Pilate: Well, wife, that was becoming behaviour!
Claudia: He is a man of little consequence. It did not matter.
Pilate: He was a guest of Pontius Pilate!
Claudia: It is done. And i have said he does not matter. You will see that i am right.
Pilate: Your great wisdom in the matter of politics tires me, Claudia.
Claudia: My great wisdom in the matter of politics brought you to your present position, my lord.
Pilate: (To Joanna) Well? What are you waiting for? Out!
Joanna: Yes, master.
Pilate: You may find it was a mistake.
Claudia: You should recognize mistakes by now. They are close friends.
Pilate: Jerusalem is quite today, is it not?
Where are the threatened riots? Answer me.
I have averted the riots, haven't I?
Claudia: The day is not over.
Pilate: Always a helpful bit of encouragement for your husband, haven't you?
Claudia: You should not have done it.
Pilate: Done what?
Claudia: You may well ask. The list is long. For now i mean your verdict against the Nazarene.
Pilate: Bah! Another stupid Jew!
Claudia: A Jew, yes. But not just another Jew. No, he has a different kind of wisdom.
Pilate: The Jews are wise, are they?
Claudia: Yes. The Jews are wise.
Pilate: I despise them.
Claudia: I know.
Pilate: They tried to force my hand again last night.
Claudia: They succeeded.
Pilate: They did not.
Claudia: They did not?
Then why was my lord dressed and ready to receive the prisoner at six in the morning today?
Pilate: I have a sixth sense for these things. I could smell trouble.
Claudia: And why did you deny him a fair trail?
Because you did, my lord!
Pilate: I tried him fairly.
Claudia: Your mind was made up. You tried him and gave them the decision they wanted.
Pilate: You presume, wife. You seem to forget that --
Claudia: A day comes when truth must be spoken regardless of consequences.
For me that day has come.
Hymn Lyrics
Pilate The sky! The sky grows black and sickly green!
Pilate: The gods are angry that a wife should upbraid a husband!
Claudia: This is a judgment on crime, not a custom!
Pilate: Rot! It is going to rain, that is all.
Claudia: Pilate when was it to take place?
Pilate: What?
Claudia: The crucifixion. When?
Pilate: It would be now in process. Some two or three hours ago it began.
Claudia: Pilate, what have you done? The man was innocent!
Pilate: Would you rather have entire city shaken with riot, or have one man die?
Claudia: (There is a rumbling noise. Claudia and Pilate sway slightly. A greenish light shines upon them now).
Do you feel that?
The very earth utters its protest!
The very earth utters its protest!
Pilate: Where is the incense? Joanna!
Claudia: It is a judgment on you, Pilate!
Pilate: You are mad Claudia. I am not on trial for what I did with Jesus.
Claudia: All men are on trial for what they do with Jesus!
Joanna: Yes, master?
Pilate: Incense! Mars and Jupiter are angry! Quickly, fool!
Joanna: Yes, master! (Exists.)
Claudia: You see, i was right. The upheaval of the earth itself cries out against this deed!
Pilate: Your fantasies no longer amuse me.
Your dreams no longer irritate me -- They infuriate me!
It is not enough that you send me a message in the middle of the trail --
Claudia: They were true words.
He was a righteous man!
He was a righteous man!
And in my dreams i suffered much because of him!
You should not have done this!
And you will suffer.
Joanna: The incense, master.
Pilate: Great Mars, god of war:
Hymn Lyrics
Mighty Zeus, god of blood;
accept the worship of this humble slave and hear his fervent petition.
Cease thy rumblings
end thy war fare;
still the quaking earth!
on your knees, fools! Kneel!
Claudia: (Calmly, to Joanna) You may leave us.
Pilate: On your knees! Your knees!
Claudia: I no longer kneel to the name of Mars and Zeus.
Pilate: Down, down!
Pilate: Down, down!
Claudia: No pinch of incense clears these skies!
No muttered prayer will calm the earth.
The blood of an innocent has put the world in such a frightened state.
Pilate: I washed my hands of him! I said it was their affair.
Claudia: One does not wash one's hands of such a man.
One is not free of such a crime.
Pilate: They sentenced him, not I. I called him King! I wrote it at his head.
Claudia: It was taunt!
Claudia: It was taunt!
It was a paper triumph over the Jews!
As he haunts my dreams.
Pilate, he will haunt yours.
You will not soon be free of this man.
Pilate: (Quite shaken; as in a dream, he crosses to a basin, and dips his hands in)
I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man!
Claudia: (Looks at his hands) Then why do you wash?
(Crosses to window. the greenish light fades.) The skies have cleared.
The earth is stilled.
Hymn Lyrics
It is like the silence of a parent who has wept, and wept,
and can weep no more of a son that is dead.
Pilate: I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man.
Claudia: The blood remains. (she leaves him. As the light fades, he is still dipping his hands in and out of the water.)