The Isthmus (f1259) is the most remarkable feature in the Geography of Greece; and the peculiar relation which it established between the land and the water — and between the Morea and the Continent — had the utmost effect on the whole course of the History of Greece. When we were considering the topography and aspect of Athens, all the associations which surrounded us were Athenian. Here at the Isthmus, we are, as it were, at the center of the activity of the Greek race in general. It has the closest connection with all their most important movements, both military and commercial.
In all the periods of Greek history, from the earliest to the latest, we see the military importance of the Isthmus. The phrase of Pindar is, that it was "the bridge of the sea:" it formed the only line of march for an invading or retreating army. Xenophon speaks of it as "the gate of the Peloponnesus," the closing of which would make all ingress and egress impossible. And we find that it was closed at various times, by being fortified and re-fortified by a wall, some traces of which remain to the present day. In the Persian war, when consternation was spread amongst the Greeks by the death of Leonidas, the wall was first built. In the Peloponnesian war, when the Greeks turned fratricidal arms against each other, the Isthmus was often the point of the conflict between the Athenians and their enemies. In the time of the Theban supremacy, the wall again appears as a fortified line from sea to sea. When Greece became Roman, the provincial arrangements neutralized, for a time, the military importance of the Isthmus. But when the barbarians poured in from the North, like the Persians of old, its wall was repaired by Valerian. Again it was rebuilt by Justinian, who fortified it with a hundred and fifty towers. And we trace its history through the later period of the Venetian power in the Levant, from the vast works of 1463, to the peace of 1699, when it was made the boundary of the territories of the Republic. (f1260)
Conspicuous, both in connection with the military defenses of the Isthmus, and in the prominent features of its scenery, is the Acrocorinthus or citadel of Corinth, which rises in form and abruptness like the rock of Dumbarton. But this comparison is quite inadequate to express the magnitude of the Corinthian citadel. It is elevated two thousand feet (f1261) above the level of the sea; it throws a vast shadow across the plain at its base; the ascent is a journey involving some fatigue; and the space of ground on the summit is so extensive, that it contained a whole town, (f1262) which, under the Turkish dominion, had several mosques. Yet notwithstanding its colossal dimensions, its sides are so precipitous, that a few soldiers are enough to guard it. (f1263) The possession of this fortress has been the object of repeated struggles in the latest wars between the Turks and the Greeks, and again between the Turks and the Venetians. It was said to Philip, when he wished to acquire possession of the Morea, that the Acrocorinthus was one of the horns he must seize, in order to secure the heifer. Thus Corinth might well be called "the eye of Greece" in a military sense, as Athens has often been so called in another sense. If the rock of Minerva was the Acropolis of the Athenian people, the mountain of the Isthmus was truly named "the Acropolis of the Greeks."
It will readily be imagined that the view from the summit is magnificent and extensive. (f1264) A sea is on either hand. Across that which lies on the east, a clear sight is obtained of the Acropolis of Athens, at a distance of forty-five miles. (f1265) The mountains of Attica and Boeotia, and the islands of the Archipelago, close the prospect in this direction. Beyond the western sea, which flows in from the Adriatic, are the large masses of the mountains of north-eastern Greece, with Parnassus towering above Delphi. Immediately beneath us is the narrow plain which separates the seas. The city itself is on a small table-land (f1266) of no great elevation, connected with the northern base of the Acrocorinthus. At the edge of the lower level are the harbors which made Corinth the emporium of the richest trade of the East and the West.
