The Shadow of Nazareth Jesus. Both Barrabas and Jesus are sentenced to die by crucifixion, but Jewish custom allows the release of a prisoner on the day of the Passover feast. Pontius Pilate, the Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, has the authority to decide whether to free Barabbas or Jesus in honor of the Passover. However, Pilate is unwilling to make the decision himself, so he lets a crowd that has gathered before him choose who is to live. The crowd chooses Barabbas, who is set free, and Jesus, who is innocent of any wrongdoing, dies on the cross. Following the crucifixion,
Pontius Pilate an "Epistle of Herod to Pilate", and an "Epistle of Pilate to Herod", spurious texts that are no older than the 5th century. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church recognized Pilate as a saint in the 6th century, based on the account in the "Acts of Pilate", as it does his wife, named Procla, whose strange dream of Jesus Christ induced her to try to stop his crucifixion. There are many other legends about Pilate in the folklore of Germany, particularly about his birth, according to which Pilate was born in the Franconian city of Forchheim or the small village of