Editing Pontius Pilate (section)

===Early life===
The sources give no indication of Pilate's life prior to his becoming governor of Judaea.{{sfn|Lémonon|2007|p=121}} His [[praenomen]] (first name) is unknown;{{sfn|Lémonon|2007|p=16}} his [[cognomen]] ''Pilatus'' might mean "skilled with the javelin ({{Lang|la|[[pilum]]|italics=yes}})", but it could also refer to the {{Lang|la|[[Pileus (hat)|pileus]]|italics=yes}} or [[Phrygian cap]], possibly indicating that one of Pilate's ancestors was a [[Ancient Roman freedmen|freedman]].{{sfn|Demandt|2012|pp=47–48}} If it means "skilled with the javelin", it is possible that Pilate won the cognomen for himself while serving in the [[Military of ancient Rome|Roman military]];{{sfn|Lémonon|2007|p=121}} it is also possible that his father acquired the cognomen through military skill.{{sfn|Wroe|1999|p=16}} In the Gospels of Mark and John, Pilate is only called by his cognomen, which Marie-Joseph Ollivier takes to mean that this was the name by which he was generally known in common speech.{{sfn|Ollivier|1896|p=252}} The name [[Pontia gens|''Pontius'']] suggests that an ancestor of his came from [[Samnium]] in central, southern Italy, and he may have belonged to the family of [[Gavius Pontius]] and [[Pontius Telesinus]], two leaders of the [[Samnites]] in the third and first centuries BC, respectively, before their full incorporation to the [[Roman Republic]].{{sfn|Demandt|2012|pp=46–47}} Like all but one other governor of Judaea, Pilate was of the [[equites|equestrian order]], a middle rank of the Roman nobility.{{sfn|Bond|1998|p=9}} As one of the attested Pontii, [[Pontius Aquila]] (an assassin of [[Julius Caesar]]) was a [[tribune of the plebs]]; the family must have originally been of [[plebeian]] origin and later became ennobled as equestrians.{{sfn|Demandt|2012|pp=46–47}}

Pilate was likely educated, somewhat wealthy, and well-connected politically and socially.{{sfn|Carter|2003|p=15}} He was probably married, but the only extant reference to [[Pontius Pilate's wife|his wife]], in which she tells him not to interact with Jesus after she has had a disturbing dream ([[Matthew 27]]:19), is generally dismissed as legendary.{{sfnm|1a1=Bond|1y=1998|1p=197|2a1=Demandt|2y=2012|2pp=76–77|3a1=Lémonon|3y=2007|3p=167}} According to the ''[[Tres militiae|cursus honorum]]'' established by [[Augustus]] for office holders of equestrian rank, Pilate would have had a military command before becoming prefect of Judaea; historian [[Alexander Demandt]] speculates that this could have been with a legion stationed at the [[Rhine]] or [[Danube]].{{sfn|Demandt|2012|p=48}} Although it is therefore likely Pilate served in the military, it is nevertheless not certain.{{sfn|Lémonon|2007|pp=121–122}}