Pontius Pilate Pilate was "astonished". Pilate appears to have been reluctant to allow the crucifixion of Jesus, finding no fault with him. According to Matthew 27:19, even Pilate's wife spoke to him on Jesus' behalf. According to the gospels, it was the custom of the Roman governor to release one prisoner at Passover, and Pilate brought out Barabbas, identified by Matthew as a "notorious prisoner" and by Mark as a murderer, and told the crowd to choose between releasing Barabbas or Jesus as per the custom, in the hopes of getting them to request the release of Jesus. However, the crowd demanded
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"),