Here is a monument set up to honor a patron. Possibly, this person was a former slave who was set free by a certain man and then to honor this man, the former slave erected a monument here.
We read his titles and read the name with the ancient inscription, Pythōnos, and the inscription of his job and we learn that his man was proud to announce himself – that he belonged to Python.
So, the case of the slave girl in Acts 16, having a spirit of Python, was not unique to her.
Ecstatic phenomenon and activity were extensive in Philippi, Greece, just as it is in Europe today. Today a lot of people refer to the zodiacs, and go to predictors, fortune tellers and foreseers to find their future (and whom they are going to marry.) In Greece and other European countries today this is quite common, even on television every morning there are foreseers of this kind.
We have another monument of somebody who was proud to say I belong to Python. His name was Pythōnos.
Usually archeological sites have layers, with each layer built upon one another. The layers occur after destructions like war, or fire, or earthquake. These layers continue to build through the various destructions that occur for centuries and thousands of years. This makes archeologists incredibly happy because they make identifications based on each archeological layer.
Destruction creates archeological layers, layer after layer. However, we have cities and places where building material, from generation to generation, was not destroyed, but it was recycled and so from these places we do not have layers for identification.
Also, many cities in the world have been forgotten. Of all the mysteries, perhaps none captures the imagination as strongly as finding a lost civilization. There was a city, in the Amazon, created by people who were seeking God. The city was abandoned, then completely buried in the sand, and forgotten, and that was years ago.
Reparation in Philippi, Greece is ongoing today.
At the antechamber of one of the temples, is a sign, Corinthian Temple.
Look behind at the threshold, the gate, and you see a part of the temple pedestal where the Imperial statues were added. This is the site of the Temple of the Imperial Worship.
In the Imperial Roman Period was the economy nation and a phenomenon, which started with Alexander the Great, called syncretism where everyone was allowed to create his own title, his own gods and worship them.
When Octavian became emperor, he adjusted his title to the title “Augustus,” meaning “the respected one.” Up until this time, if someone did not want to mention the god’s specific name, Augustus was the name used to mention the god.
In this same time period people were traveling and, of course, their gods travelled with them. Their gods were added into the temples alongside the worship of the Egyptian gods of Greece. The Roman religious system and the Romans totally adopted the gods and almost completely forgot their old religious system. It was syncretism and the inquirer is given the impression of a fresh, multicultural religious model. In this multicultural, national, religious empire, the strongest tie of unity was the worship of the emperor. Everyone was obliged, regardless of their gods, to dedicate themselves to worshipping the emperor.
Improper behavior against certain gods was perceived a sacrilege, but improper behavior against the worship of the emperor was high treason. And this is what connected religion with politics. Since the time of Nero (64 AD) until the time of Constantine (313 AD) Christians were persecuted. The reason for their persecution was not because of Jesus. Nobody ever asked the Christians about Jesus or asked them to deny Jesus. Whenever they were accused, it was always the same accusation against them: They had another King.
Before Christ died on the cross, his accusation among the priests and the people of Israel, was that although you are a human you made yourself equal to God, so you deserve to die. This is the worst sacrilege.
If they had appeared in front of Pilot and said, “The man here says he is a god.” Then Pilot would have said, “Ok, welcome our new god. Prove that.” And that is all. But they changed the accusation and they said in front of Pilot, “The man says he is a king.” And this is conspiracy, conspiracy against the only king, Caesar.
For the Apostle Paul in Thessaloniki his accusation was essentially the same. Paul was brought in front of the Roman authorities, not in front of the court. The accusation against Paul was that he had another king. Paul was never accused of being a thief, or a murderer. The accusation against him was political treason.
Christians went through a test. They had to throw a bunch of incense into the fire of the altar and speak the words, “Caesar, lord.” And it was enough. The word lord in Greek was quite common and Caesar definitely was one of the lords. Caesar was a lord.
And I think it may not have been a problem for the Christians to say that Caesar is a lord, unless it was given to them that instance that connected that word lord with this Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ.
There were Christians who refused to go through so simple a test.
You know something, Eusebius of Caesarea says that during the time of the persecutions more than six million people were executed, or tortured to death, because they refused to go through this test, a test without even a mention of the name of Jesus Christ.
Christians, during this period of 250 years, were accused of being against the state. They were arrested, and they were brought to the Imperial Temple. These temples were everywhere, in the villages, in the towns, in the cities, everywhere. These temples were in the most proper and official place of the town square, in the agora, located in the center of town. Philippi, Greece had an Imperial Temple in the town square.