Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Laodicea

LAODICEA (-sē'ä), in ancient geography, the name of several towns of Asia, the most important of which was a city of ancient Phrygia, near the river Lycos, so called after Laodice, Queen of Antiochus Theos, its founder, built on the site of an older town named Diospolis. It was destroyed by an earthquake during the reign of Tiberius, but rebuilt by the inhabitants, who were very wealthy. A severe rebuke is addressed to its inhabitants in the Apocalypse. It fell into the hands of the Turks in 1255, was again destroyed in 1402, and is now a heap of ruins, known by the name of Eski-Hissar. Art and science flourished

among the ancient Laodiceans, and it was the seat of a famous medical school. The number of Jews who were settled here at the rise of Christianity will account for its importance. An important ecclesiastical council, the First Council of Laodicea, was held here in 363, which adopted resolutions concerning the canon of the Old and New Testaments and referring to ecclesiastical discipline. A second council, 476, condemned the Eutychians.