Laodiceia
LAODICEIA, AD LYCUM(Λαοδίκεια πρὸς τῷ Λνκῶ: Eski Hissar), a city in the south-west of Phrygia
Ptolemy (Ptol. 5.2.18) and Philostratus ( Vit. Soph. 1.25) call it a town of Caria, while Stephanus B. (s. v.) describes it as belonging to Lydia; which arises from the uncertain frontiers of these countries.
, about a mile from the rapid river Lycus, is situated on the long spur of a hill between the narrow valleys of the small rivers Asopus and Caprus, which discharge their waters into the Lycus. The town was originally called Diospolis, and afterwards Rhoas (Plin. Nat. 5.29), and Laodiceia, the building of which is ascribed to Antiochus Theos, in honour of his wife Laodice, was probably founded on the site of the older town. It was not far west from Colossae, and only six miles to the west of Hierapolis. ( It. Ant. p. 337; Tab. Peut.;Strab. xiii. p; 629.) At first Laodiceia was not a place of much importance, but it soon acquired a high degree of prosperity. It suffered greatly during the Mithridatic War (Appian, Bell. Mithr. 20; Strab. 12. p. 578), but quickly recovered under the dominion of Rome; and towards the end of the Republic and under the first emperors, Laodiceia became one of the most important and flourishing commercial cities of Asia Minor, in which large money transactions and an extensive trade in wood were carried on. (Cic. ad Fam. 2.1. 7, 3.5; Strab. 12. p. 577; comp.Vitr. 8.3.) The place often suffered from earthquakes, especially from the great shock in the reign of Tiberius, in which it was completely destroyed. But the inhabitants restored it from their own means. (Tac. Ann. 14.27.) The wealth of its inhabitants created among them a taste for the arts of the Greeks, as is manifest from its ruins; and that it did not remain behind-hand in science and literature is attested by the names of the sceptics Antiochus and Theiodas, the successors of Aenesidemus (Diog. Laert., 12.116), and by the existence of a great medical school. (Strab. 12. p. 580.) During the Roman period Laodiceia was the chief city of a Roman conventus. (Cic. ad Fam. 3.7, 9.25, 13.54, 67, 15.4, ad Att. 5.15, 16, 20, 21, 6.1, 2, 3, 7, in Verr. 1.30.) Many of its inhabitants were Jews, and it was probably owing to this circumstance, that at a very early period it became one of the chief seats of Christianity, and the see of a bishop. (St. Paul, Ep. ad Coloss. 2.1, 4.15, foil.; Apocal. 3.14, foll.; J. AJ, 20; Hierocl. p. 665.) The Byzantine writers often mention it, especially in the time of the Comneni; and it was fortified by the emperor Manuel. (Nicet. Chon. Ann. pp. 9, 81.) During the invasion of the Turks and Mongols the city was much exposed to ravages, and fell into decay, but the existing remains still attest its former greatness, The ruins near Denisliare fully described in Pococke's, Chandler's, Cockerell's, Arundel's and Leake's works. Nothing,says Hamilton ( Researches, vol. 1. p. 515),can exceed the desolation and melancholy appearance of the site of Laodiceia; no picturesque features in the nature of the ground on which it stands relieve the dull uniformity of its undulating and barren hills; and with few exceptions, its grey and widely scattered ruins possess no architectural merit to attract the attention of the traveller. Yet it is impossible to view them without interest, when we consider what Laodiceia once was, and how it is connected with the early history of Christianity. ..... Its stadium, gymnasium, and theatres (one of which is in a state of great preservation, with its seats still perfectly horizontal, though merely laid upon the gravel), are well deserving of notice. Other buildings, also, on the top of the hill, are full of interest; and on the east the line of the ancient wall may be distinctly traced, with the remains of a gateway; there is also a street within and without the town, flanked by the ruins of a colonnade and numerous pedestals, leading to a confused heap of fallen ruins on the brow of the hill, about 200 yards outside the walls. North of the town, towards the Lycus, are many sarcophagi, with their covers lying near them, partly imbedded in the ground, and all having been long since rifled.
Amongst other interesting objects are the remains of an aqueduct, commencing near the summit of a low hill to the south, whence it is carried on arches of small square stones to the edge of the hill. The water must have been much charged with calcareous matter, as several of the arches are covered with a thick incrustation. From this hill the aqueduct crossed a valley before it reached the town, but, instead of being carried over it on lofty arches, as was the usual practice of the Romans, the water was conveyed down the hill in stone barrel-pipes; some of these also are much incrusted, and some completely choked up. It traversed the plain in pipes of the same kind; and I was enabled to trace them the whole way, quite up to its former level in the town. ..... The aqueduct appears to have been overthrown by an earthquake, as the remaining arches lean bodily on one side, without being much broken.....
