Evidence Item - v0.6
Tacitus, Annals 15.44 - execution of Christus under Pontius Pilate
E-HIST-TACITUS-ANN1544
Visual overview: Tacitus Annals 15.44 Christus and Pilate visual overview
Classification
- Evidence ID
- E-HIST-TACITUS-ANN1544
- Corpus/version
- v0.6
- Stage
- stage5
- Category
- External Attestation
- Major category
- History
- Sub-category
- Non-Christian Sources
- BF status
- ready
- Scoring label
- Scored row with active Bayes factors
Navigation
Primary Datum
Datum: Tacitus reports that Christus was executed under Pontius Pilate and that Christians were present in Rome by Nero's time.
Scoring / Hypothesis Pressure
| Hypothesis | log10BF | Min | Max | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
H-ALT-CONSPIRACY | 0 | -0.03 | 0.03 | Tacitus anchors the execution of Christus under Pilate, but does not decide disciple motive, fraud, or coordinated deception. |
H-ALT-HALLUCINATION | 0 | -0.03 | 0.03 | External execution attestation does not decide visionary-experience explanations for later appearance claims. |
H-ALT-LEGEND | -0.05 | -0.08 | -0.02 | Public Roman memory of Christus executed under Pontius Pilate modestly pressures pure late-legend accounts while remaining far short of direct resurrection proof. |
H-ALT-SWOON | -0.02 | -0.05 | 0 | Roman execution under Pilate mildly pressures survival theories, but Tacitus does not supply medical detail and the weight stays trace-level. |
H-DEISM | 0 | -0.02 | 0.02 | Tacitus supplies historical setting, not a discriminator for deism. |
H-GOD | 0 | -0.02 | 0.02 | Tacitus supplies historical setting, not a direct discriminator for generic theism. |
H-GOD-OT | 0 | -0.02 | 0.02 | Tacitus supplies historical setting, not a direct discriminator for classical theism. |
H-IDEALISM | 0 | -0.02 | 0.02 | Tacitus supplies historical setting, not a discriminator for idealism. |
Dependency / Cap Metadata
- dependency_cluster_id
- external_attestation_support
- dependency_cluster_role
- support_layer
- dependency_cluster
- external_attestation_support
- dependency_role
- support_layer
- cap_profile
- support_layer_small
- evidence_function
- support_layer
- directness
- supporting
Counter-Pressure
- title
- Tacitus, Annals 15.44 - execution of Christus under Pontius Pilate is a bounded signal, not a standalone proof.
- text
- The strongest caution is overuse. Synchronisms are support-layer evidence. They do not, by themselves, prove miracles, Resurrection, or Christ as Logos. This row should be read inside its dependency family, not treated as an isolated demonstration of God, Christ, or the final synthesis.
- path
- Start with what the row actually shows, then name what it does not show. Use it to show that the texts are not floating myth, then keep the theological claim tied to stronger direct rows.
Apologetic Note
- label
- Apologetic leverage
- title
- Tacitus, Annals 15.44 - execution of Christus under Pontius Pilate raises the cost of thin alternatives.
- key point
- Tacitus reports that Christus was executed under Pontius Pilate and that Christians were present in Rome by Nero's time. The leverage is not one isolated fact, but the way this item joins public proclamation, witness structure, Jerusalem memory, and costly confession.
- conversation move
- Ask the rival explanation to account for the whole pattern instead of one convenient fragment. A theory may explain grief, mistake, or legend in the abstract and still fail the actual historical cluster.
- caveat
- Do not call this single row proof. It is a bounded clue whose force grows when read with the whole resurrection field.
Scripture Passage
Acts 18:2; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2
Caveats / Notes
- Cap notes
- Capped subitem under E-HIST-EXT-ATTEST.
- Cap profile note
- Support-layer rows stay small even when visible and inspectable.
- Scoring note
- Recalibrated 2026-05-17 as a small external-attestation child under cluster-cap caution. It weakens pure late-legend/swoon readings modestly but does not directly prove resurrection or Christology.
- Governance note
- Capped subitem under E-HIST-EXT-ATTEST.
Citations
- Tacitus, Annals 15.44.
- Van Voorst, R. (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament.
- Josephus, Antiquities 18.3.3.
- Meier, J.P. (1991). A Marginal Jew, vol. 1.
- Josephus, Antiquities 20.9.1.
- Hegesippus (as preserved in Eusebius), Ecclesiastical History 2.23.
- Pliny, Epistles 10.96-97.
- Hurtado, L.W. (2003). Lord Jesus Christ.
- Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, Claudius 25.4.
- Acts 18:2 (Aquila and Priscilla expelled from Rome).
- Daniel 7:13-14
- Wright, N.T. (2013). Paul and the Faithfulness of God (touches broader apocalyptic themes).
- Hurtado, L. (2003). Lord Jesus Christ.
- Hurtado, L.W. (2005). Lord Jesus Christ.
- Wright, N.T. (2013). Paul and the Faithfulness of God (backgrounds).
- Motyer, J.A. (1993). The Prophecy of Isaiah.
- Seitz, C. (1993). Isaiah 1-39.
- Phil 2:6-11.
- Didache 7; Acts; 1 Cor.
- Bauckham, R. (2008). Jesus and the God of Israel.
- Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2; Didache 14.
- Wright, N.T. (2003). The Resurrection of the Son of God.
Recommended Citation
The Signal Evidence Dataset, "Tacitus, Annals 15.44 - execution of Christus under Pontius Pilate," Evidence ID: E-HIST-TACITUS-ANN1544, Version 0.6. Accessed [access date]. https://logos-signal.org/evidence/E-HIST-TACITUS-ANN1544/
Machine-Readable Source
This page is generated from the public evidence mirror without recalculating or changing scores.