events.
Five Takeaways
• Pilate's Dilemma and Ambivalence: Pontius Pilate struggled with his role in Jesus’ trial, torn between finding no fault in him and succumbing to political pressure. His failure to fully defend Jesus reflects his prioritization of self-preservation and his inability to commit to a just decision.
• Theological and Symbolic Implications: Jesus' silence during the trial carries theological weight, representing the suffering servant foretold in Isaiah and emphasizing divine restraint in revealing God’s will to humanity.
• Manipulation by Religious Authorities: The high priests strategically leveraged Pilate's authority to secure Jesus’ death sentence, highlighting the interplay between Roman and Jewish legal systems and the political maneuvering to transfer responsibility for execution.
• Public Pressure and Mob Dynamics: The crowd, incited by the chief priests, demanded Jesus’ crucifixion and the release of Barabbas, showcasing the dangers of mob influence and the vulnerability of leadership to public opinion.
• Post-Crucifixion Speculation: Pilate’s potential guilt after Jesus' death and the mysterious resurrection narrative, with reports of angels and divine intervention, underscore the lingering impact of the events and their theological significance.
Significant Highlights
He may have wondered, from time to time, why he had been sent to Judaea. Any number of later theologians and scholars could have told him. He was sent because the stars were in alignment and the other players in place. This was what God had planned from the beginning of the world. His son would be put to death, a symbolic death on a tree, to save sinners. But it would appear to be a routine execution by a governor who did such things all the time.
It began in a garden. In the center of that garden, planted by God in Eden, grew the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Fruit hung from its branches. The Book of Genesis does not say what sort of fruits these were; the Arabs think they were figs, some say they were pomegranates or green plantains; but at least since the time of the apocryphal Gospels, men have imagined they were apples. The apple, malum, also meant “the bad thing.” It could not be evil in itself; it was the concentration of God’s sweetness. But men could not cope with it. It symbolized not only dangerous knowledge, but contention and power. Men longed for it almost without knowing why.
Adam and Eve in the garden desired the apple, ate, and fell. What is less well known is that Pilate followed them. The Golden Legend relates how one day he stood at the window of his palace, gazing at a nearby orchard. The trees were heavy with red apples, and Pilate was seized with such a fierce desire for the fruit that he almost fainted. He called his servant to him and said, “I want that fruit so much that if I don’t get some, I shall die.”
According to Luke, Jesus had added something more. He had said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The prayer encompassed everyone by the cross: thieves, bystanders, Romans. The evangelist also clearly implied it went further, over the chief priests and the Jewish crowd, and that it included the governor in his palace. So Pilate had been forgiven, if he wanted to know. This Jesus had loved his enemy, even though his enemy had scarcely left him the breath or the strength to do so. And, having forgiven, he died almost instantly. Far from putting up defenses against death, he seemed to invite it in.
Pilate was not bound to hand the body over. Corpses were usually removed from the cross on request, but most were thrown into a common pit. The corpse of a man found guilty of sedition was often granted not even that grace, but was left to the crows and the vultures as a final humiliation. In Judaea, the Jews demanded more respect for their dead criminals. This alone may have accounted for the speed of the transaction.
“Sir, beautiful angels came down. They came from the highest throne, and they took the man away from us. We were terribly frightened. I don’t know how, but something happened to me. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t hear. Look”—for he could sense Pilate’s anger again, see the tick of the vein in his neck—“believe me, sir, it wasn’t our fault. There we were, all lying by the grave. We could see everything clearly, absolutely clearly. The angels came—” “Angels,” said Pilate blankly. “Beings came, in great force, in wonderful clearness and beauty. They shone like lightning, like the snow. They robbed us of our wits and made us fall asleep. The angels came to the grave, and they took Jesus out. He was there among them, and they led him to a bright place, singing for joy all the time. And all this”—here his voice faltered again—“I noticed in my sleep, sir.”
September 7, 2007
This is more of a history of an idea of what is Pilate than a biblical study ala Pagels or Armstrong. Interesting stuff, but not groundshaking.
September 24, 2023
It's hard to rate this a 3, yet this book just doesn't quite earn a 4.
Given the slim historical documentation of the title character, Ann Wroe flexes her research abilities and - evidently - leaves no stone unturned. Her scrupulous tenacity took her to ancient writings in many languages, across multiple continents, and deep into long-gone cultures.
In order to display that exhaustive effort, Wroe details every possible variation of each part of Pontius Pilate's life. At the start, the three different origin stories caught me by surprise as I was expecting the first one to be the only one. Following that, I continued reading with more doubt and suspicion as the tall tales and superstitious stories painted a fantastical picture.
