To content the multitude (τω οχλω το ικανον ποιησα). A Latin idiom (satisfacere alicui), to do what is sufficient to remove one's ground of complaint. This same phrase occurs in Polybius, Appian, Diogenes Laertes, and in late papyri. Pilate was afraid of this crowd now completely under the control of the Sanhedrin. He knew what they would tell Caesar about him. See on Matthew 27:26 for discussion of the scourging.