Paul W. Wallace<\/b><\/p>\n
Thyatira \u2014 A Businessman\u2019s Town<\/b><\/p>\n
And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: \u201cThe words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practise immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her doings; and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay upon you any other burden; only hold fast what you have, until I come. He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power from my Father; and I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.\u201d (Rev. 2:18\u201329)<\/p>\n
The progression in the naming of the seven cities from south to north and along the coast now changes, and the direction is now southeasterly, into the interior. Thyatira was in the region called Lydia, on the Lycus River, on the road which led from Pergamum to Sardis. This was the main road from Pergamum to the east, and Thyatira, in periods of peace and prosperity, thus enjoyed its <\/p>\n
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important location. In times of war, however, Thyatira\u2019s situation was of strategic importance, and would be attacked by any invader from the east. Unprotected by the land, without an acropolis, the city was by nature weak.<\/p>\n
The city was said to be a Macedonian colony (Test. 1), but this must mean only that some of Seleucus\u2019 soldiers settled there; for its older names suggest that a settlement already existed on the site (Test. 2). The town remained under the kings of Syria until 190 B.C. when Antiochus, who plundered Thyatira\u2019s territory (Test. 3), was defeated by the Romans; Thyatira then became attached to Pergamum, and passed with that city into a Roman province in the will of Attalus III.<\/p>\n
The physical remains of Thyatira are as insubstantial as the literary references to it. The modern town of Akhisar occupies the same ground as the ancient town, and a few antiquities have come to light by the activity of the modern villagers. A number of inscriptions were found there, and they show that trade guilds, rather like modern labor unions, were unusually strong at Thyatira. Mention is made, for example, of guilds of leatherworkers, coppersmiths, woolworkers, and others.<\/p>\n
Ruins at Thyatira<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 67<\/p>\n
These guilds, and the difficulties the Thyatiran Christians had in them, are perhaps the problem mentioned in the letter to the church. The guild was an officially constituted body with legal powers, and with the right of owning property, legislating, or initiating public works programs. The ancient businessman derived many advantages, both social and economic, from his membership in the guild. Such societies served a useful and sometimes humane function in antiquity, but their gatherings were connected with idolatrous worship and often led into immoral conduct. The guild was united by the patron deity of the society, and the members pledged their support to one another while consuming the sacrificial meal. The idolatrous associations, as well as the activity during the banqueting, were anti-Christian, and the church in Thyatira should have no part of them. Apparently one influential teacher, a woman, had found some way of getting around the difficulty, but in so doing, she was compromising Christian principles. St. John labels her Jezebel, and her teaching Satanic. Another woman from Thyatira preferred to live abroad, where there were fewer conflicts between her business and her principles (Test. 4).<\/p>\n
Three of the pagan deities worshipped at Thyatira are known to us. The most important was Tyrimnus, (Fig. 9), probably a kind of <\/p>\n
Fig. 9 \u2014 Tyrimnus, the hero of Thyatira<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
sun god, who was associated with Apollo. Apollo\u2019s twin sister Artemis was also worshipped here with the name Boreitene. From inscriptions we also learn that games were held in honor of Apollo Tyrimnaeus and that the priest of this cult and the priestess of the Artemis cult were husband and wife. Of the cult of Sambethe we know little except that she was a prophetess and her sanctuary stood <\/p>\n
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outside the city.<\/p>\n
A prophetic deity was usually consulted only after an animal had been sacrificed and its entrails had been subjected to examination, to see whether or not the deity was kindly disposed. It is perhaps in this context that the Son of God is represented to the Thyatiran Christians as the one who \u201cexamines the kidneys and hearts.\u201d The one whose eyes were like a flame of fire and whose feet were like burnished bronze, who gives to whom he wills an iron rod, and who witnesses the breaking of fragile pottery, speaks to many in Thyatira who daily work the bronze and iron over the smithy fire or who sit and labor at the potter\u2019s wheel.<\/p>\n
Thyatira – Testimonia<\/b><\/p>\n
1. The Settlement<\/b><\/p>\n
Thyateira…a settlement of the Macedonians, which by some is called the farthermost city of the Mysians. (Strabo 13.4.4; trans. Jones)<\/p>\n
2. The Name<\/b><\/p>\n
It was first called Pelopeia and Semiramis; when Seleucus Nicator was at war with Lysimachus, hearing that a daughter had been born to him, he called the city Thygateira…. It was also called the last city of the Mysians. When the Mysians were wanting to found a city, the god commanded them to found a city where they saw a deer running which had been wounded by an arrow, and to name the city from the sacrifice (thyein) of the deer and its running (trochazein). (Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Thyateira)<\/p>\n
