Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 25:10

"But Paul said, I am standing before Caesar`s judgment-seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou also very well knowest." — Acts 25:10 (ASV)

I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat.—The Greek verb is given in a peculiar form, which carries with it the meaning of, I am standing, and have stood all along... He, as a Roman citizen, claimed the right to be tried by a Roman court, and finding that the procurator had shown a bias which left little hope of a fair trial, exercised the right which attached to his citizenship, and appealed to the highest court of all, that of the emperor himself.

This interpretation seems in every way more rational than that which paraphrases St. Paul's words thus: “I stand already in mind and purpose before the emperor’s court, for God has shown me by a special revelation that I am to preach the gospel at Rome, and my trial there is accordingly part of the divinely ordered course of things which cannot be altered.” Whatever influence the promise of Acts 23:11 may have had on the Apostle’s conduct, it is scarcely probable that he would have referred to it in this way in giving his reason for appealing to Caesar.

As thou very well knowest.—We have, as in Acts 24:22, the comparative of the adverb. Festus knew this too well to need any further proof. He had heard the random charges and had seen the worthlessness of the evidence.