The Apostolic Fathers · AD 70–130 · External witness
Drusilla
c. AD 38 – c. AD 79 · Wife of the procurator Felix · Herodian princess · Caesarea Maritima
External witness
Who Drusilla was
Youngest daughter of **Herod Agrippa I**, sister of Agrippa II and of Bernice, and wife of the procurator **Antonius Felix** — in whose presence Paul reasoned “of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come” until Felix trembled. Luke names her in one clause and adds one word about her that matters: she **“was a Jewess”**.
That is not decoration. It explains why Felix, a Roman freedman, was informed enough about the sect to send for Paul and hear him repeatedly, and it puts a Herodian in the room for the whole of that hearing. The archive holds her father, her brother and her sister, and she completes the set of the family before whom Paul was examined.
Josephus reports that she left her first husband, Azizus of Emesa, for Felix. He also records that a son of hers by Felix, named Agrippa, perished in the eruption of Vesuvius — which has been taken to place her death there in **AD 79**, though Josephus says it of the son.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses and women.
Common questions
When did Drusilla live?
Drusilla is dated c. AD 38 – c. AD 79 in the archive, which places Drusilla 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 Drusilla?
Drusilla is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Luke and Flavius Josephus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Drusilla from?
The archive associates Drusilla with Caesarea Maritima.
Who were Drusilla’s contemporaries?
The archive links Drusilla to 5 other figures, including Antonius Felix, Paul of Tarsus, Herod Agrippa I and Herod Agrippa II. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Scripture record
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Acts 24:24–25
c. AD 58And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.Luke · read ↗
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews XX
c. AD 94[Josephus gives her as the youngest daughter of Agrippa I, betrothed and then married to Azizus king of Emesa, and afterwards taken by Felix. He records a son by Felix named Agrippa who perished in the eruption of Vesuvius — the datum from which her own death in AD 79 is usually inferred, though Josephus states it of the son and not of her. The archive records the inference as an inference.]Flavius Josephus · Antiquities XX.vii · source text
Josephus, *Antiquities of the Jews* — held in this library. English: William Whiston (1737), public domain.
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 one place the sources put Drusilla.