We are thus brought to that which is really the characteristic both of Corinthian geography and Corinthian history, its close relation to the commerce of the Mediterranean. Plutarch says, that there was a want of good harbors in Achaia; and Strabo speaks of the circumnavigation of the Morea as dangerous. (f1267) Cape Malea was proverbially formidable, and held the same relation to the voyages of ancient days which the Cape of Good Hope does to our own. (f1268) Thus, a narrow and level isthmus, (f1269) across which smaller vessels could be dragged from gulf to gulf, (f1270) was of inestimable value to the early traders of the Levant. And the two harbors, which received the ships of a more maturely developed trade, — Cenchrea (f1271) on the Eastern Sea, and Lechaeum (f1272) on the Western, with a third and smaller port, called Schoenus, (f1273) where the isthmus was narrowest, — form an essential part of our idea of Corinth. Its common title in the poets is "the city of the two seas." (f1274) It is allegorically represented in art as a female figure on a rock, between two other figures, each of whom bears a rudder, the symbol of navigation and trade. (f1275) It is the same image which appears under another form in the words of the rhetorician, who said that it was "the prow and the stern of Greece." (f1276)
As we noticed above a continuous fortress which was carried across the Isthmus, in connection with its military history, so here we have to mention another continuous work which was attempted, in connection with its mercantile history. This was the ship canal; — which, after being often projected, was about to be begun again near the very time of St. Paul’s visit. (f1277) Parallels often suggest themselves between the relation of the parts of the Mediterranean to each other, and those of the Atlantic and Pacific: for the basins of the "Midland Sea "were to the Greek and Roman trade what the Oceanic spaces are to ours. And it is difficult, in speaking of a visit to the Isthmus of Corinth in the year 52, (f1278) — which only preceded by a short interval the work of Nero’s engineers, — not to be reminded of the Isthmus of Panama in the year 1852, during which active progress was made in an undertaking often projected, but never yet carried into effect. (f1279)
There is this difference, however, between the Oceanic and the Mediterranean Isthmus, that one of the great cities of the ancient world always existed at the latter. What some future Darien may be destined to become, we cannot prophesy: but, at a very early date, we find Corinth celebrated by the poets for its wealth. This wealth must inevitably have grown up, from its mercantile relations, even without reference to its two seas, — if we attend to the fact on which Thucydides laid stress, that it was the place through which all ingress and egress took place between Northern and Southern Greece, before the development of commerce by water But it was its conspicuous position on the narrow neck of land between the AEgean and Ionian Seas, which was the main cause of its commercial greatness. The construction of the ship Argo is assigned by mythology to Corinth. The Samians obtained their shipbuilders from her. The first Greek triremes, — the first Greek sea-fights, — are connected with her history. Neptune was her god. Her colonies were spread over distant coasts in the East and West; and ships came from every sea to her harbors. Thus she became the common resort and the universal market of the Greeks. (f1280) Her population and wealth were further augmented by the manufactures in metallurgy, dyeing, and porcelain, which grew up in connection with the import and export of goods. And at periodical intervals the crowding of her streets and the activity of her trade received a new impulse from the strangers who flocked to the Isthmian games; — a subject to which our attention will often be called hereafter, but which must be passed over here with a simple allusion. (f1281) If we add all these particulars together, we see ample reason why the wealth, luxury, and profligacy of Corinth were proverbial (f1282) in the ancient world.
In passing from the fortunes of the earlier, or Greek Corinth, to its history under the Romans, the first scene that meets us is one of disaster and ruin. The destruction of this city by Mummius, about the same time that Carthage (f1283) was destroyed by Scipio, was so complete, that, like its previous wealth, it passed into a proverb. Its works of skill and luxury were destroyed or carried away. Polybius, the historian, saw Roman soldiers playing at draughts on the pictures of famous artists; and the exhibition of vases and statues that decorated the triumph of the Capitol introduced a new era in the habits of the Romans. Meanwhile, the very place of the city from which these works were taken remained desolate for many years. (f1284) The honor of presiding over the Isthmian games was given to Sicyon; and Corinth ceased even to be a resting-place of travelers between the East and the West. (f1285) But a new Corinth rose from the ashes of the old. Julius Caesar, recognizing the importance of the Isthmus as a military and mercantile position, sent thither a colony of Italians, who were chiefly freedmen. (f1286) This new establishment rapidly increased by the mere force of its position. Within a few years it grew, as Sincapore (f1287) has grown in our days, from nothing to an enormous city. The Greek merchants, who had fled on the Roman conquest to Delos and the neighboring coasts, returned to their former home. The Jews settled themselves in a place most convenient both for the business of commerce and for communication with Jerusalem. (f1288) Thus, when St. Paul arrived at Corinth after his sojourn at Athens, he found himself in the midst of a numerous population of Greeks and Jews. They were probably far more numerous than the Romans, though the city had the constitution of a colony, (f1289) and was the metropolis of a province.
It is commonly assumed that Greece was constituted as a province under the name of Achaia, when Corinth was destroyed by Mummius. But this appears to be a mistake. There seems to have been an intermediate period, during which the country had a nominal independence, as was the case with the contiguous province of Macedonia. The description which has been given of the political limits of Macedonia (ch. 9.) defines equally the extent of Achaia. It was bounded on all other sides by the sea, and was nearly co-extensive with the kingdom of Modern Greece. The name of Achaia was given to it, in consequence of the part played by the Achaean league in the last independent struggles of ancient Greece; and Corinth, the head of that league, became the metropolis. (f1290) The province experienced changes of government, such as those which have been alluded to in the case of Cyprus. (f1291) At first it was proconsular. Afterwards it was placed by Tiberius under a procurator of his own. But in the reign of Claudius it was again reckoned among the "unarmed provinces," (f1292) and governed by a proconsul.
