FELIX, ANTONIUS, procurator of Judaea A.D. 51 or 52 to 6o, was a Greek freedman. On entering his province he married Drusilla, sister of Agrippa II. (Acts. xxiv. 24), having induced her to leave her husband Azizus, king of Emesa. Tacitus' descrip tion of Felix is not unjust: "he revelled in cruelty and lust, and wielded the power of a king with the mind of a slave." His rule was marked by disturbances and assassinations. Yet his long term of service in Palestine had enabled him to learn something of na tive customs and law, cf. St. Paul's words in Acts xxiv. Io; Felix had been prefect of Samaria before his appointment to the pro curatorship.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. See Josephus, Ant. XVIII., vi. 6 ; XX. vi. I-3, Viii. Bibliography. See Josephus, Ant. XVIII., vi. 6 ; XX. vi. I-3, Viii. 6-9 ; Jewish War II. xii. 3 i., xii. ; 5, 7 ; Tacitus, Annals, XII. 54, Hist. V. 9 ; Suetonius, Claudius 28 ; Schiirer, The Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ; I. ii., pp. 174 ff.; Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller ; Com mentaries on Acts.