The prefect Macro introduced the various principals at the hearing. The man on the tribunal with the emperor was called Agrippa; the fifth person in the Samaritan delegation he presented as “Thallus, the renowned historian.” He was Tiberius’s affluent and scholarly freedman who, Pilate suddenly recalled, was of Samaritan origin. So the prosecution had a friend at court indeed!
Caligula opened the proceedings by pointing out that since the province of Judea was of imperial, not senatorial, rank, there could be no appeal from his tribunal to the Roman Senate. Both parties agreed.
The Samaritans then formally indicted Pilate for excessive cruelty, assault and battery, massacre, illegal executions, and religious persecution.
“Pontius Pilatus, rise to face your accusers,” Caligula directed. “How do you plead?”
“Not guilty on all counts, Excellency.”
Evidence was then taken from the prosecution. Three of the Samaritans had been present at what they termed the “Mount Gerizim Massacre” and showed Caligula scars from wounds suffered in the battle. In essence, they stated that theirs had been a peaceful gathering, solely for religious purposes. Weapons were brought along only for defense against highwaymen. Pilate erred brutally in executing fourteen of their leaders after wounding and killing others in battle. He should not have interfered with their religious observances in the first place. He was careless about Jewish religious practices as well, and they listed the familiar episodes.
Thallus then submitted a further document, Vitellius’s formal explanation to Tiberius of why he had ordered Pilate’s suspension. Caligula directed that it be read aloud. Listening carefully and making occasional notes, Pilate was disturbed at how much extra material Vitellius had included concerning the various frictions, imbroglios, and riots which had broken out under his administration in Judea. Genuine concern throbbed inside him for the first time. He who had presided over countless cases in the past was now on the other side of the bench. The judge was being judged.
Thallus was conducting himself brilliantly as prosecutor for the Samaritans, and both Caligula and his friend Agrippa started to stare at Pilate with all the fascination of two hawks eying a common prey. Pilate continued scribbling notes with his stylus and nervously rechecking the order of his depositions. Once he leaned over to confer with the tribune from the Italian Cohort.
When Thallus had finished, Caligula called for evidence for the defense. Pilate began by countering the formal indictments. “The charges of ‘excessive cruelty,’ ‘assault and battery,’ and ‘massacre’ cannot stand,” he argued, “for Rome could bring a countersuit against the Samaritans on precisely the same grounds. This was military combat, a formal, pitched battle between two Roman cohorts and a de facto Samaritan army, since the insurgents had many more weapons than would ever have been needed against highwaymen. Every man was armed. Granted, a few defensive weapons against brigands would have been acceptable as they came separately to the village of Tirathana. But after they had united into a multitude of thousands, why did they remain armed? Why, if this were a religious procession? It would be ridiculous to assume that bandits would have tried to attack a throng of that size.
“In this connection, I submit for your examination my letter of suspension from the proconsul Vitellius. You will note a different reason stated here for the Samaritans being armed.” Pilate showed Caligula the sentence: “They have sworn to me that the gathering…assembled at Tirathana only as refugees from your violence.” Then he resumed, “The plaintiffs knew that this was a hastily contrived lie at the time. They assembled at Tirathana certainly not as refugees from my violence, but as a staging area for their ascent of Mount Gerizim. So now they have altered the indictment. I submit that this represents the way they have handled truth in their entire version of the episode.
“Now, as to the remaining charges, just as there was no religious persecution on my part, so also there were no illegal executions. With many of our Roman auxiliaries wounded, dying, and some dead, I naturally meted out appropriate punishment to the leaders of what was clearly a treasonable insurrection against imperial authority. Under martial law they were judged and executed. Any Roman magistrate in these circumstances would have acted in a similar fashion.”
As witness for the defense, Pilate now had his tribune give a detailed account of what transpired at Mount Gerizim. His testimony showed the Samaritans in a substantially different light from their own claims as a peace-loving folk bent only on a religious quest. Finally, Pilate laid his depositions before Caligula, which further supported the tribune’s version and testified to the military conquests expected of the Samaritan “Restorer.” The princeps and his friend spent some minutes reading through them. Then Caligula called for the summations.
Thallus sought to rebut Pilate’s arguments, stressing particularly that the leaders of a Samaritan religious gathering should not have been massacred with that kind of un-Roman barbarity. He also leaned heavily on Pilate’s previous troubles in Judea. Finally he suggested, “Exile, no, death itself is not too great a punishment for one who has so shamefully abused his public trust in a province of imperial Rome.”
Shuddering inwardly, but also angry at Thallus’s request, Pilate countered in his summary by pointing out that he was not presently on trial for any problems with the Jews, but that he would gladly broaden his defense in that respect should the princeps be willing. “But a martial-law execution of the chief seditionists in a thwarted rebellion is certainly within the prerogatives of a Roman provincial governor.” Pilate went on to cite examples of similar executions in other Roman provinces at various times in history.
“Finally, as to my alleged troubles with the Jews, not a prefect assigned to Judea has returned without insisting that these are a most difficult people to govern. The province is undergarrisoned, underestimated, and misunderstood in Rome. In this situation, a provincial governor must halt incipient insurrection immediately, particularly when it breaks out on the major arterial highway of his land. Despite these difficulties, the emperor Tiberius continued me in office for ten years, which he certainly would not have done had my administration been inadequate. You recall his concern for good provincial government. As to my occasions of friction with the Jews, these are minor compared to the riots which periodically flare up between Samaritans and Jews.”
It was a telling point, so Pilate concluded, “Excellency, I rest my case.” He sat down, confident that Caligula, as one Roman official to another, would appreciate his arguments and acquit him. He still did not understand what the man named Agrippa was doing on the emperor’s tribunal.
Caligula retired for a few minutes with Agrippa. Pilate was nervous, but optimistic. The tribune smiled and patted him on the shoulders.
Then the emperor returned. While asking Pilate to stand for the judgment, he had a peculiar smile on his face which faded rapidly. Fastening hollow gray eyes on the defendant, he announced, “Pontius Pilatus, I absolve you of the charges of massacre, illegal executions, and religious persecution…But I find you guilty of assault and battery, and of excessive cruelty.”
Pilate’s jaw sagged open in astonishment.
Caligula continued, “A provincial governor who knew the art of diplomacy would have been able to find some recourse other than bloodshed and execution. You might at least have let the proconsul Vitellius hear their case.”
Pilate remained stupefied, incredulous. Caligula was showing political naiveté. “But Excellency,” he blurted, “our history is full of instances where insurrection was dealt with exactly as I handled it. Innocent Roman lives were lost to rebellious—”