Anaphora Pilati: The Report of Pilate

Brought to you by Altrusian Grace Media and human-narrated by Matthew Schmitz. Anaphora Pilati (“Report of Pilate”) is an apocryphal Christian text framed as a report from Pontius Pilate to Emperor Tiberius about Jesus’s trial, crucifixion, and the events that followed. It is not considered an authentic Roman document; scholars generally place its composition in late antiquity, likely the 4th or 5th century, with the oldest surviving Greek manuscripts from the 6th century. In the work, Pilate presents Jesus as innocent and extraordinarily powerful, emphasizing his miracles and the lack of any real criminal charge against him. The blame for Jesus’s death is shifted heavily onto the Jewish leaders and crowds, while Pilate portrays himself as yielding mainly to avoid unrest. After the crucifixion, the text becomes highly dramatic and supernatural. It describes cosmic signs and divine judgment: a heavenly light over Jerusalem, an earthquake that splits mountains, the dead emerging from Hades, and destructive punishment falling on those who opposed Jesus. It also says the synagogues of Jerusalem were destroyed except one.