How morally corrupt was the city of Corinth in the Roman Empire?
Corinth was probably the most lascivious, immoral, wicked, and morally corrupt city in the Roman Empire. It was a double seaport whose commerce brought sailors from all parts of the world, and it was rampant with pagan worship, including a great temple to a Greek goddess.
Les explains that Corinth was probably the most lascivious, most immoral, most wicked, and morally corrupt city in the Roman Empire. He notes that it was a double seaport sitting on an isthmus jutting into the Mediterranean Sea, with one port handling eastern Mediterranean trade and the other serving trade to Rome, Spain, and the other end of the Mediterranean. This made it a city of perhaps 30,000 to 40,000 people, rampant with commerce and sailors from all parts of the world. It was also rampant with pagan worship, including a great temple to one of the Greek goddesses above a promenade over the city, and the whole society was programmed to this. The church there was beset with all kinds of problems and gross immorality, which is why they wrote to the apostle asking how to handle things.