Paul imprisoned at Caesarea: Felix, Festus, and Agrippa
For two years Paul was held at Caesarea while Felix hoped for a bribe. When Festus succeeded Felix and proposed a trial in Jerusalem, Paul appealed to Caesar. Before Festus sent him to Rome, Paul told his story to King Agrippa II.
For if I have done wrong and have committed anything worthy of death, I don’t refuse to die; but if none of those things is true that they accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!
Acts 25:11 (World English Bible)
Felix and his wife Drusilla heard Paul speak of righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, and Felix became afraid (Acts 24:25). Festus thought Paul was out of his mind; Agrippa asked whether Paul thought he could persuade him to become a Christian so quickly (Acts 26:28). Both agreed Paul could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.
Places
Ancient witnesses outside the Bible
Historical sources, not Scripture.
- Antiquities 20.7.1–2 — Felix and Drusilla (Acts 24:24)
- Antiquities 20.8.9 — Festus succeeds Felix (Acts 24:27)
Dating notes
About AD 57–59; Festus's arrival is usually dated AD 59 or 60. Ussher places the imprisonment in AD 60–62. Dates for Paul's journeys follow the conventional chronology, anchored by an inscription at Delphi, found in 1905, that dates Gallio's term as proconsul of Achaia (Acts 18:12) to AD 51–52; Ussher, who could not have known it, runs two to three years later.