Roman and Jewish historians independently confirm Jesus was crucified under Pilate
Scholars disagree about much in the Gospels, but almost all accept that Jesus was crucified, most likely in AD 30 or 33. Part of the reason is that non-Christian writers mention it too: the Jewish historian Josephus around 93 and the Roman historian Tacitus around 116 both name Pontius Pilate as responsible.
The earliest surviving writer to record the crucifixion is Paul, whose chronology scholars use to help date it. The fullest accounts, though, are the four canonical gospels. Each closes with an extended narrative: arrest, a hearing before the Sanhedrin, trial before Pilate, flogging and the walk to Calvary, also called Golgotha. There Jesus was executed between two other condemned men, who in some readings of the Greek were bandits or Jewish rebels, beneath a sign calling him king of the Jews.
The gospels agree on the outline but differ in detail. Only Mark gives a time, the third hour, about 9 a.m., though it was probably closer to noon; he has Jesus die around the ninth hour, about 3 p.m. The three Synoptic Gospels describe Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross, darkness at midday and the temple curtain tearing. Matthew alone adds an earthquake and guards at the tomb; Luke alone has one criminal defending Jesus and a promise of paradise. All four say Joseph of Arimathea placed the body in a rock-cut tomb.
Outside the New Testament, the evidence is patchy but significant. Josephus's passage, known as the Testimonium Flavianum, contains later Christian additions, yet most scholars think an authentic core records Pilate condemning Jesus; James Dunn calls the consensus broad. Tacitus, describing Nero's persecution of Christians, says Christus was executed under Tiberius by the procurator Pilate, and scholars treat this as a genuine independent Roman source. A letter by Mara bar Serapion, written after 73, mentions the execution of a wise king of the Jews, though its value is debated, and the 2nd-century satirist Lucian also refers to it.
For Christians the event, together with Jesus's suffering, known as the Passion, sits at the centre of teaching on salvation and atonement. Paul's letter to the Corinthians says he rose on the third day, and Acts describes him staying with the apostles for 40 days before the Ascension.
Source: Crucifixion of Jesus
