Judgment Seat in Corinth

The photograph shows the remains of “the judgment seat,” or bema, in Corinth. It was a large, raised platform used for public speaking. Corinth’s judgment seat was located near the center of the city’s agora, a large public area. A magistrate would use the platform to announce the judgments he rendered. The judgment seat was made of white and blue marble and was richly decorated. People who were to approach the magistrate waited in rooms that had mosaic floors and benches and were attached to the platform. Shown here is an artist’s conception of what the Corinthian judgment seat may have looked like in the first century C.E. It is believed to be the place where the Jews brought Paul before the proconsul Gallio.