Porcius Festus was the Roman Procurator (governor) of Iudaea Province (Judea) from A.D. 59 to A.D. 62.
Porcius Festus was appointed the Roman Procurator (governor) of Iudaea Province (Judea) from A.D. 59 to A.D. 62 (during the reign of the Emperor Nero). He succeeded Marcus Antonius Felix who was the Roman Procurator of Iudaea Province (Judea) from A.D. 52 to A.D. 59.
Festus inherited the problems of his predecessor in regard to the Roman practice of creating civic privileges for Jews. Another issue that bedeviled his administration was the controversy between Agrippa II and the priests in Jerusalem regarding the wall erected at the temple to break the view of the new wing of Agrippa’s palace.
During his administration, Jewish hostility to Rome was greatly inflamed by the civic privileges issue. Feelings were aroused which played an important part in the closely following First Roman-Jewish War of A.D. 66.
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul had his final hearing before Festus. In Acts 25:12, Festus sought to induce Paul to go to Jerusalem for trial; Paul appealed to the Emperor. The appeal resulted in Paul being sent to Rome for judgement by the Emperor himself although Festus had difficulty in detailing the charges against Paul (Acts 25-26).
Lange's Christian Chronicle 