Greece & Italy Day 6: Paul, Erastus, and Phoebe were here!

Began the day bright and early, piling our luggage into the bus and heading for the ancient port city of Cenchrae. In Acts 18, Paul left Corinth and set sail from Cenchrae to go to Ephesus. Also, in Romans 16, Paul commends Phoebe, a deaconess in the church in Cenchrae, to his audience in such a way it suggests that she is the one who delivered the letter for him. Cenchrae (along with Athens and Corinth) was destroyed by an earthquake in the mid-6th century A.D. Due to such earthquakes, the sea is higher today, but the remains of the port and a basilica can be seen partly under water.

Cenchrae: Phoebe was here!

Cenchrae and Lechaion were Corinth’s two port cities, linked by the diolkos, an ancient road which transported ships between the Corinthian Gulf and Saronic Gulf.  Let me say that again: A road for ships.  The diolkos was constructed in 582 B.C. and used until the 2nd century A.D., so was there when Paul visited. Ships were willing to pay the toll necessary to use the diolkos to avoid the dangerous journey around the Peloponnese peninsula.

Diolkos

Incidentally, we learned that in delivering Paul’s letter to Rome, Phoebe would have set sail from Lechaion, since it’s the port city on the Italy side of Greece. Kind of confusing, here’s a map:

Diolkos between Cenchrae and Lechaion

Today there is a canal across, saving ships the trouble of transportation across land. Fascinatingly, the bridge at one end is a submersive bridge – when a ship needs by the bridge sinks underwater to allow it through.  When our guide told us that, I assumed she misspoke and meant a drawbridge, but no.  It submerges.

This bridge SUBMERGES. I want one.

There are three Corinths – the modern city of Corinth, the old Corinth, and then the ancient Corinth, which the old Corinth is largely built on top of. Only 1% of ancient Corinth has been excavated, but what an interesting 1% that is! We visited the remains of the Roman forum (built on top of the Greek forum, some of which can be seen), including the Temple of Apollo and a reconstructed building scholars think may have been a church.

Temple of Apollo

But most exciting of all was the bema, the podium or “judgment seat” of the forum, for this is the only precise place in Greece where they can definitely say, “PAUL WAS HERE.” Because of inscriptions, they know that this is the bema where Gallio presided when Paul was dragged before him in Acts 18:12-17. This is also used to date Paul’s presence in the city, because Gallio (who was the brother of Seneca) had a term of 51 to 53 A.D., although he left early because of illness. What that means is that Paul may have been present for the Isthmian Games (similar to the Olympic Games) in September of 51 A.D., a time when the city would have needed the services of a tentmaker.

THE Bema: Paul was here! (Acrocorinth in background)

Down the hill from the forum were additional ruins with another fascinating find – an inscription that reads something to the effect of “Erastus at the end of his aedileship laid the pavement at his own expense.” An aedile is a city official and as customary, at the end of his time of service he made a gift to the city. Why is this interesting? Because Erastus is mentioned in Scripture as a city official in Romans 16:23 and in that context and two others as one of Paul’s companions (Acts 19:22; 2 Timothy 4:20). Erastus is a rare name and the title given in Scripture matches the one in the inscription, so it is believed to be the same person.

Erastus Inscription: Erastus was here!

We also visited the museum on the site, which had a number of interesting things. One thing I’ve learned that I have a hard time wrapping my mind around is that all these old buildings didn’t look as we see them now – they were painted or covered with plaster and then painted. Statues, too. Not what I picture in my head.

The museum also included several statues that had holes where the heads should be and didn’t look like the heads had been broken off. Sure enough, back in the day having statues in your house became popular, so they would mass produce statue bodies and then people would pick one and the head would be custom-made and attached. Go figure.

Pick a statue, we'll carve your head!

After exploring the forum to our heart’s content, we headed up the hill (and I mean up!) to the Acrocorinth, perched 1,900 feet above the plain. This was pretty much the most impregnable fortress in Greece and if the steep climb wasn’t enough, it was surrounded by a wall (three walls on the “weak” side). We drove most of the way and then hiked a large part of the remainder (through the three gates), giving us an incredible view of Corinth (and ancient Corinth) from above. It once housed a barracks and an Aphrodite sanctuary with 1,000 priestesses, although there’s significant dispute over whether that was in operation at the time of Paul’s visit. Regardless, it contributed to the immorality that Corinth was renowned for.

Acrocorinth

View from Acrocorinth

After our whirlwind tour of Corinth, we piled back onto the bus and headed for Athens. There, after checking into our hotel, we heard a talk with awesome photos from photographer/Biblical historian Ioannis Konstas, who focused on all the places in Greece we don’t have time to visit ourselves. It was pretty cool – you can check out his stuff here. We then walked to dinner, catching a cool view of the Parthenon lit up at night.

Tomorrow: Athens!