Macedonia

Macedonia was the Roman province covering northern Greece, governed by a proconsul, that Paul entered after receiving a vision of a man pleading, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.” His journey through its cities, including Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, marks the traditional start of Christian mission in Europe, and Lydia of Philippi, a seller of purple dye, was his first recorded convert there. Paul revisited the province at least twice more and later praised the Macedonian churches for their generosity despite their own poverty. Travel through the province followed the Via Egnatia, the Roman road linking the Adriatic to Byzantium, whose paved remains can still be traced in parts of modern Greece and North Macedonia.