Philippi

Location of Philippi

Portico of the agora of Philippi

Philippi (in Ancient Greek / is a city of Macedonia East, founded by Philip II in 356 BC. AD on the recent settlement of Thasians Krnids and abandoned in the ^fourteenth century after the conquest of Ottoman. Important station on the Via Egnatia city but still remained small, however Philippi occupies a privileged place in history because of two major events, the victory of the heirs of Caesar under its walls in October AD 42. AD , and especially the preaching Pauline in 49 or 50 : the status of apostolic foundation that gives it is probably the origin of the fortune of the city in the late antiquity , and it is nowadays a significant religious tourism.

Macedonian and Hellenistic Origins

Philip is a foundation of the Macedonian king, Philip II, on the site of the colony Thasians of Krnids (), on the foothills of Mount Orblos (ancient name of Mount Lkana), bordering northern marshes occupied in antiquity entire plain separating it from Mount Pangea South.

The circumstances of the foundation

The objective of this foundation was provided to take control of the mines of gold nearly as establish a garrison on a strategic crossing point ^{Institutions of the Macedonian city}

He undertake reclamation marsh as evidenced by the writer Theophrastus. Philippi retains a genuine autonomy within the Macedonian kingdom : it is a city with its own political institutions (ekklesia of the demos). The discovery of new gold mines around the city, Asyla, contributes to the enrichment of the kingdom of Philip II who established a mint. The integration of the Macedonian kingdom in the city finally intervene under Philip V.

The urban setting

The archaeological remains of the city probably dated to the Macedonian and Hellenistic era are rare, which maintains the uncertainty about the exact shape of the city in its first centuries of existence . The monuments in their original condition, date from this period are pregnant, the theater , the foundations of a house under the Roman forum , a small temple and especially a Heroon Hellenistic (temple dedicated to a hero) whose foundations are conserved between the cathedral and baptistery.

Remains of the first sitting of the wall on the acropolis Macedonian

The enclosure creates problems dating because of its reuse continues until the end of the Byzantine period: the reconstructions were masked foundations Macedonian, except in the upper part, on the acropolis, where there exists more often that the first course, carved into the rock with the first state (see photograph below cons). The excavation of the theater, which bears on the eastern curtain, have nevertheless emerged from the years 1990 several layers of the wall, whose boss is the device characteristic of the Hellenistic period. Their dating is especially confirmed by a Greek inscription commemorating the intervention of two epistates Macedonian appointed Pythodorus Isagoras and, perhaps under the reign of Philip V. In the plain, however, evidence has ever been made with certainty the presence of these levels: in the only systematic exploration of the defensive system in 1937 , the high level of groundwater in the plain of Philippi who was then in full operation sanitation, prevented archaeologists reach the foundation of the wall . Some historians assert that their argument for the layout of the chamber of origin differed from that which is preserved in the plain and down the block on the south side of the Acropolis much farther north, giving the city a very small area, more consistent with their reading of literary evidence.

The enclosure has the rough shape of a truncated rectangle, oriented almost exactly on the cardinal points, north to south: the small north side is the only one with a winding route that follows the crest of the acropolis joining its vertices . The other sides of the enclosure are generally straight with a few occasional deviations, mainly on the east side, where the curtain describes some kinks quite similar rack teeth that characterize some Greek fortifications .

Registration epistates Pythodorus Isagoras and on the wall above the theater.

The Heroon which there remain only three degrees of plaster and pieces of a fence delineating the temenos , covers an underground burial chamber arched perfectly preserved : five rectangular recesses, for receiving urns' s open in the walls of the rectangular chamber, which contains unique furniture as a table in the corner votive northeast. Although the door was found intact, the tomb was plundered in antiquity clearly : Empty niches were found, with some ashes and bones, while some sherds collected in the tomb are clearly post- its construction. In contrast, a cyst under the center of the room was not found by looters, and found a burial particularly important: it contained the skeleton of a young adult or a child dressed in rich gold jewelry ( a crown of oak leaves , a tiara , a necklace ). The dead man is identified by an inscription on the lid of the tomb (Euphns son of Exkstos) . This character is probably the same one that appears on a fragment of an inscription found at Philippi, giving a list of mystics, that is to say insider mysteries of the Great Gods of Samothrace. From these entries and silverware, the tomb dates from ^the second century BC. AD. The presence of a tomb in the middle of a Hellenistic city is not trivial: it implies, which is confirmed by the remains of the building which overcame a Heroon, a building of worship Location, often linked to the commemoration of a founding hero ( / ktsts) of the city.