One of the proconsuls who were sent out to govern the province of Achaia in the course of St. Paul’s second missionary journey was Gallio. (Acts 18:12.) His original name was Annaeus Novatus, and he was the brother of Annaeus Seneca the philospher. The name under which he was known to us in sacred and secular history was due to his adoption into the family of Junius Gallio the rhetorician. The time of his government at Corinth, as indicated by the sacred historian, must be placed between the years 52 and 54, if the dates we have assigned to St. Paul’s movements be correct. We have no exact information on this subject from any secular source, nor is he mentioned by any Heathen writer as having been proconsul of Achaia. But there are some incidental notices of his life, which give rather a curious confirmation of what is advanced above. We are informed by Tacitus and Dio that he died in the year 65. Pliny says that after his consulship he had a serious illness, for the removal of which he tried a sea-voyage: and from his brother Seneca we learn that it was in Achaia that he went on shipboard for the benefit of his health. If we knew the year of Gallio’s consulship, our chronological result would be brought within narrow limits We do not possess this information; but it has been reasonably conjectured that his promotion, if due to his brother’s influence, would be subsequent to the year 49, in which the philospher returned from his exile in Corsica, and had the youthful Nero placed under his tuition. The interval of time thus marked out between the restoration of Seneca and the death of Gallio, includes the narrower period assigned by St. Luke to the proconsulate in Achaia.
The coming of a new governor to a province was an event of great importance The whole system of administration, the general prosperity, the state of political parties, the relative position of different sections of the population, were necessarily affected by his personal character. The provincials were miserable or happy, according as a Verres or a Cicero was sent from Rome. As regards the personal character of Gallio, the inference we should naturally draw from the words of St. Luke closely corresponds with what we are told by Seneca. His brother speaks of him with singular affection, not only as a man of integrity and honesty, but as one who won universal regard by his amiable temper and popular manners. (f1293) His conduct on the occasion of the tumult at Corinth is quite in harmony with a character so described. He did not allow himself, like Pilate, to be led into injustice by the clamor of the Jews; (Acts 18:14.) and yet he overlooked, with easy indifference, an outbreak of violence which a sterner and more imperious governor would at once have arrested. (Acts 18:17.)
The details of this transaction were as follows:— The Jews, anxious to profit by a change of administration, and perhaps encouraged by the well-known compliance of Gallio’s character, took an early opportunity of accusing St. Paul before him. They had already set themselves in battle array (f1294) against him, and the coming of the new governor was the signal for a general attack. (Acts 18:12.) It is quite evident that the act was preconcerted and the occasion chosen. Making use of the privileges they enjoyed as a separate community, and well aware that the exercise of their worship was protected by the Roman State, (f1295) they accused St. Paul of violating their own religious Law. They seem to have thought, if this violation of Jewish law could be proved, that St. Paul would become amenable to the criminal law of the Empire; or, perhaps, they hoped, as afterwards at Jerusalem, that he would be given up into their hands for punishment. Had Gallio been like Festus or Felix, this might easily have happened; and then St. Paul’s natural resource would have been to appeal to the Emperor, on the ground of his citizenship. But the appointed time of his visit to Rome was not yet come, and the continuance of his missionary labors was secured by the character of the governor, who was providentially sent at this time to manage the affairs of Achaia.
The scene is set before us by St. Luke with some details which give us a vivid notion of what took place. Gallio is seated on that proconsular chair (f1296) from which judicial sentences were pronounced by the Roman magistrates. To this we must doubtless add the other insignia of Roman power, which were suitable to a colony and the metropolis of a province. Before this Heathen authority the Jews are preferring their accusation with eager clamor. Their chief speaker is Sosthenes, the successor of Crispus, or (it may be) the ruler of another synagogue. (f1297) The Greeks (f1298) are standing round, eager to hear the result, and to learn something of the new governor’s character; and, at the same time, hating the Jews, and ready to be the partisans of St. Paul. At the moment when the Apostle is "about to open his mouth," (Acts 18:14.) Gallio will not even hear his defense, but pronounces a decided and peremptory judgment.
