The AD33 crucifixion detail in Judea

[Jona Lendering]

The Catholic Latin Bible I looked up the "spear" that was used to ensure Jesus' death says it was a "lancea"

In Greek, John 19.34 has "logche", or "longche", as it is often rendered (hence the name "Longinus" that has been attached to the soldier). in other words, it was a short spear, not a long lance.

I'm of the belief that the guards at the tomb were Herodian temple guards, not Romans

I think that, given the location of the burial just outside the gate of Jerusalem, Roman soldiers are more likely than temple guards, whom I expect to be at the Temple square only. Besides, the dead man had been condemned for perduellio (high treason), a crime against the state; it was not for a religious reason that Pilate had condemned Jesus. To him, the man was "king of the Jews", not "redeemer of Israel".