What do Thyatira, Tyre, and Tiberius have in common?

A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay.” So she persuaded us.
~Acts 16:14-15 World English Bible

Almost everyone has heard of Lydia, the “seller of purple.” Her name indicates that she was from the city of that name in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). It’s just like God to ordain that the first European convert is an Asian woman!

Lydia’s become well-known as the wealthy benefactress of Paul and his friends during their visit to Philippi. She was living there when Paul and his companions arrived. Most scholars agree she couldn’t have been a Roman, and probably not a native Greek either, as women in those cultures would not have been allowed to own a business. The best theory is that she moved to Macedonia from Anatolia, what is now western Turkey.

How exactly she was a “seller of purple” is less clear. Lydia could have produced the dye herself, or she could have imported either the dye or already colored cloth. The sale of purple dye and purple cloth was strictly regulated by Rome, as it was reserved for the emperors and upper classes of society. Octavian made it illegal to wear purple except as the official garb of certain magistrates. (Queen Elizabeth I tried the same thing much later.) But as usual, if one could afford it, one could obtain it. By the first century AD of Tiberius most men wore some amount of purple, and for the next several centuries, the emperors and the elite argued over who was allowed to wear how much purple.

Purple’s elite status is due to the exorbitant cost of the dye. Third-century Emperor Marcus Aurelian supposedly wouldn’t allow his wife to buy a Tyrian purple silk shawl due to its price. An enormous amount of work went into producing the dye, as more than 9,000 murex shellfish were needed to create just one gram of Tyrian purple. The dye was extracted from thousands of crushed shellfish, and this liquid was used to dye cloth in colors ranging from crimson to a deep bluish-purple. By 301 AD, the price for one pound of purple dye cost 150,000 denarii, or around three pounds of gold (equal to around $60,000 today). A pound of pre-dyed wool was equal to the cost of one pound of gold.

The production of what became known as “Tyrian purple” began in the 14th century BC., in the eastern Mediterranean city of Tyre, (modern-day Lebanon). Eventually, other places learned to make the rich, coveted color. Among the ancient ruins of Thyatira, inscriptions have been found relating to the guild of dyers in the city, and this is undoubtedly where Lydia mastered the craft.

Lydia was a Jewish proselyte, as we are told “she worshipped God.” She was not a Christian but she obviously had a hunger to know more about the God of the Jews. After she believed, she was baptized, along with the rest of her “household.” Her household must have included servants, since there is no mention of a husband or a father in her story. This is unusual since most of the women in the Bible are identified by their relationship to a man.

Most scholars assume she was wealthy since she insisted on giving hospitality to Paul and his companions and must have had a house big enough to do so. It is probable the church in Philippi met in her house for many years, since after his release from prison Paul went to her house to address the believers.