Ancient Corinth - Wikipedia PDF

10/5/2019 Ancient Corinth - Wikipedia
Coordinates: 37°54′19″N 22°52′49″E
Ancient Corinth
Corinth (/ˈkɔːrɪnθ/; Greek: Κόρινθος Kórinthos; Doric Greek:
Ϙόρινθος Kórinthos) was a city-state (polis) on the Isthmus of
Corinth
Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnese to Κόρινθος
the mainland of Greece, roughly halfway between Athens and 700 BC–146 BC
Sparta. The modern city of Corinth is located approximately 5
kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of the ancient ruins. Since 1896,
systematic archaeological investigations of the Corinth
Excavations by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens
have revealed large parts of the ancient city, and recent
excavations conducted by the Greek Ministry of Culture have
brought to light important new facets of antiquity.
For Christians, Corinth is well known from the two letters of Saint Silver tridrachm from Corinth, c. 345–307 BC
Paul in the New Testament, First and Second Corinthians. Corinth
Capital Corinth
is also mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as part of the Paul the
Apostle's missionary travels. In addition, the second book of Common languages Doric Greek
Pausanias' Description of Greece is devoted to Corinth. Religion Greek
Polytheism
Ancient Corinth was one of the largest and most important cities of
Government Oligarchy
Greece, with a population of 90,000 in 400 BC.[1] The Romans
demolished Corinth in 146 BC, built a new city in its place in 44 Historical era Classical
Antiquity
BC, and later made it the provincial capital of Greece.
• Founding 700 BC
• Cypselus 657–627 BC
• Captured and razed by 146 BC
Contents Romans
Preceded by Succeeded by
History
Prehistory and founding myths Greek Dark Roman
Corinth under the Bacchiadae Ages Republic
Corinth under the tyrants
Archaic Corinth after the tyrants
Classical Corinth
Peloponnesian War
Corinthian War
379–323 BC
Hellenistic period
Roman era
Biblical Corinth
Byzantine era
Principality of Achaea
Ottoman rule
Independence
Modern Corinth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Corinth 1/15
Ancient city and its environs

Acrocorinth, the acropolis
Two ports: Lechaeum and Cenchreae
Important monuments
Notable people
Ancient Greece
Medieval
Ancient Corinth in literature
See also
References
Further reading
External links
History
Prehistory and founding myths

Neolithic pottery suggests that the site of Corinth was occupied from at least as early as 6500 BC, and continually occupied
into the Early Bronze Age,[2] when, it has been suggested, the settlement acted as a centre of trade.[3] However, there is a
dramatic drop in ceramic remains during the Early Helladic II phase and only sparse ceramic remains in the EHIII and
MH phases; thus, it appears that the area was very sparsely inhabited in the period immediately before the Mycenaean
period. There was a settlement on the coast near Lechaion which traded across the Corinthian Gulf; the site of Corinth
itself was likely not heavily occupied again until around 900 BC, when it is believed that the Dorians settled there.[4]
According to Corinthian myth as reported by Pausanias, the city was founded by Corinthos, a descendant of the god
Zeus.[5] However, other myths suggest that it was founded by the goddess Ephyra, a daughter of the Titan Oceanus, thus
the ancient name of the city (also Ephyra). There is evidence that the city was destroyed around 2000 BC.
Some ancient names for the place are derived from a pre-Greek "Pelasgian" language, such as Korinthos. It seems likely
that Corinth was also the site of a Bronze Age Mycenaean palace-city, like Mycenae, Tiryns, or Pylos. According to myth,
Sisyphus was the founder of a race of ancient kings at Corinth. It was also in Corinth that Jason, the leader of the
Argonauts, abandoned Medea.[6] During the Trojan War, as portrayed in the Iliad, the Corinthians participated under the
leadership of Agamemnon.
In a Corinthian myth recounted to Pausanias in the 2nd century AD,[7] Briareus, one of the Hecatonchires, was the
arbitrator in a dispute between Poseidon and Helios, between the sea and the sun. His verdict was that the Isthmus of
Corinth belonged to Poseidon and the acropolis of Corinth (Acrocorinth) belonged to Helios. Thus, Greeks of the Classical
age accounted for the archaic cult of the sun-titan in the highest part of the site.
