LAODICEA (1a-ifid-i-se'A.), (Gr. AaoalKeta, lah-oa' ik'i-ah, justice of the people).
There were four places of this name, which it may be well to distinguish, in order to prevent them from being confounded with one another. The first was in the western part of Phrygia, on the borders of Lydia ; the second, in the east ern part of the same country, denominated Laodicea Combusta ; the third, on the coast of Syria, called Laodicea ad Mare, and serving as the port of Aleppo ; and the fourth, in the same country, called Laodicea ad Libanum, from its proximity to that mountain. The thit d of these, that on the coast of Syria, was destroyed by the great earthquake of Aleppo in August, 1822, and at the time of that event was supposed by many to be the Laodicea of Scripture, although in fact not less than four hundred miles from it. But the first named, lying on the confines of Phrygia and Lydia, about forty miles east of Ephesus, is the only Laodicea mentioned in Scripture, and is that one of the 'seven churches in Asia' to which St. John was commissioned to deliver the awful warning contained in Rev. iii:t4-19. The fulfilment of this warning is to be sought, as we take it, in the history of the Christian church which existed in that city, and not in the stone and mortar of the city itself ; for it is not the city, but 'the church of the Laodiceans,' which is denounced.
Laodicea was the capital of Greater Phrygia, and a very considerable city at the time it was named in Scripture (Strabo, p. 578) ; but the frequency of earthquakes. to which this district has always been liable, demolished, some ages after, great part of the city, destroyed many of the inhabitants, and eventually obliged the re mainder to abandon the spot altogether. Laodicea is now a deserted place, called by the Turks Eski-hissar (Old Castle). From its ruins, Laodicea seems to have been situated upon six or seven hills, taking up a large extent of ground. To the north and north-east runs the river Lycus, about a tnile and a half distant ; but nearer it is watered by two small streams, the Asopus and Caprus, the one to the west, and the other to the south-east, both passing into the Lycus, which last flows into the Mxander (Smith, p. 85). Laodicea preserves great remains of its impor tance as the residence of the Roman governors of Asia under the emperors ; namely, a stadium, in uncommon preservation, three theaters, one of which is 45o feet in diameter, and the ruins of several other buildings (Antic]. of Ionia, pt. ii. p. 32 ; Chandler's Asia Minor, c. 67).