9 July. Paul appeals to Emperor Nero to judge his case
"After two years [of Paul being under house arrest in Caesarea], Felix was replaced by Porcius Festus as governor [of Roman Judaea]. Felix had left Paul in prison to please the Jews."
"Three days after Festus became governor, he went from Caesarea to Jerusalem. There the leading priests and the important Jewish leaders made charges against Paul before Festus. They asked Festus to do them a favour. They wanted him to send Paul back to Jerusalem, because they had a plan to kill him on the way."
"But Festus answered that Paul would be kept in Caesarea and that he himself was returning there soon. He said, 'Some of your leaders should go with me. They can accuse the man there in Caesarea, if he has really done something wrong.'"
"Festus stayed in Jerusalem another eight or ten days and then went back to Caesarea. The next day he told the soldiers to bring Paul before him. Festus was seated on the judge's seat when Paul came into the room. The Jewish people who had come from Jerusalem stood around him, making serious charges against him, which they could not prove."
"This is what Paul said to defend himself: 'I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law, against the Temple, or against Caesar.' But Festus wanted to please the Jews. So he asked Paul, 'Do you want to go to Jerusalem for me to judge you there on these charges?'"
"Paul said, 'I am standing at Caesar's judgement seat now, where I should be judged [as a Roman citizen]. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews; you know this is true. If I have done something wrong and the [Roman] law says I must die, I do not ask to be saved from death. But if these charges are not true, then no one can give me to them [the Jewish leaders]. I want Caesar [Emperor Nero] to hear my case!'"
"Festus talked about this with his advisors. Then he said, 'You have asked to see Caesar, so [as this is your right as a Roman citizen] you will go to Caesar!'"
(Acts 24:27-25:12)
Two years passed since Paul was arrested and Felix was replaced as Roman Governor of Judaea by Porcius Festus in 59AD.
Three days after his arrival in Caesarea, the new Roman governor travelled to Jerusalem, where, once again the Jewish leaders pressed charges against Paul, hoping they could ambush and kill him on route to Jerusalem.
Festus, instead, invited the Jewish leaders to travel to Caesarea to bring their charges against Paul.
After they made their allegations, Festus asked Paul if he was willing to be tried in Jerusalem. Paul refused to go, as he realised the Jews were plotting to assassinate him on the way there. To avoid this, he used his legal right as a Roman citizen to appeal to the Emperor in Rome.
Paul perhaps remembered, at this point, his promise to visit the believers in Rome (see Romans 15:23-28) and his vision in which the Lord Jesus said that he would testify in Rome (see Acts 23:11).
Festus had no option but to agree to send Paul to the Roman Emperor Nero in Rome.
The photo shows an aerial view of the remains of King Herod's Palace at Caesarea (by Abraham Graicer). This palace was used as the Roman governor's residence in Paul's day, and would have been where Paul was held for two years.
You can discover more about Caesarea in Roman times @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/12-paul…/paul-in-caesarea/