Church of Philippi has lived without a history, and perished without a memorial."*

Rome. The capital of the Roman Empire; the metropolis of the ancient world. It was during the Apostle's first imprisonment in this city that the Epistle to the Philippians was written. According to tradition, St. Paul was confined in the Mamertine Prison.

Thessalonica. A city of Macedonia situated on the Thermaic Gulf, about a hundred miles from Philippi. It commanded the trade of the Ægean, and retained its importance during the Middle Ages. The Jews have at every period been very numerous at Thessalonica, and accordingly we find the narrative of the Acts saying that in that city was "the synagogue of the Jews," while at Philippi there was no synagogue, but a house of prayer only, outside the walls. It was here that the Apostle received, more than once, succour from Philippi. The city is still an important trading port, being the second city of European Turkey, under the name of Salonica.

• Lightfoot.

HISTORICAL NOTES.

CLEMENT.-Clemens: clement. A fellow-labourer of St. Paul when he was at Philippi. It was generally believed in the Early Church that this was Clement, the Bishop of Rome; the identity is asserted in Eusebius, Origen, and Jerome.

EPAPHRODITUS.-Lovely, fascinating. A leading presbyter of the Philippian Church. During the imprisonment of the Apostle Paul at Rome, he was sent from Philippi with a contribution. While in the imperial city he threw himself heartily into the services of the Gospel, also ministering daily to the wants of the Apostle. He was at length prostrated by a dangerous and all but fatal sickness; fervent prayer was made for his recovery, and God had mercy on him. The heart of St. Paul was made glad, and he would willingly have kept the beloved Christian brother by his side; but Epaphroditus yearned for his home; the Christians at Philippi also

longed for their absent pastor. The Apostle therefore sent him back, and with him the Epistle in which he expressed his thankfulness for that constant affection which had so greatly cheered his heart.

EUODIA. Fragrant. A Christian woman of Philippi who had been guilty of strife and contention.

PAUL. The Apostle of the Gentiles: he had been for many years labouring among Syrians, Cilicians, and the various races of Asia Minor; he had also visited Roman colonies in Asia, when he was suddenly summoned to carry the good tidings to the west. He was at Troas, on the shores of the Egean, when in a vision of the night there appeared to him a man from the opposite shores of Macedonia, beseeching him, and saying, "Come over and help us." The morning dawned, and immediately he arranged with his companions to cross over to the European shores. They reached the Macedonian harbour of Neapolis, and thence passed inland, a distance of about ten miles, to Philippi, the first city which the traveller would reach in this part of Macedonia, and a Roman military colony. Here the Apostle and his companion stayed some days. During these first days they do not appear to have made any attempt to preach the Gospel publicly. But on the Sabbath day St. Paul and his fellow

workers joined a little company of Jewish worshippers who were accustomed to meet on the river-bank outside the city. The assembly consisted only of a few women, among whom sat a Lydian proselytess, a native of the city of Thyatira. As she sat listening, "the Lord opened her heart," and she was baptized, with her slaves and children. Lydia in gratitude pressed her hospitality upon the Apostle and his companions, and they took up their abode in her house. The first few weeks of the Apostle's sojourn at Philippi appear to have been passed in peace and freedom from persecution; but his stay in this new field of labour was cut suddenly short. In the city was a poor girl "possessed with the spirit of divination," who had been hired by certain Philippian citizens, and brought much gain to her owners by soothsaying. Day by day she met the little company of Christians as they went to the place of prayer by the river side, and followed them, crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are come to announce unto you the way of salvation." This at last became a serious interruption to the work of the Apostles, and Paul turned, and in the name of his Divine Master commanded the evil spirit to leave her. The girl was restored, and her masters, finding that the hope of their gains was gone, raised a tumult. Paul and Silas were

arrested, and dragged before the sitting magistrates. The lictors were ordered to strip off the clothes of the accused and scourge them with rods. The order was executed, and, faint and bleeding from the many stripes, they were thrust into prison. Rejoicing in tribulation, their songs were heard in the night. Then was there a miraculous deliverance. The gaoler was converted, and they were set free by command of the magistrates. The Apostle felt that he and his companion had been unjustly scourged and thrust into prison, and he claimed the right of a Roman citizen. Therefore the magistrates, in alarm, besought them to depart from the colony. Accordingly they came forth, and with quietness entered into the house of Lydia, and bidding an affectionate farewell to the Philippian converts, departed.

The Apostle Paul visited Philippi again in his Third Missionary Journey, where he remained for a short time, cheered by the zeal and warm affection of his Philippian converts.

The last recorded event in the life of St. Paul connected with the Philippian Church is his first imprisonment at Rome, during which he wrote his Epistle to that Church. The public events in Rome during that period were of considerable importance. The Emperor Nero was then reigning, and the office of Prefect of the Præ