FESTUS, PORCIUS . Procurator of Judæa after Felix. His short term of office was marked by a much better administration than that of Felix or of Albinus his successor (Jos. [Note: Josephus.] Ant. XX. viii. f.). He is addressed with respect by St. Paul ( Acts 26:24 ff.), whom he would not give up to the Jews untried; it was, however, from fear of being eventually given up that St. Paul made his appeal to Cæsar, in consequence of which he was sent to Rome. Festus was a friend of king Agrippa ii., whose visit to him is described in Acts 25:13 ff., and took his side in a dispute with the Jewish priests. His accession to office is one of the puzzles of NT chronology; Eusebius gives a.d. 56, but this is probably some three years too early.
A. J. Maclean.