The fact that a man named Jesus, from Nazareth was crucified under a Roman ruler named Pontius Pilot is one of the best attested to facts in ancient history.  \n\nReligious historians - such as Luke, the doctor, who's testment can be read in any commonly circulated version of the Christian Bible (The Gospel of Luke) -- as well as secular historians like the Roman historian Tactitus all agree on this fact.  They differ in how they choose to understand Jesus' death on the cross -- where a religous historian like Luke would say that Jesus was the "messiah" (the Christ, of Jewish Prophesy) and the son of God, Tacitus, refers to him simply as a nussaince and the originator of a "mischevious superstition".  \n\nSee below for more info.
Did Jesus really die on the cross?