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Rh his punishment consisted in his having warned the Trojans against the wooden horse left by the Greeks. But, whatever his crime may have been, the punishment stands out even among the tragedies of Greek legend as marked by its horror—particularly so as it comes to us in Virgil (Aeneid, ii. 199 sq.), and as it is represented in the marble group, the Laocoon, in the Vatican. In the oldest existing version of the legend—that of Arctinus of Miletus, which has so far been preserved in the excerpts of Proclus—the calamity is lessened by the fact that only one of the two sons is killed; and this, as has been pointed out (Arch. Zeitung, 1879, p. 167), agrees with the interpretation which Goethe in his Propylaea had put on the marble group without reference to the literary tradition. He says: “The younger son struggles and is powerless, and is alarmed; the father struggles ineffectively, indeed his efforts only increase the opposition; the elder son is least of all injured, he feels neither anguish nor pain, but he is horrified at what he sees happening to his father, and he screams while he pushes the coils of the serpent off from his legs. He is thus an observer, witness, and participant in the incident, and the work is then complete.” Again, “the gradation of the incident is this: the father has become powerless among the coils of the serpent; the younger son has still strength for resistance but is wounded; the elder has a prospect of escape.” Lessing, on the other hand, maintained the view that the marble group illustrated the version of the legend given by Virgil, with such differences as were necessary from the different limits of representation imposed on the arts of sculpture and of poetry. These limits required a new definition, and this he undertook in his still famous work, Laokoon (see the edition of Hugo Blümner, Berlin, 1876, in which the subsequent criticism is collected). The date of the Laocoon being now fixed (see ) to 40–20, there can be no question of copying Virgil. The group represents the extreme of a pathetic tendency in sculpture (see, Plate I. fig. 52).  LAODICEA, the name of at least eight cities, founded or renovated in the later Hellenic period. Most of them were founded by the Seleucid kings of Syria. Seleucus, founder of the dynasty, is said by Appian to have named five cities after his mother Laodice. Thus in the immense realm of the Seleucidae from the Aegean Sea to the borders of India we find cities called Laodicea, as also (q.v.). So long as Greek civilization held its ground, these were the commercial and social centres. The chief are Laodicea ad Lycum (see below); Combusta on the borders of Phrygia, Lycaonia and Pisidia; a third in Pontus; a fourth, ad mare, on the coast of Syria; a fifth, ad Libanum, beside the Lebanon mountains; and three others in the far east—Media, Persia and the lower Tigris valley. In the latter countries Greek civilization was short-lived, and the last three cities disappeared; the other five continued great throughout the Greek and Roman period, and the second, third and fourth retain to the present day the ancient name under the pronunciation Ladik, Ladikiyeh or (q.v.).

(mod. , q.v.) was founded probably by Antiochus II. Theos (261–46 ), and named after his wife Laodice. Its site is close to the station of Gonjeli on the Anatolian railway. Here was one of the oldest homes of Christianity and the seat of one of the seven churches of the Apocalypse. Pliny states (v. 29) that the town was called in older times Diospolis and Rhoas; but at an early period Colossae, a few miles to the east, and Hierapolis, 6 m. to the north, were the great cities of the neighbourhood, and Laodicea was of no importance till the Seleucid foundation (Strabo, p. 578). A favourable site was found on some low hills of alluvial formation, about 2 m. S. of the river Lycus (Churuk Su) and 9 m. E. of the confluence of the Lycus and Maeander. The great trade route from the Euphrates and the interior passed to it through Apamea. There it forked, one branch going down the Maeander valley to Magnesia and thence north to Ephesus, a distance of about 90 m., and the other branch crossing the mountains by an easy pass to Philadelphia and the Hermus valley, Sardis, Thyatira and at last Pergamum. St Paul (Col. iv. 15) alludes to the situation of Laodicea beside Colossae and Hierapolis; and the order in which the last five churches of the Apocalypse are enumerated (Rev. i. 11) is explained by their position on the road just described. Placed in this situation, in the centre of a very fertile district, Laodicea became a rich city. It was famous for its money transactions (Cic. Ad Fam. ii. 17, iii. 5), and for the beautiful soft wool grown by the sheep of the country (Strabo 578). Both points are referred to in the message to the church (Rev. iii. 17, 18).