For all the attention Wroe gives to every other historical source, she doesn't seem to attribute much credence to Biblical sources and orthodox teaching. Rather than acknowledge the Christian perspective as a viable explanation of the context, she references the canonical Gospels with reluctance. They tend to be turned to with similar frequency as apocryphal "gospel" writings.
In the end, Wroe's masterful writing (as demonstrated in the engaging Introduction and Prologue) fails to heighten her educated speculation of a mysterious figure to levels worthy of her prose. There are many astonishingly brilliant paragraphs, and Wroe's talent is without question.
Pilate seems to enter the drama of Christ's Passion from a foggy past and exits the stage into a veil of lost history. His time on the stage is enough to spark our interest, but only as a supporting character of Holy Week. The cover of this book simply shows the back of a head, part of an extended arm, and the rest is obscured by the cloud of a toga. All combined, it's just enough for us to relate to Pilate as a human who finds himself with inner turmoil as he encounters Christ. This is enough.
Given the slim historical documentation of the title character, Ann Wroe flexes her research abilities and - evidently - leaves no stone unturned. Her scrupulous tenacity took her to ancient writings in many languages, across multiple continents, and deep into long-gone cultures.
In order to display that exhaustive effort, Wroe details every possible variation of each part of Pontius Pilate's life. At the start, the three different origin stories caught me by surprise as I was expecting the first one to be the only one. Following that, I continued reading with more doubt and suspicion as the tall tales and superstitious stories painted a fantastical picture.
For all the attention Wroe gives to every other historical source, she doesn't seem to attribute much credence to Biblical sources and orthodox teaching. Rather than acknowledge the Christian perspective as a viable explanation of the context, she references the canonical Gospels with reluctance. They tend to be turned to with similar frequency as apocryphal "gospel" writings.
In the end, Wroe's masterful writing (as demonstrated in the engaging Introduction and Prologue) fails to heighten her educated speculation of a mysterious figure to levels worthy of her prose. There are many astonishingly brilliant paragraphs, and Wroe's talent is without question.
Pilate seems to enter the drama of Christ's Passion from a foggy past and exits the stage into a veil of lost history. His time on the stage is enough to spark our interest, but only as a supporting character of Holy Week. The cover of this book simply shows the back of a head, part of an extended arm, and the rest is obscured by the cloud of a toga. All combined, it's just enough for us to relate to Pilate as a human who finds himself with inner turmoil as he encounters Christ. This is enough.
August 7, 2025
I started this book simply because I wanted to read something longer by Ann Wroe, whose obituaries I look forward to reading in The Economist every week. I wasn't planning to read a 400-page biography of Pontius Pilate, but this was the only book of hers carried by my local library.
There aren't many historical documents available relating to Pilate's life. Luckily, Wroe is resourceful and creative. She combs related writing from Pilate's time period to construct a vivid picture of daily life in Jerusalem under Roman occupation. I had a mistaken impression of this area — probably from children's illustrated Bibles — as one of small, dusty villages. In fact, the society was sophisticated and complex, with impressive architecture. I have a much better sense now of what life was like for Jewish people under Roman occupation. There were massive protests and constant negotiations about religious freedom. Wroe imagines the difficult decisions Pilate faced in finding a balance between quelling dissent and asserting Roman authority over its distant occupied territory.
Because there is little direct reference to Pilate in existing documents, and nothing remains of his own writing, Wroe draws from representations of Pilate throughout history, such as legends about his origins, the Passion Plays of the Middle Ages and works of fiction. It can be a little confusing at times to read, for example, three separate and conflicting vignettes about Pilate's childhood, but most of the time the chronology remains clear.
To recreate the encounter between Pilate and Jesus — the fulcrum of the book — Wroe draws on the Gospels to write an imagined conversation that I found believable and moving. I also have a better sense now of what Jesus would have experienced in the day leading up to his crucifixion.
Wroe is an incredible writer. There are few people capable of producing a book so well-researched and yet so poetic. It was fantastic, and I plan to seek out more of her books.
There aren't many historical documents available relating to Pilate's life. Luckily, Wroe is resourceful and creative. She combs related writing from Pilate's time period to construct a vivid picture of daily life in Jerusalem under Roman occupation. I had a mistaken impression of this area — probably from children's illustrated Bibles — as one of small, dusty villages. In fact, the society was sophisticated and complex, with impressive architecture. I have a much better sense now of what life was like for Jewish people under Roman occupation. There were massive protests and constant negotiations about religious freedom. Wroe imagines the difficult decisions Pilate faced in finding a balance between quelling dissent and asserting Roman authority over its distant occupied territory.
