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Pilate was a powerful figure. If he had reservations about killing Jesus, he certainly could have taken him back to Caesaria for trial or referred his case back to the Sanhedrin for possible punishment under Jewish, not Roman, law. The fact that he did not suggests that Pilate was pleased to accede to the urgings of Jewish leaders and crucify Jesus. Anyone calling himself "King of the Jews" would been seen as trouble by Roman officials. Further evidence that Pilate bore primary responsibility for the execution of Jesus comes from Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, written in the early 50s C.E., where he says that Jesus had been crucified by "the princes of the world"(I Cor. 2:8).
It is altogether possible that there not only was no trial before the Sanhedrin, but none before Pilate either. Pilate and Caiaphus worked long--and probably therefore--and well together. They very likely might have had standing arrangements for dealing with subversive action during festival time. These arrangements could have included, according to Biblical scholar John Crossan, "instant punishment with immediate crucifixion as public warning and deterrent." Crossan argues, "There would be no need to go very high up the chain of command for a nuisance nobody like Jesus, no need even for a formal interrogation before Caiaphas, let alone a detailed trial before Pilate." Ehrman agrees, writing, "If someone was perceived to be a troublemaker, there was no need to follow anything that would strike us as due process, at least for the non-Roman citizens of the provinces." Ehrman adds, "There would have been no reason to conduct a criminal investigation out in the open and ask for the crowds' opinions."
Pilate had little concern for Jewish sensibilities. During his ten-year tenure (from 26 C.E. to 36 C.E.) as prefect, Pilate had numerous confrontations with his Jewish subjects. According to Jewish historian Josephus, Pilate's decision to bring into the holy city of Jerusalem "by night and under cover effigies of Caesar" outraged Jews who considered the images idolatrous. Pilate provoked another outcry from his Jewish subjects when he used Temple funds to build an aqueduct. His lack of feeling was accompanied, according to Jewish philosopher Philo writing in 41 C.E, by corruption and brutality. Philo wrote that Pilate's tenure was associated with "briberies, insults, robberies, outrages, wanton injustices, constantly repeated executions without trial, and ceaseless and grievous cruelty." Philo may have overstated the case, but there is little to suggest that Pilate would have any serious reservations about executing a Jewish rabble-rouser such as Jesus.
In some particulars, Biblical accounts of Jesus's punishment are consistent with what would be expected under first-century Roman law. Most obviously, the form of execution used--crucifixion--was a common one at the time when the convicted criminal was a slave, Jew, or other foreigner. (Romans were exempt from crucifixion, which was thought to be the most painful and humiliating of all punishments.) Crucifixion also establishes conclusively that Jesus was condemned as a violator of Roman, not Jewish, law. A capital sentence under Jewish law would have meant stoning.
Other aspects of the Biblical accounts of the execution that match common Roman practice include the flogging Jesus received at the hand of Roman soldiers before his execution, his carrying of the cross to the place of execution, and the guarding of the execution site by a unit of four Roman soldiers. The execution site identified in the gospels, Golgotha (meaning "place of the skull" in Aramaic), is probably accurate--although which of two possible hillsides north of Jerusalem might have been "Golgotha" is a matter of current dispute.
Unfortunately, horrific details of the crucifixion account, such at the nailing of the hands and feet of Jesus to the cross, also are probably true. In 1968, a nail-pierced heel bone of a first-century crucifixion victim was found near Jerusalem providing fresh evidence of Roman cruelty. The stripping of prisoners seems also to have been standard Roman practice, with the clothes and other small possessions of execution victims divided among the executioners. The humiliation of being hanged nude in a prominent place added to the punishment's intended deterrent value.
The Gospel of John reports that "the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath...so they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken." This reference, obscure to most modern readers, is to what was considered a merciful act. Crucifixion is normally a painful and long death, with victims sometimes remaining alive on the cross for days. Leg breaking speeds the process by causing a rapid onset of asphyxiation or fatal shock. John's account indicates that Jesus was already dead when the soldiers arrived to break his legs. That may indeed have been the case, but Jesus' reportedly quick death--accounts vary from about three hours in John to six hours in Mark--would have been unusual.
Many other details in the gospel accounts appear to be added by early Christian writers to show the passion story as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies concerning the coming of Messiah. For example, four accounts (Mark, Matthew, Luke, and Peter) describe a three-hour period of darkness falling over the land beginning at noon on the day of crucifixion of Jesus. Luke refers specifically to a solar eclipse that lasted until three in the afternoon. It is possible to calculate backwards the dates and locations of solar eclipses, and it is clear that no eclipse occurred in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion. It is also clear from other sources that solar eclipses were, in the first-century, associated with human events of great significance. Josephus, Plutarch, and Pliny the Elder each report, for example, that midday darkness followed the assassination of Julius Caesar on March 15, 44 B.C.E.--although, again, it did not. Thus, a writer seeking to impress readers that the crucifixion of Jesus was the fulfillment of an historic prophesy would have been tempted to add the fictional element of a solar eclipse to his account. The reported words of Jesus on the cross are believed to also fall into the category of prophesy historicized rather than history remembered.
Several early sources indicate that crucifixion victims were typically left on their crosses, their bodies to be eaten by vultures and dogs. Friends of Jesus doubtless would have preferred a kinder fate for him, and it is possible that some of his supporters, or Jewish religious authorities believing "enough is enough," succeeded in obtaining permission to remove Jesus from his cross. If this happened, he likely would have been buried in a rock tomb, most likely one belonging to his family. It is also possible, however, that what happened to the body of Jesus is what happened to most victims of Roman crucifixions: it was devoured on the cross by animals. John Crossan, author of Who Killed Jesus?, finds the latter outcome the more likely:
