Lajazzo

Lajazzo is the home city of Melisso, the wealthy young man who travels to Jerusalem with Giosefo to seek Solomon’s advice. Its role in the narrative is brief but defining: it establishes Melisso’s point of departure and frames his journey as a search for counsel about why his generosity has not won him affection.

Identity and Identification

The story names Lajazzo as the city from which Melisso comes and in which he lives. An editorial note proposes that the place may be Laodicea, now Eskihissar, in Anatolia; this is offered as an apparent identification rather than a certainty. The note observes that a direct land route from there to Jerusalem would pass through Antioch, consistent with the travelers’ reported departure from that city on their way south.

Lajazzo in the Story

Melisso leaves Lajazzo to consult Solomon, whose wisdom and readiness to give counsel have drawn petitioners from many parts of the world. On the road, he joins Giosefo, who is also bound for Jerusalem, though seeking help with a different problem: how to correct his difficult wife. Melisso explains that, despite being young and wealthy and keeping open house for his fellow townsmen, he cannot find anyone who wishes him well.

Narrative Significance

Lajazzo gives Melisso’s concern a specific social setting: his hospitality belongs to his life among fellow townsmen, but it has not produced the affection he hopes to earn. The story does not describe the city itself or recount Melisso’s life there in detail. Instead, it uses Lajazzo as the beginning of a journey whose paired questions—how to win love and how to govern a household—will be answered through Solomon’s compressed counsel and the travelers’ encounter on the road home.