Philippi: The Church Of Support
- Roman colony and major city of Macedonia visited by Paul for several days on his Second Missionary Journey
- Paul thrown into jail here but later freed after preaching the Gospel and baptizing the jailer with his family
- Church praised in the Epistle to the Philippians for giving Paul aid on his travels
Philippi first makes an appearance in the New Testament after Paul received his vision to visit Macedonia (Acts 16:9). As part of his second missionary journey, Paul visited Philippi, described as a Roman colony and the main city of that Macedonian district (Acts 16:12). His first major activity in the city was the visitation of a prayer meeting, where Paul spoke to Lydia, a seller of purple cloth. After believing and being baptized, she housed Paul and his group (Acts 16:13-15). Later, however, after angering the owners of a slave girl who had lost her psychic powers when Paul commanded a spirit to come out of her, Paul and his companions were thrown into jail (Acts 16:16-24). The group freed from prison and the jailer baptized, Paul and Silas left the city after speaking to a crowd of new believers (Acts 16:25-40). Paul visited the city several years later (Acts 20:6) and wrote an Epistle to the Philippians from jail, where he praised the Philippians for all of the aid they gave to him while he was on his journeys (Philippians 4:14-19).
Located on a large plain to the east of Thessaloniki, Philippi was established on an earlier settlement by King Philip II of Macedon in 357 BC. Originally a small town, it grew under Roman occupation with the building of the Via Egnatia, a road connecting Rome to Byzantium. The site of a major battle in 42 BC, with Brutus and Cassius (the assassins of Julius Caesar) facing Octavian and Antony, Philippi became a Roman colony fifteen years later. Thriving during the Roman Empire, it suffered an earthquake in the 7th century but continued to exist as a military center in the Byzantine Empire, before being abandoned in the 13th century.
Several structures of interest remain in the city. The theater, originally built under Philip II, repaired under the Romans, and restored in the 1950s, held dramatic performances and gladiatorial contests. The Roman Forum, separated from the remainder of the site by a modern road, is a good example of this important venue for Roman administration. Finally, the so-called Octagon Church, an eight-sided structure built on top of a Macedonian tomb, is a good example of an early Christian house of worship.
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