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Φίλιπποι | |
 Ruins of the centre of the city. The forum in the foreground, the market and the Basilica in the background. | |
  Philippi Shown within Greece | |
| Location | Filippoi,Eastern Macedonia and ThraceGreece |
|---|---|
| Region | Macedonia |
| Coordinates | 41°00′47″N24°17′11″E / 41.01306°N 24.28639°E /41.01306; 24.28639 |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | 356 BC |
| Abandoned | 14th century |
| Site notes | |
 Interactive map of Philippi | |
| Official name | Archaeological Site of Philippi |
| Criteria | Cultural: iii, iv |
| Reference | 1517 |
| Inscription | 2016 (40thSession) |
| Area | 87.545 ha |
| Buffer zone | 176.291 ha |
Philippi (/fɪˈlɪpaɪ,ˈfɪləˌpaɪ/;Ancient Greek:Φίλιπποι,Phílippoi) was a major mainland Greek city northwest of the nearby island,Thasos. Its original name was Crenides (Ancient Greek:Κρηνῖδες,Krēnĩdes "Fountains")[1]. The city was renamed byPhilip II of Macedon in 356 BC and abandoned in the 14th century after theOttoman conquest. The present village ofFilippoi is located near the ruins of the ancient city and is part of the region ofEast Macedonia and Thrace inKavala, Greece. The archaeological site was classified as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 2016 because of its exceptional Roman architecture, its urban layout as a smaller reflection of Rome itself, and its importance in early Christianity.[2]
Thasian colonists established a settlement at Crenides inThrace in 360/359 BC near the head of theAegean Sea at the foot ofMount Orbelos, now called Mount Lekani, about 13 km (8.1 mi) north-west ofKavala, on the northern border of the marsh that, in antiquity, covered the entire plain separating it from thePangaion Hills to the south.[citation needed] In 356 BC, KingPhilip II of Macedon conquered the city and renamed it to Philippi.
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TheMacedonian conquerors of the town aimed to take control of the neighbouring gold mines and to establish a garrison at a strategic passage: the site controlled the route betweenAmphipolis andNeapolis, part of the great royal route which runs east-west across Macedonia which theRoman Republic reconstructed in the 2nd century BC as part of theVia Egnatia. Philip II endowed the city with important fortifications, which partially blocked the passage between the swamp and Mount Orbelos, and sent colonists to occupy it. Philip also had the marsh partially drained, as the writerTheophrastus (c. 371 –c. 287 BC) attests. Philippi preserved its autonomy within the kingdom of Macedon and had its own political institutions (theAssembly of thedemos). The discovery of new gold mines near the city, at Asyla, contributed to the wealth of the kingdom and Philip established a mint there. The city became fully integrated into the kingdom during the last years of the reign (221 to 179 BC) ofPhilip V of Macedon or the reign ofPerseus of Macedon.[3]
When the Romans destroyed theAntigonid dynasty of Macedon in theThird Macedonian War (168 BC), they divided the kingdom into four separate states (merides).Amphipolis (rather than Philippi) became the capital of the eastern Macedonian state.[4]
Almost nothing is known about the city in this period, but archeological remains include walls, theGreek theatre, the foundations of a house under theRoman forum and a little temple dedicated to ahero cult. This monument covers the tomb of a certain Exekestos, is possibly situated on theagora and is dedicated to the κτίστης (ktístēs), the foundation hero of the city.[citation needed]
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The city reappears in the sources during theLiberators' civil war (43–42 BC) that followed the assassination ofJulius Caesar in 44 BC. Caesar's heirsMark Antony andOctavian confronted the forces of the assassinsMarcus Junius Brutus andGaius Cassius Longinus at theBattle of Philippi on the plain to the west of the city during October in 42 BC. Antony and Octavian won this final battle against the partisans of the Republic. They released some of their veteran soldiers, probably fromLegion XXVIII, to colonize the city, which was refounded asColonia Victrix Philippensium. From 30 BC Octavian established his control of the Roman state, becomingRoman emperor from 27 BC. He reorganized the colony and established more settlers there, veterans (possibly from thePraetorian Guard) and other Italians. The city was renamedColonia Iulia Philippensis,[1] and thenColonia Augusta Iulia Philippensis after January, 27 BC, when Octavian received the titleAugustus from theRoman Senate.
Following this second renaming, and perhaps after the first, the territory of Philippi wascenturiated (divided into squares of land) and distributed to the colonists. The city kept its Macedonian walls, and its general plan was modified only partially by the construction of a forum, a little to the east of the site of Greekagora. It was a "miniature Rome", under the municipal law of Rome, and governed by two military officers, theduumviri, who were appointed directly from Rome, similar to Roman colonies.
