Corinth

Corinth is a Greek city, on the isthmus which joins the Peloponnesus? to the mainland of Greece. It is about 48 miles west of Athens. The isthmus, which was in ancient times traversed by hauling ships over the rocky ridge on sledges, is now cut by a canal.

The ancient city rivalled Athens and Thebes in wealth, based especially on the isthmian traffic and trade. Until the mid-6th century Corinth was a major exporter of [black figure]? pottery to cities around the Greek world; Athenian potters came to dominate the market later. Corinth's great temple on its acropolis was dedicated to Aphrodite.

The ancient city was destroyed by the Romans (B.C. 146), and that mentioned in the New Testament was quite a new city, having been rebuilt about a century afterwards and peopled by a colony of freedmen from Rome. It became under the Romans the seat of government for Southern Greece or Achaia (Acts 18:12-16). It was noted for its wealth, and for the luxurious and immoral and vicious habits of the people. It had a large mixed population of Romans, Greeks, and Jews.

In the Bible, when Paul first visited the city (A.D. 51 or 52), Gallio, the brother of Seneca, was proconsul. Here Paul resided for eighteen months (18:1-18). Here he first became aquainted with Aquila and Priscilla, and soon after his departure Apollos came to it from Ephesus. After an interval he visited it a second time, and remained for three months (20:3). During this second visit his Epistle to the Romans was written (probably A.D. 55).

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Initial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897 -- Please update as needed