Lydia

LYDIA. - 1. Heb. Lâdh, Gk. Λάδω (Gen. 10:22; 1 Chron. 11:17; 1 Macc. 8:8): a region of western Asia Minor on the coasts of the Aegean, situated between Mysia to the north, Phrygia to the east and Caria to the south, in a fertile and wealthy country, an obligatory passage between the European continent and the Near East. Its boundaries often varied in the course of its history, which certainly began in 685 B.C. with the victories of King Gyges over the Greek cities of the coast. After the unfortunate Croesus was defeated in 574 by Cyrus the Great, L. lost its autonomy and became a Persian satrapy. Antiochus III of Syria in 190 B.C. had to cede it to the Romans (1 Macc. 8:8), who later incorporated it into the Roman province of Asia.

In the New Testament the name is not mentioned, but its cities, inhabited by numerous Jews, were soon evangelized, and in the Apocalypse are reported the letters written to the Churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Thyatira, Sardis and Philadelphia (1:4, 11; 2:1-2, 18-29; 3:1-13). The first letter of St. Peter, sent to the Churches of Asia, included the ancient cities of L.

2. Lâdh, Lâdhîm (Lydia, Lydii; Isa. 66:19; Ezek. 27:10; 30:5; cf. Gen. 10:13; 1 Chron. 1:13): a region and population perhaps in North Africa.