Jesus Arraigned Before Pilate

Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: andit was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall,lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. Pilatethen went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye againstthis man?—And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellowperverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar, saying thathe himself is Christ a King.—St. John xviii: 28, 29; St. Luke xxiii: 2.

NOTE BY THE ARTIST

Priding themselves upon their strict administration of justice, the Romansnot infrequently erected their tribunals in the open air, by the city gate, in themarket-place or theatre, or even at the roadside, in order that all might havethe opportunity of seeing and hearing. The design of Herod’s magnificentpalace, now the official residence of Pilate, evidently made permanent provisionfor this method of official procedure, the “Gabbatha”—a platform—beinga tesselated pavement in front of the Judgment Hall, to which access wasobtained by a flight of steps. In the centre of this pavement was a slightly-raisedplatform, upon which was placed the curule chair of the procurator,with seats to right and left for the assessors; other officers of the court occupyingbenches on the lower level.

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