Thessalonica
      n : a port city in northeastern Greece on an inlet of the Aegean
          Sea; second largest city of Greece [syn: Thessaloniki,
          Salonika, Salonica]


 Thessalonica
    a large and populous city on the Thermaic bay. It was the
    capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia, and was
    ruled by a praetor. It was named after Thessalonica, the wife of
    Cassander, who built the city. She was so called by her father,
    Philip, because he first heard of her birth on the day of his
    gaining a victory over the Thessalians. On his second missionary
    journey, Paul preached in the synagogue here, the chief
    synagogue of the Jews in that part of Macedonia, and laid the
    foundations of a church (Acts 17:1-4; 1 Thes. 1:9). The violence
    of the Jews drove him from the city, when he fled to Berea (Acts
    17:5-10). The "rulers of the city" before whom the Jews "drew
    Jason," with whom Paul and Silas lodged, are in the original
    called politarchai, an unusual word, which was found, however,
    inscribed on an arch in Thessalonica. This discovery confirms
    the accuracy of the historian. Paul visited the church here on a
    subsequent occasion (20:1-3). This city long retained its
    importance. It is the most important town of European Turkey,
    under the name of Saloniki, with a mixed population of about
    85,000.



 Thessalonica, victory against the Thessalians