People think if the ancient world as white marble but most of the statues and buildings we see would have been brightly painted. On some of these walls and reliefs you can still see the original colors. The ancient Roman world would probably have been gaudy to our tastes.
Ancient Nicaea where the first church council was held in 325. We were there on the 1700s anniversary of Constantine’s arrival and the beginning of deliberations.
We were visiting the church at the residence of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and he found out we were a group of Protestant scholars going to Nicaea for the anniversary and invited us into his residence to greet us. He spoke and gave us all crosses. Not on your typical Istanbul itinerary.
I’m spending this week with a group of professors touring the sites of the seven churches of revelation in modern Turkey. I’ve learned a ton and been amazed by the scale and complexity of these Roman cities.