Philippi (Macedonia)

Philippi (Macedonia), city of ancient Macedonia, near modern Kavála, Greece. Originally named Crenides, the city was renamed for King Philip II of Macedonia, who conquered it in 355 bc. Philip enlarged and fortified it because of the gold mines in the vicinity. Philippi is famous for the battle fought there in 42 bc, in which the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian, later Emperor Augustus, defeated the Republican forces under the conspirators Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. The apostle Paul founded the first Christian church in Europe at Philippi and later addressed one of his epistles to this church.