Because there is little direct reference to Pilate in existing documents, and nothing remains of his own writing, Wroe draws from representations of Pilate throughout history, such as legends about his origins, the Passion Plays of the Middle Ages and works of fiction. It can be a little confusing at times to read, for example, three separate and conflicting vignettes about Pilate's childhood, but most of the time the chronology remains clear.
To recreate the encounter between Pilate and Jesus — the fulcrum of the book — Wroe draws on the Gospels to write an imagined conversation that I found believable and moving. I also have a better sense now of what Jesus would have experienced in the day leading up to his crucifixion.
Wroe is an incredible writer. There are few people capable of producing a book so well-researched and yet so poetic. It was fantastic, and I plan to seek out more of her books.
June 27, 2024
I picked this up on a recommendation, thinking it was a book of historical fiction. It's actually a biography of Pontius Pilate. Despite very few primary sources, Wroe has put together a fantastic biography and picture of Pontius Pilate and the times that he lived in.
I learned a ton reading this book, and the author's approach was fascinating and really enjoyable. For instance, she tells the three most popular 'origin stories' for Pilate, rather than landing on just one. She mentions which one was the most widely circulated in the early church, and which was an outlier, but its still interesting to read them all.
I loved learning about the political structure, the accomplishments of Pilate, the Roman cult worship of the emperor, and how views of Pilate evolved over time. A great example would be that Pilate was the one who built the aqueduct system in Jerusalem, literally bringing fresh water for the first time to those who lived there. He also did this with money stolen from the Jewish temple, so it was controversial for those living there to even use it. For me, this information gives a whole new depth to some of the passages in the gospels that refer to water.
Pilate's name is still invoked in the most famous creed, he is considered a saint in some of the Eastern Orthodox churches, and we know very little of him outside of a few works other than the gospels. The author also covers many passion plays throughout the medieval period and how the view of Pilate and his role changed in these plays over time as the understanding in the society did. Fascinating book, not an easy read but a worthwhile one.
I learned a ton reading this book, and the author's approach was fascinating and really enjoyable. For instance, she tells the three most popular 'origin stories' for Pilate, rather than landing on just one. She mentions which one was the most widely circulated in the early church, and which was an outlier, but its still interesting to read them all.
I loved learning about the political structure, the accomplishments of Pilate, the Roman cult worship of the emperor, and how views of Pilate evolved over time. A great example would be that Pilate was the one who built the aqueduct system in Jerusalem, literally bringing fresh water for the first time to those who lived there. He also did this with money stolen from the Jewish temple, so it was controversial for those living there to even use it. For me, this information gives a whole new depth to some of the passages in the gospels that refer to water.
Pilate's name is still invoked in the most famous creed, he is considered a saint in some of the Eastern Orthodox churches, and we know very little of him outside of a few works other than the gospels. The author also covers many passion plays throughout the medieval period and how the view of Pilate and his role changed in these plays over time as the understanding in the society did. Fascinating book, not an easy read but a worthwhile one.
February 29, 2024
This is an exceptional book, I highly recommend if you are interested in the Roman world or related topics. It's a completely unique work - both a biography (in some sense) and a cultural or literary history.
The majority of the work is a biography of one the world's most infamous men, one of whom almost nothing is known about from a strictly historical or archeological perspective. Wroe's work is speculative biography, or rather biography by triangulation - exploring what we know about the Mediterranean world, contemporary governors of Roman provinces, and what they might have seen during their military service, or ate, or were likely to have read, how they worked and lived. Wroe's day job at the Economist makes perfect sense with the frequent allusions to classical literature and her ability to draw on a variety of sources and traditions to write compelling, and ultimately, extremely beautiful prose. Her attempt to catch a glimpse of a singular individual buried under the weight of time and theology is fantastic.
In addition to the biographical piece, much of the work explores the legacy of Pilate - in theology, in various Christian folk traditions, in politics, in medieval plays, and in more contemporary works of art - what do they say about us? What have artists and revolutionaries and clerics used Pilate to say about their world over time?
The majority of the work is a biography of one the world's most infamous men, one of whom almost nothing is known about from a strictly historical or archeological perspective. Wroe's work is speculative biography, or rather biography by triangulation - exploring what we know about the Mediterranean world, contemporary governors of Roman provinces, and what they might have seen during their military service, or ate, or were likely to have read, how they worked and lived. Wroe's day job at the Economist makes perfect sense with the frequent allusions to classical literature and her ability to draw on a variety of sources and traditions to write compelling, and ultimately, extremely beautiful prose. Her attempt to catch a glimpse of a singular individual buried under the weight of time and theology is fantastic.
