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At this point it would perhaps be advisable to get some idea of the constitution of a Roman colony. The
Greeks and the Romans looked at the world from two different points of view. The Greeks were philosophers,
poets, artists, and their citizenship was intimately associated with their literature; hence for them the world was
divided
into `Greeks' and `Barbarians'. The Romans, however, `thought imperially', each man being either politically
a `Roman', or else belonging to a people subjected to Roman rule. The Roman terms were cives and peregrini,
`citizens' and `strangers'. The fundamental idea of a `colony' was that the city of Rome was, so to speak,
transplanted and reproduced in some distant part of the Empire. The colonies were primarily intended as a
protection at frontiers; and they also provided a means of settling and rewarding soldiers whose active service was
over. The insignia of Rome were displayed in the city, and the Latin language was spoken and used on the coinage.
The colonists paid poll-tax as citizens, and also a ground tax, as they were outside Italy. Philippi and Troas,
however, had the special privilege of the Jus Italicum, which raised them to the same state of immunity from
taxation as belonged to Italy itself (Hoeck's Romische Geschechte). With these things in mind, the reader will
realize that the passage in Philippians 3, which speaks of `our citizenship' being `in heaven' (verse 20) would mean
much more to those who received the letter than is immediately obvious from the words used.
The fact that Philippi was a military centre would account for the smallness of the Jewish population, and also
for the presence of Lydia of Thyatira, `a seller of purple'. Thyatira had been famous from early days for the purple
dye which was made there, from the shells of a mollusc commonly known as Tyrian Purpura. Homer mentions the
purple dye of Lydia in the Iliad:
`And as by Lydian or by Carian maid
The purple dye is on the ivory laid' (Iliad iv. 141).
An inscription has also been found in the ruins of Thyatira, bearing the title `The Dyers'.
To return to the narrative itself - upon arrival at Philippi, the apostles did not at once begin to preach, for we read
that they `abode certain days'. Then apparently, when the Sabbath day came, having already discovered that there
was no synagogue in the city:
`We went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the
women which resorted thither' (Acts 16:13).
True to the dispensational character of the time, the apostle keeps literally to the principle of `the Jew first'
(Rom. 1:16) and waits until the Sabbath day. Finding no synagogue, and knowing the customs of his people, he
turns to the river-side and finds there a place where `prayer was wont to be made'. The word in the original is
proseuche, and we learn from contemporary writers that this was an enclosure of circular shape, open to the sky, and
near a river or the sea, because of the ablutions necessary in Jewish worship. Josephus records a number of decrees
that were made by different rulers in connection with this custom. The following is one short extract:
`We have decreed, that as many men and women of the Jews as are willing so to do, may celebrate their
Sabbaths, and perform their holy offices according to the Jewish laws; and make their proseuchae at the seaside,
according to the customs of their forefathers; and if any one, whether he be a magistrate or a private person,
hindereth them from so doing, he shall be liable to a fine, to be applied to the uses of the city' (Ant. Bk. xiv.
10,23).
Why only women are said to have resorted to this place of prayer is unexplained, but, whatever the reason, one
can well imagine what a rebuff this reception would be to any false pride. However, the apostle and his companions
were led of the Lord, and were apparently willing to walk in His way. One at least of the women who listened
would have caused the apostle and his fellow-workers to exchange understanding glances. They had been forbidden
to speak the word in Asia, and had travelled across the sea to preach to the men of Macedonia, and now, to their
surprise and joy, their first convert is found to be a woman belonging to the very province from which, as preachers,
they had been excluded. The words `which worshipped God' which appear in verse 14, indicate that Lydia was
already a proselyte.
Lightfoot draws attention to the place that women occupied in Macedonia as follows: