# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/pontius-pilate
# Generated: 2026-08-31T18:42:33.410Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/pontius-pilate"
name: "Pontius Pilate"
slug: "pontius-pilate"
description: "The Roman governor who sentenced Jesus to death—and then became, depending on where you stand, either history's most reluctant executioner or an Ethiopian saint."
tagline: "Fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Pilate_medal.svg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Italy"
  isoCode: "IT"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "-12"
livingStatus: "LIVING"
scores:
  popularity:           66.29
  momentum:             0
  historical:           29.340708
  currentAttention:     2.75
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Ancient History"
    slug: "ancient-history"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17131"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilate"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Pontius%20Pilate"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://am.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%8C%B2%E1%88%8B%E1%8C%A6%E1%88%B5"
    title: "ጲላጦስ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B7%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%8A"
    title: "بيلاطس البنطي"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B7%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%89"
    title: "بيلاطس البنطى"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%D9%88%D9%86%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%88%D8%B3_%D9%BE%DB%8C%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B7%D8%B3"
    title: "پونتیوس پیلاطس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponti_Pilat"
    title: "Ponti Pilat"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bcl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poncio_Pilato"
    title: "Poncio Pilato"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be_x_old.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%8B%D1%8E%D1%81_%D0%9F%D1%96%D0%BB%D1%8F%D1%82"
    title: "Понтыюс Пілят"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%86%D1%96%D0%B9_%D0%9F%D1%96%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%82"
    title: "Понцій Пілат"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%82_%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8"
    title: "Пилат Понтийски"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC_%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4"
    title: "পন্তীয় পিলাত"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilatus"
    title: "Pontius Pilatus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pon%C3%A7_Pilat"
    title: "Ponç Pilat"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cdo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilatus"
    title: "Pontius Pilatus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://co.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponziu_Pilatu"
    title: "Ponziu Pilatu"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pil%C3%A1t_Pontsk%C3%BD"
    title: "Pilát Pontský"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilat"
    title: "Pontius Pilat"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilatus"
    title: "Pontius Pilatus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilatus"
    title: "Pontius Pilatus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A0%CF%8C%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BF%CF%82_%CE%A0%CE%B9%CE%BB%CE%AC%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%82"
    title: "Πόντιος Πιλάτος"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontio_Pilato"
    title: "Pontio Pilato"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poncio_Pilato"
    title: "Poncio Pilato"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilatus"
    title: "Pontius Pilatus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilatus"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilate"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://es.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poncio_Pilato"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ponzio_Pilato"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://la.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilatus"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Pontius Pilate served as the fifth governor of Judaea under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD, a posting that left few records beyond the coins he minted and a single stone inscription. Ancient sources describe him clashing repeatedly with the Jewish population over religious customs, his rule marked by enough tension that modern historians remain split on whether he was brutal and inept or simply competent enough to last a decade. His career ended after he violently suppressed a Samaritan uprising at Mount Gerizim; he was recalled to Rome to answer to Tiberius, but the emperor died before Pilate arrived, and the historical record goes silent. What survived instead was the mythology: Ethiopian and Coptic traditions canonized him as a martyr, Western Europe cast him as a cursed suicide, and medieval passion plays turned him into a stock character whose motives shifted with the teller. He remains the best-documented Roman governor of Judaea for a trial that took minutes and echoed for two thousand years.