Bernice

(bringing victory) (Acts 25:13, 23; 26:30) — daughter of Agrippa I, surnamed the Great, and sister of Agrippa II, king of Judea. Her first husband was her uncle, and her second, Polemon, from whom she soon divorced. She was afterward involved with Titus, who, however, cast her off upon his accession to the throne. She is also strongly suspected of cohabiting with her own brother. It was this depraved woman who, together with Agrippa, with pomp and in magnificent state, listened to the defense speech of the Apostle Paul before Festus at Caesarea. Of Bernice’s shameful conduct there is testimony not only from Josephus Flavius but also from Roman writers: Tacitus, Suetonius, and others.