The Upper Peirene spring is located within the walls of the acropolis. "The spring, which is behind the temple, they say
was the gift of Asopus to Sisyphus. The latter knew, so runs the legend, that Zeus had ravished Aegina, the daughter of
Asopus, but refused to give information to the seeker before he had a spring given him on the Acrocorinthus." (Pausanias,
2.5.1).[8]
Corinth under the Bacchiadae
Corinth had been a backwater in 8th-century Greece.[9] The

Bacchiadae (Ancient Greek: Βακχιάδαι Bakkhiadai) were a
tightly-knit Doric clan and the ruling kinship group of
archaic Corinth in the 8th and 7th centuries BC, a period of
expanding Corinthian cultural power. In 747 BC (a
traditional date), an aristocratic revolution ousted the
Bacchiad kings, when the royal clan of Bacchiadae,
numbering perhaps a couple of hundred adult males, took
power from the last king Telestes.[10] They dispensed with
kingship and ruled as a group, governing the city by
annually electing a prytanis (who held the kingly
View of Ancient Corinth
position[11] for his brief term),[12] probably a council
(though none is specifically documented in the scant literary
materials), and a polemarchos to head the army.
During Bacchiad rule from 747 to 650 BC, Corinth became a unified state. Large scale public buildings and monuments
were constructed at this time. In 733 BC, Corinth established colonies at Corcyra and Syracuse. By 730 BC, Corinth
emerged as a highly advanced Greek city with at least 5,000 people.[13]
Aristotle tells the story of Philolaus of Corinth, a Bacchiad who was a lawgiver at Thebes. He became the lover of Diocles,
the winner of the Olympic games. They both lived for the rest of their lives in Thebes. Their tombs were built near one
another and Philolaus' tomb points toward the Corinthian country, while Diocles' faces away.[14]
In 657 BC, polemarch Cypselus obtained an oracle from Delphi which he interpreted to mean that he should rule the
city.[15] He seized power and exiled the Bacchiadae.[16]
Corinth under the tyrants

Cypselus or Kypselos (Greek: Κύψελος) was the first tyrant of Corinth in the 7th century BC. From 658–628 BC, he
removed the Bacchiad aristocracy from power and ruled for three decades. He built temples to Apollo and Poseidon in 650
BC.
Aristotle reports that "Cypselus of Corinth had made a vow that if he became
master of the city, he would offer to Zeus the entire property of the
Corinthians. Accordingly, he commanded them to make a return of their
possessions."[17]
The city sent forth colonists to found new settlements in the 7th century BC,
under the rule of Cypselus (r. 657–627 BC) and his son Periander (r. 627–587
BC). Those settlements were Epidamnus (modern day Durrës, Albania),
Syracuse, Ambracia (modern day town of Lefkas), Corcyra (modern day town
of Corfu), and Anactorium. Periander also founded Apollonia in Illyria Apollo Temple has been built in
Doric style on the ruins of earlier
(modern day Fier, Albania) and Potidaea (in Chalcidice). Corinth was also one
temple, being a good example of
of the nine Greek sponsor-cities to found the colony of Naukratis in Ancient peripteral temple, supported by 38
Egypt, founded to accommodate the increasing trade volume between the columns, 7 of which are still in
Greek world and pharaonic Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Psammetichus I place.
of the 26th dynasty.
Greek city-states tended to overthrow their traditional hereditary priest-kings,

with increased wealth and more complicated trade relations and social
structures. Corinth led the way as the richest archaic polis.[18] The tyrants
usually seized power at the head of some popular support, like the signori of
late medieval and Renaissance Italy. Often the tyrants calmed the populace by
upholding existing laws and customs and strict conservatism in cult practices.
A cult of personality naturally substituted for the divine right of the former
legitimate royal house, as it did in Renaissance Italy.
Archeological site located close to
Cypselus was the son of Eëtion and a disfigured woman named Labda. He was Temple of Apollo.
a member of the Bacchiad kin and usurped the power in archaic matriarchal
right of his mother.
