CORINTH kôr’ ĭnth (ἡ Κόρινθος). Capital city of the Rom. province of Achaia.

1. Topography. The city was one of the most strategically located in the ancient world. It was situated on a plateau overlooking the Isthmus of Corinth about two m. from the Gulf. It lay at the foot of Acrocorinth, an acropolis which rises precipitously to 1,886 ft. and was so easily defended in ancient times that it was called one of the “fetters of Greece.” So impregnable was the fortress that it was never taken by storm until the invention of gunpowder. It commanded all of the land routes from central Greece into the Peloponnesus along the Isthmus.

There were good harbors on both sides of the Isthmus: Cenchreae on the Saronic Gulf to the E and the Lechaeum on the Gulf of Corinth to the W. A coin of the Emperor Hadrian represented the harbors by two nymphs facing in opposite directions with a rudder between them. In ancient times ships were dragged across the isthmus on rollers in order to avoid the long and dangerous passage around Cape Malea at the southern tip of the Peloponnesus. Periander the tyrant (c. 625-585 b.c.) planned to breach the Isthmus and the Emperor Nero actually began the project, but a canal was not completed until 1893.

2. History. The first inhabitants of the site were Neolithic and Early Bronze Age settlers, who seem to have moved to a site closer to the coast at Koraku near the Lechaeum. By the Late Bronze Age Koraku was a prosperous settlement in comparison with the site of classical Corinth at the same time. It is assumed, therefore, that the “wealthy Corinth” of the Iliad (Bks. 2 and 13) was Koraku, also called Ephyra in book six. Archeological evidence indicates that the Bronze Age settlement was abandoned by the Dorians in favor of the classical site.

The prosperous city-state of Corinth emerged in the 8th cent. b.c. It gained control of the Isthmus and southern Megara. Colonies were sent to Corcyra, Ithaca and Syracuse. The expansion of the city was led by the clan of the Bacchiadae. During this period a school of poetry led by Eumelus developed and the Proto-Corinthian style of pottery appeared, which was heavily influenced by contact with the E. The Bacchiadae were overthrown by the tyrant Cypselus (c. 657), whose house ruled until 582 b.c. During this period Corinth reached the zenith of its prosperity and power. Periander, the last and greatest of the tyrants, built a stone passageway (δίολκος) across the isthmus for the transfer of ships and cargo. Corinthian ships sailed to both the E and W with their products contained in beautiful Corinthian ware.

In the early 5th cent. b.c. Athenian mercantilism and imperialism caused the city to decline. The two vied for influence on Samos, at Megara and along the Corinthian Gulf. A dispute over Corcyra and Potidaea led to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War in 431 b.c., which was disastrous for both. In the early 4th cent. the city allied itself with a number of stronger powers. It sided with Athens, Argos and Boeotia against Sparta. Soon afterward (395-386 b.c.) a short-lived democratic government was established which was replaced by an oligarchy. After the battle of Chaeronea (338 b.c.) Corinth lost its independence. Philip II of Macedon garrisoned Acrocorinth and made the city the center of his Hellenic League.

In the Hel. period Corinth was a center of industry, trade and commercialized pleasure. It became a member, and for a time, the chief city of the Achaean League during the period between Alexander’s death and the rise of Rom. influence in Greece. After a brief campaign which resulted in the conquest of Greece in 196 b.c., the Romans declared Corinth a free city. However, they were soon forced to curb the influence of Corinth and the league, and the city was completely destroyed by Mummius in 146 b.c.

Corinth day in ruins for one hundred years, until Julius Caesar decreed in 46 b.c. that it should be rebuilt. A Rom. colony was founded on the site, which later became the capital of the province of Achaia. Its population was made up of local Greeks, orientals including a large number of Jews, freedmen from Italy and Rom. government officials and businessmen. The city became a favorite spot of the Rom. emperors. Nero displayed his artistic prowess at the Isthmian games and in a moment of exuberance declared the city free. He, Vespasian and Hadrian were patrons of the city and made it the finest city of Greece. Pausanias, the Gr. traveler and geographer, visited Corinth in the 2nd cent. a.d. and wrote a concise description of the monuments of the imperial city.