The city is still small (2000 people?): When the Romans finally destroy the kingdom argade of Macedonia in 167 BC. J. - C. and divide it into four separate states (Mrida) is Amphipolis and not Philippi that became the state capital of Eastern Macedonia.

Byzantine fortifications of the acropolis.

Remains the center of the town forum at the forefront, market and Basilica B at the bottom

The Roman

The city reappears in the sources on the occasion of the Roman civil war following the assassination of Julius Caesar : his heirs Marc Antony (M. Antonius) and Octavian (Caesar Octavianus G. Iulius) clash with supporters of the Republic, M . Junius Brutus and C. Cassius Longinus , in a double battle decisively in the plain west of the city in October AD 42. BC Winner, Marc Antony and Octavian lay off some of their veterans, probably from legion XXVIII, they install in the city, which was refounded as a Roman colony known as Colonia Victrix Philippensium. In 30 BC. BC , Octavian became sole ruler of the Empire reorganized the colony and conduct a new deduction of veterans, perhaps Praetorians and Italians: the city was renamed Colonia Iulia philippensis, completed in Colonia Augusta Iulia philippensis after January 27 BC. AD , lorsqu'Octave itself receives the name of the Senate.

Following this second deduction - and maybe the first - the territory of Philippi was centuri and distributed to settlers . The city keeps its limits Macedonian materialized by the speaker, and his plan is only partially reviewed with management the forum a bit east of the probable location of the Agora : surveys in the paving of the site have uncovered a habitat Hellenistic same general direction as the Roman town. They show that the forum does not include the exact location of the agora. A possible indication of the latter comes from the excavations of the area bishop: the implementation of the Hellenistic Heroon the middle of a residential area is in fact much less likely that the agora where the existence of a civic religion to justify more .

The colony has grown significantly related to wealth that it brings its rich territory and its privileged position on the Via Egnatia. This wealth is reflected in a monumental setting particularly impressive in light of the size of the urban area : the forum ordered two terraces on both sides of the main street are several phases between Claude and the Antonines , the theater was enlarged and fitted to receive Roman games. Abundant epigraphic Latin reflects this prosperity .

In 49 or 50 AD. AD , the city is visited by the apostle Paul . Accompanied by Silas, Timothy, and maybe Luke, the presumed author of Acts of the Apostles , he preached for the first time on European soil in Philippi, and to baptize a marketer of purple , Lydia, in a river at the West of the city: there was then a community Jewish , and a synagogue attested by epigraphy .

Paul had visited the city in two other occasions, 56 and 57 AD. AD. The Epistle to the Philippians dates from 54 - 55 AD. AD and demonstrates the immediate impact of Paul's speech . The subsequent development of Christianity in Philippi is well documented, including a letter from Polycarp of Smyrna sent to the community Philippians to 160 AD. AD , and the epigraphy funeral .

The early Christian era

SW view of the basilica B Acropolis and the background

The "Basilica of Paul"

The first church attested in the city is small and is probably originally a house of prayer: the Basilica of Paul, identified by an inscription of a pavement mosaic , is dated around 343 by the mention of the bishop Porphyrios, whose presence is attested to council of Serdica in that year . The building is a simple rectangular building 27 m long and 12 m wide, which occupies half the width of the third island south east of the forum, south of Roman baths and especially over the Heroon the tomb of Exkstos . It is oriented to the east by a semicircular apse grossly recorded. The nave is separated from an anteroom that serves as a narthex. Both pieces are decorated with mosaic floors in geometric and vegetal.

This house of prayer is of paramount importance for the history of Christianity in Greece to more than one way: although it is already later than a quarter of a century to the legalization of Christianity by Constantine , is the One of the oldest places of worship certainly dated, thanks to the inclusion of Porphyrios and occupies a prominent place in the history of architectural development of Christianity in the provinces of the Empire. The uniqueness of the building is further enhanced by its location: not only is it centrally located in the city, while historians have long thought that for legal, financial and practical, the first churches developed mainly at the periphery of towns, in cemeteries, but it is further constructed in a building close relationship with pagan worship, the Hellenistic Heroon monumentalized Exkstos's grave. This topographic proximity can not be a coincidence: the first Christian churches in Greece are often built on pagan sanctuaries, and it does not seem to have been in the region ⁱⁿ the fourth century, unlike others, systematic campaign of destruction by Christian . While many temples have subsequently been converted into churches, starting with the most famous Athenian temples, the Parthenon , the Erechtheion and Hephaisteion , but this conversion occurred long after they are gone, probably not until the late sixth ^century. At Philippi Similarly, the construction of the basilica to the probable location of the capitol of the colony (see below) comes at a time (around 500) where he lost all function and is probably ruined. Its destruction follows, therefore, purely practical motivations. Appears to be very different if the Heroon near the Basilica of Paul.

