In A.D. 106 the governor of Syria, Aulus Cornelius Palma, broke up the dominion of the Nabatsean kings, and constituted the Roman province of Arabia, while Damascus was added to Syria. For the whole region the change was epoch-making.
' The tendency to acquire these domains for civilisation and specially for Hellenism was only heightened by the fact that the Roman government took upon itself the work. The Hellenism of the East . . . was a church militant, a thoroughly conquering power pushing its way in a political, religious, economic, and literary point of view' (Mommsen, op. cit. ii. 152).
Under the strong new regime the desert tribes were for the first and only time brought under control, with the result that no small part of ' the desert ' was changed into ' the sown. ' Kome won the nomads to her service and fastened them dowTi in defence of the border they had otherwise fretted and broken. . . . Behind this Roman bulwark there grew up a curious, a unique civilisation talking Greek, imitating Rome, but at heart Semitic ' (G. A. Smith, HGHL, London, 1894, p. 627).
Liter ATT-RB. — E. Schiirer, HJ'P i. ii. 345 ff.; J. Entingr, Nabataische Inschriften aus Arabien, Berlin, 1SS5 ; H. Vincent, Les Arabes en Syrie, Paris, 1907 ; G. A. Cooke, yorth-Semitic Inscriptions, London, 1903 ; and the art. 'Arabs (Ancient),' by Th. Noldeke, in EREi. 659. JAMES StEAHAN.
ARAMAIC— See Language. ARATUS.— See Quotations. ARCHANGEL.— See Angel.
ARCHIPPUS ("Apx'TTros).— An office-bearer of the Apostolic Church referred to in Col 4" as exer- cising a ministry 'in the Lord,' i.e. in fellowship with, and in the service of, Christ. He is addressed by St. Paul as ' fellow-soldier ' — a designation pos- sibly occasioned by some special service in which the two had been engaged together during St. Paul's three years' abode at Ephesus, where the Apostle had severe conflicts with assailants (1 Co 15^^). More probably, however, the expression refers to the general fellowship of the two men in evangel- istic work (cf. Ph 2"^). The military figure may have been suggested by the Apostle's environment at Rome.
Archippus may have been a presbyter bishop, a leading deacon, an evangelist, or a prominent teacher at the time when St. Paul wrote. From
Philem- he appears to have been a member of Philemon's household, and he is regarded by most commentators (after Theodore of Mopsuestia) as his son. Accordingly, it is generally supposed (after Chrysostom) that Archippus was an office- bearer of the Colossian Church. Against this inference Lightfoot adduces (1) the mention of Archippus in Col. immediately after a reference to Laodicea ; (2) the alleged unlikelihood of Archippus being addressed in Col 4" indirectly instead of directly, if he were himself an official of the Church to which St. Paul was writing; (3) the tradition (embodied in the Apost. Constitutions, vii. 46) that Archippus became 'bishop,' or presiding presbyter, of Laodicea. Lightfoot infers that Ai-chippus ful- filled his ministry at Laodicea, which was not many miles from Colossge : and the mention of him in Philem. is accounted for by supposing that St. Paul (through Tychicus, the bearer of his letter to Philemon) might have suggested that Onesimus should be employed not in the city where he had lived as a slave, but in the Laodicean Church under Archippus. The usual supposition, however, that Archippus lived with Philemon at Colossfe and also laboured there, appears, on the whole, more natural and probable.
The message conveyed to Archippus (' Take heed [look] to the ministry,' etc.) is held by Lightfoot {Coloss.^ A2i.) to imply a rebuke, as it Archippus had been remiss or unfaithful in the discharge of official duty ; and Lightfoot, believing that Archip- pus held office at Laodicea, compares the admonition to him with the censure on account of lukewarm- ness administered in Rev 3 to the angel and church of the Laodiceans. The message, however, to Archippus can hardly be regarded as necessarily suggesting more than that his work was specially important and arduous, demanding from himself earnest watchfulness, and from an older 'fellow- campaigner,' like St. Paul, the incentive of sympa- thetic exhortation and warning. Theophylact, in his commentary, supposes that the apostolic message is purposely made public, instead of being conveyed in a private letter, not so much to suggest Archippus' special need of admonition, as to enable him, without otience, to deal in like manner with brethren under himself.
In the Greek Martyrology, Archippus appears (in the Menoea under Nov. 22) as having been stoned to death, along with Philemon, at Chonae, near Laodicea. His alleged eventual ' episcopate ' or presiding presbyterate at Laodicea is at least possible, and even probable ; but the inclusion of his name in the pseudo-Dorothean list (6th cent.) of the Seventy of Lk 10 is quite incredible.
Literature.— J. A. Dietelmaier, de Archippo, Altdorf, 1751 ; J. B. Lightfoot, Colossian^, 1879, pp. 42 f., 30Sflf. ; see also Literature under Philkmok. HeNRY CoWAN.
AREOPAGITE, AREOPAGUS.— In Ac 17^^ the title ' the Areopagite ' is given to one Dionysius, a convert to the Christian faith at Athens, imply- ing that he was a member of the council of the Areopagus.
Areopagus (Ac 17^ AV and RV; v.^^ aV 'Mars' Hill,' RV 'Areopagus'; the RV is correct in rendering ' Areopagus ' in both places, as it pre- serves the ambiguity of the original). — (a) The name denominated a rocky eminence N.W. of the Acropolis at Athens, which was famous in the his- tory of the city. Between the hill and the Acro- polis was a narrow declivity, now largely filled in. On the N.E. the rock is precipitous, and at the foot of the precipice the worship of the propitiated Furies as the Eumenides was carried on, so that the locality was invested with awesome associations. It is approached from the agora, or market-place, by an old, worn stairway of sixteen steps, and