Festus

Nero sent Porcius Festus to Judaea as the successor of Felix (Josephus, Antiquities 20.182) (Acts 24:27). Within days of arriving he took up the case of Paul. He proposed a hearing in Jerusalem, and when Paul appealed to Caesar he allowed the appeal; he then laid the matter before Herod Agrippa II, saying that he did not know what charge to write to the emperor (Acts 25).

Josephus contrasts him favourably with his successor Albinus (Josephus, Jewish War 2.271–272). He says that Festus moved against the bandits and the sicarii, sent troops against a man who had led a crowd into the wilderness, and let a dispute over a wall in the temple go to Nero for decision (Josephus, Jewish War 2.271–272) (Josephus, Antiquities 20.185–194). He died in office. The death of James the Just took place in the interval before his successor Albinus arrived (Josephus, Antiquities 20.197–200). Josephus gives no years for his term; the dates used here are discussed under Paul’s Arrest and Imprisonment at Caesarea.