The Philippi (Eastern Macedonia, Greece) earthquake ca. AD50: New evidence for a debated event and implications for ancient earthquakes assigned to divine intervention.
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| Title: | The Philippi (Eastern Macedonia, Greece) earthquake ca. AD50: New evidence for a debated event and implications for ancient earthquakes assigned to divine intervention. |
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| Authors: | Stiros, Stathis C.1 (AUTHOR) stiros@upatras.gr |
| Source: | Journal of Seismology. Oct2025, Vol. 29 Issue 5, p1111-1123. 13p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Earthquakes, *Apostles, *Supernatural, *Classical literature, *Seismic event location, *Theology |
| Geographic Terms: | Macedonia, Greece |
| Reviews & Products: | Bible. Acts |
| People: | Paul, the Apostle, Saint |
| Abstract: | The Acts of the Apostles report an earthquake that hit Philippi (NE Macedonia, Greece), a region of low seismicity, during the imprisonment of Apostles Paul and Silas after the first Christian community was established in European land circa AD 50. This earthquake, famous in the Christian religious tradition, is described as a miracle that led to the liberation of the Apostles. However, the seismological significance of this information is a matter of debate. This article presents new literary, historical, and archaeological evidence that the whole scene of the Philippi earthquake reported in the Acts, known as the scene of prison escape, resembles the prison scene of the ancient Greek tragedy Bacchae by Euripides. Furthermore, the prison in Philippi was described as similar to the prison of St Peter in Rome ("Tullianum"), while a cistern built about 100 years later is indicated by tradition as the prison of St Paul in Philippi. These results, in combination with the textual differences of the surviving Codices of the Acts and their inferred history, imply that the Philippi earthquake reflects a later editorial change in the original manuscript, not unusual for an ancient Codex, and of no seismological significance. This result has important implications for many other earthquakes described as a divine intervention ("providentialism"). The seismological evaluation of such cases requires: (i) the study of earthquake information within their context, and in combination with the available commentaries; (ii) the study of the ancient sources as a function of time; and (iii) the examination of editorial selections to produce a compound text using the various surviving Codes which differ from each other because of scribe errors and addition or removal of small or large parts of texts, and because of poor preservation of ancient manuscripts. Highlights: • An earthquake at Philippi during the imprisonment of Apostle Paul, important for Christianity, is a matter of debate. • The whole scene of the earthquake reminiscent of Euripides'tragedy Bacchae and St Paul's imprisonment in Rome. • Implications for providentialism-type earthquakes derived from ancient Codices, modified during copying by scribes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Database: | Energy & Power Source |
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| Header | DbId: enr DbLabel: Energy & Power Source An: 189591220 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: The Philippi (Eastern Macedonia, Greece) earthquake ca. AD50: New evidence for a debated event and implications for ancient earthquakes assigned to divine intervention. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Stiros%2C+Stathis+C%2E%22">Stiros, Stathis C.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> stiros@upatras.gr</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Seismology%22">Journal of Seismology</searchLink>. Oct2025, Vol. 29 Issue 5, p1111-1123. 13p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Earthquakes%22">Earthquakes</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Apostles%22">Apostles</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Supernatural%22">Supernatural</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Classical+literature%22">Classical literature</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Seismic+event+location%22">Seismic event location</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Theology%22">Theology</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Macedonia%22">Macedonia</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Greece%22">Greece</searchLink> – Name: SubjectProduct Label: Reviews & Products Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="PS" term="%22Bible%2E+Acts%22">Bible. Acts</searchLink> – Name: SubjectPerson Label: People Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="PE" term="%22Paul%2C+the+Apostle%2C+Saint%22">Paul, the Apostle, Saint</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The Acts of the Apostles report an earthquake that hit Philippi (NE Macedonia, Greece), a region of low seismicity, during the imprisonment of Apostles Paul and Silas after the first Christian community was established in European land circa AD 50. This earthquake, famous in the Christian religious tradition, is described as a miracle that led to the liberation of the Apostles. However, the seismological significance of this information is a matter of debate. This article presents new literary, historical, and archaeological evidence that the whole scene of the Philippi earthquake reported in the Acts, known as the scene of prison escape, resembles the prison scene of the ancient Greek tragedy Bacchae by Euripides. Furthermore, the prison in Philippi was described as similar to the prison of St Peter in Rome ("Tullianum"), while a cistern built about 100 years later is indicated by tradition as the prison of St Paul in Philippi. These results, in combination with the textual differences of the surviving Codices of the Acts and their inferred history, imply that the Philippi earthquake reflects a later editorial change in the original manuscript, not unusual for an ancient Codex, and of no seismological significance. This result has important implications for many other earthquakes described as a divine intervention ("providentialism"). The seismological evaluation of such cases requires: (i) the study of earthquake information within their context, and in combination with the available commentaries; (ii) the study of the ancient sources as a function of time; and (iii) the examination of editorial selections to produce a compound text using the various surviving Codes which differ from each other because of scribe errors and addition or removal of small or large parts of texts, and because of poor preservation of ancient manuscripts. Highlights: • An earthquake at Philippi during the imprisonment of Apostle Paul, important for Christianity, is a matter of debate. • The whole scene of the earthquake reminiscent of Euripides'tragedy Bacchae and St Paul's imprisonment in Rome. • Implications for providentialism-type earthquakes derived from ancient Codices, modified during copying by scribes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=enr&AN=189591220 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s10950-025-10323-x Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 13 StartPage: 1111 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Earthquakes Type: general – SubjectFull: Apostles Type: general – SubjectFull: Supernatural Type: general – SubjectFull: Classical literature Type: general – SubjectFull: Seismic event location Type: general – SubjectFull: Theology Type: general – SubjectFull: Macedonia Type: general – SubjectFull: Greece Type: general – SubjectFull: Bible. Acts Type: general – SubjectFull: Paul, the Apostle, Saint Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: The Philippi (Eastern Macedonia, Greece) earthquake ca. AD50: New evidence for a debated event and implications for ancient earthquakes assigned to divine intervention. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Stiros, Stathis C. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 10 Text: Oct2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 13834649 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 29 – Type: issue Value: 5 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Seismology Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
