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100 ChristianeZimmermann churches and baptisteries to a growing Christian population,115 Guy D.R. Sanders still points out ‘that the galleries at Lechaion afford asmuch space to catechumens as to baptised in the aisles below. We know that adults often put off baptism until late in life, but one can also speculate that a large number of Corinthians were late in adopting Christianity. This neglect may have required urgent remedial action in the early 6th century […]. In the 6th century, the buildings that were erected provided an inordinate amount of space for adult catechumens, suggestinga largepopulationofunbaptisedCorinthians’.116After several centurieswhereChris- tianityplayednomajorroleasyet, thesituationchangedconsiderably,at least inthe6thcentury AD. The reason for the large number of convertsmight be seen in imperial policy, but also in the experience of disastrous natural phenomena in the second quarter of the 6th century AD, suchasearthquakes, famine,andepidemics inAD542.117 ‘WithPoseidon,Demeter,andAsclepi- os unable to avert these disasters, Corinthiansmay have had cause to reflect on the relative potencyof theChristianGod.Combinedwithmountingpressure fromJustinian […] thesenatu- raldisastersmayhavepersuadedmanyCorinthians toacceptOrthodoxChristianity in themid- 6th century’.118 The sizeof thebaptisteriesmight at least bedue to the fact that baptism inLate Antiquity seems tohavebeenperformedonlyonceayear.119 InCorinth,however, the impactof imperial power onChristian architecture is evident andmight be an important explanation for the largenumber ofmonumental, but also lessmonumental churchbuildings in the area. Conclusion Like Christianity itself, baptism underwent different developments during the first Christian centuries. Local interests and aspects seem to have played a role in the way Christ believers practisedandunderstoodbaptism. IntheearlyyearsofChristianity,baptismwasofgreat impor- tance in Corinth and practised in different forms, probably somewhere outside with running water. Baptismeven seems tohave beenpractised onbehalf of the dead, possibly takingup a special Corinthian interest in thewell-being of the dead. The later Corinthianbaptisteries con- tinued to use the Corinthian context: the Lechaion baptistery was built with a close formal similarity topaganbathsandsodemonstrated thatbaptismwasacleansingact, albeitnownot in a physical, but in a spiritual sense. Baptism, the Christian purification and entrance ritual, during the first Christian centuries developed in strong interaction with the local cultic and architectural contextofCorinth.Theconstructionofbaptisteries,however,built adjacent to the main sacred area of the basilicas and used exclusively for the Christian initiation ritual, does not have a parallel in any of the pagan cults of Corinth, which seem to have featured water basins for regularpurificationonly.120Thearchitectureof thebaptisteries,albeitadaptingpagan architecture, is closely linked to the ritual and theological dimensionofbaptismwhich focuses onwateras thecentralelementof theChristian initiationritual.Thesequenceof roomspointing to thebaptismalbasinsas thecentreof thebaptisteries, thestagingof thebasinsand thecross- shaped formof thebasinsdemonstrate this clearly.121 115 Rothaus 2000, 96. 116 Sanders 2005, 441. 117 Pallas 1990, 747f. 118 Sanders 2005, 442. 119 Fürst 2008, 128. 120 The Isis cultmighthavebeenanexception, see above. 121 I ammost grateful tomycolleagueAndreasMüller and tomyassistantHi-CheongLee forhelpful comments.