Читать книгу 1 Corinthians - Luise Schottroff - Страница 18

Strabo (about 64 BCE–19 CE), a geographer and historian, describes Corinth’s location: Corinth is called »wealthy« because of its commerce, since it is situated on the Isthmus and is master of two harbors, of which the one leads straight to Asia, and the other to Italy; … it was a welcome alternative, for the merchants both from Italy and from Asia, to avoid the voyage to Maleae [the southern tip of the Peloponnese] and to land their cargoes here. …¹⁵ The harbor to the West is Lechaion, the one to the East is Cenchrea (mentioned in Acts 18:18 and Rom 16:1).

By Paul’s time Corinth’s history had already been determined by Rome for a long period. Rome had destroyed the ancient Greek city in 146 BCE in a punitive action. »Corinth remained a long time deserted, till at length it was restored [in 44 BCE] on account of its natural advantages by divus Cæsar, who sent colonists thither, who consisted, for the most part, of the descendants of free-men.«¹⁶ In 27 BCE Corinth became the capital of the Roman province of Achaia, in which the proconsul resided and held court. Acts 18:12 mentions the bēma, the judicial bench on which the proconsul conducted public hearings.¹⁷ The city, like every large Roman city, was a place for business and worship, with shops and markets, artisans’ workshops, temples, theaters and baths. The travel writer Pausanias reports in 173 CE about Roman Corinth and its magnificent buildings.¹⁸ According to Plutarch, Corinth was a center for banking and finance.¹⁹

There is information about the population of Corinth in the Roman imperial period in ancient literary sources. A graphic text by Alciphron (middle of the 3^rd century CE) speaks of many who were without work and hungry alongside of great riches.²⁰ This description agrees with the general sociohistorical estimate for the city population in the Roman Empire.²¹ 90 percent of the population lived at or below the minimum subsistence level. Paul’s First Letter to Corinth is itself an additional document subject to sociohistorical analysis, and it shows the social and economic differences in the population and the significance of slavery for the economy.²²

There was a larger Jewish share of the population in the city. Philo (30 BCE–45 CE)²³ mentions a Jewish colony in Corinth (c. 41 CE). Additional witnesses to this Jewish colony in Corinth are 1 Corinthians (7:18, for example) and Acts 18:1–18. An inscription: [syna]gogē Ἑbr[aiōn]²⁴ comes from a later period (probably the 4^th century).

For an understanding of the letter, it is important to keep in mind the social and cultural dislocation of many people in this city. This was conditioned both by Roman settlement policy (see the testimony of Strabo above) and the economic situation: two harbors, transit of goods, people and even ships that were dragged over the isthmus. The Roman imperial cult since the time of Augustus tried to integrate the people and coerce them into loyalty toward Rome.²⁵