High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Valerius Gratus was Roman Prefect or procurator of Judea under Tiberius, AD 15 - 26. He succeeded Annius Rufus and was replaced by Pontius Pilate. The government of Gratus is chiefly remarkable for the frequent changes he made in the appointment of the high-priesthood. He deposed Ananus, and substituted Ismael, son of Fabi, then Eleazar, son of Arianus, then Simon, son of Camith, and lastly Joseph Caiaphas, the son-in-law of Ananus. In the book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ and the derived films Ben-Hur, Gratus is almost killed accidentally by a falling tile caused by Tirzah Ben-Hur, which prompted all the subsequent events of the story.