His answer was that of a man who knew the limits of his office, and felt that be had no time to waste on the religious technicalities of the Jews. Had it been a case in which the Roman law had been violated by any breach of the peace or any act of dishonesty, then it would have been reasonable and right that the matter should have been fully investigated; but since it was only a question of the Jewish law, relating to the disputes of Hebrew superstition, (f1299) and to names of no public interest, he utterly refused to attend to it. They might excommunicate the offender, or inflict on him any of their ecclesiastical punishments; but he would not meddle with trifling quarrels, which were beyond his jurisdiction. And without further delay he drove the Jews away from before his judicial chair. (Acts 18:16.)
The effect of this proceeding must have been to produce the utmost rage and disappointment among the Jews. With the Greeks and other bystanders (f1300) the result was very different. Their dislike of a superstitious and misanthropic nation was gratified. They held the forbearance of Gallio as a proof that their own religious liberties would be respected under the new administration; and, with the disorderly impulse of a mob which has been kept for some time in suspense, they rushed upon the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in the very presence of the proconsular tribunal. Meanwhile, Gallio took no notice (f1301) of the injurious punishment thus inflicted on the Jews, and with characteristic indifference left Sosthenes to his fate.
Thus the accusers were themselves involved in disgrace; Gallio obtained a high popularity among the Greeks, and St. Paul was enabled to pursue his labors in safety. Had he been driven away from Corinth, the whole Christian community of the place might have been put in jeopardy. But the result of the storm was to give shelter to the infant Church, with opportunity of safe and continued growth. As regards the Apostle himself, his credit rose with the disgrace of his opponents. So far as he might afterwards be noticed by the Roman governor or the Greek inhabitants of the city, he would be regarded as an injured man. As his own discretion had given advantage to the holy cause at Philippi, by involving his opponents in blame, (f1302) so here the most imminent peril was providentially turned into safety and honor.
Thus the assurance communicated in the vision was abundantly fulfilled. Though bitter enemies had "set on" Paul (Acts 18:10), no one had "hurt" him. The Lord had been "with him," and "much people" had been gathered into His Church. At length the time came when the Apostle deemed it right to leave Achaia and revisit Judaea, induced (as it would appear) by a motive which often guided his journeys, the desire to be present at the great gathering of the Jews at one of their festivals, (f1303) and possibly also influenced by the movements of Aquila and Priscilla, who were about to proceed from Corinth to Ephesus. Before his departure, he took a solemn farewell of the assembled Church. (Acts 18:18.) How touching St. Paul’s farewells must have been, especially after a protracted residence among his brethren and disciples, we may infer from the affectionate language of his letters; and one specimen is given to us of these parting addresses, in the Acts of the Apostles. From the words spoken at Miletus (Acts 20.), we may learn what was said and felt at Corinth. He could tell his disciples here, as he told them there, that he had taught them "publicly and from house to house;" (Acts 10:20.) that he was "pure from the blood of all men;" (f1304) that by the space of a year and a half he had "not ceased to warn every one night and day with tears." (f1305) And doubtless he forewarned them of "grievous wolves entering in among them, of men speaking perverse things arising (f1306) of themselves, to draw away disciples after them." And he could appeal to them, with the emphatic gesture of "those hands" which had labored at Corinth, in proof that he had "coveted no man’s gold or silver," and in confirmation of the Lord’s words, that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." (f1307) Thus he departed, with prayers and tears, from those who "accompanied him to the ship" with many misgivings that they might "see his face no more." (f1308)
The three points on the coast to which our attention is called in the brief notice of this voyage contained in the Acts, (Acts 18:18-22.) are Cenchrea, the harbor of Corinth; Ephesus, on the western shore of Asia Minor; and Caesarea Stratonis, in Palestine. More suitable occasions will be found hereafter for descriptions of Caesarea and Ephesus. The present seems to require a few words to be said concerning Cenchrea.
After descending from the low table-land on which Corinth was situated, the road which connected the city with its eastern harbor extended a distance of eight or nine miles across the Isthmian plain. Cenchrea has fallen with Corinth; but the name (f1309) still remains to mark the place of the port, which once commanded a large trade with Alexandria and Antioch, with Ephesus and Thessalonica, and the other cities of the AEgean. That it was a town of some magnitude may be inferred from the attention which Pausanias devotes to it in the description of the environs of Corinth; and both its mercantile character, and the pains which had been taken in its embellishment, are well symbolized in the coin (f1310) which represents the port with a temple on each enclosing promontory, and a statue of Neptune on a rock between them.
