The Apostolic Age · AD 4–70 · External witness
Porcius Festus
d. AD 62 (in office) · Procurator of Judaea · Caesarea Maritima
External witness
Who Porcius Festus was
Felix’s abler successor, who inherited the Paul case and handled it by the book: refusing to move the trial to Jerusalem, hearing the appeal — “Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go” — and staging the famous hearing before Agrippa II, where his Roman bafflement rings true across the centuries: “Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.” He died in office in 62; in the interregnum after his death the high priest Ananus seized the moment to kill James the Just. Rome’s procedural machine, and the gaps between its gears, shaped the church’s first decades.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When did Porcius Festus die?
Porcius Festus is dated d. AD 62 (in office) in the archive, which places Porcius Festus in the Apostolic Age (AD 4–70).
Which early sources mention Porcius Festus?
Porcius Festus 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 Porcius Festus from?
The archive associates Porcius Festus with Caesarea Maritima.
Who were Porcius Festus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Porcius Festus to 5 other figures, including Antonius Felix, Herod Agrippa II, Paul of Tarsus and James the Just. 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 26:24
c. AD 85…Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.Luke · read ↗
Antiquities of the Jews 20.8.9–20.9.1 (his procuratorship and death)
c. AD 93Now when Porcius Festus was sent as successor to Felix by Nero, the principal of the Jewish inhabitants of Caesarea went up to Rome to accuse Felix.Flavius Josephus · Antiquities 20.8.9 · source text
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
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Porcius Festus.