3. Pillage and Rapine<\/b><\/p>\n
When he [Antiochus at war with Eumenes of Pergamum, 190 B.C.] said that a great quantity of booty could be secured from the country of the enemy around Thyatira, he urged and finally persuaded Livius to send five thousand men with him. They were sent and within a few days carried off a huge amount of plunder. (Livy 37.8; trans. Sage)<\/p>\n
4. A Christian Businesswoman<\/b><\/p>\n
We remained in this city [Philippi] some days; and on the sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul. And when she was baptized, with her household, she besought us, saying, \u201cIf you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.\u201d And she prevailed upon us. (Acts 16:12\u201315)<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 69<\/p>\n
Sardis \u2014 A Sleeping City<\/b><\/p>\n
And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: \u201cThe words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know your works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead. Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.\u201d (Rev. 3:1\u20136)<\/p>\n
Location<\/b><\/p>\n
Still continuing into the interior, St. John comes to Sardis, the royal city of Lydia, the next important city to the south from Thyatira. Sardis was situated at about the mid-point of the Hermus River valley, a few miles to the south of the Hermus. Mt. Tmolus rose above the city on the south and southeast. A small stream, the Pactolus River, flowed from Mt. Tmolus and passed near Sardis. A gold-bearing stream, the Pactolus was the source of much of Sardis\u2019 wealth. The location of the city also contributed to its fame and prosperity (Test. 6). The fertile plain controlled by Sardis constituted a solid agricultural base for the city, and the mountains channeled most overland routes in this part of Asia Minor through it. Most land traffic from Ephesus or Laodicea to the north would go through Sardis as would all traffic from Smyrna to the east and from Pergamum to the south. In the larger view, Sardis pinpoints almost the center of western Asia Minor.<\/p>\n
Historical Sketch<\/b><\/p>\n
Sardis was first inhabited in the Bronze Age, probably in the 12th century B.C. by Lydians. The earliest kings claimed descent from Heracles, who according to tradition was servant for a time to the Lydian queen Omphale. The last king of this dynasty was Candaules, who was murdered by his wife and Gyges toward the end of the seventh century B.C. (Test. 1). The dynasty begun by Gyges ruled Sardis during the first half of the sixth century B.C., when the kingdom of Lydia enjoyed its most prosperous period. The most <\/p>\n
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powerful kingdom of western Asia Minor, Lydia ruled the Greek colonies along the coast and received in turn influence and ideas from that contact (Test. 2). Croesus, the most famous Lydian king, was particularly receptive to Greek influence, according to a well-known anecdote (Test. 4). The fall of Croesus was an illustration of one of the favorite Greek maxims \u2014 count no man happy till he has reached the end of his life \u2014 for the apparently happy king was defeated by Cyrus the Persian in 546 B.C., when the citadel of Sardis was taken (Test. 3).<\/p>\n
Lydia was now made into a Persian satrapy, with Sardis as the main city. Sardis played a small role in the conflict of the Greeks and the Persians, for in 498 B.C. the Athenians sailed to Asia Minor, marched to Sardis, and burnt part of the city, including the temple of Artemis. The city was rebuilt and attained some magnificence under the Persians, enough to impress the Greek visitors who came there (Test. 5).<\/p>\n
Alexander the Great arrived at Sardis in 334 B.C. after his victory over the Persians in the battle at the Granicus River. The Persian <\/p>\n
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satrap immediately surrendered the city, and Alexander installed a garrison for the collection of tribute. But Alexander dealt kindly with Sardis, even restoring the old sanctuary of Artemis and building a new temple and altar to Zeus (Test. 9). After Alexander\u2019s death the city was ruled by the Seleucids, except for a few years at the end of the third century, when a usurper named Achaeus proclaimed himself king of the area and took up residence in Sardis (Test. 11). Antiochus defeated the usurper in a daring commando operation executed by some of his officers and ruled Sardis until 190 B.C., when at the battle of Magnesia the Romans got control of the area. Sardis was then annexed to Pergamum, and was with Pergamum willed to Rome in 133 B.C. The city fared well under the Romans, who repaired some of the old buildings and built new ones. But Sardis was to suffer one more disaster in antiquity, for in A.D. 17 a severe earthquake hit the region, and much of Sardis was ruined. The reconstruction of Sardis following the earthquake was carried out by decree of the emperor Tiberius (Test. 8, 10).<\/p>\n
Temple of Artemis at Sardis<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Archaeological Remains<\/b><\/p>\n
Most of the ancient buildings excavated around Sardis have been found to date to centuries beyond the limits of our study. Of the <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 72<\/p>\n
