​Paul in Greece – Corinth History

Read: Acts 18:1-6  (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/acts/18.html)
 
The Bible does not indicate how long Paul stayed in Athens. It may have been a matter of a few weeks and probably no more than two months. Paul moved on to Corinth, which was located on the isthmus which connects mainland Greece to the Peleponnese. This geography has played a major role in the life of Corinth. To the east of the isthmus was the Gulf of Corinth which connected to the Ionian Sea and Italy and to the west was the Saronic Gulf which connected to the Aegean Sea and Asia.

There is evidence of human habitation of the area dating back 8500 years. Being a crossroads region it is not surprising to know that many different peoples from the area had a go at living here. No one stuck until the Bacchiadae in the 8th century BC. The Bacchiad unified the region of Corinth under a council and a king who served for one year. The Bacchiad ruled from 747 to 650 BC, erecting large public buildings and monuments, establishing colonies at Corfu and Syracuse, and having a population of about 5,000.
 
Corinth continued to expand its influence and its power over the next 200 years, including inventing the Trireme warship in the late 6th century. After winning the Peloponnesian War with Sparta over Athens, Corinth began an extended period of warfare until Philip II took over in 338. In 146 the Romans declared war on the Achaean League and as the leading city that was not Athens, Corinth attracted special attention from the Romans. Lucius Mummius had all of the men of Corinth killed, the women and children were sold into slavery, and the city was burned to the ground.
 
Julius Caesar reestablished Corinth in 44 BC. The new city had a mixed population of Romans, Greeks, and Jews. An amphitheater was built along with new temples in the new Corinth. When Paul came to Corinth about a hundred years later he found a very metropolitan city with a well-established mix of peoples as residents and a high number of foreigners as visitors.
 
How diverse is the population where you live?