In addition to the biographical piece, much of the work explores the legacy of Pilate - in theology, in various Christian folk traditions, in politics, in medieval plays, and in more contemporary works of art - what do they say about us? What have artists and revolutionaries and clerics used Pilate to say about their world over time?
July 18, 2021
Ann Wroe is a wonderful writer there is no question about that, and she definitely had courage to attempt a biography on a character who has virtually nothing left behind of them except a stone and his relation to Jesus.
Writing a biography on Pilate is arguably virtually impossible, as he has become a myth. So instead of writing what I would call a biography, Wroe instead writes what other reviews have accurately called a meditation. She presents the different stories of his life at each stage of them and argues which one is the most likely. She also presents more recent anecdotes of when the memory of Pilate emerged and changed over time, showing how different writers and generations have added and changed his myth.
All in all the book was alright, Ann Wroe did a serviceable job, given the topic it was undoubtedly challenging but for myself I will just have to be satisfied with the fact that we likely will never really know Pilate - how much we can really know any historical person is open to debate - but there are literally no records left behind of him. So we will just have to be content with his incomplete memory and choose for yourself the Pontius pilate that you want to remember.
Writing a biography on Pilate is arguably virtually impossible, as he has become a myth. So instead of writing what I would call a biography, Wroe instead writes what other reviews have accurately called a meditation. She presents the different stories of his life at each stage of them and argues which one is the most likely. She also presents more recent anecdotes of when the memory of Pilate emerged and changed over time, showing how different writers and generations have added and changed his myth.
All in all the book was alright, Ann Wroe did a serviceable job, given the topic it was undoubtedly challenging but for myself I will just have to be satisfied with the fact that we likely will never really know Pilate - how much we can really know any historical person is open to debate - but there are literally no records left behind of him. So we will just have to be content with his incomplete memory and choose for yourself the Pontius pilate that you want to remember.
August 27, 2025
Dry. Clinical. Overly intellectual. Ann Wroe’s Pontius Pilate feels less like a historical biography and more like an academic exercise in stripping all emotion, all depth, all soul from one of history’s most infamous figures.
Yes, she’s thorough. Yes, she dives into the contradictions, the historical gaps, the literary interpretations. But at what cost?
Pilate is reduced to a symbol, a blank slate, a bureaucratic shadow moving through history with no real substance.
Wroe seems almost afraid to acknowledge that this man, this governor, this decision-maker, was a person, not just a collection of theories.
No wrestling with fate, no inner turmoil, no real engagement with the spiritual weight of his actions. Just cold analysis.
Hard to get through. Painfully so. Not because the topic isn’t interesting, but because Wroe seems determined to rob it of any real human connection.
It’s like she’s more interested in what Pilate represents than who he was.
Where’s the struggle? The regret? The moment of realization that he’s caught between duty and something far greater than himself?
Instead, we get endless speculation, literary references, and a parade of detached observations. Feels like a missed opportunity.
Yes, she’s thorough. Yes, she dives into the contradictions, the historical gaps, the literary interpretations. But at what cost?
Pilate is reduced to a symbol, a blank slate, a bureaucratic shadow moving through history with no real substance.
Wroe seems almost afraid to acknowledge that this man, this governor, this decision-maker, was a person, not just a collection of theories.
No wrestling with fate, no inner turmoil, no real engagement with the spiritual weight of his actions. Just cold analysis.
Hard to get through. Painfully so. Not because the topic isn’t interesting, but because Wroe seems determined to rob it of any real human connection.
It’s like she’s more interested in what Pilate represents than who he was.
Where’s the struggle? The regret? The moment of realization that he’s caught between duty and something far greater than himself?
Instead, we get endless speculation, literary references, and a parade of detached observations. Feels like a missed opportunity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2025
Ann Wroe’s part non-fictional retelling, part imagined stories of the life of “Pontius Pilate” is a true gem of a book for anyone not only more interested in Pilate the man, and the governor, but anyone who has a yearning to dive deeper into historical and biblical knowledge. Immediately captivating, Wroe has an incredible talent to pull the reader into historical events, so much so, that I felt myself at times present at those very moments. … Despite being raised Catholic, there is so much more I learned from this book and even about my own German history. … I got interested in reading this book, after seeing it listed in one of Ryan Holiday’s reading lists (I believe it was his best books of 2023.). Especially, after having recently finished “Claudia - Wife of Pontius Pilate” by Diana Wallis Taylor, it was a no brainer for me to continue with Wroe’s book, although, it took me a year to finish it. I gave it 3.75 stars and not 5 because at times, and especially towards the end, the imagined legends and stories of Pilate bored me a bit.
