Paul W. Wallace
Philadelphia — The City Of The Open Door
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: “The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens.
“I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut; I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie — behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial which is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth. I am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev. 3:7–13)
Up the Cogamis valley, 28 miles to the southeast from Sardis, lies Philadelphia. This valley begins at the coast at Smyrna, and Philadelphia is the city at the opposite (eastern) end. East of Philadelphia the terrain rises until it becomes the great central plateau of Asia Minor. The mountains which form the Cogamis valley represent the western rim of this plateau. The Cogamis valley is therefore a funnel leading to the plateau.
The city was founded by Attalus II Philadelphus (159-138 B.C.), from whom it was also named, although a local tradition ascribed its founding to Egyptians (Test. 3). Attalus’ purpose in founding the
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Road leading to the site of Philadelphia from the north.
city where he did was presumably to establish a relationship with the cities of the plateau to the east, for all traffic from northern Phrygia to the Aegean would have run past Philadelphia.
Street and acropolis at Alakeshir, the site of ancient Philadelphia.
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The city has almost no history and is rarely mentioned in ancient literature. It was situated near the Katacecaumene (Burnt) region of Phrygia, where volcanic activity is attested by the abundant deposits of lava and ashes. Philadelphia suffered repeatedly from earthquakes, so much so that even the city walls were broken (Test. 1) and people felt safer in the open country than in the city, near buildings which could collapse (Test. 2). The devastating earthquake of A.D. 17 which destroyed Sardis also destroyed Philadelphia. The emperor Tiberius sent financial aid to restore the city. Perhaps on this occasion Philadelphia took its new name, Neocaisareia, as it is written on coins from the city during the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius (A.D. 14-54). It also received the title Flavia during the reign of Vespasian (A.D. 70-79). Philadelphia erected a number of temples to the Roman emperors, and many visitors were attracted to the city to see them (Test. 3).
Philadelphia stood on the threshold of the upper Phrygian plateau and was therefore the door to the churches in that area (cf. 2 Cor. 2:12). But the church in Philadelphia was weak and was suffering from the local Jews. The Christians were able, however, to keep their faith through the persecutions, and if they continued to do so they would be assured a position of solidity similar to the mighty Roman temples with their ornate columns (Fig. 12), where the architrave blocks recorded the name of the Roman “god” and the city’s new name.
Fig. 12 — The Sun-god of Philadelphia
Testimonia
1. Earthquakes at Philadelphia
In Philadelphia…not even the walls are safe, but in a sense are shaken and caused to crack every day. And the inhabitants are continually attentive to the
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disturbances in the earth and plan all structures with a view to their occurrence…And this, in all probability, is why Poseidon is worshipped in their country, even though it is in the interior. (Strabo 12.8.18; trans. Jones)
2. Insecurity
…the city Philadelphia [is] ever subject to earthquakes. Incessantly the walls of the houses are cracked, different parts of the city being thus affected at different times. For this reason but few people live in the city, and most of them spend their lives as farmers in the country, since they have a fertile soil. Yet one may be surprised at the few, that they are so fond of the place when their dwellings are so insecure; and one might marvel still more at those who founded the city. (Strabo 13.4.10; trans. Jones)
3. Local Tradition
The Egyptians built Philadelphia in Lydia. The Philosopher Proclus and his circle called Philadelphia “little Athens” because of its emulation of Athens and because of its festivals and sanctuaries of the idols, (Ioannes Lydus, De mensibus 3.58)
Laodicea — A Deluded City
And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: “The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hotl So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev. 3:14–22)
Location
St. John has now completed his circuit of the seven cities, and at Laodicea has returned to the south, inland, and almost directly east, from Ephesus. Laodicea had an important position. The route up the Maeander valley, from Ephesus and Miletus on the coast, leads into Phrygia; this road is crossed by the great route which leads from
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Lycia and Pisidia in the south through the Cogamis and Hermus valleys in the north. At the junction of the routes stood Laodicea, about a mile south of the Lycus River, a tributary of the Maeander.