According to Herodotus, the

Bacchiadae heard two prophecies
from the Delphic oracle that the
son of Eëtion would overthrow
their dynasty, and they planned to
kill the baby once he was born.
However, the newborn smiled at Archeological site of Ancient
Temple of Apollo, Ancient Corinth. each of the men sent to kill him, Theater first built in Corinth in 5th c.
and none of them could bear to BC. The Theater could seat around
strike the blow. 15000 spectators.
Labda then hid the baby in a chest,[19] and the men could not find him once
they had composed themselves and returned to kill him. (Compare the infancy
of Perseus.) The ivory chest of Cypselus was richly worked and adorned with
gold. It was a votive offering at Olympia, where Pausanias gave it a minute
description in his 2nd century AD travel guide.[20]
Cypselus grew up and fulfilled the prophecy. Corinth had been involved in wars
with Argos and Corcyra, and the Corinthians were unhappy with their rulers.
Cypselus was polemarch at the time (around 657 BC), the archon in charge of
the military, and he used his influence with the soldiers to expel the king. He
also expelled his other enemies, but allowed them to set up colonies in
northwestern Greece. He also increased trade with the colonies in Italy and
Sicily. He was a popular ruler and, unlike many later tyrants, he did not need a
bodyguard and died a natural death.
He ruled for thirty years and was succeeded as tyrant by his son Periander in
627 BC.[21] The treasury that Cypselus built at Delphi was apparently still
standing in the time of Herodotus, and the chest of Cypselus was seen by
Pausanias at Olympia in the 2nd century AD. Periander brought Corcyra to
order in 600 BC.
Periander (Περίανδρος) (r. 627–587
Periander was considered one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.[22] During his
BC).
reign, the first Corinthian coins were struck. He was the first to attempt to cut
across the Isthmus to create a seaway between the Corinthian and the Saronic
Gulfs. He abandoned the venture due to the extreme technical difficulties that he met, but he created the Diolkos instead
(a stone-built overland ramp). The era of the Cypselids was Corinth's golden age, and ended with Periander's nephew
Psammetichus, named after the hellenophile Egyptian Pharaoh Psammetichus I (see above).
Periander killed his wife Melissa. His son Lycophron found out and shunned him, and Periander exiled the son to
Corcyra.[23] Periander later wanted Lycophron to replace him as ruler of Corinth, and convinced him to come home to
Corinth on the condition that Periander go to Corcyra. The Corcyreans heard about this and killed Lycophron to keep away
Periander.[24][25]
Archaic Corinth after the tyrants

581 BC: Periander's nephew and successor was assassinated, ending the dictatorship.
581 BC: the Isthmian Games were established by leading families.
570 BC: the inhabitants started to use silver coins called 'colts' or 'foals'.
550 BC: Construction of the Temple of Apollo at Corinth (early third quarter of the 6th century BC).[26]
550 BC: Corinth allied with Sparta.
525 BC: Corinth formed a conciliatory alliance with Sparta against Argos.
519 BC: Corinth mediated between Athens and Thebes.
Around 500 BC: Athenians and Corinthians entreated Spartans not to harm Athens by restoring the tyrant.[27]
Just before the classical period, according to Thucydides, the Corinthians developed the trireme which became the
standard warship of the Mediterranean until the late Roman period. Corinth fought the first naval battle on record against
the Hellenic city of Corcyra.[28] The Corinthians were also known for their wealth due to their strategic location on the
isthmus, through which all land traffic had to pass en route to the Peloponnese, including messengers and traders.[29]
Classical Corinth
In classical times, Corinth rivaled
Athens and Thebes in wealth, based
on the Isthmian traffic and trade.
Until the mid-6th century, Corinth
was a major exporter of black-
figure pottery to city-states around
Corinthian stater.Obverse:Pegasus
the Greek world, later losing their
with Koppa ( ) (or Qoppa) beneath.
Reverse:Athena wearing Corinthian market to Athenian artisans. Statues in the Archaeological
helmet. Koppa symbolised the Museum of Ancient Corinth.
