Paul's Trial Before Festus

After two years of incarceration in Caesarea the Roman procurator Felix was replaced by Porcius Festus. Felix was recalled to Rome, but he left Paul imprisoned to be his successor's problem. Festus accepted his appointment as the new procurator of Judea, but had no idea what he was getting into. Governing the Jews of Judea would prove challenging enough given their historical and theological disposition toward Gentile occupation, but the situation was made all the more volatile by the Jewish leadership's furious antipathy toward the emerging Christian sect. So Paul would once again face his accusers before Rome's governor, but this time there would be a productive outcome; Festus would rule that Paul's case should be heard by Caesar himself.