Ann Wroe's Pontius Pilate begins with the disclaimer that there isn't very much historical information about the former Prefect of Judea, and then goes on for 400+ pages. In fact, this book could be subtitled - "More than you ever wanted to know about who Pilate might have been." Wroe begins by giving us 3 different scenarios about Pilate's birth, with origins in Italy, or Germany, or Spain. Take your pick. Wroe provides three different stories with little guidance as to which is most likely. She then proceeds to tell us what life was like for the young adult when he lived in Rome. It's not about Pilate, per se, but about life in general for someone like Pilate, although we're not sure if it's the peasant Italian pilot, the swashbucking Spanaird, or the brooding German. Apparently it didn't make too much difference.
Wroe is a very good writer and she's obviously done her homework. So the fanciful sections about what life was like is very interesting and informative, but a reader who was drawn by the title "Pontius Pilate" might feel cheated that Wroe's central character is actually missing.
Here's some examples...
"...we have little more to rely on when we come to his age, or his marriage, or how bright he was. Of his age, we can only be certain that he was not younger than 30 when he went to Judea. That was the minimum age for governors..." (p. 40)
"The presence of Procula [his wife] in Judea, if she was there, has often been taken as an indicator of love. In the early years of the empire, wives did not normally accompany their husbands to the provinces." (p. 44)
"Ti estim alethia? was what he [Pilate] said, according to John; and if indeed he said it, Greek was very probably the language he used. This was the lingua franca of the eastern empire. Even a rough soldier would have a smattering of it, and a governor could not work without it, unless he dared to put himself at the mercy of interpreters....It is easy to imagine him mangling his Greek as English-speaking diplomates still mangle French...The state of Pilate's Greek, possibly fluent, possible awful, adds a peculiar poignancy to his supposed exchanges with Jesus... " (p. 50-51)
Wroe is stronger when she looks at the changes in perceptions of Pilate as she dissects the Medieval and later literary and stage personas. We see him change in appearance and temperament as each age re-invents him for their own purposes. She thoroughly documents each turn in the saga of the Pilate family, from his wife to his kids and dog. There is no history here, except the history of the history, which I guess is better than no history at all, but (as Albert Schweitzer said about Jesus) we shouldn't mistake this for history.
This book will appeal to anyone interested in history, especially as it pertains to Christianity. But it should be approached as a general study of the times, and not as a biography of Pontius Pilate.