Smyrna was forty miles north of Ephesus and disputed with it for the title of first city of Asia. Like Ephesus it was on the eastern shore of the Aegean Sea, but with the advantage of a narrow harbour, which could be closed for protection in time of war. It had a stadium, a library, and boasted the largest theatre in all of Asia. The city was surrounded by rich farmland, which provided a source of good wine.

Smyrna was a great trading city, which was described as the ‘Crown of Asia’ for its beauty, and regarded as the loveliest of Asia’s cities. One of its streets was known as the Street of Gold, housing many of its temples, which ran like a necklace around the foothills of Mount Pagos. It was home to trade guilds of basket-fishermen, tanners, silversmiths, and goldsmiths. And membership of these guilds often included sacrificing to a pagan deity.

The city was very loyal to Rome, having sided with the Roman Empire over the Carthaginians, a couple of hundred years previously, and before Rome was the dominant power in the region. And so it became one of the first cities to worship the Roman Emperor as a god, having competed for the privilege of erecting a temple, to worship the Emperor Tiberius in AD twenty six.

We don’t know exactly when the church was founded, although it’s likely this would’ve happened during the time Paul lived in Ephesus. Luke tells us in the book of Acts, that all of Asia heard the word of the Lord through Paul. Smyrna had a large Jewish population, known for its hostility to Christians, which made it difficult for those in the early church to live in the city. The Jews were exempted from Emperor worship, so they could stir up as much trouble as they liked on this issue, for the church. About sixty years after John received the Revelation, his pupil Polycarp, who became the bishop of Smyrna, was martyred for his faith. He was burned at the stake, for refusing to acknowledge Caesar as Lord, instead of Jesus.