Laodicea [key], name of several Greek cities of Asia and Asia Minor built by the Seleucids in the 3d cent. b.c. The most important, Laodicea ad Lycum, was N of Colossae near the present Denizli. On the trade route from the East, the city prospered, particularly under Rome. Extensive Roman ruins include theaters, an aqueduct, a gymnasium, and sarcophagi. Laodicea ad Mare, a seaport of Syria S of Antioch, flourished under the Romans. It is the modern Latakia.
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