The Apostolic Fathers · AD 70–130 · External witness
Bernice
c. AD 28 – after AD 79 · Herodian princess · Present at Paul’s hearing before Agrippa II · Caesarea Maritima → Rome
External witness
Who Bernice was
Eldest daughter of Herod Agrippa I, sister of Agrippa II and of Drusilla, and the woman who sat beside her brother through the whole of Paul’s hearing at Caesarea. Luke names her three times and always with Agrippa — arriving to salute Festus, entering the audience chamber **“with great pomp”**, and rising at the end with the verdict that Paul had done nothing worthy of death.
She is a witness in the strict sense: she heard Paul’s defence in full, including the account of the road to Damascus, and she was one of the four — with Agrippa, Festus and the tribunes — who conferred on it afterwards.
Outside Acts she is among the most conspicuous women of the age. Josephus records her marriages and her intervention, barefoot in the Temple court, to beg the procurator Florus to stop the killing in Jerusalem; the Roman writers record what came later, that Titus took her as his mistress and that she followed him to Rome.
The archive holds her as an external witness with her father, brother and sister.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses and women.
Common questions
When did Bernice live?
Bernice is dated c. AD 28 – after AD 79 in the archive, which places Bernice in the Apostolic Fathers (AD 70–130). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Bernice?
Bernice is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Luke. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Bernice from?
The archive associates Bernice with Caesarea Maritima, Rome. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Bernice’s contemporaries?
The archive links Bernice to 5 other figures, including Herod Agrippa II, Paul of Tarsus, Porcius Festus and Herod Agrippa I. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Scripture record
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Acts 25:13–14
c. AD 59And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus. And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul’s cause unto the king.Luke · read ↗
Acts 25:23
c. AD 59And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth.Luke · read ↗
Acts 26:30–31
c. AD 59And when he had spoken these things, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them: and when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.Luke · read ↗
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 30 · Crucifixion, Resurrection and Pentecost, AD 30–33
- AD 44 · Persecution under Herod Agrippa I, AD 44
- AD 49 · The Council of Jerusalem, AD 49
- AD 57 · Paul writes Romans, AD 57
- AD 62 · James the Just stoned, AD 62
- AD 64 · The Great Fire and Nero’s persecution, AD 64
- AD 70 · The fall of Jerusalem, AD 70
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Bernice, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.