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He was a Freedman either of the emperor Claudius , according to which theory Josephus (''Antiq.'' xx. 7) calls him Claudius Felix, or more probably of his mother Antonia Minor . On entering his province he induced Drusilla Of Mauretania , wife of Azizus Of Homs ( Emesa ), to leave her husband and live with him as his wife. His cruelty and licentiousness, coupled with his accessibility to bribes, led to a great increase of crime in Judaea. To put down the Zealots he favored an even more violent sect, the Sicarii ("Dagger-men"), by whose aid he contrived the murder of the high-priest Jonathan . The period of his rule was marked by internal feuds and disturbances, which he put down with severity. The Apostle Paul , after being apprehended in Jerusalem , was sent to be judged before Felix at Caesarea , and kept in custody for two years (Acts xxiv.). On returning to Rome, Felix was accused of having taken advantage of a dispute between the Jews and Syrians of Caesarea to slay and plunder the inhabitants, but through the intercession of his brother, the freedman Pallas , who had great influence with the emperor Nero , he escaped unpunished. Porcius Festus succeeded him as procurator of Judea. REFERENCES
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