LrrERATURB. — See references in art. 'Conversion' in ERE. The conversions in the Acts are discussed in the various Lives of St. Paul (see Paul) ; see also Commentaries on the Epistles for discussions on the passages referred to in the article. W. James, Varieties of Religious Experience, London, 1902 ; E. D. Starbuck, The Psychology of Religion, do. 1899, also art. in ExpT, XXV. [1913-14] p. 219 ff. ; F. Granger, The Soul of a Christian, London, 1900; and G. Steven, Psychology of the Chris- tian Soul, do. 1911, may be mentioned as treating- of the experi- ence of conversion generally. See also J. W. Chapman, S. H. Sadley of Water Street ,1,onAon, 190G. For a suggestive dis- cussion of the difficulties in recalling the exact "experiences at the time of conversion see W. Thimme, Augustins geistigt Entwicklung, Berlin, 1908. W. F. LOFTHOUSE.
COPPERSMITH (xaX/cei5j, 2 Ti 4").— The Greek word properly denoted a worker in xaXfis (aes) — a term applied indifferently both to copper and its alloys — and more generally a worker in any metal. Copper was the first ore men learned to smelt and work : ' Prius aeris erat quam ferri cognitus usus ' (Lucret. v. 1292). The handicraft of the copper- smith was therefore very ancient. Later, when iron came into use, xaX-ve^s was extended to include workers in the new ore, ffiSripevs being a term rarely employed. In the LXX Tubal-cain is described as a x^iX/cei)? x^-^i^'*^ f**^ ffid-fjpov (Gn 4-^). Herodotus (i. 68) tells how Lichas, 'coming to a smithy, looked attentively at the iron being forged, and was struck with wonder when he saw wliat was done. The smith (xa\/cei)s), perceiving his astonish- ment, desisted from his work.'
As the Romans drew their supply of aes chiefly from the island of Cyprus, it came to be termed aes cyprium, which was shortened to cypriuin, and corrupted into cyprum, whence comes the Eng. word ' copper,' Fr. cuivre. Germ. Kupfer.
James Strahan.
CORINTH {K6piv6oi). — Corinth was the commer- cial capital of Greece, and one of the first centres of Christian light in the continent of Europe. Occupying a commanding position at the southern extremity of the narrow isthmus which joined the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece, and under the steep northern side of the stupendous rock of Acrocorinthus (1800 ft. above sea-level) ^yhich formed one of nature's strongest fortresses, it en- joyed unique advantages alike for commerce and defence. ' Corinth of the two seas' (' bimaris Cor- inthus ' [Hor. Car. I. vii. 2 ; Ovid, Met. v. 407])
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could not fail to become a great maritime power. Its western harbour, Lechteuni, on the Corinthian Gulf, received the shipping of Italy, Sicily, and Spain; its eastern port, Cenchreoe (q.v.), on the Saronic Gulf, that of Asia Minor, Syria, Phoenicia, and Egypt. Instead of circumnavigating stormy Cape Malea, coasting ships regularly made for the Isthmus, where those of larger size transliipped their cargoes, whilst those of smaller tonnage were hauled from sea to sea on a tramway 5 miles long (i5toX/cos). ' For goods exported from Peloponnesus, or imported by land, a toll was paid to those who had the keys of the country ' (Strabo, Vlll. vi. 20). As an emporium of the trade of the East and the West, Corinth grew into a splendid city, the home of merchant princes, adorned with Temples and filled with works of Hue art.
Corinth was described as ' the bridge of the sea ' (Pind, Nem. vi. 4), and ' the gate of the Pelopon- nesus' (Xen. Ages. 2). 'Prosperous (eiidaifMuv) Cor- inth ' is Herodotus ' designation of old Corinth. 'The Corintliians,' says Thucydides, 'were very rich, as is shown by their poets, for they gave the title of a<pvei6s to the place ' {Hist. i. 13). ' The city was rich and opulent at all times,' says Strabo (VII. vi. 23). At the zenith of its power it prob- ably had a free population of 200,0u0, with half a million slaves employed in its fleet and in its numer- ous colonies.
Pillaged and razed to the ground by the Romans under Lucius Mummius in 146 B.C., Corinth lay desolate for a century, till Julius Caesar refounded it in 46 B.C. as the Colonia Laiis Julia Corinthus, peopling it with Roman veterans and freedmen. 'The copestone of the republican epoch was the atonement for the sack of Corinth made by the greatest of all Romans and of all Piiilhellenes, the dictator Caesar, and the renewal of the star of Hellas in the form of an independent community of Roman citizens, the new " Julian Honour ' ' (Th. Mommsen, Provinces, Eng. tr.^, 1909, i. 260). As the capital of the province of Achaia, and the seat of proconsular government, new Corinth be- came nearly as populous and prosperous as the old had been, again deriving a vast revenue from the sea, again developing its industries and cultivat- ing its arts. Corinthian potters and especially workers in Corinthian brass — a mixture of gold, silver, and copper — were famous all over the world : ' nobilis aere Corinthus' (Ov. Met. vi. 416). The establishment of the Isthmian games in the sanc- tuary of Poseidon (Strabo, VIII. vi. 22) made the city a great centre of Hellenic life. But as it in- creased in wealth and refinement, it succumbed to the temptations of luxury. Theoretically, and not unnaturally, it was devoted to the cult of Poseidon, but practically it worshipped only Corinthian Aph- rodite, who was doubtless no other than the Syrian Astarte of the original Phoenician settlers. Her temple had more than a thousand lep68ov\oi — minis- ters of vice not found in other shrines of Greece, though common enough in those of Asia Minor — and ' the city was frequented and enriched by the multitudes who resorted thither on account of them ' (Strabo, VIII. vi. 22). Corinth became pro- verbial for abysmal profligacy. ' To live like a Corinthian' (KopivOidtea-dat) was a synonym for abandonment to immorality. When St. Paul wrote the appalling first page of his Epistle to the Romans, he had never seen Rome, but he had lived nearly two years in Corinth.