Endnote 8 – Laodicea’s “Lukewarm” Legacy: Conflicts of Prosperity in an Ancient Christian City

The Sibylline Oracle (supposedly written by the Sibyl at Cumae during the first century B.C.E.—but heavily interpolated by Jews, Christians and others)—offers this observation: “Stalwart Laodicea, a quake will one day topple and level you, but you will stand rebuilt as a city” (4.107). Another of the oracles is more provocative: “But when a destructive man comes from Italy, then Laodicea, dashed down headlong, beautiful town of the Carians by the wonderful waters of Lycus, you will be silent, bemoaning a conceited parent” (3.470). It is not known when or by whom these statements were written, but the second one seems to echo Christian notions of the antichrist. Paul wrote about the “man of lawlessness, the son of destruction” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), and this figure plays an important role in the Book of Revelation.