In classical times and earlier,
archaic spelling of the city name
(Ϙόρινθος). Corinth had a temple of Aphrodite,
the goddess of love, employing some thousand hetairas (temple prostitutes)
(see also Temple prostitution in Corinth). The city was renowned for these
temple prostitutes, who served the wealthy merchants and the powerful officials who frequented the city. Lais, the most
famous hetaira, was said to charge tremendous fees for her extraordinary favours. Referring to the city's exorbitant
luxuries, Horace is quoted as saying: "non licet omnibus adire Corinthum" ("Not everyone is able to go to Corinth").[30]
Corinth was also the host of the Isthmian Games. During this era, Corinthians
developed the Corinthian order, the third main style of classical architecture
after the Doric and the Ionic. The Corinthian order was the most complicated
of the three, showing the city's wealth and the luxurious lifestyle, while the
Doric order evoked the rigorous simplicity of the Spartans, and the Ionic was a
harmonious balance between these two following the cosmopolitan philosophy
of Ionians like the Athenians.
The city had two main ports: to the west on the Corinthian Gulf lay Lechaion, Corinthian order columns in ancient
which connected the city to its western colonies (Greek: apoikiai) and Magna Corinth.
Graecia, while to the east on the Saronic Gulf the port of Kenchreai served the
ships coming from Athens, Ionia, Cyprus and the Levant. Both ports had docks
for the city's large navy.
In 491 BC, Corinth mediated between Syracuse and Gela in Sicily.
During the years 481–480 BC, the Conference at the Isthmus of Corinth
(following conferences at Sparta) established the Hellenic League, which allied
under the Spartans to fight the war against Persia. The city was a major
participant in the Persian Wars, sending 400 soldiers to defend
Thermopylae[31] and supplying forty warships for the Battle of Salamis under
Adeimantos and 5,000 hoplites with their characteristic Corinthian helmets) in
the following Battle of Plataea. The Greeks obtained the surrender of Theban
collaborators with the Persians. Pausanias took them to Corinth where they Street in ancient Corinth.
were put to death.[32]
Following the Battle of Thermopylae and the subsequent Battle of Artemisium, which resulted in the captures of Euboea,
Boeotia, and Attica,[33] the Greco-Persian Wars were at a point where now most of mainland Greece to the north of the
Isthmus of Corinth had been overrun.[34]
Herodotus, who was believed to dislike the Corinthians, mentions that they were
considered the second best fighters after the Athenians.[35]
In 458 BC, Corinth was defeated by Athens at Megara.
Peloponnesian War
In 435 BC, Corinth and its colony Corcyra went to war over Epidamnus.[36] In 433
BC, Athens allied with Corcyra against Corinth.[37] The Corinthian war against the
Corcyrans was the largest naval battle between Greek city states until that time.[38] In
431 BC, one of the factors leading to the Peloponnesian War was the dispute between Corinthian order.
Corinth and Athens over Corcyra, which probably stemmed from the traditional trade
rivalry between the two cities.
Three Syracusan generals went to Corinth seeking allies against Athenian invasion.[39] The Corinthians "voted at once to
aid [the Syracusans] heart and soul". They also sent a group to Lacedaemon to rouse Spartan assistance. After a
convincing speech from the Athenian renegade Alcibiades, the Spartans agreed to send troops to aid the Sicilians.[40]
In 404 BC, Sparta refused to destroy Athens, angering the Corinthians. Corinth joined Argos, Boeotia, and Athens against
Sparta in the Corinthian War.
Demosthenes later used this history in a plea for magnanimous statecraft, noting that the Athenians of yesteryear had had
good reason to hate the Corinthians and Thebans for their conduct during the Peloponnesian War,[41] yet they bore no
malice whatever.[42]
Corinthian War
In 395 BC, after the end of the Peloponnesian War, Corinth and Thebes, dissatisfied with the hegemony of their Spartan
allies, moved to support Athens against Sparta in the Corinthian War.[43][44]
As an example of facing danger with knowledge, Aristotle used the example of the Argives who were forced to confront the
Spartans in the battle at the Long Walls of Corinth in 392 BC.[45]
379–323 BC
In 379 BC, Corinth, switching back to the Peloponnesian League, joined Sparta in an attempt to defeat Thebes and
eventually take over Athens.
