Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 59:2 (NA 2008)
Article: Tiberius Claudius Dinippus And The Food Shortages In Corinth
Author: Barry N. Danylak

TynBull 59:2 (2008) p. 231

Tiberius Claudius Dinippus And The Food Shortages In Corinth

Barry N. Danylak

Summary

The question of food shortages in Corinth in the mid-first century AD has special interest for the study of Paul’s letters to the Corinthian church. The letters are replete with food vocabulary, and give special attention to several food related issues within the community. A number of recent scholars have proposed that the reference to ‘the present distress’ (τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν ἀνάγκην) in 1 Corinthians 7:26 is a reference to a food shortage occurring in Corinth around the time of Paul’s visit to the city in AD 51. This paper aims to examine all the available epigraphic evidence for the office of curator of the grain supply (curator annonae) in Corinth, and those who served in the office. Special attention will be given to reconstructing the career of Tiberius Claudius Dinippus, who served as curator in the mid-first century, to reassess when and how long he probably served the office. The study confirms that there was a longstanding recurring pattern of food shortage in the city; such a crisis was especially acute in the period around AD 51, when Paul had contact with the city.

1. Introduction

One of the ongoing questions of historical interest in first century Roman Corinth concerns the number and intensity of the food shortages which the city experienced. The literary sources (discussed below) provide evidence of a number of famines in the Mediterranean region during the Claudian period, but these sources are limited and often speak only of broad geographic regions or of places geographically remote from Corinth. A richer picture of the pattern of famines or food

TynBull 59:2 (2008) p. 232

shortages1 specific to Corinth emerges when we examine the epigraphic evidence which has been uncovered in the environs of the ancient city. Remains of at least twenty Latin and six Greek inscriptions attest to the municipal office of the ‘curator of the grain supply’ or curator annonae,2 an office of the city that was probably appointed only during times of threatened or actual food shortage.3

The question of food shortages in Corinth during the Claudian-Neronean period has a particular relevance for the study of Paul’s letters to the Corinthian church. The letter of 1 Corinthians is replete with vocabulary of ‘food’, ‘eating’, ‘hungering’, ‘eating together’, ‘consumption’, and ‘dining.’You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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