buildings standing in the first century, the following may be mentioned. The remains of a theater stand on the north slopes of the acropolis, south of the Izmir-Ankara highway (Fig. 10). It was built in the third century B.C. and was restored in Roman times; the structure could accommodate about 20,000 persons. To the east of the acropolis was the Ionic temple of Artemis, erected near the Pactolus River. The building went through various alterations in its history; the original temple was built shortly after the death of Alexander. A sandstone altar is dated a couple of centuries earlier than the temple and was probably used in the worship of Cybele, the Anatolian goddess with whom the Greeks associated their Artemis (Fig. 11). A number of tombs of the Lydian or Persian period have <\/p>\n
Fig. 11 \u2014 Ephesus and Sardis represented by their goddesses<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
been recognized around Sardis. Of special interest is a large number of burial mounds located about six miles or so to the north and northwest of Sardis. They are called Bin Tepe by the Turks and contain the tombs of the Lydian kings or nobility. The largest mound, 226 ft. high and 1164 ft. in diameter, was known as the tomb of Alyattes (Test. 7). (See Bible and Spade,<\/i> Winter 1972, pp. 23-25.)<\/p>\n
Character<\/b><\/p>\n
The mood of St. John\u2019s letter to Sardis is that of impending disaster. What form the disaster will take is not stated, but unless the situation changes, it is certain to occur, because Sardians have not taken adequate precautions. That which was weak and about to collapse they have not bothered to strengthen, and what new works they had begun were left unfinished (Test. 3). It is night, and the Sardians are sleeping (Test. 1, 10); they do not remember, as Croesus had (Test. 4), what they had received and heard from the history of their city.<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 73<\/p>\n
The language used in this letter to describe the spiritual disaster about to befall the Sardians is reminiscent of the conditions accompanying the great earthquake of A.D. 17 (Test. 10). Major earthquakes are usually preceded by minor tremors \u2014 nature\u2019s way of warning the watchful that worse is to come. In the respite, action must be taken to prepare shock-proof structures or at least to strengthen the dilapidated. That catastrophe struck at night, when people were sleeping; and presumably, those who failed to escape to safety had their names removed from the list of citizens on the city\u2019s ledgers, the Sardian book of life.<\/p>\n
Sardis \u2014 Testimonia<\/b><\/p>\n
1. A Foolish King is Murdered in His Sleep (seventh century B.C.)<\/b><\/p>\n
Now Candaules conceived a passion for his own wife, and thought she was the most beautiful woman on earth. To this fancy of his there was an unexpected sequel.<\/p>\n
In the king\u2019s bodyguard was a fellow he particularly liked whose name was Gyges, son of Dascylus. With him Candaules not only discussed his most important business, but even used to make him listen to eulogies of his wife\u2019s beauty.<\/p>\n
One day the king (who was doomed to a bad end) said to Gyges: \u201cIt appears you don\u2019t believe me when I tell you how lovely my wife is. Well, a man always believes his eyes better than his ears; so do as I tell you \u2014 contrive to see her naked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gyges gave a cry of horror. \u201cMaster,\u201d he said, \u201cwhat an improper suggestion! Do you tell me to look at the queen when she has no clothes on? No, no: \u2018off with her skirt, off with her shame\u2019 \u2014 you know what they say of women. Let us learn from experience. Right and wrong were distinguished long ago \u2014 and I\u2019ll tell you one thing that is right; a man should mind his own business. I do not doubt that your wife is the most beautiful of women,\u201d so for goodness\u2019 sake do not ask me to behave like a criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thus he did his utmost to decline the king\u2019s invitation, because he was afraid of what might happen if he accepted it.<\/p>\n
The king, however, told him not to distress himself. \u201cThere is nothing to be afraid of,\u201d he said, \u201ceither from me or my wife. I am not laying a trap for you; and as for her, I promise she will do you no harm. I\u2019ll manage so that she doesn\u2019t even know that you have seen her. Look: I will hide you behind the open door of our bedroom. My wife will follow me in to bed. Near the door there\u2019s a chair\u2014she will put her clothes on it as she takes them off, one by one. You will be able to watch her with perfect ease. Then, while she\u2019s walking away from the chair towards the bed with her back to you, slip away through the door \u2014 and mind she doesn\u2019t catch you.\u201d<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 74<\/p>\n
Gyges, since he was unable to avoid it, consented, and when bedtime came Candaules brought him to the room. Presently the queen arrived, and Gyges watched her walk in and put her clothes on the chair. Then just as she had turned her back and was going to bed, he slipped softly out of the room. Unluckily, the queen saw him.<\/p>\n
At once she realized what her husband had done. But she did not betray the shame she felt by screaming, or even let it appear that she had noticed anything. Instead she silently resolved to have her revenge. For with the Lydians, as with most barbarian races, it is thought highly indecent even for a man to be seen naked.<\/p>\n
