PROCURATOR prŏk’ yə rā’ tər (Lat. procurator, manager, overseer). An agent, esp. one employed by the Rom. emperor.

In preimperial Rome, this term was used in a general way to designate an administrator or agent, and was applied also to the manager of an estate, such as a bailiff or steward. In this sense, the word occurs once in the Vul. (Matt 20:8), tr. “steward” in KJV and RSV.

Under the emperors, procurators rose to new rank and responsibility. The rulers needed numerous officials for various duties in the bureaucracy and by appointing Equites (Romans of the second highest social class) and freedmen to these posts gave them useful and prestigious employment.

Although their duties were essentially to act as financial agents, three ways in which they were used may be delineated: (1) Procurators of provinces dealt chiefly with imperial finances and worked side by side with the governor and his financial officer, the quaestor. At times they would act as a check on the governor. (2) A great number of departmental posts were held by procurators, such as law enforcement, grain supply, mint, mines, gladiatorial schools, and the like. (3) Some procurators governed minor provinces, such as Thrace and Judea. Here they were not restricted to financial matters, but had the power of life and death as any other governor. Most often they were semidependent on the governors of larger provinces.

The NT mentions three procurators who served in Pal.: Pontius Pilate (a.d. 26-36) who was involved in the events leading up to the crucifixion of Christ; Felix (52-58), and Porcius Festus (58-62) who were involved in the imprisonment of Paul and his journey to Rome as a prisoner (Acts, chs. 23-26). Several others are known, primarily through issues of local coinage. The chief duty of these men was to keep the volatile Palestinian area quiet. Thus, for example, they refrained from using human or animal figures on their coinage, in deference to the Jews. Pilate, however, did use Rom. religious symbols, which may account for some of the animosity toward him.

Bibliography Oxford Classical Dictionary; IDB, Vol. III, 893.