The Acts of the Apostles

APPENDIX II 35
Antioch) fell in the time of Claudius, and that the
first sanguinary persecution of the Apostles, recorded
as contemporary with the former event (to be dis-
tinguished from the persecution of the Christian
Hellenists in Jerusalem), took place under Herod
Agrippa. Since the latter reigned from a.d. 41 to
A.D. 44 it would be obvious that all which is recorded
in the first twelve chapters of the Acts belonged to
a period of eleven to thirteen (fourteen) years, and
accordingly occupied the last years of Tiberius,
the reign of Caligula, and the very first years of
Claudius.
On reading further he would recognise from xviii. 2
that the narrative was still confined to the reign of
Claudius, and that therefore all the events recorded
from chap. xi. to chap, xviii. up to the arrival of
St. Paul in Corinth must have fallen within the years
A.D. 41(44)-54. When, however, in xxiii. 26^. the
reader met with the name of the procurator Felix and
then with that of Festus, and further learnt that St.
Paul was cast into prison two years before the recall
of Felix (xxiv. 27)—the entry into office of three
procurators could have been ascertained without great
difficulty at that time— ; and seeing, lastly, that in the
chapters xviii._xxii. reference is again and again made
to the succession of years, we can perceive that he must
have derived from these notices sufficiently satisfactory
chronological information, even if he could no longer
ascertain with accuracy the year in which Claudius
banished the Jews from Rome. Although it is not
expressly stated in the book, he could have no doubt
that it was Nero to whom St. Paul appealed and to