The stadium, which is in a good state of preservation, is near the southern extremity of the city. The seats, almost perfect, are arranged along two sides of a narrow valley, which appears to have been taken advantage of for this purpose, and to have been closed up at both ends. Towards the west are considerable remains of a subterranean passage, by which chariots and horses were admitted into the arena, with a long inscription over the entrance. .... The whole area of the ancient city is covered with ruined buildings, and I could distinguish the sites of several temples, with the bases of the columns still in situ..... The ruins bear the stamp of Roman extravagance and luxury, rather than of the stern and massive solidity of the Greeks. Strabo attributes the celebrity of the place to the fertility of the soil and the wealth of some of its inhabitants: amongst whom Hiero, having adorned the city with many beautiful buildings, bequeathed to it more than 2000 talents at his death. (Comp. Fellows, Journal written in Asia Minor, p. 280, foll.; Leake, Asia Minor, p. 251, foll.)
[L.S]LAODICEIA, AD LIBANUM(Λαοδίκεια ἡ πρὸς Λιβάνῳ), mentioned by Strabo (16. p. 755) as the commencement of the Marsyas Campus, which extended along the west side of the Orontes, near its source. [MARSYAS CAMPUS.] It is called Cabiosa Laodiceia by Ptolemy (Καβίωσα Λαοδίκεια, 5.15), and gives its name to a district (Λαοδικηνή), in which he places two other towns, Paradisus (Παράδεισος) and Jabruda (Ἰάβμουδα). Pliny (Plin. Nat. 5.23), among other people of Syria, reckons ad orientem Laodicenos, qui ad Libanum cognominantur.
[G.W]LAODICEIA, AD MARE, a city of Syria, south of HERACLEIA[Vol. 1. p. 1050], described by Strabo (xvi. pp. 751, 752) as admirably built, with an excellent harbour, surrounded by a rich country specially fruitful in vines, the wine of which furnished its chief supply to Alexandria. The vineyards were planted on the sides of gently-sloping hills, which were cultivated almost to their summits, and extended far to the east, nearly to Apameia. Strabo mentions that Dolabella, when he fled to this city before Cassius, distressed it greatly, and that, being besieged there until his death, he destroyed many parts of the city with him, A.D. 43. [ Dict. of Biog. Vol. 1. p. 1059.] It was built by Seleucus Nicator, and named after his mother. It was furnished with an aqueduct by Herod the Great (Joseph. B. J. 1.21.11), a large fragment of which is still to be seen. (Shaw, Travels, p. 262.)
The modern city is named Ladikiyéh, and still exhibits faint traces of its former importance, notwithstanding the frequent earthquakes with which it has been visited. Irby and Mangles noticed that the Marina is built upon foundations of ancient columns,and there are in the town, an old gateway and other antiquities,as also sarcophagi and sepulchral caves in the neighbourhood. ( Travels, p. 223.) This gateway has been more fully described by Shaw (l. c.) and Pococke, as a remarkable triumphal arch, at the SE. corner of the town, almost entire: it is built with four entrances, like the Forum Janiat Rome. It is conjectured that this arch was built in honour of Lucius Verus, or of Septimius Severus.( Description of the East, vol. 2. p. 197.) Shaw noticed several fragments of Greek and Latin inscriptions, dispersed all over the ruins, but entirely defaced. Pococke states that it was a very inconsiderable place till within fifty years of his visit, when it opened a tobacco trade with Damietta, and it has now an enormous traffic in that article, for which it is far more celebrated than ever it was for its wine. The port is half an hour distant from the town, very small, but better sheltered than any on the coast. Shaw noticed, a furlong to the west of the town, the ruins of a beautiful cothon,in figure like an amphitheatre, and capacious enough to receive the whole British navy. The mouth of it opens to the westward, and is about 40 feet wide.COIN OF LAODICEIA AD MARE.
[G.W]LAODICEIA(Λαοδίκεια).
1.A town in Media, founded by Seleucus Nicator, along with the two other Hellenic cities of Apameia and Heracleia. (Strab. 11. p. 524 ; Steph. B. s. v.) Pliny (Plin. Nat. 6.29) describes it as being in the extreme limits of Media, and founded by Antiochus. The site has not yet been identified. (Ritter, Erdkunde, vol. 8. p. 599.)
2.A town which Pliny (Plin. Nat. 6.30) places along with Seleuceia and Artemita in Mesopotamia. [E.B.J]