For the moment she kept her mouth shut and did nothing; but at dawn the next morning she sent for Gyges after preparing the most trustworthy of her servants for what was to come. There was nothing unusual in his being asked to attend upon the queen; so Gyges answered the summons without any suspicion that she knew what had occurred on the previous night.<\/p>\n
\u201cGyges,\u201d she said, as soon as he presented himself, \u201cthere are two courses open to you, and you may take your choice between them. Kill Candaules and seize the throne, with me as your wife; or die yourself on the spot, so that never again may your blind obedience to the king tempt you to see what you have no right to see. One of you must die; either my husband, the author of this wicked plot; or you, who have outraged propriety by seeing me naked.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a time Gyges was too much astonished to speak. At last he found words and begged the queen not to force him to make so difficult a choice. But it was no good; he soon saw that he really was faced with the alternatives, either of murdering his master, or of being murdered himself. He made his choice \u2014 to live.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me,\u201d he said, \u201csince you drive me against my will to kill the king, how shall we set on him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will attack him when he is asleep,\u201d was the answer; \u201cand on the very spot where he showed me to you naked.\u201d<\/p>\n
All was made ready for the attempt. The queen would not let Gyges go or give him any chance of escaping the dilemma: either Candaules or he must die. Night came, and he followed her into the bedroom. She put a knife into his hand, and hid him behind the same door as before. Then, when Candaules was asleep, he crept from behind the door and struck.<\/p>\n
Thus Gyges usurped the throne and married the queen. (Herodotus 1.8-12; trans. S\u00e9lincourt)<\/p>\n
2. Appearance and Reality (sixth century B.C.)<\/b><\/p>\n
When all these nations had been added to the Lydian empire, and Sardis was at the height of her wealth and property, all the great Greek teachers of that epoch, one after another, paid visits to the capital. Much the most distinguished of them was Solon the Athenian, the man who at the request of his countrymen had made a code of laws for Athens. He was on his travels at the time, intending to be away ten years, in order to avoid the necessity of repealing any of the laws he had made. That, at any rate, was the real reason of his absence, though he <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 75<\/p>\n
gave it out that what he wanted was just to see the world. The Athenians could not alter any of Solon\u2019s laws without him, because they had solemnly sworn to give them a ten year\u2019s trial.<\/p>\n
For this reason, then \u2014 and also no doubt for the pleasure of foreign travel \u2014 Solon on left home and, after a visit to the court of Amasis in Egypt, went to Sardis to see Croesus.<\/p>\n
Croesus entertained him hospitably in the palace, and three or four days after his arrival instructed some servants to take him on a tour of the royal treasuries and point out the richness and magnificence of everything. When Solon had made as thorough an inspection as opportunity allowed, Croesus said: \u201cWell, my Athenian friend, I have heard a great deal about your wisdom, and how widely you have travelled in the pursuit of knowledge. I cannot resist my desire to ask you a question; who is the happiest man you have ever seen?\u201d<\/p>\n
The point of the question was that Croesus supposed himself to be the happiest of men. Solon, however, refused to flatter, and answered in strict accordance with his view of the truth. \u201cAn Athenian,\u201d he said, \u201ccalled Tellus.\u201d Croesus was taken aback. \u201cAnd what,\u201d he asked sharply, \u201cis your reason for this choice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are two good reasons,\u201d said Solon, \u201cfirst, his city was prosperous, and he had fine sons, and lived to see children born to each of them, and all these children surviving; and, secondly, after a life which by our standards was a good one, he had a glorious death. In a battle with the neighbouring town of Eleusis, he fought for his countrymen, routed the enemy and died like a soldier; and the Athenians paid him the high honour of a public funeral on the spot where he fell.\u201d<\/p>\n
All these details about the happiness of Tellus, Solon doubtless intended as a moral lesson for the king; Croesus, however, thinking he would at least be awarded second prize, asked who was the next happiest person whom Solon had seen.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo young men of Argos,\u201d was the reply; \u201cCleobis and Biton, They had enough to live on comfortably; and their physical strength is proved not merely by their success in athletics, but much more by the following incident. The Argives were celebrating the festival of Hera, and it was most important that the mother of the two young men should drive to the temple in her ox-cart; but it so happened that the oxen were late in coming back from the fields. Her two sons therefore as there was no time to lose, harnessed themselves to the cart and dragged it along, with their mother inside, for a distance of nearly six miles, until they reached the temple. After this exploit, which was witnessed by the assembled crowd, they had a most enviable death \u2014 a heaven-sent proof of how much better it is to be dead than alive. Men kept crowding round them and congratulating them on their strength, and women kept telling the mother how lucky she was to have such sons, when, in sheer pleasure at this public recognition of her sons\u2019 act, she prayed the goddess Hera, before whose shrine she stood, to grant Cleobis and Biton, who had brought her such honour, the greatest blessing that can fall to mortal man.