“816. PHILIPPI—ACTS 16:11-12”

Philippi—Act_16:11-12

The voyagers must have had a fair wind, for the same evening they reached the island of Samothracia, and seem to have anchored for the night under the shelter of its high shore, and the next evening brought them to Neapolis. Thus they accomplished in two days a voyage, which at a later period, and in the reverse direction, occupied five days. Note: Compare Act_16:11-12, with 20:6. The Neapolis of Macedonia, at which they landed, was the port of Philippi, and is now represented by the small Turkish village of Cavallo. Paul and his party tarried not there, but went on to Philippi, which had thus the distinction of being the first city of Europe in which the gospel was preached by the great apostle of the Gentiles. We use this limiting phrase; because it cannot be supposed that, after so many years, this was the first time that the glad tidings had been heard in any European city. We cannot doubt that ere this the Gospel had been preached at least in Rome, by disciples from Jerusalem and Antioch.

The original name of Philippi was Dalhos; but having been repaired and embellished by Philip, the father of Alexander, it acquired from him its later name. Its historical fame is however Roman, rather than Greek; several battles having been fought there, in the civil wars of the Romans—particularly that decisive one between Antony and Brutus; and it was here that, after he had lost that battle, the latter destroyed himself. At this present time it was, the sacred historian informs us, “the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony.” This is an instance of that minute historical accuracy in the author of the Acts, of which we have already pointed out many instances, and which, even apart from its claims to inspiration, affords the means of critically establishing its authority as an historical document. It is indeed disputed whether the text should be understood to mean as translated above, or “a city of the first part of Macedonia,” which might seem preferable, were it not that it exacts a slight change in the original text (πρώτη to πρωτῆς), which no manuscript sanctions. Either way we have two assertions, the truth of which is amply confirmed from history and from coins, that Macedonia was divided into parts, and that Philippi was “a colony;” the altered translation merely makes the part of Macedonia, in which Philippi stood, the first of the “parts” into which it was divided, or Macedonia Prima, and such we know that it was; the fact of its being the “chief city”—though it disappears from this rendering, is conveyed in the fact of its being a “colony”—for a city that was “a colony” must needs have been the chief city (urbis primaria) of any “part” of Macedonia in which it stood.

Coin of Macedonia Prima

Livy gives a particular account of the division of Macedonia into four parts or regions, by the consul L. Emilius Paulus, who, in the year 168 B.C., reduced the country to the yoke of Rome. Note: Liv. Hist. xl. ch. 29. Accordingly, there are extant coins of all these parts or provinces, except the third; and those of the first are remarkably abundant. These coins bear on their obverse the heads of different deities, and on their reverse different symbols, with the inscription—ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ ΠΡΩΤΗΣ—(money) of the Macedonians of the first province. A Roman colony was a settlement of Roman—that is Italian—citizens and soldiers, but chiefly soldiers, in some cities of a conquered country, with the view of maintaining and consolidating the Roman authority and influence in the country. These colonies enjoyed very high municipal privileges and exemptions, and were so many lesser Romes, centers of Latin population in foreign lands. That a town was a colony, was therefore a distinction fit to be mentioned; and that Philippi was such, as Luke states, is shown by the fact; that there are colonial coins of Philippi, from Augustus to Caracalla, and which show that the full Roman name of the place was Colona Augusta Julia Philippensis. One of the series is contemporary with the visit of Paul, being of the reign of Claudius, whose head appears on the obverse. On the reverse, which we offer, is the colonial inscription, with the genius of the city placing a garland on the emperor’s head. The Latin inscription points to the same fact—those on the coins of other towns, not colonies, in the Eastern Empire of Rome, being in Greek.

Coin of Philippi

In these colonies all the insignia of distinctively Roman power, were more conspicuously displayed than in other towns of the same province; and Paul, as he trod the streets of Philippi, could not fail to call to mind, that he was a Roman citizen. Indeed, by recollecting the predominantly Roman character of the place, some of the incidents that occurred at Philippi will be the better understood.

It appears, from the existing remains, that Philippi occupied a fertile plain between two ridges of mountains. The Acropolis is upon a mount, standing out into this plain, from the north-east, and the city seems to have extended from the base of it, for some distance to the south and south-west. The remains of the fortress, upon the top, consist of three ruined towers, and considerable portions of walls of stone, brick, and very hard mortar. The plain between exhibits nothing but ruins, or heaps of stone and rubbish, overgrown with thorns and briars; but nothing is now seen of the numerous busts and statues, and thousands of columns, and vast masses of classic ruins, of which earlier travellers speak. Ruins of private buildings are still discernible; also something of a semicircular shape, probably a forum or market-place—perhaps the one in which Paul and Silas received their undeserved stripes. The most prominent among the ruins are the remains of an ancient palace, the architecture of which is grand, and the materials costly. The pilasters, chapiters, etc., are of the finest white marble, and the walls were formerly encased in the same stone—but have gradually been knocked down by the Turks, to furnish materials for their preposterous grave-stones. A large portion of the ruins are said to be covered with stagnant water. We owe these particulars to the journal of the American missionaries, Dwight and Schauffler, Note: Printed in the American Missionary Herald, for September, 1836, where two original views are given—one a general view, and the other a rough representation of the so-called “palace.” who state—“We stopped about three hours among these interesting remains. What enthusiasm would have seized us if we had discovered the prison of Paul and Silas (if such a thing were possible), and the dwelling of the happy ‘δεσμοφυλαξ,’ or ‘keeper of the prison.’ Gladly would we have given up the privilege of seeing and copying the splendid remains of the palace, and all the old walls and towers of the Acropolis, where Paul never set his foot. But so it is; we could see but little of the whole, and examine still less; and what remains of this cradle of Christianity in Europe is exceedingly disfigured.” One of these travelers realized what must have been Paul’s first view of the city, coming, as he did, by the road from Neapolis. There is a Roman road direct from Neapolis, paved throughout, and cut through the least passable part of a moderate swell of mountains—“When we arrived at the top of the mountain, the place where Paul must have had the first glance of that plain and city, where he was to open the proclamation of the gospel on European ground, I turned round to see what impression the spectacle might have made upon him, and truly a more inspiring prospect cannot well be fancied. The road is broad enough, and the hill so widening towards the plain, that a very large and rich part of the latter becomes visible at once; and the direction of the road is such, as to throw the hill projecting, with the Acropolis on its summit, and the city of Philippi at its base, right into the center of the picture…. I have no doubt that Paul and his little missionary band, stopped here with wonder and delight, and looked down into the plain with anticipations of absorbing interest. It may be they sat down upon some of these rocks to rest themselves, after the wearisome mountain was gained, and to strengthen each other in the Lord, by pious conversation, and by the repetition of many a precious promise respecting the conversion of the whole world, and the eventual universality of Christ’s kingdom. It may be, that they withdrew a little into a solitary place among these woods, to join in prayer for yonder Philippi, for all Macedonia, and for a fallen world.”

Autor: JOHN KITTO