Paul was more interested in the modern cities of the empire, and in the autumn of 50 CE, he arrived in Corinth, the most prosperous city of Achaea. The ancient polis had resisted Roman expansion in 146 BCE and had been totally destroyed, lying in ruins for over a century as a stark reminder of the price of opposition to Rome. In 44 BCE, Julius Caesar had rebuilt and repopulated Corinth with freed slaves, and under Augustus it became the capital of the province of Achaea, with a proconsul as governor.
