LAODICEA (Λαοδίκεια). – City of Phrygia on the left bank of the Lycus (hence the distinguishing addition ἐπὶ or πρὸς τῷ Λύκῳ), a tributary of the Maeander. Antiochus II Theos built it on the site of ancient Diospolis or Rhoas; he named it L. after his wife Laodice. A highly active trade soon conferred upon it such importance and prosperity that it overshadowed nearby Colossae (v.). As early as the time of Hyrcanus (135–106 B.C.), a Jewish community had been established at L. (Flavius
Josephus, Antiq. Iud., XIV, 10, 20). St. Paul did not evangelize L. personally. Christianity must have been brought there by Epaphras (Col. 4, 12 ff. 16) during the Apostle’s stay at Ephesus (v.). For the purported letter to the Laodiceans (cf. Col. 4, 16), V. EPHESIANS, EPISTLE TO; LAODICEANS, EPISTLE TO.
The Christian community of L. was the object of a very harsh reproach from St. John (Apoc. 3, 14–20), who seems to allude to the Phrygian powder V. used by the ophthalmologists of L. as an eye medicine, as well as to the city’s wealth which, struck by an earthquake in A.D. 60, managed to recover through its own resources, refusing foreign aid (Tacitus, Ann., XIV, 27).
The Church of L. never attained great prominence. It was represented at the Council of Nicaea by Bishop Nounechios. A council was held at L. around 344–63. Of the city, only a few badly ruined remains survive in the locality called Eski-Hissar, near Denizli.