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6 Water in Early ChristianRitual: BaptismandBaptisteries inCorinth 99 ings to thechurches.Theywerenotpartof themainbuilding,butadjacent to it, still separating the not-yet-Christians from the sacred Christian space. All three baptisteries seem to have had a final entrancedoor to theaislesof thebasilicas, givingaccess to the sacredareadirectlyafter baptism.Although theywerenotpart of themainbuilding, thebaptisterieshadacentral func- tion as ‘entrance rooms’ to the basilicas, representing the passage from non-Christianity to Christianity.107 Incontrast topurificationrites,baptismwasperformedonlyonce; theelaborated procedureof baptism ina separate building emphasised that baptismwasunderstoodas a rite de passage, following different steps, and as an initiation ritual into a communitywhichwas architecturally defined by the nearby basilica.Water played a central role in this passage, as indicatedby the central positionof thebaptismal basins,whichwere architecturally staged.108 But water featured prominently only in the central room, the photisterion, andwater was not the only element pointing to the renewal of life: the dying and risingwith Christ, the transfer under thedominionofChrist, thegrantingof theHolySpirit, and the integration into theChris- tiancommunitywere theologicaleffectsas importantas thepurificationfromsinsby immersion into the baptismal font. These theological effects, central for the understanding of baptism, couldnot easily be reflectedby thearchitecture. The cross-shapedbaptismal fonts, however, recall the central symbol of the Christian gos- pel, introduced intoCorinthbyPaul,whopreached ‘thewordof thecross’ (1Cor 1, 18).Converts entering the Corinth baptisteries stepped down into a cruciform font, reflecting the essential soteriological symbol of Christianity: the saving force of the dying of Jesus on the cross was transferred to the converts in baptism (cf. Rom6, 3; Gal 2, 19). Architecture,myths, and cultic practices are aspects already closely connected inGreek andRomanCorinth, as demonstrated above,andtheycontinuetobeconnectedinEarlyChristianity, too.Christianity,however,added a theological framework that influenced architectural structures and even the decoration of Christian buildings. As in other places, the Christian baptisteries in Corinthmight have been decorated with biblical symbols for life in mosaics and wall paintings.109 The baptisteries in Corinthwerenot just functionalbuildings, butboreawide rangeof theologicalmeanings. Like otherwater places in the city, theywere connectedwith stories of life, death, and transforma- tion, and their architecture, resemblingCorinthianbaths, helped create a familiar atmosphere. Theremayhavebeenmultiple reasons for building several basilicas and three baptisteries inCorinthduring the 6th centuryAD.110 The constructionofmonumental newchurches canbe seen at different places acrossGreece at the time.111 RichardM. Rothaus interprets the impres- sive building process in Corinth as a sign of imperial propaganda, but takes a growing power of bishops andclerics into account, too.112 Caraher sees themonumental Christianarchitecture asa reflexof local competitionbetweendifferent groupsandasakindofarchitectural ‘conver- sation’, showing thatChristianitywasanauthoritynotdependentonmonumental buildings in the city centre andwas locally growing everywhere in the outskirts of the city.113 In any case, themonumental churchbuildings aroundCorinthdemonstrate ‘thegrowingpowerof the local Christian community’.114 Whereas Rothaus and Caraher are reluctant to relate the size of the 107 There isno informationonritualsat theentrances to thebaptisteries inCorinth;cf.Day2018ontheentrances to thebaptisteries inMilanand Jerusalem. 108 See, in contrast, Kobusch, this volume. 109 Cf. Jensen 2011. Fürst 2008, 176–187, gives examples. 110 The presence of at least three baptisteries in Corinth during the 6th century ADhas not yet been explained satisfactorily.Possiblywehave to reckonwithmore thanonebishopat the time.Unfortunately, only three inscrip- tions dating from the 5th to 7thcenturies AD give evidence of bishops in Corinth: Sironen 2018, 202 (a bishop’s muleteer). 206 (Eustathios). 210 (Photios). 111 Brown2018, 147. 112 Rothaus 2000, 95f.; Caraher 2014, 145f.Vionis 2017, 145f. hints at the fact that theprivate landof richChris- tiansmighthavebeenused tobuildmonumental churches aroundcities inLateAntiquity. 113 Caraher 2014, 145–147. 114 Vionis 2017, 152.