Only if they actually joined the College of Augurs. I wonder what proportion of them served as priests rather than as administrators.
There was no doubt that
Pontius Pilate was a
good and successful
Roman Governor for at least ten years in Judea .He was responsible for taxation and financial management in Judea, Perea and Possibly Galilee .
He minted coins and negotiate with wealthy Religious institutions such as the Priests of Jerusalem temple and most probably with private money-lenders that could advance
money from their trade.
Herod Antipas was . He may even supervised Antipas’ large-scale building projects throughout the province. Whether In Judea or Galilee Including Sepphoris and Tiberias on the western
shore of the Sea of Galilee and Caesaria Maritima on the
shore of the Mediterranean sea..
He would most probably also needed to keep the
peace between Antipas and the
Nabataean King Arethas.
Aside from these financial duties,
Pontius Pilate was the province's chief judge. He
had the sole right to impose capital punishment, and capital cases were normally tried before him.
To appeal a Pilate's decision necessitated travelling to
Rome and presenting one's case before either the
Praetor Urbanus, or even
Tiberius himself, an expensive, and thus
rare, process.
An appeal was unlikely to succeed anyway, as a governor wouldn’t generally take the chance of convicting someone contrary to the Emperor's wishes.
Pilate as a
Roman governor was also supposed to travel across
his province to administer justice in the major towns including those under Antipas reign where
his attention was required.
Finally, and most importantly, he commanded the
Roman military forces within
his province.
As a
part of
his standing orders,
Pontius Pilate had the authority to use
his legions to stamp out organized criminal gangs or Local rebels in the
area without need for
Tiberius or Senate's approval. he
had the right to sentence anyone to death, even a
Roman citizen in
his province, was a subject to immediate execution.
In these outposts of empire, Pilate
had to be able to do whatever he thought was necessary for the
good of
Rome and
Tiberius.
Literally Pilate was the most powerful
man in eastern Mediterranean region.
On the other hand the Synoptic Gospels showed somehow a softer nature of
Pontius Pilate...something slightly different from the usual version provided by early historians.I mean Josephus and Philo’s stereotyped insensitive anti-Semitic ruthless
Roman procurator.
In Synoptic Gospels we can discover
his wise and logical
side.He was
good sign reader and interpreter, this would probably
had came from
his spiritual experience as a potential
Roman Augur priviously:
Matthew 27:18 (New International Version)
18For he knew it was out of envy that they
had handed Jesus over to him
Matthew 27:24
24When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed
his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"
Mark 15:4-5
4So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."
5But Jesus
still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed
Mark 15:14
14"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
Luke 23:2
2And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this
man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to
Caesar and claims to be
Christ,[a] a
king."
Luke 23:4
4Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this
man."