Historical Sketch
Laodicea was founded toward the middle of the third century before Christ, by one of the Seleucids, probably Antiochus II Theus, who called the city after his wife, Laodice. The city remained, with some vicissitudes, in control of the Seleucids through the rest of the third century. After the Romans defeated the Seleucids in 190 B.C., Laodicea, like so many cities, was annexed to Pergamum, and then with that city was given to Rome when Attalus III died in 133 B.C. Laodicea was then controlled by a Roman garrison. Mithridates besieged and took the city in 88 B.C., but four years later it was back in the power of the Romans. A Parthian uprising against the Romans occurred in 40 B.C. and many of the cities in Asia Minor supported it. But two Laodiceans, Zeno and his son Polemo, convinced the city to remain loyal to Rome, for which they received honors from Mark Antony. Distinguished Roman visitors to Laodicea include Cicero in 50 B.C. and Hadrian in A.D. 129. In A.D. 26 a number of cities in Asia Minor requested the right to build a temple to the Emperor Tiberius. Laodicea was among them, but the city’s resources were deemed insufficient for the task. Nevertheless, a few decades later
Arches in the ancient wall of Laodicea.
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the city had grown so prosperous that it repaired the damage inflicted on it by the earthquake of A.D. 60 without help from Rome.
Archaeological Remains
The remains at Laodicea are not spectacular. Part of the circuit wall is preserved around the edge of the flat hill the city occupied — there was no acropolis — and remains of the gates still stand (Fig. 13). The gate which opened in the direction of Ephesus was dedicated to Domitian (A.D. 81-96). To the emperor Vespasian was dedicated the huge stadium at the southwestern end of the hill. The stadium has curved ends and is double the usual length; gladitorial contests as well as the usual athletic events took place here. To the north are two theaters, the smaller (on the north) is of Roman date and the larger (on the northeast) probably was built in Hellenistic times.
Theater at Laodicea.
Character
The establishment of Christianity in Laodicea had not done much to change the character of the city (Test. 5). The deluded city, the
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city of self-deception, where worldly wealth cloaks spiritual poverty, is addressed by the faithful and true witness who sees things as they really are. Respectable and proper, the Laodiceans would never break a law or offend society; but on the other hand, neither would they take a stand of conscience. The morally deluded at Laodicea were like their famous nearby springs — neither cold nor hot. The tepid springs at Hierapolis, six miles away and visible from Laodicea, could not have been used for drinking water, but they were famous for their bathing qualities in antiquity as they are now (Test. 3, 5).
Limestone cliffs formed by the tepid springs at Hierapolis, six miles from Laodicea.
Laodicea itself had no water; the city’s needs therefore had to be supplied by an aqueduct which brought the water from a distance of five miles to the south.
The Laodiceans had reasons to think highly of themselves (Test. 1, 6). They were financially self-sufficient, well-dressed, and clear-sighted concerning their affairs. The best eye-salve of antiquity was manufactured in the neighborhood (Test. 4), and they had a medical school in the community (Test. 2). Their territory was fertile and was particularly well suited for raising sheep. The fine black wool from these animals provided excellent revenue for the Laodiceans. The textile industry flourished, so that a certain type of cloth came to be called Laodicean. Laodicea was even to some degree
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responsible for setting the fashions, for a style of tunic called trimita, which was made in Laodicea, was so widely sold on the world market that the city was nicknamed Trimitaria.
Fig. 14 — The god of Laodicea
This prosperous picture represents of course only the superficial, and St. John is looking deeper. Beneath the wealth, business acumen, and fine clothes, he sees only moral poverty, introspective blindness, and spiritual nakedness. His advice therefore is: buy gold, not from the Laodicean banks (Test. 7), but from the one who removes the impurities from gold, buy clothes of divine manufacture, and buy eye-salve, not from the local medical school, but from the Great Physician.
During Cicero’s stay in Laodicea, he had been a guest in the home of his friend Andro (Test. 8). A century and a half later someone was again seeking hospitality in Laodicea, but this time it was not a Roman official — it was the “faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.”