The Rom. city was ravaged by Gothic hordes in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Its destruction by Goths in a.d. 521 prompted Procopius to remark that God was abandoning the Rom. empire. It was refounded by the Emperor Justinian and held in the Middle Ages by Normans, Venetians and Turks. The ancient site was abandoned in 1858 because of a severe earthquake. A new city was built near the gulf and further to the E.

In Rom. times the city was notorious as a place of wealth and indulgence. “To live as a Corinthian” meant to live in luxury and immorality. As a seaport it was a meeting place of all nationalities and it offered all of the attendant vices. The temple of Aphrodite on Acrocorinth was unique in Greece. Its priestesses were more than a thousand hierodouloi “sacred slaves,” who engaged in prostitution. Its wealth was derived from its commercial traffic by sea and by land, its pottery and brass industries, and its political importance as the capital of Achaia. At its height it prob. had a population of 200,000 free men and 500,000 slaves.

3. Monuments. The site of the ancient city has been extensively excavated by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Most of the ruins which have been uncovered are from the Rom. city which was begun in 46 b.c. Situated on a natural terrace between Acrocorinth and the sea, the city was joined to both by fortification walls. A broad, paved road connected the Lechaeum to the city. Entrance to the agora (“market place”) was gained by the propylea, a Rom. triumphal arch which replaced an earlier Gr. building. On the E side of the Lychaeum road near the propylea was the peribolos of Apollo and the famous fountain of Peirene which supplied water to that section of the city. The present remains of the fountain building are from the elaborate remodeling of Herodes Atticus (c. a.d. 175). To the W was a large basilica, a rectangular hall divided by two lines of columns. Behind the basilica and on a separate terrace stood the temple of Apollo (c. 540 b.c.), of which seven Doric columns and the foundation remain. To the W of the temple there was a Rom. odeon and immediately to the N of it a large theater. Further N against the city wall were the sanctuary of Asclepius, god of healing, and the fountain of Lerna. In the ruins of a small temple there were found numerous representations of parts of the human body in various materials ranging from terra cotta to gold. These were votive offerings to the god. They now make up an interesting display in a room of the museum at Corinth.

The agora itself was bounded on the W, NW and S by long porticoes, the longest of which is the S stoa 525 ft in length. The boundary of the agora to the E was the Julian basilica. Behind the south stoa was the senate house and another large basilica. From here began the road to Cenchreae. In addition to the shops that were in the stoas to the SW and NW, there was a line of shops which ran through the middle of the agora. In the center of these was the “bema” or forum, which was a large, raised platform in front of the residence of the proconsul.

About a half mile W of the agora a Rom. villa with exceptional mosaics was uncovered and still further to the SW were found the remains of the “Ceramaicus” the potters’ quarters.

4. Biblical importance. There are three items of archeological interest which relate to the account in Acts of Paul’s visit to Corinth. The Rom. tribunal to which he was dragged (ἐπὶ̀ τὸ̀ βῆμα, Acts 18:12) by the mob to appear before Gallio has been uncovered in the center of the agora. It was a high platform supported by two steps. It was faced with blue and white marble. On either side were enclosures with benches and beyond these passageways which led from the lower to the upper portion of the agora. It fits perfectly the Rom. conception of a rostrum, a public speaking platform.

To the S of the theater there is a large, paved area which dates from the middle of the 1st cent. a.d. On one of the paving stones is the inscr., Erastus, pro aedilitate sua pecunia stravit, “Erastus, in return for the aedileship, laid [the pavement] at his own expense.” Paul, writing from Corinth, mentioned in the epistle to the Romans (16:23) an Erastus, whom he described as ὁ οἰκονόμος τῆς πόλεως, “treasurer” or “administrator of the city.” Although there is some doubt as to whether οἰκονόμος, G3874, is a proper equivalent of aedile, usually ἀγορανόμος in Gr., it is generally held that this is the same Erastus, a convert or friend of the apostle.