Multiplication of basilicas ^the fifth and ^sixth centuries

Register of Bishop Porphyrios in the Basilica of Paul

Although there is nothing left of archaeological or literary tradition of the apostolic foundation of Philippi and worship martyrial the saint are the most likely explanations to explain at least part of the great prosperity of the town to ^Fifth and ^sixth centuries. We see, as in other cities, multiply the ecclesiastical foundations, seven different churches are built between the middle of ^Fourth and the late ^sixth century , some of which rival in size and ornaments with the finest foundations Thessalonians , even Constantinople. The relationship of the plan and the architectural decoration of Basilica B with Hagia Sophia and Saint Irene in Constantinople granted a privileged place in this church in the history of early Christian art. The episcopal complex which takes the place of the Basilica of Paul from the ^fifth century, built around an octagonal church, also competes with the churches of the capital.

These new churches are, in chronological order:

• The Octagon, whose construction dates back to the first half of the fifth ^century: the church which owes its name to the octagonal central plan which it is provided just replace the Basilica of Paul, who quickly proved inadequate to the needs of worship. The Octagon has two major phases of development: it was rebuilt and enlarged in the first half of the sixth ^century. It is the church Cathedral of Philippi, as evidenced by the presence of a large baptistery and two ambos. There is no reason to doubt that, like its predecessor, it is dedicated to the apostle Paul. The adoption of a characteristic octagonal church centered martyriales associated with two entrances (along three north portico of the narthex , propylaea south of the atrium) and the development of important liturgical schedules and, probably as a hotel north of the atrium , are elements that suggest the existence of a cult martyrial and probably a pilgrimage, although it remains no trace in literary sources and archaeological evidence that specific in this regard are questionable .

• Basilica outside the walls, located in the cemetery east of the city, the first phase may date from the early ^fifth century .

• Basilica C, also called Basilica Museum, built in the ^fifth century on the slopes of the Acropolis, north-west of the forum. Last great basilica to have been excavated, it owes its name to the circumstances of its discovery, during construction of the archaeological museum . She knows a second phase, with expansion in the ^sixth century.

• A basilica is a large basilica church which occupies the upper terrace of the forum, the location of temples capitol of the Roman colony, which she reused many architectural elements . On the south side of the atrium, near the monumental semi-circular porch which gives access , is a small chapel in which msobyzantine local tradition still saw in the early twentieth ^century, the "prison of Paul "the place where he was imprisoned after his arrest on the market for proselytizing, according to the narrative of Acts. This is actually a cistern that Roman does not appear to have had a liturgical function at the time of construction of the basilica nearby: it's probably after the destruction of the great church that was converted chapel is a soon magnified by a local legend in the never ending at different times of reinvestment in the urban landscape by the apostolic history . Because of this tradition and the privileged location of the Basilica of A in the city as its size, so it was first identified in the cathedral, dedicated to St. Paul, despite the absence of a real baptistery: excavations of the Octagon and the discovery of the basilica of Paul came definitively rule out this hypothesis in the 1960s.

• The basilica B is the last church built at Philippi in the ^mid-sixth century, and the Palestra Roman Forum in the South . Slightly after Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, it is one of the first applications in the province in terms of domed basilica. P. Lemerle, who performed the systematic exploration in the 1930s, says it was never completed due to the rapid collapse of the dome.

Added to this list two other basilicas whose existence is known through polls, but have not yet been systematically explored, and whose identity therefore remains problematic:

• The Basilica of the field Pavlidis cimtriale second church in the cemetery southeast of the city associated with a building peristyle monumentalized several rich tombs of ^fifth and ^sixth centuries . Only the north wing and part of the narthex were uncovered, the rest of the church being masked by a road.

• The basilica D, even more poorly understood , is the fourth great basilica (the architectural sense) located west of the Forum along the Via Egnatia.

