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1876, in which the subsequent criticism is collected). The marble group in the Vatican was found in 1506 near the baths of Titus, and there is no question of its being the same which Pliny (Nat. Hist., xxxvi. c. 5) speaks of as in the palace of Titus, and as the work of three Rhodian sculptors Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus. They made it, he says, de consilii sententia, which, according to the highest Latin authorities, must refer not to a standing imperial council but to a council selected ad hoc. This suits the theory of the sculpture being a work of the time of Titus – not an original conception of that time, but a variant of a conception more or less familiar to Greek art since the time of Alexander, such as may be seen in marble reliefs, on gems, in a painting found at Pompeii (see Blümner's Laokoon, pls. 2, 3), and on a terra cotta Etruscan urn in the British Museum. The names of Agesander and Athenodorus have been found repeatedly on bases of sculptures in Italy, and the date of the writing is that of the time of Titus. Still the opinion is very generally held that the Vatican group is altogether a work of the Rhodian school during its supremacy after the death of Alexander, and that the artists named by Pliny had lived then, and were apparently a father and two sons, for which reason Pliny may have thought it necessary to add de consilii sententia, in the sense of "according to the decision of their combined thoughts," to prevent any one supposing that the artists had each made one of the figures, selecting them possibly in accordance with their own relationship to each other, the father taking Laocoon, and the sons taking respectively the sons of Laocoon. As yet, however, the characteristics of the Rhodian school are not sufficiently known for a final settlement of this long standing question. In Plate V. the right arm of Laocoon with the coils of the serpent which he holds up is restored, as is also the right arm of the younger son. (A. S. M.)
LAODICEA (Greek (
Greek characters)) is the name of at least eight cities, founded or renovated in the later Hellenic period. Most of them were founded by the Seleucid kings of Syria, Seleucus, founder of the dynasty, is said by Appian to hive named five cities after his mother Laodice. Many other women of the family bore the same name, which also passed by marriage into the family of the Pontic kings. The victories of Alexander introduced Greek civilization over Asia; the organizing and city-building energy of his successors established and consolidated it. They either founded new cities in favourable situations or reorganized native cities after the Greek model: thus over the immense realm of the Seleucidæ from the Ægean Sea to the borders of India we find numberless cities called Seleucia, Laodicea, &c. So long as Greek civilization held its ground, these were the great commercial and social centres of the country. We find a Laodicea ad Lycum in the Mæander valley, on the borders of Phrygia, Caria, and Lydia; another surnamed Combusta on the borders of Phrygia, Lycaonia, and Pisidia; a third in Pontus; a fourth, ad mare, on the coast of Syria; a fifth, ad Libanum, beside the Lebanon mountains; and three others in the far east – Media, Persia, and the lower Tigris valley. In the latter countries Greek civilization was overwhelmed in Orientalism after a century or two, and the last three cities disappeared; the other five continued great through out the Greek and Roman period, and the second, third, and fourth retain to the present day the ancient name under the pronunciation Ladik, Ladikiyeh, or Latakia (see LATAKIA).
Laodicea ad Lycum was founded probably by Antiochus II. Theos (261-46 B.C.), and named after his wife Laodice. Its site, called by the Turks Eski Hissar, "the old castle," is now solitary and deserted; but it retains an undying interest as one of the oldest homes of Christianity and the seat of one of the seven churches of the Apocalypse. Pliny tells us (v. 29) that the town was called in older times Diospolis and Rhoas; but it is certain that at an early period Colossæ, a few miles to the east, and Hierapolis, six miles to the north, were the great cities of the neighbourhood, and that Laodicea was a place of no importance till the Seleucid foundation (Str., p. 578). A favourable site was found on some low hills of alluvial formation, about 2 miles south of the river Lycus (Churuk Su) and 9 miles east of the confluence of the Lycus and Mæander. Smaller rivers of the neighbourhood are the Asopus, Caprus, and Cadmus, the last named after the lofty range of Mount Cadmus (Baba Dagh), which overhangs the Mæander valley on the south. The great trade route from the Euphrates and the interior passed through Apamea to Laodicea. There it forked, one branch going straight down the Mæander valley to Magnesia and thence north to Ephesus, a distance of about 90 miles, and the other branch crossing the mountains by an easy pass to Philadelphia and the Hermus valley, Sardis, Thyatira, and at last Pergamus. St Paul (Col. iv. 15) alludes to the situation of Laodicea beside Colossæ and Hierapolis; and the order in which the last five churches of the Apocalypse are enumerated (Rev. i. 11) is explained by their position on the road just described. Placed in this important situation, in the centre of a very fertile district, Laodicea became a rich city. It was famous for its money transactions (Cic., Ad Fam., ii. 17; iii. 5), and for the beautiful soft wool grown by the sheep of the country (Str., 578). Both points are referred to in the message to the church (Rev. ii. 17, 18).
Little is known of the history of the town. It suffered greatly from a siege in the Mithridatic war, but soon recovered its prosperity under the Roman empire. The Zeus of Laodicea, with the curious epithet Azeus or Azeis, is a frequent symbol on the city coins, and is one of the widest-known deities of western Asia Minor. He is represented standing, holding in the extended right hand an eagle, in the left a spear, the hasta pura. Not far from the city was the temple of Men Karou, with a great medical school; while Laodicea itself produced some famous Sceptic philosophers, and gave origin to the royal family of Polemon and Zenon, whose curious history has been illustrated in recent times (Waddington, Mélanges de Numism., ser. ii.; Mommsen, Ephem. Epigraph., i. and ii.; Rayet, Milet et le Golfe Latmique, chap. v.). The coinage of Laodicea continues in a rich unbroken series to the time of the emperor Diocletian. Under the Byzantine rule its greatness remained, but finally the city fell into decay in the frontier wars with the Turkish invaders. Its ruins are of wide extent, but not of great beauty or interest; there is no doubt, however, that much has been buried beneath the surface by the frequent earthquakes to which the district is exposed (Str., 580; Tac., Ann., xiv. 27). For an account of the ruins see the works of Leake, Hamilton, Arundel, Texier, &c., and especially the beautiful drawings of Cockerell in the Antiquities of Ionia, vol. iii. pl. 47-51.
LAON, capital of the department of Aisne, France, is situated 87 miles N.E. of Paris, on an isolated and singularly buttressed hill, which rises some 330 feet above the surrounding plain and the little river of Ardon, which flows into the Lette, a tributary of the Oise. From the railway station, which is situated in the plain to the north, a straight staircase of several hundred steps leads up to the gate of the town, but all the roads connecting Laon with the surrounding district are cut in zigzags on the steep slopes, which are crowned by the old and partly ruinous ramparts. At the eastern extremity of the hill rises the citadel; at the other end is a parade-ground, and on the south stands the ancient abbey of St Vincent. Between the latter and the town is the Cuve St Vincent, the slopes of which are covered with trees, vegetable gardens, and vineyards. From the promenade along the line of the ramparts there is an extensive view northward to beyond St Quentin, westward to the forest of St Gobain, and southward over the wooded hills of the Laonnais and Soissonnais.
