Philippi is located along Via Egnatia, one of the main roads in Rome. It was the major city in Macedonia district. It was also a roman colony. Due to its strategic position, Philippi was a center for trade although it was located 13km away from Neapolis which was the closest sea port. Being a roman colony, the intention was to make it similar to Rome. However, the romans were not able to accomplish this because the city continued to hold onto the culture of Greek Hellenists. Most of the Thracians and Greeks who occupied the area before invasion by the Romans remained in the area even after the coming of the Romans. In the first century, most of the people in Philippi were slaves and peasant farmers. Approximately 40% of the population comprised of citizens of Roman descent while the remaining 60% were mostly from Greek.
Looking the city from a religious point of view, Philippi was had characteristics of cities established in the first century in which many gods were worshipped. One particular aspect that deserves identification and mention is the likely existence of an imperial cult. In this cult, the emperor was viewed as a god and was worshipped by people in the city. As a result, the ideology of claims by Emperor Caesar that he was lord and savior who was expected to bring peace and salvation on earth was widely accepted and known in the whole Roman empire and in particular in Philippi. The idea was part of their cultural beliefs. This was frequently reinforced among the city dwellers by having proclamations and conducting celebrations to glorify the emperor’s acts. However, it does not mean that the imperial cult was the main religious cult in the city. As a consequence, the cult plays the role of an interpretive point that forms part of the Philippians culture.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
When Paul visited the city of Philippi to preach about Jesus, he introduced to them a new concept different from what they already knew. He introduced the concept of Jesus as Lord and savior as recorded in Philippians 2:9-11. Considering that they already knew that Emperor Caesar claimed to be the lord and savior, the Lordship of Jesus must have been unwelcome to the dwellers of the city. They most probably viewed it as blasphemy. There is a likelihood that resistance to the concept introduced by Paul faced resistance. This is owing to the fact that introducing a new concept that contradicts or against what already exists in a culture is difficult to assimilate and reinforce. In addition, they believed in many gods and the idea of believing in a single individual might have sounded ridiculous to them. This was like asking them to abandon their culture and embrace the new culture introduced by Paul.
The Jewish population in the city of Philippi at the time was very small. This is signified by the fact that they met at a place of prayer instead of a synagogue. According to the Jewish culture, a minimum of ten men were needed to make a synagogue. The fact that there was no synagogue at the time shows that the number of Jews living in Philippi was very small. Therefore, there was a likelihood that it was not easy for Paul to introduce the Jewish culture and belief systems to the Philippians due to the fact that there were no many Jews to cause the impact/change.