<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 76<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter her prayer came the ceremonies of sacrifice and feasting; and the two lads, when all was over, fell asleep in the temple \u2014 and that was the end of them, for they never woke again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Argives had statues made of them, which they sent to Delphi, as a mark of their particular respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Croesus was vexed with Solon for giving the second prize for happiness to the two young Argives, and snapped out: \u201cThat\u2019s all very well, my Athenian friend; but what of my own happiness? Is it so utterly contemptible that you won\u2019t even compare me with mere common folk like those you have mentioned?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy lord,\u201d replied Solon, \u201cI know God is envious of human prosperity and likes to trouble us; and you question me about the lot of man. Listen then; as the years lengthen out, there is much both to see and to suffer which one would wish otherwise…You are very rich, and you rule a numerous people; but the question you asked me I will not answer, until I know that you have died happily. Great wealth can make a man no happier than moderate means, unless he has the luck to continue in prosperity to the end. Many very rich men have been unfortunate, and many with a modest competence have had good luck. The former are better off than the latter in two respects only, whereas the poor but lucky man has the advantage in many ways; for though the rich have the means to satisfy their appetites and to bear calamities, and the poor have not, the poor, if they are lucky, are more likely to keep clear of trouble, and will have besides the blessings of a sound body, health, freedom from trouble, fine children, and good looks.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow if a man thus favoured dies as he has lived, he will be just the one you are looking for: the only sort of person who deserves to be called happy. But mark this: until he is dead, keep the word \u2018happy\u2019 in reserve. Till then, he is not happy, but only lucky.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody of course can have all these advantages, any more than a country can produce everything it needs: whatever it has, it is bound to lack something. The best country is the one which has most. It is the same with people: no man is ever self-sufficient \u2014 there is sure to be something missing. But whoever has the greatest number of the good things I have mentioned, and keeps them to the end, and dies a peaceful death, that man, my lord Croesus, deserves in my opinion to be called happy.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook to the end, no matter what it is you are considering. Often enough God gives a man a glimpse of happiness, and then utterly ruins him.\u201d (Herodotus 1.28-32; trans. S\u00e9lincourt)<\/p>\n
3. Sardis on the Point of Death (The Capture of Sardis \u2014 546 B.C.)<\/b><\/p>\n
This was how Sardis was taken. On the fourteenth day of the siege Cyrus sent officers to ride round his lines and tell the troops that he promised a reward for the first man to scale the wall. Following this an attempt was made in force, but it failed and was abandoned; then a Mardian called Hyroeades resolved to try at a point in the fortification which was unguarded, because a successful attack there had never been supposed possible. It was a section of the central <\/p>\n
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stronghold so precipitous as to be almost inaccessible. In old days the Telmessians had pronounced that Sardis would never be taken if Meles, who was king at the time, carried round the walls the lion which his concubine had born him. So far as the rest of the fortifications were concerned, where they were open to attack, Meles took their advice and had the lion carried round; but this one point he neglected, thinking that the sheer drop was sufficient defence. It is on the side of the city which faces Tmolus.<\/p>\n
On the previous day Hyroeades the Mardian had seen one of the Lydians fetch a helmet, which had rolled down this precipitous slope, and the sight of the man climbing down had set him thinking. He had then made the ascent himself, and other Persians followed; after them a great many more climbed up, and Sardis was taken and sacked. (Herodotus 1.84; trans. S\u00e9lincourt)<\/p>\n
4. Croesus Remembers and Repents (sixth century B.C.)<\/b><\/p>\n
In this way Sardis was captured by the Persians and Croesus taken prisoner, after a reign of fourteen years and a siege of fourteen days. The oracle was fulfilled; Croesus had destroyed a mighty empire\u2014his own.<\/p>\n
The Persians brought their prisoner into the presence of the king, and Cyrus chained Croesus and placed him with fourteen Lydian boys on a great pyre that he had built; perhaps he had made a vowand wished to fulfil it; or it may be that he had heard that Croesus was a godfearing man, and set him on the pyre to see if any divine power would save him from being burnt alive. But whatever the reason, that was what he did; and Croesus, for all his misery, as he stood on the pyre, remembered how Solon had declared that no man could be called happy until he was dead. It was as true as if God had spoken it. Till then Croesus had not uttered a sound; but when he remembered, he sighed bitterly and three times, in anguish of spirit, pronounced Solon\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