Testimonia
1. The Wealth of Laodicea
Laodicea, though formerly small, grew large in our time and in that of our fathers, even though it had been damaged by siege in the time of Mithridates Eupator. However, it was the fertility of its territory and the prosperity of certain of its citizens that made it great: at first Hieron, who left to the people an inheritance of more than two thousand talents and adorned the city with many dedicated offerings, and later Zeno the rhetorician and his son Polemo, the latter of whom, because of his bravery and honesty, was thought worthy even of a kingdom, at first by Antony and later by Augustus. The country round Laodicea produces sheep that are excellent, not only for the softness of their
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wool, in which they surpass even the Milesian wool, but also for its raven-black colour, so that the Laodiceans derive splendid revenue from it, as do also the neighbouring Colosseni from the colour which bears the same name. And here the Caprus River joins the Maeander, as does also the Lycus, a river of good size, after which the city is called the “Laodicea near Lycus.” Above the city lies Mt. Cadmus, whence the Lycus flows, as does also another river of the same name as the mountain. But the Lycus flows underground for the most part, and then, after emerging to the surface, unites with the other rivers, thus indicating that the country is full of holes and subject to earthquakes; for if any other country is subject to earthquakes, Laodicea is, and so is Carura in the neighbouring country. (Strabo 12.8.16; trans. Jones)
2. A Medical School
Between Laodiceia and Carura is a temple of Men Carus, as it is called, which is held in remarkable veneration. In my own time a great Herophileian school of medicine has been established by Zeuxis, and afterwards carried on by Alexander Philalethes. (Strabo 12.8.20; trans. Jones)
3. Tepid Springs
…Opposite Laodiceia [one comes] to Hierapolis, where are the hot springs and the Plutonium, both of which have something marvelous about them; for the water of the springs so easily congeals and changes into stone that people conduct streams of it through ditches and thus make stone fences consisting of single stones…
The changing of water into stone is said also to be the case with the rivers in Laodiceia, although their water is potable. The water at Hierapolis is remarkably adapted also to the dyeing of wool, so that wool dyed with the roots rivals that dyed with the coccus or with the marine purple. And the supply of water is so abundant that the city is full of natural baths. (Strabo 13.4.14; trans. Jones)
4. Eye-salve
And the eyes you will strengthen by using the dry collyrium made of Phrygian stone, applying the mixture to the eyelids without touching the membrane of the eye inside. For this is what women do every day, when they make their eyes glamorous. …And when it seems to you that they are strengthened, so that nothing more runs from them, continue to instill the best ripe nard, formerly made best only in Laodicea in Asia, but now also in other cities. (Galen, de sanitate tuenda 6.12; trans. Green)
5. The Christian Community
For I want you to know how greatly I strive for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen my face…(Colossians 2:1)
Epaphras, who is one of yourselves, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you,
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always remembering you earnestly in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. … Give my greetings to the brethren at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read also the letter, from Laodicea. (Colossians 4:12, 13, 15, 16)
6. Need of Nothing
In the same year [A.D. 60], Laodicea, one of the famous Asiatic cities, was laid in ruins by an earthquake, but recovered by its own resources, without assistance from ourselves [ie. from the Romans]. (Tacitus, Annals 14.27; trans. Jackson)
7. The Financial World at Laodicea (First Century B.C.)
(Cicero in a letter to Gnaeus Sallustius, Proquaestor of Syria.)
My quaestor’s accounts it was neither proper for me to send you, nor had they at that time been made up. It is my intention to deposit them at Apamea. As to my booty, with the exception of the city quaestors, in other words the Roman people, not a soul has touched or will touch a farthing of it.
At Laodicea I think I shall accept sureties for all the public money, so that both I and the people may be insured against the risks of marine transport. (Cicero, The Letters to his Friends, 2.17; trans. Williams)
(Cicero in a letter to Appius Claudius Pulcher, Proconsul in Cilicia.)
On July 31, I think I shall be at Laodicea, where I shall stay for a very few days, while I receive some money due to me on the Treasury Bill of Exchange. (Cicero, The Letters to his Friends 3.5; trans. Williams)
8. A Letter of Recommendation for a Laodicean (First century B.C.)
(Cicero in a letter to P. Servilius.)
In all my province of Cilicia… I have been more intimate with nobody than with Andro of Laodicea, the son of Artemo, and in that community I found in him not only a hospitable friend, but a man extraordinarily well suited to my habitual scheme of life; though it is true that since I quitted my province I have begun to value him a great deal more highly, having had many proofs of his gratitude and unforgetfulness of what I had done for him. It follows that it was a great pleasure to me to see him at Rome. For you cannot have failed to notice (you who have shown generosity to such numbers of people in your province) what proportion of them are found to be grateful.
I have a double object in writing thus — so that you may understand that I
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have good reason for taking the trouble, and so that you yourself may deem the man worthy of your hospitality. You will therefore do me the greatest favour if you make it manifest to him how highly you value me — in other words, if you take him under your protection and assist him in whatever way you can consistently with your honour and convenience. That will give me extreme pleasure, and I ask you again and again to do so. (Cicero, The Letters to his Friends 13.67; trans. Williams)
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