From this port St. Paul began his voyage to Syria. But before the vessel sailed, one of his companions performed a religious ceremony which must not be unnoticed, since it is mentioned in Scripture. Aquila (f1311) had bound himself by one of those vows, which the Jews often voluntarily took, even when in foreign countries, in consequence of some mercy received, or some deliverance from danger, or other occurrence which had produced a deep religious impression on the mind. The obligations of these vows were similar to those in the case of Nazarites, — as regards abstinence from strong drinks and legal pollutions, and the wearing of the hair uncut till the close of a definite length of time. Aquila could not be literally a Nazarite; for, in the case of that greater vow, the cutting of the hair, which denoted that the legal time was expired, could only take place at the Temple in Jerusalem, or at least in Judaea. In this case the ceremony was performed at Cenchrea. Here Aquila — who had been for some time conspicuous, even among the Jews and Christians at Corinth, for the long hair which denoted that he was under a peculiar religious restriction — came to the close of the period of obligation; and, before accompanying the Apostle to Ephesus, laid aside the tokens of his vow.
From Corinth to Ephesus, the voyage was among the islands of the Greek Archipelago. The Isles of Greece, and the waters which break on their shores, or rest among them in spaces of calm repose, always present themselves to the mind as the scenes of interesting voyages, — whether we think of the stories of early legend, or the stirring life of classical times, of the Crusades in the middle ages, or of the movements of modern travelers, some of whom seldom reflect that the land and water round them were hallowed by the presence and labors of St. Paul. One great purpose of this book will be gained, if it tends to associate the Apostle of the Gentiles with the coasts, which are already touched by so many other historical recollections.
No voyage across the AEgean was more frequently made than that between Corinth and Ephesus. They were the capitals of the two flourishing and peaceful provinces of Achaia and Asia, (f1312) and the two great mercantile towns on opposite sides of the sea. If resemblances may again be suggested between the ocean and the Mediterranean, and between ancient and modern times, we may say that the relation of these cities of the Eastern and Western Greeks to each other was like that between New York and Liverpool. Even the time taken up by the voyages constitutes a point of resemblance. Cicero says that, on his eastward passage, which was considered a long one, he spent fifteen days, and that his return was accomplished in thirteen. (f1313)
A fair wind, in much shorter time than either thirteen or fifteen days, would take the Apostle across, from Corinth, to the city on the other side of the sea. It seems that the vessel was bound for Syria, and staid only a short time in harbor at Ephesus. Aquila and Priscilla remained there while he proceeded. (Acts 18:19.) But even during the short interval of his stay, Paul made a visit to his Jewish fellow-countrymen, and (the Sabbath being probably one of the days during which he remained) he held a discussion with them in the synagogue concerning Christianity. (f1314) Their curiosity was excited by what they heard, as it had been at Antioch in Pisidia; and perhaps their curiosity would speedily have been succeeded by opposition, if their visitor had staid longer among them. But he was not able to grant the request which they urgently made. He was anxious to attend the approaching festival at Jerusalem; (Acts 18:21. See above.) and, had he not proceeded with the ship, this might have been impossible. He was so far, however, encouraged by the opening which he saw, that he left the Ephesian Jews with a promise of his return. This promise was limited by an expression of that dependence on the divine will which is characteristic of a Christian’s life, (f1315) whether his vocation be to the labors of an Apostle, or to the routine of ordinary toil. We shall see that St. Paul’s promise was literally fulfilled, when we come to pursue his progress on his third missionary circuit.
The voyage to Syria lay first by the coasts and islands of the AEgean to Cos and Cnidus, which are mentioned on subsequent voyages, (Acts 21:1, 27:7.) and then across the open sea by Rhodes and Cyprus to Caesarea. (Acts 21:1 3.) This city has the closest connection with some of the most memorable events of early Christianity. We have already had occasion to mention it, in alluding to St. Peter and the baptism of the first Gentile convert. (f1316) We shall afterwards be required to make it the subject of a more elaborate notice, when we arrive at the imprisonment which was suffered by St. Paul under two successive Roman governors. (Acts 21:&c.) The country was now no longer under native kings. Ten years had elapsed since the death of. Herod Agrippa, the last event alluded to (Ch. 4.) in connection with Caesarea. Felix had been for some years already procurator of Judaea. (f1317) If the aspect of the country had become in any degree more national under the reign of the Herods, it had now resumed all the appearance of a Roman province. (f1318) Caesarea was its military capital, as well as the harbor by which it was approached by all travelers from the West From this city, roads (f1319) had been made to the Egyptian frontier on the south, and northwards along the coast by Ptolemais, Tyre, and Sidon, to Antioch, as well as across the interior by Neapolis or Antipatris to Jerusalem and the Jordan.
The journey from Caesarea to Jerusalem is related by St. Luke in a single word. (f1320) No information is given concerning the incidents which occurred there:— no meetings with other Apostles, — no controversies on disputed points of doctrine, — are recorded or inferred. We are not even sure that St. Paul arrived in time for the festival at which he desired to be present. (f1321) The contrary seems rather to be implied; for he is said simply to have "saluted the Church," and then to have proceeded to Antioch. It is useless to attempt to draw aside the veil which conceals the particulars of this visit of Paul of Tarsus to the city of his forefathers. As if it were no longer intended that we should view the Church in connection with the center of Judaism, our thoughts are turned immediately to that other city, (Acts 18:22.) where the name "Christian" was first conferred on it.
From Jerusalem to Antioch it is likely that the journey was accomplished by land. It is the last time we shall have occasion to mention a road which was often traversed, at different seasons of the year, by St. Paul and his companions. Two of the journeys along this Phoenician coast have been long ago mentioned. Many years had intervened since the charitable mission which brought relief from Syria to the poor in Judaea (Ch. 4.), and since the meeting of the council at Jerusalem, and the joyful return at a time of anxious controversy (Ch. 7.). When we allude to these previous visits to the Holy City, we feel how widely the Church of Christ had been extended in the space of very few years. The course of our narrative is rapidly carrying us from the East towards the West. We are now for the last time on this part of the Asiatic shore. For a moment the associations which surround us are all of the primeval past. The monuments which still remain along this coast remind us of the ancient Phoenician power, and of Baal and Ashtaroth, (f1322) — or of the Assyrian conquerors, who came from the Euphrates to the West, and have left forms like those in the palaces of Nineveh sculptured on the rocks of the Mediterranean, (f1323) — rather than of any thing connected with the history of Greece and Rome. The mountains which rise above our heads belong to the characteristic imagery of the Old Testament; the cedars are those of the forests which were hewn by the workmen of Hiram and Solomon; the torrents which cross the roads are the waters from "the sides of Lebanon." (f1324) But we are taking our last view of this scenery; and, as we leave it, we feel that we are passing from the Jewish infancy of the Christian Church to its wider expansion among the Heathen.
Once before we had occasion to remark that the Church had no longer now its central point in Jerusalem, but in Antioch, a city of the Gentiles. (f1325) The progress of events now carries us still more remotely from the land which was first visited by the tidings of salvation. The world through which our narrative takes us begins to be European rather than Asiatic. So far as we know, the present visit which St. Paul paid to Antioch was his last. (f1326) We have already seen how new centers of Christian life had been established by him in the Greek cities of the AEgean. The course of the Gospel is farther and farther towards the West; and the inspired part of the Apostle’s biography, after a short period of deep interest in Judaea, finally centers in Rome .
Coin of Corinth. (f1327)
(f1258) The Epistles to the Thessalonians, Corinthians, and Romans.
(f1259) It is from this Greek "bridge of the sea chat the name isthmus has been given to every similar neck of land in the world.
(f1260) The wall was not built in a straight line, but followed the sinuosities of the ground. The remains of square towers are visible in some places. The eastern portion abutted on the Sanctuary of Neptune, where the Isthmian games are held.
(f1261) Dodwell. The ascent is by a zigzag toad, which Strabo says was thirty stadia in length. "Looking down upon the isthmus, the shadow of the Acrocorinthus, of a conical shape, extended exactly half across its length, the point of the cone being central between the two seas." — Dr. Clarke.
(f1262) Dodwell and Clarke. The city, according to Xenophon, was forty stadia in circumference without the Acropolis, and eighty-five with it.
(f1263) Plutarch says that it was guarded by 400 soldiers, 50 dogs, and as many keepers.
