As you
might
expect,
PHILIPPI
(
Filippoi
on some
maps and
signs)
was
named
after
Philip
II of
Macedon,
who
wrested
the town
from the
Thracians
in 356
BC for
the sake
of
nearby
gold
mines on
Mount
Pangéo.
However,
it owed
its
later
importance
and
prosperity
to the
Roman
construction
of the
Via
Egnatia,
which
ran from
the
Adriatic
to
Byzantium.
With
Kavála/Neápolis
as its
port,
Philippi
was
essentially
the
easternmost
town of
Roman-occupied
Europe.
Here
also, as
at
Actium,
the fate
of the
Roman
empire
was
decided
on Greek
soil, at
the
Battle
of
Philippi
in 42
BC.
After
assassinating
Julius
Caesar,
Brutus
and
Cassius
had fled
east of
the
Adriatic
and,
against
their
better
judgement,
were
forced
into
confrontation
on the
Philippi
plains
with the
pursuing
armies
of
Antony
and
Octavian.
The
"honourable
conspirators",
who
could
have
successfully
exhausted
the
enemy by
avoiding
action,
were
decimated
by
Octavian
in two
successive
battles,
and, as
defeat
became
imminent,
first
Cassius,
then
Brutus
killed
himself
- the
latter
running
on his
comrade's
sword
with the
purported
Shakespearian
sentiment,
"Caesar
now be
still, I
killed
thee not
with
half so
good a
will."
Saint
Paul
landed
at
Kavála
and
visited
Philippi
in 49 AD
and so
began
his
mission
in
Europe.
Despite
being
cast
into
prison
he
retained
a
special
affection
for the
Philippians,
his
first
converts,
and the
congregation
that he
established
was one
of the
earliest
to
flourish
in
Greece.
It has
furnished
the
principal
remains
of the
site:
several
impressive,
although
ruined,
basilican
churches.
Philippi
is
easily
reached
from
Kavála,
just
14km
distant;
buses
(which
continue
to the
dull
market
town of
Dhráma)
leave
every
half-hour,
and drop
you by
the road
that now
splits
the site
The
site
Of the
churches
at the
site (Tues-Sun
8.30am-6pm;
¬2.40)
the most
conspicuous
is the
Direkler
(Turkish
for "columns"
or "piers"),
to the
south of
the
modern
road
which
here
follows
the line
of the
Via
Egnatia.
Also
known as
Basilica
B, this
was an
unsuccessful
attempt
by its
sixth-century
architect
to
improve
the
basilica
design
by
adding a
dome. In
this
instance
the
entire
east
wall
collapsed
under
the
weight,
leaving
only the
narthex
convertible
for
worship
during
the
tenth
century.
The
central
arch of
its west
wall and
a few
pillars
of
reused
antique
drums
stand
amid
remains
of the
Roman
forum
. A line
of
second-century
porticoes
spreads
outwards
in front
of the
church,
and on
their
east
side are
the
foundations
of a
colonnaded
octagonal
church
which
was
approached
from the
Via
Egnatia
by a
great
gate.
Behind
the
Direkler
and,
perversely,
the most
interesting
and
best-preserved
building
of the
site, is
a huge
monumental
public
latrine
with
nearly
fifty of
its
original
marble
seats
still
intact.
Across
the road
on the
northern
side,
stone
steps
climb up
to a
terrace,
passing
on the
right a
Roman
crypt,
reputed
to have
been the
prison
of Saint
Paul
and
appropriately
frescoed.
The
terrace
flattens
out onto
a huge
paved
atrium
that
extends
to the
foundations
of
another
extremely
large
basilica,
the
so-called
Basilica
A.
Continuing
in the
same
direction
around
the base
of a
hill you
emerge
above a
theatre
cut into
its
side.
Though
dating
from the
original
town it
was
heavily
remodelled
as an
amphitheatre
by the
Romans -
the
bas-reliefs
of
Nemesis,
Mars and
Victory
(on the
left of
the
stage)
all
belong
to this
period.
It is
now used
for
performances
during
the
annual
summer
Philippi-Thássos
Festival.
The
museum
, above
the road
at the
far end
of the
site, is
rather
dreary.
The
best
general
impression
of the
site -
which is
extensive
despite
a lack
of
obviously
notable
buildings
- and of
the
battlefield
behind
it can
be
gained
from the
acropolis
, a
steep
climb
along a
path
from the
museum.
Its own
remains
are
predominantly
medieval.