At the same time, the city walls are rebuilt to meet the growing insecurity in the Balkans : from Malchus , in 473 , the city is besieged by the Ostrogoths who fail to take but burn suburbs. This is an indication that the chamber is sufficient state to allow citizens to repel the attack. In the absence of other evidence, the examination of the apparatus of the curtain, in particular its section the best preserved in the north-east between the theater and the gate of Neapolis, suggests at least one phase Late antique repair: Unit Joint alternating foundation of small irregular stones, and some spolia with macaws brick mortar joints is particularly thick in fact characteristic of the fortifications of this period in the region . It is comparable to speakers in ^the fifth century Thessaloniki and Constantinople. The fortifications of Philippi also share another characteristic with these two cities, the existence of a pre-wall, or proteichisma: poorly preserved and never really studied, it could prove a new restoration of urban defenses in the sixth ^century , a period when this kind of defensive mechanism is widespread in the Balkans . The strategic importance of the city as a lock of the Via Egnatia is then confirmed by the scope of work: Reconstruction of the walls does not change its route and the Hellenistic city does not know the retraction of the urban area which is the norm in other Balkan sites of comparable size, as in the neighboring cities of Amphipolis or Abdera.

The Byzantine and Ottoman

Weakened by the invasions of Slavs from the late ^sixth century , which ruined the agrarian economy of Macedonia , and probably by the great plague of 547 , the city is almost totally destroyed by an earthquake around 619 , it does not belong: some adjustments reflect the maintenance of a very reduced activity in ^the seventh century. The city is so much more than a village .

The Byzantine Empire maintained there may be a garrison, but in 838 the city was taken by the Bulgarians of Khan Isbul, celebrating their victory with a monumental inscription on stylobate Basilica B, then partially ruined . Philippi was the site of strategic importance is too great for the Byzantines did not attempt to resume quickly, which is done before 850 : Several seals of civil servants and officers Byzantine dated to the first half of the ^ninth century testify to the presence Byzantine armies in the city.

Around 969 , Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas rebuilt the fortifications made of the acropolis and part of the city . It has gradually weakened the threat of the revival of Bulgarian and the Byzantine Empire. In 1077 , Bishop Basil Kartzimopolos had rebuilt some of the defenses inside the city. She was undergoing a new period of prosperity as evidenced by the Arab geographer Al Idrisi mentions that as a trading and production of wine to 1150 .

Briefly occupied by the Franks after the ^Fourth Crusade and the fall of Constantinople ( 1204 ), the city fell into the hands of Serbs . It then remains a notable fortification on the route of the ancient Via Egnatia : in 1354 , the pretender to the throne of Byzantium, Mathieu Cantacuzino , is captured by the Serbs.

The date of the final abandonment of the city is not known, but when the French traveler Pierre Belon visited the ^sixteenth century , the fact remains but ruins, used by the Turks as a quarry.

The place name was retained in first in a Turkish village in the nearby plain, Philibedjik , now defunct, then a Greek village in the mountains.

Archaeology

The remains of Direkler (Basilica B) designed by H. Daumet in 1861

Reported or briefly described by travelers from the ^sixteenth century , the city is the subject of a first archaeological description in 1856 by Perrot , then in 1861 mainly by L. Heuzey and H. Daumet in their famous Archaeological Mission of Macedonia . The first scientist to recognize the monumental ruins known locally as the "Direkler" (in Turkish, "pillars") as those of a church (later called basilica B "by P. Lemerle) is the famous scientist Austrian Josef Strzygowski who visits the site in 1901 : before him, local legends and passengers saw a palace or administrative building.

We must nevertheless await the summer 1914 to begin the first archaeological excavations, soon interrupted by the war: they are the result of the French School of Athens (EFA) which will resume in 1920 and continue systematically until 1937 with the excavation of the theater, forum, Basilicas A and B, baths and South rampart. After the Second World War , Greek archaeologists resume exploration of the site of the Archaeological Society 1958 to 1978 , and the Archaeological Service and the University of Thessaloniki in turn emit the episcopal district of the Octagon, large mansions , a new basilica near the Museum and two others in the necropolis to the east of the city.

The gap in the urban occupation after the ^fifteenth century is an archaeological site of Philippi privileged. During the colonial period that followed the contemporary Great Catastrophe of 1922 , the Greek settlement of refugees from Asia Minor on either side of the fortifications of the site, creating the contemporary villages Lydia (west) and Krnids (at is) - not to be confused with the colony Thasians year tick - which developed on the outskirts of the ancient city. But the ancient urban area remained intramural unbuildable and was preserved.

The archaeological site depends on both the ^XVIII Ephoria of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities and ^the 12th Ephoria Byzantine, both based in Kavala : the first is responsible for the entire site, while the second controls the neighborhood Episcopal around the Octagon - a second fence protects the inside perimeter of the site overall, and access is restricted at times compared to the whole. Another archaeological authority, created more recently, also works at Philippi: The National Theatre of Philippi ^{Annual Festival}

The theater of Philippi welcomes every year, in summer, a festival of drama under the tutelage of the Municipality of Kavala.

References

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