The
Giving Up of Pontius Pilate.
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And the writings having come to
the city of the Romans, and having been read to the Cæsar, with
not a few standing by, all were astounded, because through the
wickedness of Pilate the darkness and the earthquake had come over the
whole world. And the Cæsar, filled with rage, sent soldiers, and ordered them to bring Pilate a prisoner.
And when he was brought to the city of the Romans, the Cæsar, hearing that Pilate had arrived, sat in the temple of the gods, in the presence of all the senate, and with all the army, and all the multitude of his power; and he ordered Pilate to stand forward. And the Cæsar says to him: Why hast thou, O most impious, dared to do such things, having seen so great miracles in that man? By daring to do an evil deed, thou hast destroyed the whole world.
And Pilate said: O almighty king, I am innocent of these things; but
the multitude of the Jews are violent and guilty. And the
Cæsar said: And who are they? Pilate says: Herod, Archelaus, Philip, Annas and Caiaphas, and all the multitude of the Jews. The Cæsar says: For what reason didst thou follow out their counsel? And Pilate says: Their nation is rebellious and insubmissive, not submitting themselves to thy power. And the Cæsar said: When they delivered him to thee, thou oughtest to have made him secure, and to have sent him to me, and not to have obeyed them in crucifying such a man, righteous as he was, and one that did such good miracles, as thou hast said in thy report. For from such miracles Jesus was manifestly the Christ, the King of the Jews.
And as the Cæsar was thus speaking, when he named
the name of Christ, all the multitude of the gods fell down in a body, and became as dust, where the Cæsar was sitting with the senate. And the people standing beside the Cæsar all began to tremble, on account of the speaking of the word, and the fall of their gods; and being seized with terror, they all went away, each to his own house, wondering at what had happened. And the Cæsar ordered Pilate to be kept in security, in order that he might know the truth about Jesus.
And on the following day, the Cæsar, sitting in the
Capitol with all the senate, tried again to question Pilate. And
the Cæsar says: Tell the truth, O most impious, because
through thy impious action which thou hast perpetrated against Jesus, even here the doing of thy wicked deeds has been shown by the gods having been cast down. Say, then, who is he that has been crucified; because even his name has destroyed all the gods? Pilate said: And indeed the records of him are true; for assuredly I myself was persuaded from his works that he was greater than all the gods whom we worship. And the Cæsar said: For what reason, then, didst thou bring against him such audacity and such doings, if thou wert not ignorant of him, and altogether devising mischief against my kingdom? Pilate said: On account of the wickedness and rebellion of the lawless and ungodly Jews, I did this.
And the Cæsar, being filled with rage, held a
council with all his senate and his power, and ordered a decree to be
written against the Jews as follows:—To Licianus, the governor of
the chief places of the East, greeting. The reckless deed which
has been done at the present time by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and
the cities of the Jews round about, and their wicked action, has come
to my knowledge, that they have forced Pilate to crucify a certain god
named Jesus, and on account of this great fault of theirs the world has
been darkened and dragged to destruction. Do thou then speedily, with a multitude of soldiers, go to them there, and make them prisoners, in accordance with this decree. Be obedient, and take action against them, and scatter them, and make them slaves among all the nations; and having driven them out of the whole of Judæa, make them the smallest of nations, so that it may not any longer be seen at all, because they are full of wickedness.
And this decree having come into the region of the
East, Licianus, obeying from fear of the decree, seized all the nation
of the Jews; and those that were left in Judæa he scattered among
the nations, and sold for slaves: so
that it was known to the Cæsar that these things had been
done by Licianus against the Jews
in the region of the East; and it pleased him.