Philippi #80

Philippi was a Roman colony in the province of Macedonia in northern Greece. It is the city where the gospel first took root in Europe, and it is the address of one of Paul’s warmest letters, the Epistle to the Philippians. Luke calls it “the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony” (Acts 16:12), and the details of its history help explain the scenes he describes there.

Biblical Significance

Philippi was founded by Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, in the fourth century BC, and the city took his name. In 42 BC, Mark Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and Cassius nearby, and afterward Roman veterans were settled in the city, which was later refounded as a colony under Augustus. Colonies were treated as Roman soil, with Roman law and citizenship, which explains why Paul’s Roman citizenship becomes an issue in the story (Acts 16:37-38).

Paul came to Philippi after a night vision in Troas in which a man of Macedonia pleaded, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us” (Acts 16:9-10). The account shifts here to “we,” suggesting that Luke himself joined the travelers. There was apparently no synagogue in the city, so on the Sabbath they went outside the gate to the riverside to a place of prayer. There Paul spoke to a group of women, and Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from Thyatira and “which worshipped God,” listened as “the Lord opened her heart, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.” She and her household were baptized, and she urged them to stay at her home (Acts 16:13-15).

After Paul freed a slave girl from a spirit of divination, her owners, having lost their income, dragged Paul and Silas before the magistrates, who had them beaten and thrown into the inner prison (Acts 16:16-24). At midnight, while they were praying and singing hymns, an earthquake shook the prison and opened its doors. The jailer, about to take his own life, was told by Paul that all the prisoners were still there, and he asked, “What must I do to be saved?” He and his household believed and were baptized that night (Acts 16:25-34). In the morning, Paul pointed out that he and Silas were Roman citizens who had been beaten without a trial, and the magistrates came personally to escort them out (Acts 16:35-39).

Paul kept a special bond with this church. He wrote to “all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons” (Philippians 1:1), and he remembered that when he left Macedonia, no other church shared with him in giving and receiving except the Philippians, who sent support more than once (Philippians 4:15-16). The letter is full of joy, even though Paul wrote it from prison, traditionally in Rome, though some scholars propose Ephesus or Caesarea.

Today

The ruins of Philippi lie near the modern village of Krenides in northeastern Greece, near the port town of Kavala, ancient Neapolis (Acts 16:11). Excavations by French and Greek archaeologists have uncovered the forum, a theater, a marketplace, and several early Christian basilicas, and the site was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016. A small baptistery and chapel near a stream outside the city are visited as the traditional location of Lydia’s baptism, and an ancient cistern in the city is venerated by tradition as the prison of Paul, though neither claim can be proven.