(f1264) Wheler’s description is as follows:— "We mounted to the top of the highest point, and had one of the most agreeable prospects in the world. On the right hand of us the Saronic Gulf, with all its little islands strewed up and down it, to Cape Colonne on the Promontory Sunium. Beyond that the islands of the Archipelago seemed to close up the mouth of the Gulf. On the left hand of us we had the Gulf of Lepanto or Corinth, as far as beyond Sicyon, bounded northward with all these famous mountains of old times, with the Isthmus, even to Athens, lying in a row, and presenting themselves orderly to our view. The plain of Corinth towards Sicyon or Basilico is well watered by two rivulets, well tilled, well planted with olive-yards and vineyards, and, having many little villages scattered up and down it, is none of the least of the ornaments of this prospect. The town also that lieth north of the castle, in little knots of houses, surrounded with orchards and gardens of oranges, lemons, citrons, and cypress-trees, and mixed with cornfields between, is a sight not less delightful. So that it is hard to judge whether this plain is more beautiful to the beholders or profitable to the inhabitants." This was in 1675, before the last conflicts of the Turks and Venetians.
(f1265) "As from the Parthenon at Athens we had seen the citadel of Corinth, so now we had a commanding view, across the Saronic Gulf, of Salamis and the Athenian Acropolis." — Dr. Clarke. See above, under Athens.
(f1266) Leake’s description entirely corresponds with Strabo’s.
(f1267) He adds that the Sicilian sea was avoided by mariners as much as possible.
(f1268) A proverb said of this south-eastern point of the Morea:"When you are round Cape Malea, forget all you have at home."
(f1269) See above, note on the word "Isthmus."
(f1270) Hence the narrowest part of the Isthmus was called by a word which in meaning and in piratic associations corresponds with the Tarbert of Scotch geography. The distance across is about three miles; nearer Corinth it is six miles, whence the name of the modern village of Hexamili.
(f1271) For Cenchrea, see below, pp. 366, 367. It was seventy stadia distant from the city.
(f1272) Lechaeum was united to Corinth by long walls. It was about twelve stadia distant from the city.
(f1273) Schoenus was at the point where the Isthmus was narrowest, close to the Sanctuary of Neptune and the eastern portion of the Isthmian wall. The ship is described as sailing to this port in the early times when Athens had the presidency of the games.
(f1274) One phrase which was used of it is that which we find in Acts 27:41.
(f1275) See this on the coin at the end of Chap. 13.
(f1276) The phrase seems to have been proverbial.
(f1277) Demetrius Poliorcetes, Julius Caesar, and Caligula had all entertained the notion of cutting through the Isthmus. Nero really began the undertaking in the year 52, but soon desisted. See Leake (pp. 297-302), who quotes all the authorities. The portion of the trench which remains is at the narrowest part, near the shore of the Corinthian Gulf. Dodwell came upon it, after crossing Mount Geraneia from Attica.
(f1278) The arguments for this date may be seen in Wieseler. We shall return to the subject again.
(f1279) Our first edition was published in 1852. At that time the various plans for an inter-oceanic canal were very much before the public. Now at least the railway is open for traffic from ocean to ocean.
(f1280) One writer in another place compares Corinth to a ship loaded with merchandise. and says that a perpetual fair was held yearly and daily at the Isthmus.
(f1281) See the beginning of Chap. 20., and the plan of the Posidonium there given.
(f1282) "Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum." — Hor. Ep. 1:17, 36. The word "Corinthianize" was used proverbially for an immoral life.
(f1283) See Chap. I. p. 13.
(f1284) "Nevertheless," says Colonel Leake, "the site, I conceive, cannot have been quite uninhabited, as the Romans neither destroyed the public buildings nor persecuted the religion of the Corinthians. And as many of those buildings were still perfect in the time of Pausanias, there must have been some persons who had the care of them during the century of desolation."
(f1285) We have noticed above (p. 333, n. 4) that on Cicero’s journey between the East and West, we find him resting, not at Corinth, but at Athens. In the time of Ovid, the city was rising again.
(f1286) Professor Stanley notices the great number of names of Corinthian Christians (Caius, Quartus, Fortunatus, Achaicus, Crispus, Justus), which indicate "either a Roman or a servile origin." Pref. to Corinthians.
(f1287) See the Life of Sir Stamford Raffles and later notices of the place in Rajah Brooke’s journals, &c.
(f1288) See the preceding chapter for the establishment of the Jews at Corinth.
(f1289) See the Latin letters on its coins. Its full name was "Colonia Laus Julia Corinthus." See coin at the end of this chapter.
