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#32.
The Second Missionary Journey (16: 6 - 19: 20).
Philippi. The First Converts (16: 12 - 15).
pp. 61 - 64
Philippi! How poor the reception given by this city to the heralds of salvation, but
how rich the response when the love of the truth had been received.
Luke speaks of Philippi in this passage as "the chief city of that part of Macedonia,
and a colony" (Acts 16: 12). The actual capital was Amphipolis, and a writer composing
a fictitious narrative would almost certainly have made the Apostle go straight to this
city. Amphipolis had, however, fallen into insignificance, and Philippi, owing to its
association with the battle between Octavius and Antony on the one side, and Brutus and
Cassius on the other, had grown in importance. The victory won by Octavius was
celebrated by making Philippi a colony, with the privilege of immunity from taxes. A
table known as the "Pentinger Table" represents Philippi as a flourishing city, with
houses drawn on the site, while Amphipolis, the capital, is only vaguely chronicled. The
rival claims of Amphipolis and Philippi are not in themselves of great importance to us
to-day, but they are interesting as demonstrating Luke's veracity as a writer. Every item
of proven history that is brought to light intensifies our appreciation of the fact that Luke
had "accurately followed from the very first", in order to give us "certainties".
In connection with Acts 16: 12, Bishop Wordsworth puts forward the suggestion
that the word meris, translated "of that part" should be understood as referring to the
frontier as meros is translated elsewhere "coast of Tyre and Sidon", and "coast of
Cęsarea" (Matt. 15: 21, 16: 13). According to this view, the verse would read:
"Philippi, which is chief of the border cities of Macedonia."
Philippi was also a "colony", and coins have been found bearing the inscription
COL., AUG., JUL., PHILIP (i.e. Colonia, Augusta, Julia, Philippensis).
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