Cyrus heard the name and told his interpreters to ask who Solon was; but for a while Croesus refused to answer the question and kept silent; at last, however, he was forced to speak. \u201cHe was a man,\u201d he said, \u201cwho ought to have talked with every king in the world. I would give a fortune to have had it so.\u201d Not understanding what he meant, they renewed their questions and pressed him so urgently to explain, that he could no longer refuse. He then related how Solon the Athenian once came to Sardis, and made light of the splendour which he saw there, and how everything he said\u2014though it applied to all men and especially to those who imagine themselves fortunate \u2014 had in his own case proved all too true.<\/p>\n
While Croesus was speaking, the fire had been lit and was already burning round the edges. The interpreters told Cyrus what Croesus had said, and the story touched him. He himself was a mortal man, and was burning alive another who had once been as prosperous as he. The thought of that, and the fear of retribution, and the realization of the instability of human things, made him change his mind and give orders that the flames should at once be put out, and Croesus and the boys brought down from the pyre. But the fire had got a hold, and the attempt to extinguish it failed. The Lydians say that when Croesus understood that Cyrus had changed his mind, and saw everyone vainly trying to <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 78<\/p>\n
master the fire, he called loudly upon Apollo with tears to come and save him from his misery, if any of his gifts had been pleasant to him. It was a clear and windless day; but suddenly in answer to Croesus\u2019 prayer clouds gathered and a storm broke with such violent rain that the flames were put out.<\/p>\n
This was proof enough for Cyrus that Croesus was a good man whom the gods loved. (Herodotus 1.86-87; trans. S\u00e9lincourt)<\/p>\n
5. Works Brought to Perfection (fifth century B.C.)<\/b><\/p>\n
…the story goes that when Lysander came to him bringing the gifts from the allies, this Cyrus showed him various marks of friendliness,…adding besides that Cyrus personally showed him round his paradise at Sardis. Now Lysander admired the beauty of the trees in it, the accuracy of the spacing, the straightness of the rows, the regularity of the angles and the multitude of the sweet scent that clung round them as they walked; and for wonder of these things he cried, \u201cCyrus, I really do admire all these lovely things, but I am far more impressed with your agent\u2019s skill in measuring and arranging everything so exactly.\u201d Cyrus was delighted to hear this and said: \u201cWell, Lysander, the whole of the measurement and arrangement is my own work, and I did some of the planting myself.\u201d \u201cWhat, Cyrus?\u201d exclaimed Lysander, looking at him, and marking the beauty and perfume of his robes, and the splendour of the necklaces and bangles and other jewels that he was wearing, \u201cdid you really plant part of this with your own hands?\u201d \u201cDoes that surprise you, Lysander?\u201d asked Cyrus in reply. \u201cI swear by the Sun-god that I never yet sat down to dinner when in sound health, without first working hard at some task of war or agriculture, or exerting myself somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lysander himself declared, I should add, that on hearing this, he congratulated him in these words: \u201cI think you deserve your happiness, Cyrus, for you earn it by your virtues.\u201d (Xenophon, Oeconomicus<\/i> 4.20-25; trans. Marchant)<\/p>\n
6. The Situation of Sardis<\/b><\/p>\n
Sardis is a great city, and, though of later date than the Trojan times, is nevertheless old, and has a strong citadel. It was the royal city of the Lydians.<\/p>\n
Above Sardis is situated Mt. Tmolus, a blest mountain, with a look-out on its summit, and arcade of white marble, a work of the Persians, whence there is a view of the plains below all round, particularly the Cayster Plain. And round it dwell Lydians and Mysians and Macedonians. The Pactolus River flows from Mt. Tmolus; in early times a large quantity of gold-dust was brought down in it, whence, it is said, arose the fame of the riches of Croesus and his forefathers. But the gold-dust has given out….<\/p>\n
Below the city lie the plain of Sardis and that of the Cyrus and that of the Hermus and that of the Cayster, which are contiguous to one another and are the best of all plains. Within 40 stadia from the city one comes to Gygaea, which is mentioned by the poet, the name of which was later changed to Coloe, where <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 79<\/p>\n
Is the temple of Coloenian Artemis, which is charecterised by great holiness. (Strabo 13.4.5; trans. Jones)<\/p>\n
7. A King\u2019s Monument<\/b><\/p>\n
Near Lake Coloe are the monuments of the kings. At Sardis is the great mound, on a lofty base, of Alyattes, built, as Herodotus says, by the common people of the city, most of the work on which was done by prostitutes; and he says that all women of that country prostituted themselves; and some call the tomb of Alyattes a monument of prostitution. Some report that Lake Coloe is an artificial lake, made to receive the overflows which take place when the rivers are full. (Strabo 13.4.7; trans. Jones)<\/p>\n
8. Wealth and Instability<\/b><\/p>\n
Callisthenes says that Sardis was captured first by the Cimmerians, and then by the elegiac poet, and lastly in the time of Cyrus and Croesus. \u2026<\/p>\n
The city was later restored in a notable way because of the fertility of its territory, and was inferior to none of its neighbours, though recently it has lost many of its buildings through earthquakes. However, the forethought of Tiberius, our present ruler, has, by his beneficence, restored not only this city but many others – I mean all the cities that shared in the same misfortune at about the same time. (Strabo 13.4.8; trans. Jones)<\/p>\n
9. A Place of Strength (fourth century B.C.)<\/b><\/p>\n
Alexander himself ascended to the fortress, where was the Persian garrison; he formed no mean opinion of the strength of the position, which was very high, sheer, and fortified all round with a triple wall. Alexander was minded to build a temple on the height to Olympian Zues, and to set up an altar near it. But as he was surveying the height for the best place, suddenly (it was summer-time) there broke a storm, with heavy crashes of thunder, and violent rain, just over the palace of the Lydian kings; from this Alexander supposed that here was a divine intimation where he must build the temple to Zeus, and so he gave orders accordingly. (Arrian 1.17.5.6; trans. Robson)<\/p>\n
10. Sudden Disaster (A.D. 17)<\/b><\/p>\n
In the same year, 12 important cities of Asia collapsed in an earthquake, the time being night, so that the havoc was the less foreseen and the more devastating. Even the usual resource in these catastrophes, a rush to open ground, was unavailing, as the fugitives were swallowed up in yawning chasms. Accounts were given of huge mountains sinking, of former plains seeing heaved aloft, of fires flashing out amid the ruin. As the disaster fell heaviest upon the Sardians, it brought them the largest measure of sympathy\u2026(Tacitus, Annals 2.47; trans. Jackson)<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 80<\/p>\n
11. Commando Operation at Night, and Sardis Falls (Antiochus and Achaeus, 216-215 B.C.)<\/b><\/p>\n
Round Sardis there was a constant succession of skirmishes and battles both by night and day, the soldiers devising against each other every species of ambush, counter-ambush, and attack: to describe which in detail would not only be useless, but would be altogether tedious. At last after the siege had lasted more than one year, Lagoras the Cretan intervened. He had considerable military experience, and had observed that as a rule the strongest cities are those which most easily fall into the hands of the enemy owing to the negligence of their inhabitants when, relying on the natural and artificial strength of a place, they omit to keep guard and become generally remiss. He had also noticed that these very cities are usually captured at their very strongest points where the enemy are supposed to regard attack as hopeless. At present he saw that owing to the prevailing notion of the extreme strength of Sardis, every one despaired of taking it by any such coup de main,<\/i> and that their only hope was to subdue it by famine; and this made him pay all the more attention to the matter and seek out every possible means in his eagerness to get hold of some such favourable opportunity. Observing that the wall along the so-called Saw \u2014 which connects the citadel with the town \u2014 was unguarded, he began to entertain schemes and hopes of availing himself of this. He had discovered the remissness of the guard here from the following circumstance. The place is exceedingly precipitous and beneath it there is a ravine into which they used to throw the corpses from the city and the entrails of the horses and mules that died, so that a quantity of vultures and other birds used to collect here. Lagoras, then, seeing that when the birds had eaten their fill they used constantly to rest on the cliffs and on the wall, knew for a certainty that the wall was not guarded and was usually deserted. He now proceeded to visit the ground at night and note carefully at what places ladders could be brought up and placed against the wall. Having found that this was possible at a certain part of the cliff, he approached the king on the subject. The king welcomed the proposal, and begged Lagoras to put his design in execution, upon which the latter promised to do the best he could himself, but begged the king to appeal for him to Theodotus the Aetolian and Dionysius the captain of the bodyguard and beg them to be his associates and take part in the enterprise, both of them being in his opinion men of such ability and courage as the undertaking required. The king at once did as he was requested, and these three officers having come to an agreement and discussed all the details, waited for a night in which there would be no moon towards morning. When such a night came, late in the evening of the day before that on which they were to take action they chose from the whole army 15 men distinguished by their physical strength and courage, whose duty it would be to bring up the ladders and afterwards mount the wall together with themselves and take part in the hazardous attempt. They next chose 30 others who were to lie in ambush at a certain distance, so that when they themselves had crossed the wall and reached the nearest gate, these men should fall upon the gate from outside and attempt to cut through the hinges and bar of the gate, while they themselves cut from within the bar on that side and the bolt-pins. These were to <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 81<\/p>\n
