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 in the Late Middle Ages. Other legendary versions of Pilate's death exist: Antoine de la Sale reported from a travel in Central Italy on some local traditions asserting that after death the body of Pontius Pilate was driven to a little lake near Vettore Peak (2478 m in the Sibillini Mountains) and plunged in. The lake, today, is still named Lago di Pilato. In the Cornish cycle of mystery plays, the "death of Pilate" forms a dramatic scene in the "Resurrexio Domini" cycle. More of Pilate's correspondence is found in the minor Pilate apocrypha, the "Anaphora Pilati" ("Report of Pilate"),