Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/876

 LAODICEA

794

LAOS

Kpiim and curator (nntiquarin) in 1776. His tomb is in the church of S. C'roce, near that of Michael Angelo. He appHed himself early to the study of ancient and modern literature (Cicero, Dante, Firenzuola), filled several times chairs of rhetoric, and was elected a member of the hterary society of the "Arcadians" (where he was called Argilio Celerio). He wrote in Florence his excellent " Ciuide to the Museum " (1780), published in the "Giornale di Pisa' ' ( 1 782) . As an arch- ffiologist, particularly with regard to Etruscan sub- jects, Marini styles him the Varro of the eighteenth century. His " Saggio di lingua etrusca e di.altre an- tiche d'ltalia" appeared at Rome in 1789 (3 vols.). It was followed by different treatises of the same tenor on ancient paleography, on some ancient vases, and other antiquities. He won still more widespread reputation by his history of modern Italian painting (Storia pittorica dell' Italia dal risorgimento delle belle arti fin presso al fine del XVIII secolo, 3 vols.. Bassano, 1795-96). This work, often reprinted (lastly at Venice, 1837-39), was translated into Ger- man, French, and English (twice in the latter tongue, by Roscoe, London, 1828, and by Evans, abridged, London, 1831). Lanzi describes the Schools of Art and their development, and opens his narration with the Florentine artists of the thirteenth century, whom he looks upon as the preservers and revivers of art in Italy. He is remarkable for his widespread learning, his masterful grasp of his subject, his sound judgment, and the classic simplicity of his beautiful diction. He never lost his interest in Graeco-Roman antiquity, and published at Florence, as late as 1808, a critical edi- tion of Hesiod's " Works and Days", with a Latin and an Italian translation (the latter in three-line stanzas). His qualities as a WTiter matched his proficiency as a humanist, and he published at Florence (1807) three volumes of " Inscriptiones et Carmina " ; he left numer- ous translations from Catullus, Theocritus, and others, either printed or in manuscript form. Lanzi was al- ways a devout and ascetic priest. A collection of his edifying works on the Sacrament of the Altar, on the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and on St. Joseph, was published at Rome in 1809.

SoMMERVOGEL. Bibliothcque de la compagnic de Jesus, s. v.; Maurus Boni, Saggio di Sludii del P. Luigi Lami (Venice, 1815) ; Aless. Cappi. Biografia di Luigi Lami (Forli, 1840). G. GlETMANN.

Laodicea, a titular see, of Asia Minor, metropolis of Phrygia Pacatiana, said to have been originally called Diospolis and Rhoas; Antiochus II colonized it be- tween 261 and 246 B. c, and gave it the name of his wife, Laodice. The city stood on a spur of Mount Salbacus, one mile from the left bank of the Lycus, between the Asopus and Mount Cadmus; its territory lay between the Lycus and the Caprus. In 220 B. c. Achaeus was its king; then it formed part of the King- dom of Pergamus, and suffered severely during the war with Mithridates, but recovered its prosperity under Roman rule. About the end of the first cen- tury B. c. it was one of the principal cities of Asia Minor, both as to industries and commerce, being famous for its woollen fabrics and its sandals. It had received from Rome the title of free city, and it be- came the centre of a coni'cntns jiiridicus, which com- prised twenty-four cities liesides itself. Its wealthy citizens embellished it with beautiful monuments. One of the chief of them, Polemon, became King of Armenian Pontus — called after him " Polemoniacus" — and of the coast round Trebizond. The city had a school of medicine and gave birth to the two sceptic philosophers, Antiochus and Theiodas. Its coins and inscri[)ti<)ns show evidence of the worship of Zeus, jEsculapius, Apollo, and the emperors. It is fre- c^uently iiiciitioiicd liy the Byzantine historians, par- ticularly in the epoch of the Comneni, and was fortified by the Emperor Manuel. The Mongol and Turkish invasions brought on its decay, and then its complete

ruin. Its magnificent remains are to be seen near the village of Denizli, formerly and more exactly called DenizH Ladik (Ladik= Laodicea), in the vilayet of Broussa; they consist principally of a stadium, three theatres, an aqueduct, sarcophagi, etc.

