The
Grecian city of Corinth is about 48 miles west of
Athens. In antiquity it was a city-state located on the Isthmus of Corinth, which is the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of
Greece. The city was destroyed by the
Romans in the battle of Corinth in 146 B.C. and was rebuilt about a century later. Under the
Romans it became the seat of government for Southern Greece or Achaia.
Corinth was noted for its wealth and immorality. Sexual sins were widespread, in part, due to a temple located in the city dedicated to Venus (i.e. to lust). This temple employed the services of more than one thousand "priestesses" who were nothing more than common prostitutes.