PHILIPPI (phl-lip'pi), (Gr. 4,1Xorirot,fil'ip-fioy, a plural form of Philip), a city of the proconsular Macedonia (see MACEDONIA) situated eastward of Amphipolis, within the limits of ancient Thrace (Acts xvi;t2; xx:6; Phil. i:t.) It was anciently called l(rav-nee'riez, 1Cpnvaes, Fountains, but having been taken and forti fied by Philip of Macedon, he named it, after him self, Philippi. In thc vicinity were mines of gold but ruins—heaps of stone and rubbish, overgrown with thorns and briars ; but nothing of the in numerable busts and statues, thousands of col umns, and vast masses of classic ruins, of which the elder travelers speak. Ruins of private dwell ings are still visible; also something of a semi circular shape, probably a forum or market-place, 'perhaps the one where Paul and Silas received their undeserved stripes.' The most prominent of the existing remains is the remainder of a palatial edifice, the architecture of which is grand, and the materials costly. The pilasters, chapiters, etc., are of the finest white marble, and the walls were formerly encased with the same stone. These marble blocks are gradually knocked down by the Turks, and 'wrought into their silly grave-stones: The travelers were informed that many of the ruins are now covered by stagnant water, at the and silver: and the spot eventually became cele brated for the battle in which Brutus and Cassius were defeated. Paul made some stay in this place on his first arrival in Greece, and here founded the church to which he afterwards ad dressed one of his epistles. It was here that the
interesting circumstances related in Acts xvi oc curred; and the city was again visited by the Apostle on his departure from Greece (Acts xx: 6). In the former passage (xvi :12) Philippi is called a colony ko-loh-nee'ah (KoMovla), and this character it had in fact acquired through many of the followers of Antony having been colonized thither by Augustus (Dion. Cass. xlvii: 432). The fact that Philippi was a colony was formerly disputed; but its complete verification has strongly attested the minute accuracy of the sacred narrative.
The plain in which the ruins of Philippi stand is embraced by the parallel arms of mountains extended from the Necrokop, which pour into the plain many small streams, by which it is abun dantly watered and fertilized. The acropolis is upon a mount standing out into the plain from the northeast, and the city seems to have extended front the base of it to the south and southwest. The remains of the fortress upon the top consist of three ruined towers and considerable portions of walls., of stone, brick, and very hard mortar. Thc plain below does not now exhibit anything bottom of which they may be seen; but they did not visit this spot.