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When Festus returned to Cęsarea Paul's trial was re-opened. This time no Tertullus
was hired, no attempt was made at a formal charge, and there was no bringing of
witnesses. The Jews "which came down from Jerusalem stood round about and laid
many and grievous complaints against Paul which they could not prove". Paul,
answering for himself, refutes once more the charges made against him, retaining in his
answer the threefold form of the original accusation:
"Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the Temple, nor yet against
Cęsar, have I offended anything at all" (Acts 25: 8).
Festus, desiring to find some way out of the difficulty, suggests to Paul that, as it
appears to be a matter of Jewish law, perhaps he would be willing to go back to
Jerusalem and be tried by the Sanhedrin, in which case he (Festus) would see to it that he
had fair treatment. Paul had now experienced two years' imprisonment. All his burning
zeal for the spread of the gospel had been pent up within the narrow space allotted to him
at Cęsarea. Moreover, the Lord had appeared to him again, and had revealed to him the
new message associated with his bondage. As a Roman citizen he had one special
privilege, that he had not so far used. He had only to pronounce the word Appello, "I
appeal", and his trial under provincial governors would come to an end. Replying,
therefore, to the suggestion that he should stand before the Sanhedrin, Paul startled the
whole court by saying:
"I stand at Cęsar's judgment-seat where I ought to be judged . . . . . I appealed unto
Cęsar" (Acts 24: 10, 11).
Festus was not at all pleased with this change of affairs. To have an appeal from his
judgment within a few days of his entering the country would not look well, and his reply
suggests his annoyance: "Hast thou appealed unto Cęsar? Unto Cęsar thou shalt go"
(verse 12). The words suggest that Festus added mentally, "And you little know what an
appeal to Cęsar just now will mean".
Paul, however, had not acted on the spur of the moment. For two years he had waited
and prayed, and he now knew that the time for his journey to Rome had come. As the
Apostle's appeal to Cęsar occupies an important place in the history of the Acts, a few
notes on the subject should be helpful.
In republican days the right of appeal had been to the Populus or Comitia. This was
secured by the Valerian law (B.C.508), which conferred upon every citizen the right to
appeal to the Comitia Centuriata from a sentence of death or scourging by a Magistrate.
This privilege has been compared with the Habeas Corpus Act of our own country.
Another form of appeal was the Appellatio ad Tribunos. The Tribunes were appointed in
B.C.494 to protect the plebeians against the possible abuse of his authority by a Consul.
In order to afford this protection the doors of the Tribune stood open day and night.
Under the Empire regime the Emperor himself became Tribune for life. In this
capacity he could veto the ruling of any Magistrate, and, as the representative of the
people, could hear their appeals. In the Apostle's case he did not, of course, make an