This, from Biblegateway, is quite comprehensive (and very long), and includes references to passages of Josephus's texts -
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ ... pa-Bernice -
The King Agrippa who comes to pay his respects to Festus was Marcus Julius Agrippa II (A.D. 27-100), son of Agrippa I (Acts 12:1-25) and great-grandson of Herod the Great (Mt 2:1-23). Brought up in Rome in the court of Claudius, he was a favorite of the emperor, though too young to immediately succeed his father at his death in A.D. 44. In A.D. 50, following the death of his uncle (Herod of Chalcis, A.D. 48) he was granted the petty kingdom of Chalcis, northeast of Judea. He later exchanged it for the tetrarchy of Philip, Abilene (or Abila), Trachonitis and Acra (the tetrarchy of Varus) in A.D. 53. In A.D. 56 Nero added to his kingdom the Galilean cities of Tarichea and Tiberias with their surrounding lands and the Perean city of Julias (or Betharamphta) with fourteen villages belonging to it (compare Josephus Jewish Wars 2.220-23, 247, 252; Jewish Antiquities 20.104, 138, 159; Longenecker 1981:547). He had supreme power in Jewish religious life, for the Romans gave him the right to appoint the high priest and custodianship of the temple treasure and the high priest's vestments (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 20.213, 222). He was the last of the Herodian line.
Accompanying him now is his sister Bernice, a year younger than he. She had been engaged to Marcus, a nephew of the philosopher Philo of Alexandria. Then she married her uncle Herod, king of Chalcis. At his death she returned to live with her brother Agrippa II and engaged in an incestuous relationship with him. This gained her notoriety both in Palestine and in Rome (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 20.145-46; Juvenal Satires 6.156-60).
Festus discusses Paul's case with Agrippa, laying it before him so he could get his opinion on it. In the process Paul is described in four ways.
1. He has been left as a prisoner (Acts 25:14) ..
2. Paul was opposed yet protected (Acts 25:15-16). Now it becomes clear: it was not just a change of venue that the Jerusalem Jews sought (vv. 2-3); they wanted a change of jurisdiction, as Paul had asserted (v. 11). They wanted Festus to agree that Paul was guilty of a capital offense against their law and that he should be handed over to them for summary execution ...
3. Paul was tried, but no punishable charges resulted (Acts 25:17-19). Festus with customary efficiency convened the court (compare 25:6). Taking a hostile stance, the accusers surprised the governor by making religious charges: some points of dispute . . . about their own religion (compare 25:7). This was the consistent understanding of Roman officials about the nature of Jewish opposition to Christianity (18:15; 23:29). Evidently Festus has concluded there is nothing to the sedition charges; Paul has indeed done nothing wrong . . . against Caesar (25:8). Paul is not guilty of violating Caesar's decrees against creating disturbances in the Jewish community. Festus has not decided about Paul's culpability in the temple defilement matter, an issue of dual jurisdiction.
The main point of dispute is a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive (v. 19). The phrasing reveals Festus's attitude toward Christ's resurrection and innocently communicates the prominent role it played in Paul's defense. Though more general references to "resurrection of the dead" have peppered Paul's defense (23:6; 24:15, 21), we now know that Jesus' resurrection is the central point of contention. Paul certainly made that clear in his speech before the temple mob (22:7-10, 14-15, 17-21) ...
4. Paul was offered a change of venue but instead appealed to Caesar (25:20-21). Festus was at a loss--perplexed--about this testimony to supernatural events (compare Lk 24:4; Acts 2:12; 5:24; 10:17). Not only the nature of the evidence but also the limits of his sphere of authority rendered Festus incompetent to judge these matters (Lk 20:25). This trial was about "God's" sphere, not "Caesar's." But Festus's perplexity did not keep him from trying, as his offer of a change of venue shows.
Festus and all governmental officials following him do well to learn the limits provided by a biblically grounded distinction between the proper spheres of authority of church and state. The state's judicial wisdom is never competent to decide matters of theology. Its power is never a valid enforcer of church/temple decisions.
The way Luke describes Paul's request as an appeal to be held over for the Emperor's (literally, "His Majesty's") decision shows that he was asking not only for removal from a Roman provincial tribunal to the imperial court but also for protection during the process. Festus' order was, literally, "to send him up to Caesar" (anapempo, a technical term for transfer to a superior tribunal; Josephus Jewish Wars 2.571).
With some curiosity, possibly disdain, Agrippa says he would like to hear "the person." The imperfect eboulomen is either a true past indicating a wish he had entertained for some time (compare Lk 9:9; 23:8) or a desiderative intended to soften the remark and make it more polite, diffident or vague (Williams 1985:414). Festus accedes to his desire: Tomorrow you will hear him.
To hear a messenger with the word of God is the first step on the path to saving faith (Lk 8:8, 15, 18; Acts 4:4; 10:22, 33; 13:44; 18:8). Agrippa and Festus at this point unwittingly appear to model two essential prerequisites for receiving the gospel: a teachable spirit and a desire to hear the message. A Governor's Dilemma (25:23-27)
As Luke sets the scene, a majestic court in full regalia assembles. In come Agrippa, Bernice, . . . high ranking officers (Festus's tribunes, who commanded the cohorts stationed at Caesarea; compare Josephus Jewish Antiquities 19.365) and leading men of the city, a group mainly, if not entirely, Gentile ...
Before Festus - https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ ... cts/Festus
... The brief but firm and honorable rule of Porcius Festus began with efficiency and wisdom (A.D. 59-61; Josephus Jewish Antiquities 20.182-97; Jewish Wars 2.271). Only three days after setting foot in the province he proceeded to his territory's true capital, Jerusalem, to meet the Jewish leaders.
Luke describes the leaders in general terms as chief priests and Jewish leaders, probably indicating that more than the Sanhedrin was involved. They urgently requested (better "persistently implored") the governor for a favor (the imperfect and present tenses point to importunate repetition): a change of venue for Paul's trial. Such a request was not out of the ordinary (Pliny Epistles 10.81.3-4). Yet it masked a deadly purpose: an ambush to kill him along the way (compare Acts 23:21, 16). They would use treachery to be rid of Paul, as they had with his Lord (Lk 22:2-6; Acts 2:23).
More on Bernice - https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ ... le/Bernice
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