SALONICA, IN MACEDONIA.
By J. Henry House
BY REV. J. HENRY HOUSE, D.D. Salonica, recently reoccupied by the American Board as a center for work among the Bulgarians of Macedonia, is the Thessalonica of the Acts of the Apostles. It is a city of great antiquity, and is interesting alike for the memories which it awakens of ancient Greece and Rome, and for what it recalls of the history of the apostle Paul and the Christian church since his day. . . . This city was, until within a few years, the possessor of two triumphal arches erected in the time of the Roman emperors. The oldest one, which spanned the Via Egnatia at the western extremity of the city, without doubt existed in Paul’s time, and he probably passed under it in going out of the city to Berea. Upon this column was the inscription referring to the “Politarcs,” which is exactly the name (a strange one to scholars) which Luke gives to the rulers of the city in the Acts. This arch was pulled down to furnish materials for the quay. The larger part of the stone upon which was found the inscription has been placed in the British Museum. The Arch of Constantine still spans the Via Egnatia at the eastern extremity of the city. Upon each of the bases are very interesting sculptured bass-reliefs in stone, though somewhat injured by fires and the hand of time. The figures represent a Roman triumph. Although the arch goes by the name of Constantine, a Danish antiquarian, who spent a good deal of time in studying it, believes it to belong to the time of the Emperor Galerius (305–311 A.D.). Between the Rotunda and the sea one may still see the open space called the Hippodrome, where thousands of the city’s inhabitants were massacred by order of Theodosius the Great, who in consequence was not allowed by Ambrose of Milan to partake of the communion for eight months. Salonica is still called Thessalonica by the Greeks. Its history, which is of surpassing interest to the scholar and the Christian, seems to reach back into the dim ages of mythology. Opposite the city, and across its beautiful bay, rises among the clouds the majestic Olympus, the fabled home of the gods. Of the city under its earliest names of Emathia, Holia, and Therma, very little is known. Cassander, the husband of the sister of Alexander the Great, is said to have rebuilt and beautified Therma and to have changed its name to Thessalonica, that of his wife. We have time for only a hint as to the history of the city. Xerxes encamped here with his great army on his way to Greece. The great orator Cicero spent some time in banishment here, and some of his letters were dated from this place. Anthony and Octavius rested here after the battle of Philippi, and made the place a “free city.” But to the Christian other memories are more precious than these. Here the great missionary Paul walked, preached, and founded a Christian church. Twelve feet below the present street at the Arch of Constantine was found the marble pavement of the13very same street upon which, doubtless, the apostle walked. His repeated visits to the city, together with his sufferings here for Christ’s sake, entitle it to the name of the Apostolic City. The important work which the Christians of that apostolic church wrought in this whole district is understood by what Paul says of them in 1 Thess. 1:7, 8: “So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to Godward is spread abroad.” All through the Christian ages this city has held a commanding position with reference to the Christianity of the whole district of Macedonia. One of its archbishops, Eustathius, was reputed to be the most learned man of his age (twelfth century). From a missionary point of view the city is of special interest to us in our work for the Bulgarians, in the fact that it was the birthplace of the two great Slavic missionaries, Cyril and Methodius. These two gifted brothers gave up their lives to missionary work among the Bulgarians and other Slavs, especially the Moravians. They were the authors of the Slavic translation of the Scriptures (ninth century), and Cyril gave his name to the alphabet which is now used by Russians, Servians, and Bulgarians, which is called the Cyrillic (or Kyrillic). These two brothers are to-day the patron saints of literature and education among the Bulgarians. They are supposed to have led the king of the Bulgarians to the Christian faith about 865 A.D., and afterwards to have worked among the Moravians.—Missionary Herald.