Bernice

The sister of Herod Agrippa II, in whose presence she is always mentioned in the Bible, when they, on a visit to Festus in Caesaria, met Paul who was being held on trial (Acts 25:13, 23; 26:30).

☰ Open Family Tree (Generation 6)

Bernice was, together with Drusilla, the daughter of Herod Agrippa I. She married her uncle, Herod of Chalcis, at the age of thirteen, upon whose death about seven years later she stayed with her brother Herod Agrippa II. According to Juvenal, the Roman poet and satirist, their relationship was incestrous. Later she married Polemon the king of Cilicia. Deserting him she returned to her brother, when they visited Festus in Caesaria. Later still she became future-emperor Titus' mistress. She seemed an intelligent and capable person in her own right, and Josephus had kind things to say about her, especially of her attempts at peace-making in the run-up to the First Jewish Revolt.