LIDIA. - 1. Heb. Lâdh, Gr. Λάδω (Gen. 10, 22; I Par. 11, 17; I Mach. 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 western Asia. Its boundaries
varied frequently during 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. When the unfortunate Croesus was defeated by Cyrus the Great in 574, L. lost its autonomy and became a Persian satrapy. In 190 B.C. Antiochus III of Syria had to cede it to the Romans (I Mach. 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; Is. 66, 19; Ez. 27, 10; 30, 5; cf. Gen. 10, 13; I Par. 1, 13): a region and population perhaps in North Africa.