Philippi was a Macedonian town, bordering Thracia. Situated on the summit of a hill, it dominated a large and fertile plain, intersected by the Egnatian Way. It was north-west of Mount Pangea, near the River Gangites and the Aegean Sea. In 358 BCE Philip II of Macedonia enlarged and fortified a pre-existing settlement called Crenides, renaming it after himself, Philippi (see Strabo, Geography, 7. fr. 41). After the defeat of Brutus and Cassius, Philippi was further enlarged and settled by Roman veterans of the battle of Philippi (42 BCE) and later by soldiers loyal to the defeated Marcus Antonius in the battle of Actium (31 BCE). After the battle of Philippi, Antonius and Octavius made Philippi a Roman colony and renamed it Colonia Julia Philippensis in honor of Julius Caesar (see Acts 16:12). To be a Roman colony meant the conferring of jus Italicum, which made the citizens of Philippi full Roman citizens. After the battle of Actium, in honor of Octavius (Augustus), the name was expanded to become Colonia Augusta Julia Philippensis (Finegan, Light from the Ancient Past, 2.350). Thus the city was populated by Macedonians, Romans and even Jews (Acts 16:13). Although most of the ruins date from after Paul's time, the general layout of the forum was the same as in the first century.