And after some days King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to greet Festus.
Acts 25:13
Agrippa II was the son of Herod Agrippa, who was one of the sons of Herod the Great. When his father died in A.D. 44, Agrippa II was seventeen years old and living in Rome. He had hoped that Emperor Claudius would appoint him to his father’s crown of rulership of Palestine, but Claudius knew that the teenager was not ready for such responsibility. He was granted a much less important position but in time he was given more responsibility. One of Agrippa II’s roles was to appoint the Jewish high priests. He was knowledgeable of the Hebrew Scriptures (Acts 26:27), and was known as an expert in all things Jewish, though he was not personally Jewish religiously.
Who was Bernice? She was not officially Agrippa II’s wife, though she functioned as his queen. She was more properly Agrippa II’s sister. At the tender age of thirteen Bernice married her uncle and remained married for seven years until his death, when she went to live with her unmarried brother, Agrippa II. Roman rumors about the two (though it is unknown how true they were) included that Agrippa II was a homosexual, or that though not married to Bernice, the two lived together in sin as though husband and wife. To counter the rumors that might hurt them politically, Bernice married the king of Cilicia, but quickly deserted him to return to her brother. Agrippa II and Bernice were fiercely loyal to Rome in order to maintain their privileged lifestyles.
Agrippa showed his allegiance to Rome by visiting Festus soon after his arrival in Caesarea.
Agrippa was the last of the Herodian dynasty. He died in A.D. 100, after which Bernice faded from prominence.
How tragic that these sinful people appointed Jewish high priests and were to sit in judgment over the Apostle Paul!