The life and work of St. Paul

276 THE LIFE AtfD WORK OF ST. PAtJL.
-jhich commemorated the great victory of Philippi ninety-four years before. 1
That victory had finally decided the prevalence of the imperial system, which
was fraught with such vast consequences for the world. In passing to the
banks of the river the missionaries were on the very ground on which tb>
battle had been fought, and near which the camps of Brutus and Cassius had
stood, separated by the river from the army of Octavianus and Antony.
But when they reached the poor open-air proseucha* strange to say, they
only found a few women assembled there. It was clearly no time for formal
orations. They simply sat down, and entered into conversation with the little
group. 8 Their words were blessed. Among the women sat a Lydian
proselytess, a native of the city of Thyatira, who had there belonged to the
guild of dyers. 4 The luxurious extravagance of the age created a large demand
for purple in the market of Rome, and Lydia found room for her profitable
trade among the citizens of Philippi. As she sat listening, the arrow of conviction
pierced her heart. She accepted the faith, and was baptised with her
slaves and children. 6 One happy fruit her conversion at once bore, for she
"
used hospitality without grudging. If you have judged me," she
"
said, to
be faithful to the Lord, come to my house, and stay there." To accede to the
request, modestly as it was urged, was not in accordance with the principles
which the great Apostle had laid down to guide his conduct. Fully acknow-
ledging the right of every missionary of the faith to be maintained by those
to whom he ministered, and even to travel about with a wife, or an attendant
deaconess, he had yet not only foregone this right, but begged as a personal
favour that it might not be pressed upon him, because he valued that proof of
his sincerity which was furnished by the gratuitous character of his ministry.
Lydia, however, would not be refused, and she was so evidently one of those
generous natures who have learnt how far more blessed it is to give than to
receive, that Paul did not feel it right to persist in his refusal. The trade of
Lydia was a profitable one, and in her wealth, joined to the affection which he
cherished for the Church of Philippi beyond all other Churches, we see the
probable reason why he made other Churches jealous by accepting pecuniary
aid from his Philippian converts, and from them alone. 6
There is some evidence that, among the Macedonians, women occupied a
more independent position, and were held in higher honour, than in other
1 Called Kiemer (Miss. ArcfiM. t p. 118).
2 Proseuchae were circular-shaped enclosures open to the air (Epiphan. Haer. TXTT, 1),
often built on the sea-shore or by rivers (Phil, in Flacc. 14 ; Jos. Antt. xiv. 10, 23; Tert.
ad Nat. i. 13 ; Juv. Sat. iii. 12), for the facility of the frequent ablutions which Jewish
worship required.
3 Acts Xvi. 13, (\u\ovfiev ', 14, TOIS XoAov/xei'Oif.
4 The province of Lydia was famous for the art of dyeing in purple (Horn. H. vi. 14^ ?
Claud. Rapt. Proserp. i. 270 ; Strabo, xiii. 4, 14). Sir G. Wheler found an inscription at
Thyatira mentioning " the dyers" (oi /3a^e).
s Acts xvi. 14, jjKove-y . . . Strjvoigev. How unlike invention is the narrative that, mimjnoned
by a vision to Macedonia, his first and most important convert is a woman of the
Asia in which the Spirit had forbidden him to preach !
6 1 Thess. ii. 5, 7, 9 ; twice in Thessalonica, Phil. iv. 16 ; once ia Athens, 2 C. xi. 9 j
once in Hume, Phil. iv. 10,