The colony recognized its dependence on the mines that brought it its privileged position on theVia Egnatia. Many monuments evidence its wealth – particularly imposing considering the relatively small size of the urban area: the forum, laid out in two terraces on both sides of the main road, was constructed in several phases between the reigns of the EmperorsClaudius (41–54 AD) andAntoninus Pius (138–161), and the theatre was enlarged and expanded to hold Roman games. An abundance of Latin inscriptions also testifies to the prosperity of the city.
TheNew Testament records a visit to the city by the apostlePaul during his second missionary journey (likely in AD 49 or 50).[5] On the basis of theActs of the Apostles[6] and theletter to the Philippians,[7]early Christians concluded that Paul had founded their community. Accompanied bySilas, byTimothy and possibly byLuke (the author of the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Luke), Paul is believed to have preached for the first time on European soil in Philippi,[8] leading to the conversion and baptism of the purple merchant,Lydia of Thyatira. According to the New Testament, Paul visited the city on two other occasions, in 56 and 57. TheEpistle to the Philippians dates from around 61–62 and is generally assumed to show the immediate effects of Paul's instruction.
The development of Christianity in Philippi is indicated by aletter from Polycarp of Smyrna addressed to the community in Philippi around AD 160 and by funerary inscriptions.
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The first church described in the city is a small building that was probably originally a small prayer-house. ThisBasilica of Paul, identified by amosaic inscription on the pavement, is dated around 343 from a mention by the bishop Porphyrios, who attended theCouncil of Serdica that year.
Despite Philippi having one of the oldest congregations in Europe, attestation of abishopric dates only from the 4th century.
The prosperity of the city in the 5th and 6th centuries was attributed[by whom?] to Paul and to his ministry.[citation needed] As in other cities,[which?] many new ecclesiastical buildings were constructed at this time. Seven different churches were built in Philippi between the mid-4th century and the end of the 6th, some of which competed in size and decoration with the most beautiful buildings inThessalonica, or with those ofConstantinople. The relationship of the plan and of the architectural decoration of Basilica B withHagia Sophia and withSaint Irene in Constantinople accorded a privileged place to this church in the history ofearly Christian art. The complex cathedral which took the place of the Basilica of Paul at the end of the 5th century, constructed around an octagonal church, also rivaled the churches of Constantinople.
In the same age, the Empire rebuilt the fortifications of the city to better defend against growing instability in theBalkans. In 473Ostrogothic troops ofTheodoric Strabo besieged the city; they failed to take it but burned down the surrounding villages.
Already weakened by theSlavic invasions at the end of the 6th century – which ruined the agrarian economy of Macedonia – and probably also by thePlague of Justinian in 547, the city was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake around 619, from which it never recovered. There was a small amount of activity there in the 7th century, but the city was now hardly more than a village.
TheByzantine Empire possibly maintained a garrison there, but in 838 theBulgarians underkavhanIsbul took the city and celebrated their victory with amonumental inscription on thestylobate in Basilica B, now partially in ruins. The site of Philippi was so strategically sound that the Byzantines attempted to recapture it around 850. Several seals of civil servants and other Byzantine officials, dated to the first half of the 9th century, prove the presence of Byzantine armies in the city.
Around 969, EmperorNicephorus II Phocas rebuilt the fortifications on the acropolis and in part of the city. These gradually helped to weaken Bulgar power and to strengthen the Byzantine presence in the area. In 1077 Bishop Basil Kartzimopoulos rebuilt part of the defenses inside the city. The city began to prosper once more, as witnessed by the Arab geographerAl Idrisi, who mentions it as a centre of business and wine production around 1150.[citation needed][9]
After a brief occupation by theFranks after theFourth Crusade and the capture of Constantinople in 1204, the city was captured by theSerbs. Still, it remained a notable fortification on the route of the ancientVia Egnatia; in 1354, the pretender to theByzantine throne,Matthew Cantacuzenus, was captured there by the Serbs.
The city was abandoned at an unknown date. When the French travellerPierre Belon visited the area in the 1540s there remained nothing but ruins, used by the Turks as a quarry. The name of the city survived – at first in a Turkish village on the nearby plain, Philibedjik (Filibecik, "Little Filibe" in Turkish), which has since disappeared, and then in a Greek village in the mountains.
Although the site was briefly noted by earlier travellers, the first modern archaeological description, based on a visit in 1856, was published in 1860 byGeorges Perrot.[10] This was followed by the more extensive investigations of the French Mission Archéologique de Macédoine in 1861, led by the archaeologistLéon Heuzey and the architectHonoré Daumet.[11] Excavations by theÉcole française d'Athènes began in the summer of 1914, were renewed in 1920 after an interruption caused by theFirst World War, and continued until 1937.[12] During this time the Greek theatre, the forum, Basilicas A and B, the baths, and the walls were excavated. After theSecond World War, Greek archaeologists returned to the site. From 1958 to 1978, theArchaeological Society of Athens, followed by theGreek Archaeological Service and the University of Thessalonica, uncovered the bishop's quarter and the octagonal church, large private residences, a new basilica near the Museum, and two others in thenecropolis east of the city.
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