ambitious chap. he had been sent to judaea, not the plum appointment of all appointments. he wanted to work his way up the cursus honorum, that is, the ladder of success. >> he wants to make sure that he maintains law and order because if he does so, he will impress other people within the imperial bureaucracy, and that's likely to lead to a promotion. >> pontius pilate lives here in this palace, and look at this place. it had a swimming pool. it had beautiful mosaic floors. this was the center of imperial roman power in judaea. >> when pilate and his wife are sitting in caesarea thinking about their lives, i don't think that they're expecting to spend the rest of their life in judaea. they probably saw this as a staging post, as a stepping