Pontius Pilate Was the First Behavioralist

• Posted by Greg Harmon
• on April 18th, 2014

As hundreds of millions of Christians around the world begin their Easter celebrations, the markets take a day off to regroup. Today, Good Friday, is maybe the oddest market holiday but if you search hard and expand your mind there is an obvious connection. Pontius Pilate.

Pontius Pilate was a Roman prefect serving the Emperor Tiberius from the period 26-36 AD. He is best known as the Judge at the trial of Jesus and the man who authorized his crucifixion. How does that warrant a market holiday? There are many thoughts on this. Some will suggest that the Christians forced this on the exchange. That might be true. But what about the the obvious ties between Pontius Pilate and Behavioral Science.

You are all familiar with the Dutch Tulip Bulb Mania of the 17th century. The stratospheric rise in the cost of a tulip bulb only to crash much faster. At that time the saying went “mountain path up, fall from the cliff down”, which has evolved to “escalator up and the elevator down” in today’s markets. This action is attributed to the madness of crowds. Hysteria over a tulip bulb because everyone else wanted them. And that is how we tie the Good Friday Market Holiday to Behavioral Science. You see, Pontius Pilate was a master at understanding the crowd. Let me set the stage for you non church goers.

The story goes that Jesus was arrested for sedition against Rome. He opposed paying taxes to Caesar and called himself King. Or so the charges go. He was brought to Pilate as depicted in the Rembrandt painting above. Pilate asked him if he was the King of the Jews and it seems that there was some confusion as to the answer. He may have said yes or he may have said this what they say (I’m paraphrasing). Pilate personally found him not guilty of the crime, which was punishable by death. This is where the behavioral piece clicks in. At the beginning of Anno Domini time (AD) it was a tradition of the Roman Emperor to release a prisoner at Passover. Pilate brought out two prisoners before the crowd. One was Barabbas (just the name sounds like a bad ass) a murderer and notorious criminal and the other was Jesus. He asked the crowd who he should release. Word has it that Pilate expected them to ask for Jesus but instead they asked for Barabbas and demanded that Jesus be crucified. Pilate asked the crowd “Why? What evil has he done?” The crowd just kept chanting crucify him.

What would you do with an angry crowd who are calling for justice in their own form? Pilate certainly recognized that the crowd could become an angry uncontrollable mob if they were not pleased. I was not there so I do not know for sure how it happened. But what is clear to me is that Pilate fully understood the madness of crowds a full 1600 years before the Tulip Bulb Mania. He may have truly been the first Behavioralist.

The Christian crowd will be moving forward from there this weekend and if you are one of them enjoy your Easter. If you are not then enjoy your long weekend with an extra day of planning.

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