Acts 16:11

Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis; and from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony: and we were in this city tarrying certain days.

No mention is made of Paul's preaching in Troas at this time; yet, a bit later, there is revealed to have been a church there (Acts 20:5). Was that church the result of Luke's preaching? Given the implied fact of Luke's being a preacher of the gospel and the usual reticence of the sacred writers to speak of themselves, it may be supposed that he founded the Troas church, but this is not certain.

Straight course to Samothrace ... This journey in a single day was possible because of a favoring wind; because, "on a later occasion (Acts 20:6), a voyage from Philippi to Troas took five days."[4]

Neapolis ... means "Newtown"; and they continued there from Samothrace, as Neapolis afforded a more favorable route to Philippi.

Philippi ... the first of the district ... a Roman colony ... It is somewhat difficult to know exactly what is indicated by these words. Some have concluded that by "first of the district" Luke meant the most important town in the district, others supposing that it means merely that this was the first city they came to in their journey inland. Arguments may be cited to prove either viewpoint; and perhaps it was both.

PHILIPPI

From the standpoint of Christianity, this is not merely the first of the district, but the first of Europe, for it was here that the gospel message was planted by means of the conversions related in this chapter. The congregation which developed there was very dear to Paul, and to them he addressed the book of Philippians.

Historically, it was founded by Philip of Macedon and controlled the gold mines of Pangaeus,[5] thus providing the financial muscle to propel the armies of Alexander the Great to world conquest. The Romans possessed the city following the battle of Pydna, 168 B.C.; and it was here that Brutus and Cassius were defeated by Antony and Octavian in 42 B.C.[6] On January 17,27 B.C., the Roman Senate conferred on this Octavian the title of Augustus Caesar.[7] Philippi was made a Roman colony with many privileges, notably that of citizenship, and was provided with military roads and fortifications. The Egnatian Way, a famous Roman road, passed from Philippi due south some eight miles to the port of Neapolis.[8]

[4] E. H. Plumptre, op. cit., p. 104,

[5] The New Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1962), p. 985.

[6] E. M. Blaiklock, Cities of the New Testament (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1965), p. 39.

[7] The Encyclopedia Britannica (Chicago: William Benton, Publisher, 1961), p. 686.

[8] The New Bible Dictionary, op. cit., p. 985.