be followed by a select force of 2,000 men, who were to march in through the gate and occupy the upper edge of the theatre, a position favourably situated for attacking the garrisons both of the citadel and city. In order that no suspicion of the truth should arise from the selection of these men, he had caused it to be reported that the Aetolians were about to throw themselves into the city through a certain ravine, and that, acting on this information, energetic measures had to be taken to prevent them.<\/p>\n
Every preparation having been made, as soon as the moon set, Lagoras and his party came stealthily up to the foot of the cliff with their scaling ladders and concealed themselves under a projecting rock. At daybreak, as the watch was withdrawing from this spot, and the king, as was his custom, was engaged in sending some troops to the outposts and in marching the main body out to the hippodrome and there drawing them up in battle-order, at first no one had any inkling of what was occurring. But when two ladders were set up and Dionysius was the first to mount the one and Lagoras the other, there was a great excitement and commotion in the army. It so happened that the assailants could not be seen by those in the town or from the citadel by Achaeus owing to the projecting brow of the rock; but the venturesome and perilous ascent was made in full view of Antiochus\u2019 army; so that either from astonishment and surprise or from apprehension and fear of the result all stood breathless but at the same time overjoyed. The king, therefore, noticing this excitement in the camp and wishing to divert the attention both of his own forces and of the besieged from his attempt, advanced his army and made an attack on the gate at the other side of the town, known as the Persian gate. Achaeus, observing from the citadel the unusual movement of the enemy, was for long quite at a loss, being entirely puzzled and unable to understand what was going on. However, he sent off to meet them at the gate a force which was too late to assist, as they had to descend by a narrow and precipitous path. Aribazus, the commander of the town, advanced unsuspectingly to the gate which he saw Antiochus was attacking, and making some of his men mount the wall sent the rest out through the gate, with orders to engage the enemy and check his advance.<\/p>\n
Simultaneously Lagoras, Theodotus, and Dionysius had crossed the precipitous ridge and reached the gate beneath it. While some of them engaged the enemy they encountered, the rest were cutting the bar, while those outside to whom this task had been assigned had come up to the gate and were similarly employed. The gate was soon opened and the 2,000 entered and occupied the upper edge of the theatre, upon which all the men hurried back from the walls and from the Persian gate, where Aribazus had previously sent them to resist the enemy, all eager to pass the word to fall upon those who had entered the city. But as, upon this taking place, the gate was opened for their retreat, some of the king\u2019s men who were following close upon the retiring force got in together with them, and as soon as they had made themselves masters of the gate, others from behind continued to pour in, while others again were breaking open the neighbouring gates. Aribazus and all the garrison of the town, after a short struggle with the invaders, fled in haste to the citadel, and upon this, while Theodotus and Lagoras remained in the neighbourhood of the theatre, showing sound practical sense in thus holding themselves in reserve during the whole <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 82<\/p>\n
operation, the rest of the army pouring in from all sides took possession of the city. Henceforth some of them massacring all they met, others setting fire to the houses and others dispersing themselves to pillage and loot, the destruction and sack of Sardis was complete. It was in this manner that Antiochus made himself master of Sardis…(Polybius 7.15-18; trans. Paton)<\/p>\n
ARCHAEOLOGY\u2019S ANTHEM<\/i><\/p>\n
Shh,<\/p>\n
hear strata-symphony<\/p>\n
winging our way<\/p>\n
that rocks, lifted-up,<\/p>\n
stones, sifted-up,<\/p>\n
soils, drifted-up<\/p>\n
in Israel play.<\/p>\n
Here tell-probing spaders<\/p>\n
clay data-banks turn,<\/p>\n
and though once rejected,<\/p>\n
old lamps, resurrected,<\/p>\n
anew are inspected<\/p>\n
for science to burn.<\/p>\n
Young rabbi once walked here<\/p>\n
earth-melodies say;<\/p>\n
slaked thirst at this well;<\/p>\n
sweat blood in this dell,<\/p>\n
then, cross-burdened, fell<\/p>\n
on Dolorosa way.<\/p>\n
Meet monarch, Old Testament,<\/p>\n
(\u201ccouldn\u2019t have been\u201d?)<\/p>\n
where diggers upfling<\/p>\n
his royal seal-ring;<\/p>\n
hard sherds to him sing.<\/p>\n
Hark,<\/p>\n
hear the rock-records<\/p>\n
in Israel sing!<\/p>\n
Lula Bradt Stewart<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:3 (Summer 1976) p. 83<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paul W. Wallace Thyatira \u2014 A Businessman\u2019s Town And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: \u201cThe words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. \u201cI know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that … Continue reading “JOURNEY
\nBY LAMPLIGHT
\nA VISIT TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA \u2014 PART 3”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}