Little is known of the history of the town. It suffered greatly from a siege in the Mithradatic war, but soon recovered its prosperity under the Roman empire. The Zeus of Laodicea, with the curious epithet Azeus or Azeis, is a frequent symbol on the city coins. He is represented standing, holding in the extended right hand an eagle, in the left a spear, the hasta pura. Not far from the city was the temple of Men Karou, with a great medical school; while Laodicea itself produced some famous Sceptic philosophers, and gave origin to the royal family of Polemon and Zenon, whose curious history has been illustrated in recent times (W. H. Waddington, Mélanges de Numism. ser. ii.; Th. Mommsen, Ephem. Epigraph. i. and ii.; M. G. Rayet, Milet et le Golfe Latmique, chap. v.). The city fell finally into decay in the frontier wars with the Turkish invaders. Its ruins are of wide extent, but not of great beauty or interest; there is no doubt, however, that much has been buried beneath the surface by the frequent earthquakes to which the district is exposed (Strabo 580; Tac. Ann. xiv. 27). See W. M. Ramsay, Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, i.-ii. (1895); Letters to the Seven Churches (1904); and the beautiful drawings of Cockerell in the Antiquities of Ionia, vol. iii. pl. 47-51.

 LAODICEA, SYNOD OF, held at Laodicea ad Lycum in Phrygia, some time between 343 and 381 (so Hefele; but Baronius argues for 314, and others for a date as late as 399), adopted sixty canons, chiefly disciplinary, which were declared ecumenical by the council of Chalcedon, 451. The most significant canons are those directly affecting the clergy, wherein the clergy appear as a privileged class, far above the laity, but with sharply differentiated and carefully graded orders within itself. For example, the priests are not to be chosen by the people; penitents are not to be present at ordinations (lest they should hear the failings of candidates discussed); bishops are to be appointed by the metropolitan and his suffragan; sub-deacons may not distribute the elements of the Eucharist; clerics are forbidden to leave a diocese without the bishop’s permission. Other canons treat of intercourse with heretics, admission of penitent heretics, baptism, fasts, Lent, angel-worship (forbidden as idolatrous) and the canonical books, from which the Apocrypha and Revelation are wanting.

See Mansi ii. 563-614; Hardouin i. 777-792; Hefele, 2nd ed., i. 746-777 (Eng. trans. ii. 295-325).

 LAOMEDON, in Greek legend, son of Ilus, king of Troy and father of Podarces (Priam). The gods Apollo and Poseidon served him for hire, Apollo tending his herds, while Poseidon built the walls of Troy. When Laomedon refused to pay the reward agreed upon, Apollo visited the land with a pestilence, and Poseidon sent up a monster from the sea, which ravaged the land. According to the oracle, the wrath of Poseidon could only be appeased by the sacrifice of one of the king’s daughters. The lot fell upon Hesione, who was chained to a rock to await the monster’s coming. Heracles, on his way back from the land of the Amazons, offered to slay the monster and release Hesione, on condition that he should receive the wonderful horses presented by Zeus to Tros, the father of Ganymede, to console him for the loss of his son. Again Laomedon broke his word; whereupon Heracles returned with a band of warriors, attacked Troy, and slew Laomedon and all his sons except Priam. According to Diodorus Siculus, Laomedon aggravated his offence by imprisoning Iphiclus and Telamon, who had been sent by Heracles to demand the surrender of the horses. Laomedon was buried near the Scaean gate, and it was said that so long as his grave remained undisturbed, so long would the walls of Troy remain impregnable.

See Homer, Iliad, v. 265, 640, vii. 452, xxi. 443; Apollodorus ii. 5. 9 and 6. 4; Diod. Sic. iv. 32, 42, 49; Hyginus, Fab. 89; Horace, Odes iii. 3, 22; Ovid, Metam. xi. 194.

 LAON, a town of northern France, capital of the department of Aisne, 87 m. N.E. of Paris on the Northern railway. Pop. (1906), town, 9787, commune (including troops) 15,288. It is