Tacitus, Annals, 15.20­-23, 33­-45. Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, and Commentary, 2013a

the Romans’ point of view – a condemned criminal. The designation
procurator is an anachronism: as Brunt has shown, the use of this term
to refer to provincial governors of equestrian status dates to the reign of
Claudius. Pilate’s official title was praefectus. 193
Praefect of Judaea AD 27-37 and in charge of Jesus’
crucifixion, which took place in the thirties (but before AD 37). This is the
only mention of him by a Roman historian. He is part of the Apostles’ Creed
(Symbolum Apostolorum/ Symbolum Apostolicum), a late-antique precis of
the key articles of the Christian faith, which remains in use in Christian
services today and pegs Christianity to a claim to historicity:
Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae, et in
Iesum Christum, Filium Eius unicum, Dominum nostrum, qui conceptus
est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine, passus sub Pontio Pilato,
crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus, descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit
a mortuis, ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Patris omnipotentis,
inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos. Credo in Spiritum Sanctum,
sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem, remissionem
peccatorum, carnis resurrectionem, vitam aeternam. Amen.
Different Christian communities use different translations of the creed. In
the Church of England there are currently two authorized variants: that
of the Book of Common Prayer (1662) and that of Common Worship (2000).
We cite the latter:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe
in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy
Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose
again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy
Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness
of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Although Roman
religion was usually tolerant of other religions, Christian monotheism
led to mistrust and suppression. As we have seen, Christians refused to
recognize official Roman religious practices, including the worship of the
emperor in the imperial cult. Other authors contemporary with Tacitus
also reject the new creed in no uncertain terms as a pernicious perversion
193 Brunt (1966) 463.