Bible Dictionaries
Appeal to Caesar

Holman Bible Dictionary

When Paul was brought before Festus for trial on charges made against him by Jews from Jerusalem, Festus asked him if he wanted to return to Jerusalem for trial. Paul, fearing the Jews would kill him, asked that his case be heard by the emperor as he had done nothing deserving of death (Acts 25:1-12 ). By all appearances, Paul's Roman citizenship gave him the right to have his case heard by the emperor. There are cases, however, where Roman citizens in Africa were refused the right of appeal and were crucified by Galba, the governor of the province. Paul was granted his appeal, though it was later determined that he need not have appealed his case as he had done nothing wrong (Acts 26:32 ). We do not know the results of Paul's appeal since Acts ends with Paul still in prison awaiting trial. It is probable that Paul's case was dismissed after two years and he was released from prison.