Matthew 27:37. Set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
See also Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19.
It was a Roman custom in eases of capital execution to put on a tablet the crime for which the condemned suffered, this tablet being placed in full view of all who witnessed the execution. Eusebius states that the martyr Attalus was led around the amphitheater, while before him there was borne a tablet, on which were the words, “This is Attalus the Christian.” The tablet was sometimes carried by the condemned man himself, hung around his neck, on the way to execution. In the official language of the Romans it was called Titulus. It was a metal plate, having black letters on a white ground. We know not whether Jesus carried this tablet around his neck, or whether it was borne before him; but when the cross was reared it was placed over his head in view of all beholders.