Biblical Profile: Philippi

Philippi

Philippi was a minor village of Thrace until about 357 BC, when Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, conquered the site and rebuilt it. He named the village after himself, fortified it as a military stronghold, and exploited the nearby gold mines. Philippi gained worldwide fame in 42 BC as the site where the imperial armies of Octavian and Mark Antony defeated the republican generals Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Julius Caesar. The victory opened the way for the emergence of the Roman Empire under the rule of Octavian Augustus.

Many veterans from the war of 42 BC and other battles settled in Philippi. When Paul came to the city, it still reflected its Roman military heritage. Situated on the Egnatian Way, it was a prominent stop on that great military highway connecting the Adriatic Sea with the Aegean Sea. It possessed distinct civic pride as a Roman colony (enjoying numerous privileges, such as tax exemption) and promoted Latin as its official language. Its government was modeled on the municipal constitution of Rome, and the inhabitants viewed themselves as Romans (see Acts 16:21).

Paul visited the city on his second missionary journey, and the account of Acts gives detailed attention to this visit (Acts 16:12-40). The narrative frequently refers to the city’s Roman heritage: Not only does Paul successfully employ his Roman citizenship in his defense (Acts 16:37-39), but the city magistrates bear the dignified Latin title praetor (given in its Greek translation, stratēgos—Acts 16:20-22, 38). There also appears to have been a small Jewish community there. The church began with believing Jewish women who met outside the city because there was no synagogue. Later, they convened in the home of an important woman convert named Lydia (Acts 16:14-15, 40). Luke apparently stayed in Philippi when Paul departed for Thessalonica (cp. Acts 16:12, 40) and later rejoined Paul at Philippi when Paul passed through on his third missionary journey several years later (Acts 20:6). Paul wrote a cordial letter to the church at Philippi during one of his imprisonments.