Bible Location

Achaea (ancient region)

Also known as: Achaia

Achaia was the Roman province that encompassed the Peloponnese and much of southern and central Greece during the New Testament period. Its provincial capital was Corinth, one of the most important commercial cities of the eastern Roman Empire.

The name Achaia had earlier referred more narrowly to a region along the northern Peloponnese and was associated with the Achaean League. Under Roman administration its meaning became much broader. Augustus organized Achaia as a senatorial province in 27 BC. After changes in its administrative status, the emperor Claudius restored it to senatorial administration in AD 44, so that it was governed by a proconsul during Paul's ministry.

In the New Testament, Achaia frequently appears alongside Macedonia as one of the principal regions in which Paul and his associates established and strengthened Christian congregations. Corinth became the principal center of Paul's work in the province.

Biblical Significance

Achaia occupies an important place in the history of Paul's missionary work. After preaching in Macedonia and Athens, Paul traveled to Corinth, where he remained for an extended period and helped establish a major Christian congregation. Acts 18 records that Paul was brought before Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, after opponents accused him of teaching a form of worship contrary to Roman law. Gallio dismissed the dispute as an internal religious matter.

Other New Testament passages show that Christianity spread beyond Corinth within the province. Acts 18:27 describes Apollos traveling to Achaia, while Paul repeatedly refers to the believers of Achaia in his letters. The household of Stephanas is described in 1 Corinthians 16:15 as among the first converts of Achaia. Paul also speaks of Christians in Macedonia and Achaia contributing to the relief of poor believers in Jerusalem.

Achaia therefore represents more than a geographic designation in the New Testament. It was one of the principal regions in which the early Christian movement became established in the Greek-speaking Roman world.

Historical Background

The name Achaia has a long history. In classical Greece it referred primarily to a region along the northern coast of the Peloponnese. The cities of this region formed the Achaean League, which became an important political federation during the Hellenistic period.

Rome defeated the Achaean League in 146 BC and destroyed Corinth. Julius Caesar refounded Corinth as a Roman colony in 44 BC, and the city rapidly regained its importance. When Augustus reorganized the Roman provinces in 27 BC, Corinth became the capital of the province of Achaia.

The province changed administrative status several times. During the reign of Claudius it again became a senatorial province governed by a proconsul. This administrative setting agrees with Acts 18, which identifies Gallio as proconsul of Achaia during Paul's residence in Corinth. An inscription discovered at Delphi naming Gallio as proconsul provides an important independent chronological reference for Paul's Corinthian ministry in the early AD 50s.

Modern Identification

Achaia in the New Testament should not be equated simply with the modern Greek administrative region that bears a similar name. The Roman province was considerably larger, encompassing the Peloponnese and substantial portions of central Greece.

Its most important New Testament center, Corinth, is securely identified. Ancient Corinth lies near the modern city of Corinth at the Isthmus connecting the Peloponnese with mainland Greece. Archaeological remains there preserve extensive evidence of the Roman city in which Paul lived and preached.

Because Achaia was a province rather than a single settlement, its New Testament identification is best represented as a region of Roman Greece with Corinth as its administrative and principal biblical center.

Scripture References

Acts 18:12 2 Corinthians 1:23

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Sources

Bible: Acts 18:1-18, Acts 18:27, Acts 19:21, Romans 15:26, 1 Corinthians 16:15, 2 Corinthians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 9:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:7-8; Encyclopedia of the Bible: Achaia; Perseus Digital Library: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, Achaia; Andre Plassart, L'inscription de Delphes mentionnant le proconsul Gallion, Revue des Etudes Grecques 80 (1967), 372-378