An inscr. found near the propylea reads ΓΩΓΗΕΒΠ which has been identified as Συνα γωγη ̔Εβρ αίων [“synagogue of the Hebrews”]. It was prob. the lintel block of a nearby building. Although it is generally dated in the 3rd cent. a.d., it attests to the existence of a Jewish community at Corinth.

The Apostle Paul first visited Corinth on his second missionary journey (Acts 18). He had just arrived from Athens where he had been poorly received. He says he began his work at Corinth with weakness, fear and trembling. He had intended to remain only a short time before returning to Thessalonica, but the Lord spoke to him in a night vision (Acts 18:9, 10; 1 Thess 2:17, 18). He preached in the city for a year and a half. For a time he resided in the home of Aquila and Priscilla, Jews who had recently been expelled from Rome by the Emperor Claudius. They, like Paul, were tentmakers and he worked with them during his stay so that his motives as a preacher would not be impugned. Soon after he arrived Silas and Timothy joined him from Macedonia.

He preached in the synagogue on each sabbath until strong opposition arose among the Jews. He then turned to the Gentiles and stayed at the house of Titus Justus, a Gentile adherent to Judaism, who lived next door to the synagogue. He made a number of converts during his stay, among them Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue.

At one point a Jewish mob dragged Paul before the Rom. proconsul of Achaia, L. Junius Gallio. His term of office was for the year 51-52 or 52-53 according to an inscr. found at Delphi in 1908 (SIG II³.801). Gallio heard the charges at the tribunal, but refused to judge in a matter regarding Jewish law. Even when the mob released Paul and began to beat Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, he refused to get involved (Acts 18:12-17). This opinion by a highly respected Rom. officer that Paul’s preaching was not contrary to Rom law, no doubt gave him an insight into the protection that Rome would give to him as he preached the Gospel. The account of Paul’s first visit to Corinth closes with the notation that he left some time after this incident for Jerusalem and Antioch by way of Ephesus.

Paul wrote the Thessalonian epistles during this stay at Corinth. Soon after he arrived in the city, Silas and Timothy joined him. The news which Timothy brought from Macedonia prompted Paul to write the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. The Second Epistle was written prob. soon after the first one was received.

The Book of Acts tells little more about the early history of the church at Corinth, but some few additional details can be derived from the Corinthian epistles. Apollos, a convert of Aquila and Priscilla while they were at Ephesus, was sent with a letter of recommendation and he played a large, if sometimes unintentionally divisive, role in the church (Acts 18:27-19:11; 1 Cor 1:12). Evidence indicates that Paul intended to visit the church again on the third missionary journey (2 Cor 12:14; 13:1). While he was at Ephesus, he wrote a letter to Corinth which has not been preserved (1 Cor 5:9). The reply of the church, which asked advice on problems it faced, and an oral report, which indicated that the church was faring badly, prompted him to write the First Epistle to the Corinthians. This was prob. brought to Corinth by Titus (2 Cor 7:13) or by Timothy (1 Cor 4:17) who both visited the church at about this time. Following Paul’s hasty departure from Ephesus, he went to Troy in hope of meeting Titus with news from Corinth. He was disappointed in this expectation, but did meet him later in Macedonia. When he received a report of revival in the church, Paul wrote the Second Epistle from Macedonia. Paul then spent three months in Achaia, much of it no doubt at Corinth (Acts 20:2, 3). While there he collected an offering for the poor saints at Jerusalem, to which the church at Corinth prob. contributed and where he prob. wrote the Epistle to the Romans (Rom 16:23).

The church at Corinth reemerges into literary history at the close of the 1st cent. a.d. In about the year 97, Clement of Rome wrote a letter, which survives, to the church. It reveals that the church was still vexed by many of the same problems about which Paul wrote to them.

Bibliography American School of Classical Studies, Corinth, Results of Excavations (1926—); J. G. O’Neill, Ancient Corinth (1930); O. Broneer, “Corinth, Center of St. Paul’s Missionary Work in Greece,” BA XIV (1951), 77-96; American School of Classical Studies, Ancient Corinth, A Guide to the Excavations, 6th ed. (1954).