Acts 25:13

"King Agrippa" Herod Agrippa II was the son of Herod Agrippa. who had died in Acts 12:1 and the great grandson of Herod the Great. Bernice as his sister, and "rumors were rife that their relationship was incestuous. Because he had been only seventeen years old when his father died, he was considered too young to assume the kingdom of Judea, which therefore reverted to the rule by procurator. Instead, he was given. tiny and insignificant northern kingdom within what is now Lebanon, and this was later augmented by territory in Galilee. He and Bernice came to Caesarea to pay their respects to the new procurator, and during their stay Festus raised Paul's case" (Stott p. 368). When Herod arrives he is now 31 years old. Remember Bernice and Drusilla were both his sisters. Bernice had been the wife of her own uncle, the former king of Chalcis, but she was now. widow and lived with her brother. Since 52 A.D. Herod Agrippa II had been the one who controlled the temple in Jerusalem, appointed and deposed high priests, and did all of this from the standpoint of what was best for the Roman Empire. Agrippa II will rule until the outbreak of the war against Rome (66-70 A.D.) that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem. He first tried to persuade the Jews not to rebel, but then fought on the side of Vespasian and was wounded in the siege of Gamala. After the destruction of Jerusalem he moved to Rome (with his sister accompanying), where he became. preator, that is. court judge or governor in the provinces. He died in 100 A.D. Bernice will stay with her brother but will also become the mistress of Vespasian and then Titus. "Because Bernice has such. bad reputation among the Roman people, Titus was prevented from marrying her and he finally sent her from Rome, possibly after he became Emperor" (Reese p. xviii). Even though it has probably dawned upon the reader by this point it does need to be stated that all these individuals recorded in this section are also mentioned and talked about in secular sources as well. They were real people and this is real history.