What happened to the soldier who pierced Jesus’ side

The soldier's name is not stated in the Bible. He came to be named as Longinus much later in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, several centuries after the crucifixion.

Christianity made him a convert who claimed he was blind and regained his sight when Christ's blood splattered in his eyes.

Later stories took wild turns -- One early tradition condemned him to a cave where he was ripped by a lion each night, his body being restored each morning, to be repeated eternally.

There are other accounts of him disobeying Roman instructions twice - once in forcing Simon to help bear the cross, the second in spearing Jesus rather than shattering his legs.

Later Christian tradition united two figures - the unidentified spear-bearer in John and the centurion who uttered the words "Truly this man was the Son of God."