Reddit mentions of Pontius Pilate

Passover was a huge party/family reunion for the Jewish people in Jesus's time. Pilate wanted to get through his time as Governor of Judea without too many problems. Trouble was, Pilate had problems over Passover in the past. A couple years prior to Jesus coming into town there was a person who was presented as the Messiah. The Jewish people started rioting and Pilate sent Roman Centurions to calm down the people. A few of the Roman Soldiers got killed. That was not a good thing to happen in Pilate's Province. He decided he was not going to let that happen again. In order to avoid the riots Pilate decided to be more proactive and he would have Jesus arrested before he stirred up the people too much.

If you are interested, this book gives you a good bio of Pontius Pilate and is an easy read.