Porcius (Festus)

Roman procurator (governor) of Judea, who succeeded Felix Antonius and who was succeeded by Albinus. The precise date of Porcius Festus’s accession to power is debatable but has been narrowed to sometime between AD 55 and 60. The only sources mentioning Festus are the book of Acts and the writings of Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived in Rome in the first century AD (Antiquities 20.8.9–11; 9.1).

Josephus wrote that Festus ruled wisely and justly, in contrast to Felix and Albinus. Sicarii bandits (named after the small swords they carried) who had terrorized the Palestinian countryside were eliminated under Festus’s rule. In spite of this, he could not reverse the damage incurred by his predecessor, Felix, who had aggravated the conflict between pagans and Jews.