Pontius
1.
A special name of the sea-god
Glaucus (q.v.).
2.
Gaius, a Samnite general who defeated the Romans in
B.C. 321.
3.
Aquĭla, a friend of Cicero. He was one
of the assassins of Iulius Caesar. He fell at the battle of Mutina, B.C. 43.
4.
Pilātus. The sixth procurator of Iudaea (
Tac. Ann. xv. 44). He held office for ten years
under Tiberius, from A.D. 26 to 36, and during this period Christ was put to death. His
tyrannical conduct in office and the consequent complaints made by the Samaritans led
Vitellius, the governor of Syria, to depose him and send him to Rome for trial. He committed
suicide in the reign of Caligula (Euseb.
H. E. ii. 7).
5.
Telesīnus. A Samnite, and commander
of a Samnite army, with which he fought against Sulla. He was defeated by Sulla in a
hard-fought battle near the Colline Gate, B.C. 82. He fell in the fight; his head was cut
off, and carried under the walls of Praenesté, to let the younger Marius know that
his last hope of succour was gone (Vell. Pat. ii. 27).
6.
Brother of the preceding, was shut up in Praenesté with the younger Marius, when
his brother was defeated by Sulla. After the death of the elder Pontius, Marius and
Telesinus, finding it impossible to escape from Praenesté, resolved to die by one
another's hands. Telesinus fell first, and Marius put an end to his own life or was slain by
his slave. See
Marius.