At the beginning of the Christian era, Laodicea was inhabited, besides its indigenous population of Hellen- ized Syrians, by Greeks, Romans, and an important Jewish colony. There is extant a letter from the authorities of the city to a Roman magistrate in which the former undertake to refrain from molesting the Jews in their religious observances and customs. These Jews sent regularly to Jerusalem a tribute of twenty pounds of gold. Christianity penetrated into the city from the earliest times: St. Paul mentions the Church of Laodicea as closely united with that of Colossus. It had probably been founded by the Colossian Epa- phras, who shared the care of it with Nymphas, in whose house the faithful used to assemlile. Paul asks the Colossians to communicate to the Church of Lao- dicea the letter which he sends to them, and to read publicly that which should come to them from Lao- dicea, that is, no doubt, a letter which he had written, or was to write, to the Laodiceans (Col., ii, 1 sq.). An apocryphal epistle purporting to be from Paul to the Laodiceans is extant in Latin and Arabic (see Apocry- pha, I, 614). Some of the Greek MSS. end the First Epistle to Timothy with these words: "Written at Laodicea, metropolis of Phrygia Pacatiana". The Church of Laodicea is one of the seven (see Ramsay, The Seven Churches of Asia Minor, London, 1908) to the bishops of which are addressed the letters at the beginning of the Apocalypse (Apoc, iii, 14-21). The first bishops attributed to the See of Laodicea are very uncertain: St. Archippus (Col., iv, 17); St. Nymphas (Col., iv, 15; already indicated as bishop of Laodicea by the Apostolic Constitutions, vii, 46); Diotrephes (ill John, 9). Next comes St. Sagaris, martyr (c. 166). Sisinnius is mentioned in the Acts of the martyr St. Artemon, a priest of his Church. Nunechius assisted at the Council of Niccea (325). Eugenius, known by an inscription, was probably liis successor. The Arian Cecropius was transferred by Constantius to the See of Nicomedia. ^^■hen Phrygia was divided into two parts, Laodicea became the metropolis of Phrygia Pacatiana: it figures under this title in all the "Noti- tioe episcopatuum". Some twenty incumbents are known besides those already enumerated; the last occupied the see in 1450.

There are extant, in Greek, sixty canons of a Coun- cil of Laodicea. That this assembly was actually held, we have the testimony of Theodoret ("In Co- loss.", ii, 18, P. L., LXXXII, 619). There has been much discussion as to the date: some have even thought that the council must have preceded that of Nicsa (325), or at least that of Constantinople (381). It seems safer to consider it as subsequent to the latter. The canons are, undoubtedly, only a r^sum6 of an older text, and indeed appear to be derived from two distinct collections. They are of great impor- tance in the history of discipline and liturgy; Protes- tants have often, but quite without reason, invoked one of them in opposition to the veneration of angels.

I.EQUiEN. Oriens ehriKiianus, I, 791-79S; Smith, Dirt. Greek and Roman geogr. s. v.; Ramsav, Cities and bishoprics of Phrygia, 32-.S3, 344. 542 sq.; Anderson in Journal of Hellenic studies, 1S97, p. 404; Weber in Jahrbuch des k. deulschen archceolog. Instituts, XHI, 1 sq.; Beuruer in ViGot'BOUX, Diet, de la Bibles. V, Laodicre (good bibliography), Laodiccens, epitre aux; BouDlNHON, Note sur le concile de Laodici'-e in Comptes rendu* du eongris scientif international des catholiques, 1888, II. 42^ 427; Hefele, Histoire des conciles, tr. LECLERrQ. I, 989-1028. S. Pktrides.

Laodiceans, Epistle to the. See .Apocrypha, suWitle III, (5) Apocryphal Epistles.

Laon. See Soissons, Diocese of.

Laos, Vicariate Apostolic of, separated from the Vicariate Apostolic of Siam by decree of 4 May, 1899,