Pilate was prefect of Judaea
GradeFirm
All four Gospels place Jesus' trial and death under Pontius Pilate, and the outside evidence confirms both the man and his time in office. The Jewish historian Josephus writes that "Pilate, when he had tarried ten years in Judea, made haste to Rome ... but before he could get to Rome Tiberius was dead" (Antiquities 18.89). The Roman historian Tacitus, no friend of Christianity, records that "Christus ... suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus" (Annals 15.44). And a stone found in 1961 in the theatre at Caesarea, the only inscription from Pilate's lifetime, names "Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judaea". On this point the Gospels stand on firm historical ground.
Firm. Tiberius died in March 37, so Pilate's ten years ran from about 26 CE to late 36 or early 37. That sets the outer window for the crucifixion at about 26-36 CE.
Explore the counterarguments
There is no serious dispute here; Pilate's existence and office were never in real doubt. The limit is that this clue gives a window of about ten years, not a date. Tacitus calls Pilate "procurator" where the inscription shows his title was prefect, which suggests Tacitus was not copying an official record, though it does not affect the dates.