Why did pilate use temple gold to fund the construction of an aqueduct into jerusalem

[Jason Micallef]

Been reading some Josephus lately and found it interesting when a small revolt was started due to Pilate using temple gold to fund the building of an aqueduct to jerusalem.

The  thing I wonder is why would he have to use the Jewish temples money? Being a satellite of the Syrian province, it would seem that roman money would have better been invested instead. 

I just don't understand why he had to use money from the temple at the risk of revolt,  when he could have got a loan or something from Syria or Rome itself?

Is it perhaps because money was needed there and then in those days and to get money all the way from syria or Rome was too hard. Was it just easier to use the money available that was in closer proximity regardless of who owned It?

And that's the other thing. Who was the rightful owner of this temple money? The Jewish priests or the romans who were their overlords?

[Sean Manning]

It was very common in West Asia and the Aegean for kings to borrow money from the gods. Kings usually have trouble borrowing money because they have a habit of not paying it back and because they can't collect as many taxes as they wish without providing services they are not interested in providing. Temples had large amounts of capital and could not run away when the king's soldiers appeared at the door with an accountant and a crowd of porters. Whether the kings were 'stealing' or 'borrowing' depended on who you asked and what happened after they had the gold and silver: Antiochus the Great got into trouble for doing the same thing, but see also the Sacred Wars in Greece and Thucydides on the Athenians melting down Athena's treasures during the Peloponnesian War. The people making an involuntary withdrawal usually said that they would pay it back and add a nice offering, but that did not always happen.

[Hanny]

Been reading some Josephus lately and found it interesting when a small revolt was started due to Pilate using temple gold to fund the building of an aqueduct to jerusalem.

The  thing I wonder is why would he have to use the Jewish temples money? Being a satellite of the Syrian province, it would seem that roman money would have better been invested instead. 

I just don't understand why he had to use money from the temple at the risk of revolt,  when he could have got a loan or something from Syria or Rome itself?

Is it perhaps because money was needed there and then in those days and to get money all the way from syria or Rome was too hard. Was it just easier to use the money available that was in closer proximity regardless of who owned It?

And that's the other thing. Who was the rightful owner of this temple money? The Jewish priests or the romans who were their overlords?

Pilate constructed a new aqueduct that took water from source to his administrative area, this reduced water for the rest of the city. 

Aqueduct https://aleteia.org/2022/01/01/new-resea...-aqueduct/

Temple funds https://www.monash.edu/arts/philosophica...mple-funds