Laodicea: One of the Greatest Commercial and Financial Centers of the Ancient World

Watch the eighth episode of the series, The Quest for Answers: Looking for the First Followers of Christ in Turkey. In this eighth show, we visit the city of Denizli, the ancient Laodicea.

Laodicea is the seventh city that received one of the 7 messages to the churches described in Revelation. Laodicea was enormously wealthy and proud of it. When around 60 A.D., it was devastated by an earthquake, its citizens were so rich and independent that, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, they refused imperial help and rebuilt the city using their own resources. Most of the city’s wealth came from the clothing manufacturing industry and banking transactions. Laodicea was widely known for a fine quality of soft and glossy black wool used in the production of different kinds of garments and carpets which were exported all over the world. This commercial prosperity made the city a great banking center where a large quantity of gold was stored.

In addition, Laodicea was famous for its medical school, which had a reputation throughout the ancient world for its treatment of eye diseases by the means of the eye salve made from “Phrygian powder” mixed with oil.

The major weakness of Laodicea was its lack of an adequate and convenient source for water. Its location had been determined by the road system rather than by natural resources. Colosse was known for its cold, pure water, and Hierapolis, in antiquity as well as today, was noted for its hot springs, which provided water used for medicinal purposes as well as for a hot drink. But the Laodiceans did not have an adequate water supply and had to resort to aqueducts to convey water to their city, either from Hierapolis or from Colosse. Such an aqueduct could easily be cut off, leaving the city helpless, especially in the dry season when the Lycus could dry up. By the time the water arrived at Laodicea, much of it was tepid and unpalatable, but they continued to use it.