Atlas Biblica

    person · also Porcius

    Festus

    Φῆστος

    Porcius Festus succeeded Felix as the Roman governor of Judea and heard Paul's case, ultimately sending him to Rome for trial.

    verses
    13
    first named
    Acts 24:27
    last named
    Acts 26:32
    period
    the New Testament
    role
    Man

    Description

    Who was Festus?

    In the words of STEPBible TIPNR:

    Porcius Festus was a Roman procurator (governor) of Judea who succeeded Felix around 60 AD (Act.24.27). He is mentioned in the book of Acts in relation to the apostle Paul's ongoing legal case. Upon taking office, Festus was confronted with the charges against Paul that had been left unresolved by Felix (Act.25.1-2). Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem for trial, but Paul appealed to Caesar, asserting his rights as a Roman citizen (Act.25.9-12). Festus, unsure how to handle the case, consulted with King Agrippa II and his sister Bernice, who came to Caesarea to pay their respects to the new governor (Act.25.13-22). Paul was brought before Festus, Agrippa, and Bernice to present his defense (Act.25.23-26:32). After hearing Paul's testimony, Festus exclaimed that Paul's great learning had driven him insane (Act.26.24). Agrippa, however, believed that Paul could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar (Act.26.32). Festus then sent Paul to Rome for trial, as he had requested (Act.27.1). The account of Festus's involvement in Paul's case illustrates the complexities of the Roman legal system and the challenges faced by early Christians in navigating it.

    Relations

    Direct connections

    Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.

    How the graph connects Festus10 of 16 entities the graph connects to Festus, in one group: events 10. Kinship, company and ground are stated relations; events counts the acts two entities stand in together and is not a relation. Each mark is sized by how many verses name that entity and labelled with the link and the count, so the grouping and the size are both readable without colour. Distance from the centre carries nothing.Judah2 events · 1,023 versesJerusalem4 events · 888 versesPaul9 events · 182 versesStay1 event · 53 versesCaesarea3 events · 15 versesAgrippa4 events · 12 versesClaudius1 event · 11 versesFelix1 event · 8 versesBringing In1 event · 7 versesBernice2 events · 3 versesFestus

    The 10 best-attested of 16 are drawn. All 16 are listed below.

    Took part in

    Stands in the same events as

    Places

    Where this happens

    The places the claims about this person reach, drawn where the gazetteer locates them. A point is where a row puts them and never where tradition does; no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.

    Where the story of Festus happensAll 2 places the claims about Festus reach, on a map of the world the text moves through, framed to them: Caesarea, Jerusalem. Each dot is a coordinate from the gazetteer, sized by how many rows put Festus there. The coastline is a modern one, simplified; no border, road or settlement of any period is drawn, and no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.CaesareaJerusalem
    the New TestamentAll 2 places the claims about Festus reach

    Read it

    Where to read it

    Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 13, across 1 book. The name is written 14 times in them.

    1. Acts13 verses

      24:2725:125:425:925:1225:1325:1425:2225:2325:2426:2426:2526:32

    Onward

    Where this page goes

    Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.

    via Paul Bringing In and Trial of Paul, and 1 morePaulApostle to the Gentiles, author of many NT epistlesvia Festus’ journey and Some Of Your Leaders and Judah’s journeyJourneyJourney is a concept gathering 74 labelled instances in the text.via Paul Bringing InBringing InBringing In is a concept gathering 6 labelled instances in the text.via Festus’ journeyCaesareaCoastal city, center of Roman rule in Judeavia Some Of Your Leaders and Judah’s journeyJudahIsraelite tribe, kingdom, and provincevia Festus’ sending of PaulClaudiusRoman emperor during Paul's ministryvia Trial of PaulJerusalemThe capital of Israel, a holy city for three religionsvia Festus’ sending of PaulSendingSending is a concept gathering 488 labelled instances in the text.via Trial of PaulTrialTrial is a concept gathering 7 labelled instances in the text.

    Where they appear

    Chapter by chapter

    Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.

    Sources

    What this rests on