(f1290) Ritter says that this is the meaning of "Corinthus Achaiae urbs," in Tac. Hist. 2:1.
(f1291) See Ch. 5.
(f1292) A phrase applied to those provinces which were proconsular and required the presence of no army. See p. 214, n. 11.
(f1293) The same character is given of him by the poet Statius.
(f1294) See p. 348, n. 1.
(f1295) Compare Joseph. War, 2:14, 4, on Caesarea. In Alexandria, there were four distinct classes of population, among which the Jews were citizens under their Ethnarch, like the Romans under their Juridicus. We need not discuss here the later position of the Jews, after Caracalla had made all freemen citizens.
(f1296) This chair, or tribunal, "the indispensable symbol of the Roman judgment-seat," as it has been called, is mentioned three times in the course of this narrative. It was of two kinds:(1) fixed in some open and public place; (2) movable, and taken by the Roman magistrates to be placed wherever they might sit in a judicial character. Probably here and in the case of Pilate (John 19:13) the former kind of seat is intended. See Smith’s Dictionary of Antiquities, under "Sella."
(f1297) Whether Sosthenes had really been elected to fill the place of Crispus, or was only a co-ordinate officer in the same or some other synagogue, must be left undetermined. On the organization of the synagogues, see Ch. 6. p. 154. It should be added, that we cannot confidently identify this Sosthenes with the "brother" whose name occurs 1Corinthians 1:1.
(f1298) See note 6, below.
(f1299) Acts 18:15. We recognize here that much had been made by the Jews of the name of "Christ" being given to Jesus.
(f1300) The true reading here does not specify who the persons were who beat Sosthenes. It cannot, however, be well doubted that they were Greeks. The reading "Jews," found in some MSS., is evidently wrong.
(f1301) Acts 18:17. See above on Gallio’s. character.
(f1302) See p. 269.
(f1303) See Acts 18:21. There is little doubt that the festival was Pentecost. We should not, however, leave unnoticed that it is doubtful whether this allusion to the festival ought to be in the text.
(f1304) v. 26. Compare Acts 18:6, and see p. 348.
(f1305) v. 31. Compare what is said of hit tears at Philippi. Philippians 3:18.
(f1306)vv. 29, 30.
(f1307) Compare vv. 33-35 with Acts 18:3, and with 1Corinthians 4:12.
(f1308) vv. 36-38.
(f1309) The modern name is Kichries.
(f1310) An engraving of this coin will be given at the end of Ch. 19.
(f1311) This is left as it stood in the earlier editions. It must be admitted that the arguments from the structure of the original are rather in favor of referring the vow, not to Aquila, but to St. Paul. The difficulty lies not so much in supposing that Paul took a Jewish vow (see Acts 21:26), as in supposing that he made himself conspicuous for Jewish peculiarities while he was forming a mixed church at Corinth. But we are ignorant of the circumstances of the case.
(f1312) See how Achaia and Asia are mentioned by Tacitus, Hist. 2:8.
(f1313) The voyage was often accomplished in three or four days. See Thuc. 3:3.
(f1314) The aorist (v. 19) should be contrasted with the imperfect used (v. 4) of the continued discussions at Corinth.
(f1315) "If God will." See Jam. 4:15. "If the Lord will, we shall live," &c.
(f1316) See p. 113. Compare p. 49.
(f1317) Tac. Ann. 14:54, and Josephus.
(f1318) See pp. 26 and 51.
(f1319) See the remarks, pp. 78, 79.
(f1320) "When he had gone up," Acts 18:22. Some commentators think that St. Paul did not go to Jerusalem at all, but that this participle merely denotes his going up from the ship into the town of Caesarea: but, independently of his intention to visit Jerusalem, it is hardly likely that such a circumstance would have been specified in a narrative so briefly given.
(f1321) We shall see, in the case of the later voyage (Acts 20., 21.), that he could not have arrived in time for the festival, had not the weather been peculiarly favorable.
(f1322) The ruins of Tortosa and Aradus.
(f1323) The sculptures of Assyrian figures on the coast road near Beyrout are noticed in the works of many travelers.
(f1324) These torrents are often flooded, so as to be extremely dangerous; so that St. Paul may have encountered "perils of rivers" in this district. Maundrell says that the traveler Spor lost his life in one of these torrent.
(f1325) Pp. 101, 108.
(f1326) Antioch is not mentioned in the Acts after Acts 18:22.
(f1327) From the British Museum. The head is that of Julius Caesar himself.
