A.D. 37
When the tumult was quelled, the Samaritan council
approached Vitellius, the governor of Syria, of consular
rank, with accusations against Pilate for his butchery of
the victims. They said that the object of the expedition
to Tirathana was not revolt from Rome, but to seek
refuge from Pilate's insolence. Vitellius thereupon sent
Marcellus, a friend of his, to take over the administration
of Judæa, and ordered Pilate to depart for Rome, to
render his account to the Emperor of the charges
brought against him by the Samaritans. Pilate, accordingly—after
ten years' residence in Judæa—went in haste
to Rome on the instructions of Vitellius, which he must
needs obey. But before he reached Rome, Tiberius was
no more.—Ant. XVIII. 4. 1 f. (87-89.)
Josephus proceeds to tell how Vitellius went up to Jerusalem and
pacified the Jews by restoring to them the custody of the high
priest's vestments, recently in Roman hands. Also how he
deposed the high priest "Joseph, surnamed Caiaphas." Thus the
three responsible authorities for the trial of our Lord—the Emperor,
Pilate and Caiaphas—quit the scene simultaneously. After the
next extract, we pass from the period of the Gospel history to the
period covered by the Acts.
