Pontius Pilate is a relatively minor figure in the gospels of the New Testament, but one who plays a vital role as the Roman official in charge of Jesus’ sentencing.

Given that he’s the face of Rome in the New Testament Gospels, he’s presented in a surprisingly positive light! The same is true for his appearances in some other early Christian writings. To try and get to the bottom of exactly why the official representative of the big, bad Roman empire is presented as such a sympathetic figure, we’re going to be taking a look at one of these non-canonical texts in a bit more detail.