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The sixth letter of
the St. John to the
seven churches of
Asia Minor was the
letter to Philadelphia.
The city lay along a
fault line, and is
subject to frequent
and sometimes
powerful
earthquakes, making
the task of
recovering the past
in archaeology a
difficult one.
The city may have
been founded by
Eumenes King of Pergamum (197-160 BCE) in the
C2BCE, and the name
was likely after his
brother Attalus
(later reigned
159-138 BCE), who
through loyalty won
the title
Philadelphus
(brother love). The
city was handed over
to Roman rule in 133
BCE on the death of
Attalus III. The
city may well have
been founded for a
social purpose.
Ramsey states that
the city was a
missionary city from
the beginning,
founded to promote a
certain unity of
spirit, customs, and
loyalty within the
realm.
Located along the
Cogamus River, the
valley connects with
the Hermus River
basin to the
northwest, where Sardis stood 26
miles away. The
valley road was the
lifeline connection
between the Phyrgian
territory to the
east and the harbors
of the Aegean to the
west.
The earthquakes are
amply recorded in
history, a severe on
occurring in 17 CE,
which destroyed this
city and eleven
others. Sardis fared
worse from the
initial quake, but Philadelphia shook more
frequently from
severe aftershocks,
traumatizing the
population.
Strabo noted the
city was ever
subject to quakes.
After Emperor
Tiberius aided in
their rebuilding, it
took the new name of
Neocaesarea (New
Caesar). Under
Vespasian�s rule
(69-79 CE), it
changed names to
Flavia. By the third
century, paganism
had held on in the
face of a
Christianizing
Empire, and the city
became known as
little Athens for
its dedication to
deities. None of
these names or
epithets lasted, and
today the modern
city is called
Alasehir.
Early Church history
reveals that
Ignatius made a
visit to the city on
his way to his
martyrdom in Rome,
and sent a letter to
the church there. |
