FELIX
“happy”.
One of the freedmen of the emperor Claudius, and by him appointed to be procurator or governor of Judea, 51 AD. When Paul was sent as a prisoner to Caesarea, he appeared before Felix, and again before him and his wife Drusilla; As Paul reasoned about justice, temperance, and the coming judgment, Felix trembled.
He showed a mean and unjust spirit by keeping Paul imprisoned for two years in the hope that he could be bribed to set him free, and by leaving him imprisoned to please the Jews (Acts 23:24, 26; 24:3 -27; 25:14).
Tacitus says that Felix ruled the province in a mean and cruel manner (Annals 12:54; Histories, 5:9).
The country was full of conspiracies, and Josephus speaks of several “false messiahs” who were put to death.
Finally, he was accused before Nero by the Jews, and only escaped punishment through the intercession of his brother Pallas (Ant. 20:7; 8:1-9).
He was replaced by Porcius Festus in 60 AD.