Well I wouldn't pass that off as not significant. The nations peoples were 'highly superstitious' at that time, they really believed that stuff.......I think they could have easily trumped the middle-ages in all the buffoonery they were involved with!
.... Heck if you look at the world even today, it's actually not much better....just hidden under the bushel. So yes, I can easily see this disturbed Pilate.....scared him in fact or he wouldn't have given it a thought if he wasn't superstitious himself....coupled with the fact he was face to face with Christ....imagine the delima he faced overall.. Pilots an interesting character in this as he's not far removed form many politicians today. He was caught between a rock and hard place.....but in the end his political position trumped everything else....a little water on the hands would turn the guilt fully over to the Jewish 'Leadership' demanding Christ's death.
(Am trying to catch up on this thread from the get go to here....you raise questions that are answerable for the most part....)
I believe you are looking at this mostly from a 'political' viewpoint..coupled with the 'religion' of that time...You are correct that the two overlapped, but mostly in the Roman and the Jewish 'Leadership' positions...more than with the people. Rather as today in our country. The people are generally the same type of masses we see today and can be easily led.
No, I don't think he was. He was a Roman stationed in an outpost. The locals are upset about this one guy claiming to be the son of God. Pilate's not upset because that's not against Roman law. He has nothing to lose by sentencing Jesus to death, if he wants to. He has the full support of most of the populace, apparently. The only thing Pilate might fear, according to you, is some sort of spiritual repercussion.
But anything that would suggest that is not part of what would have been public record. Do you understand what I mean? I mean the conversation between Jesus and Pilate would have been public record, so it would be unwise for any biographer 60-80 years later to make up something completely false, because they might be proven wrong by Roman records. But it's very easy to make up a conversation suggesting that Pilate's wife said something to make him uneasy.
Although in the end, it doesn't matter. Pilate's role is almost nil. He simply refused to get involved. To me the only interesting element of that whole scene is that Jesus did not admit to being the Son of God when it meant certain death, yet Christians insist he was a willing sacrifice. If he was willing, he'd have admitted it while on trial. He clearly wasn't willing.