LAODICEA (Λαοδικεία). - A city in Phrygia on the left bank of the Lycus (hence the distinguishing addition is either "of" or πρός τῷ Λύκῳ), a tributary of the Maeander. Antiochus II Theos built it on the site of the ancient Diospolis or Rhoas; he named it L. after his wife Laodice. Its very active commerce soon conferred such importance and prosperity upon it that it overshadowed nearby Colossae (v.).
Already in the time of Hyrcanus (135–106 BC), a Jewish community had established itself in L. (Flavius Josephus, *Antiquities of the Jews*, XIV, 10, 20). St. Paul did not personally evangelize L. The Christian faith must have been brought there by Epaphras (*Col. 4*, 12–16) during the Apostle’s stay in Ephesus (v.). For the supposed Letter to the Laodiceans (cf. *Col. 4*, 16), see Ephesians, Epistle to the; Laodiceans, Epistle to the.
The Christian community of L. incurred a very severe rebuke from St. John (*Revelation 3*, 14–20), which seems to allude both to the “Phrygian powder” used by the city’s oculists as an eye remedy and to the opulence of the city, which, after being struck by an earthquake in AD 60, recovered by its own resources, refusing foreign aid (Tacitus, *Annals*, XIV, 27).
The Church of L. never attained great distinction. It was represented at the Council of Nicaea by the bishop Nouenchios. A council was held at L. around AD 344–63. Of the city only a few ruins remain, much disturbed, at the site called Eski-Hissar near Denizli.