August 31, 2025
"Perhaps this striving to make Pilate up should just be dismissed as fiction. But then again, it isn't fiction at all: it's an attempt, made in different ways in every age, to express what the character of Pilate means and why he is important. The Pilate we think we know is a mixture of dozens of invented men, each symbolic of something: the State facing the individual, the pagan world opposing the Christian one, scepticism versus truth, ourselves facing God. He represents either man's free will, or his hopelessness before fate, or his struggle to distinguish good and evil, or the tyranny of hard choices. People ceaselessly project their own ideas and anxieties on him. They use him, and have always used him, exactly as they want to, often revealing in the process as much about themselves as they reveal about him."
-- Ann Wroe, from the Introduction
-- Ann Wroe, from the Introduction
July 3, 2017
I can't remember who recommended this book to me, but I'm so glad I read it. Wroe is a master at weaving together the historical and biblical, and what she's created is a truly masterful tale of Judea at the time of the Roman occupation. I loved that she incorporated so many classical texts to bring this era to life: the writings of Seneca, Pliny, and Philo are all woven into this story, and Wroe makes this book a page-turner by drawing on a wide variety of sources to keep the story moving along. If you're interested in Roman history, the history of the church, or the Jewish faith, you must read this book.
July 7, 2018
I am so glad to be done reading this book. It was pretty boring and tedious and not at all what I hoped for. I finished it because I do not like quitting on books, hoping that I will gain some knowledge. And I often do. I'm sure I learned something from this book but no doubt it was more about Roman government and culture than Pontius Pilate as it turns out there really is very little available information about the man. I felt like Daniel Jackson from SG1 would have liked it; it contained a lot of tertiary information that really only gave you information on what people "supposed" about Pilate or wrote about him. Not recommended.
February 13, 2019
Parts of this book are humorous, parts are distracting, and parts are informative. I think the reason the book is distracting is that it tries to put so many ideas into one place. I found myself laughing at some of the dramatic portrayals ofPilate after the crucifixion of Christ. I thought that mixing the legends in with very small tidbits of fact that we have it were distracting until I got used to them and then I said oh all right that’s how she’s going to work this. It’s an interesting book but by the time it was over I was glad to have it done. I do commend her for all of her work because that research undertaken for this must’ve been extraordinary.
January 28, 2021
This book is confused, or confusing. It doesn't seem to know if it wants to be an imaginative portrayal of the historical Pilate (however sketchy) or, because of the paucity of historical evidence, a portrayal of the Figure of Pilate down through the ages in drama, literature and art. I have the impression that Wroe wanted the former but ended up with the latter, since that would be the only way to produce a book about Pilate.
In spite of that, the book is well written and contains a lot of information about what has become the 'archetype' of Pontius Pilate.
In spite of that, the book is well written and contains a lot of information about what has become the 'archetype' of Pontius Pilate.
will-not-finish
July 26, 2023I got halfway through this and I just cannot finish. I feel extra guilty because the first 35% or so was good enough that I felt willing to recommend this to my priest/church for our cute little summer reading list. In any case, this book should be half the length it is. It needed a vicious editor. This is not a biography of Pilate—which is what the cover and description would have you believe—but more of a survey of everything that has ever been written or said about Pilate on top of the sparse details we know about his life. Spare me. DNF @ 55%
April 8, 2025
I was so curious to read this book as I had never read anything substantial about Pilate before. For someone whose life was so public and forever marked in world history, there is not much of REAL historical evidence about his life. 384 pages well written, about a man's life that so very little is known. It was a very challenging book to get through. I admire the author for researching and sharing all the plays, legends and folklore, but I was looking for accurate historical data. I was disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2024
This is in many ways a beautiful book, poetic, lyrical at times. Wroe gives us a thorough lay out of what little is available from historical sources about the governor of Roman Judea. She deepens that picture by surrounding that information with a thorough historical context of the workings of the Roman imperial structure and functioning during the relevant period. She also takes us deep into the subsequent mythology the grew up around Pilate through the centuries. It is well worth reading.
January 15, 2025
An interesting endeavor
This book is OK. A lot of it is speculation, which is not disclosed when looking to read the manuscript. It is unclear as to whether or not the author a Christian or not. She quotes much from the Scriptures, but does not allude to them being the authoritative word of God. Much of her findings could have been summarized in a literature endeavor that is half the length of this manuscript.
This book is OK. A lot of it is speculation, which is not disclosed when looking to read the manuscript. It is unclear as to whether or not the author a Christian or not. She quotes much from the Scriptures, but does not allude to them being the authoritative word of God. Much of her findings could have been summarized in a literature endeavor that is half the length of this manuscript.
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