The apostle Paul in Corinth

The ruins (detail) of part of ancient Corinth with the Temple of Apollo. Pixels outloud.

Historical background

In 51, the date attested by the discovery of the Delphi Stone (below), the apostle Paul left the «university» city of Athens for Corinth, the «commercial» capital of Achaia (present-day Greece), whose two ports on either side of the isthmus made it extremely wealthy. Destroyed by the Roman Republic in 146 B.C., Corinth was rebuilt by Julius Caesar around 44 B.C. and, as a Roman colony, had around 750,000 inhabitants in the time of the apostle Paul, including 500,000 slaves: dedicated to Venus (Aphrodite), whose temple dominated the city and was served by a thousand courtesans, «the whole city was like a vast bad place, where many foreigners, especially sailors, came to spend their riches madly» (E. Renan).

Image opposite: Bust of Claudius as Jupiter (10 BC - 54 AD). Marble, Roman work, circa 50. Rome, Museo Pio-Clementino. © Jastrow.
He expelled the Jews from Rome because of unrest caused by a man named «Chrestus.» Experts generally believe that the misspelled Latin name «Chrestus» refers to Christ (Christus).

Corinth sought above all to enrich itself through trade, and defended its freedom against the hegemonic intentions of other Greek cities, then against Macedonian, Achaean and finally Roman ambitions. These expensive pleasures explain the proverb: «not everyone is allowed to go to Corinth».» (Horace, ep. 1,17) and the expression used at the time: «se corinthianiser» (to debauch oneself).

A special encounter

In Corinth, Paul met a couple who had fallen victim to the edict of expulsion of the Jews from Rome promulgated by Claudius in 49, Caligula's successor since 41. This edict is confirmed by a famous passage in Suetonius: Life of Claude.
This Jewish couple, from a Roman family, came from the province of Pontus (in Asia Minor, on the Black Sea or Pontus-Euxinus). Their names are Latin: Aquilas (= eagle), Priscilla (diminutive of Prisca = ancient, 2 Timothy 4:19). Always named together, the woman first, and often as receiving the Church into their home (1 Corinthians 16:19). They are tentmakers like Paul. Their common trade, in this prosperous city, brought them together. Initially colleagues, they soon became brothers.