Jesus’ Socratic Trial and Pilate’s Confession in Nonnus’ Paraphrasis of St John’s Gospel

This article argues that the by Nonnus offers a response to late antique concerns as to why the salvific message of Jesus failed to be recognised by authorities of the Roman Empire in the Gospels. By reworking the portrait of Pilate found in John’s Gospel, Nonnus transforms the governor into an unambiguously late antique one who ultimately participates in the promulgation of Christian salvation and truth. The analysis shows that Nonnus accomplishes this portrait through the use of Homeric parallels and allusions to Plato’s , which transform Jesus’ trial before Pilate from John 18 into a philosophical dialogue about justice, kingship, and truth. The poem invites its late antique audience to better identify with Pilate and to see his inscription of the title ( ) on Jesus’ cross as an early gentile confession of faith, ultimately making Pilate into an apostle and rehabilitating the role of Rome vis-à-vis Christianity for late antique audiences.