In 366 BC, the Athenian Assembly ordered Chares to occupy the Athenian ally and install a democratic government. This
failed when Corinth, Phlius and Epidaurus allied with Boeotia.
Demosthenes recounts how Athens had fought the Spartans in a great battle near Corinth. The city decided not to harbor
the defeated Athenian troops, but instead sent heralds to the Spartans. But the Corinthian heralds opened their gates to
the defeated Athenians and saved them. Demosthenes notes that they “chose along with you, who had been engaged in
battle, to suffer whatever might betide, rather than without you to enjoy a safety that involved no danger.”[46]
These conflicts further weakened the city-states of the Peloponnese and set the stage for the conquests of Philip II of
Macedon.
Demosthenes warned that Philip's military force exceeded that of Athens and thus they must develop a tactical advantage.
He noted the importance of a citizen army as opposed to a mercenary force, citing the mercenaries of Corinth who fought
alongside citizens and defeated the Spartans.[47]
In 338 BC, after having defeated Athens and its allies, Philip II created the League of Corinth to unite Greece (included
Corinth and Macedonia) in the war against Persia. Philip was named hegemon of the League.
In the spring of 337 BC, the Second congress of Corinth established the Common Peace.
Hellenistic period
By 332 BC, Alexander the Great was in control of Greece, as hegemon.
During the Hellenistic period, Corinth, like many other Greece cities, never quite had autonomy. Under the successors of
Alexander the Great, Greece was contested ground, and Corinth was occasionally the battleground for contests between
the Antigonids, based in Macedonia, and other Hellenistic powers. In 308 BC, the city was captured from the Antigonids
by Ptolemy I, who claimed to come as a liberator of Greece from the Antigonids. However, the city was recaptured by
Demetrius in 304 BC.[48]
Corinth remained under Antigonid control for half a century. After 280 BC, it was ruled by the faithful governor Craterus;
but, in 253/2 BC, his son Alexander of Corinth, moved by Ptolemaic subsidies, resolved to challenge the Macedonian
supremacy and seek independence as a tyrant. He was probably poisoned in 247 BC; after his death, the Macedonian king
Antigonus II Gonatas retook the city in the winter of 245/44 BC.
The Macedonian rule was short-lived. In 243 BC, Aratus of Sicyon, using a surprise attack, captured the fortress of
Acrocorinth and convinced the citizenship to join the Achaean League.
Thanks to an alliance agreement with Aratus, the Macedonians recovered Corinth once again in 224 BC; but, after the
Roman intervention in 197 BC, the city was permanently brought into the Achaean League. Under the leadership of
Philopoemen, the Achaeans went on to take control of the entire Peloponnesus and made Corinth the capital of their
confederation.[49]
Roman era
In 146 BC, Rome declared war on the Achaean League and,
after victories over league forces in the summer of that year, the
Romans under Lucius Mummius besieged and captured
Corinth. When he entered the city, Mummius killed all the men
and sold the women and children into slavery before burning
the city, for which he was given the cognomen Achaicus as the
conqueror of the Achaean League.[50] There is archeological
evidence of some minimal habitation in the years afterwards,
but Corinth remained largely deserted until Julius Caesar
refounded the city as Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis (‘colony
of Corinth in honour of Julius’) in 44 BC, shortly before his
Scene of the Battle of Corinth (146 BC): last day
assassination. At this time, an amphitheatre was built.
before the Roman legions looted and burned the
(37.909824°N 22.892078°E ) Greek city of Corinth. The last day on Corinth, Tony
Robert-Fleury, 1870
Under the Romans, Corinth was rebuilt as a major city in
Southern Greece or Achaia. It had a large[51] mixed population
of Romans, Greeks, and Jews. The city was an important locus for activities of the imperial cult, and both Temple E[52]
and the Julian Basilica[53] have been suggested as locations of imperial cult activity.
Biblical Corinth
Corinth is mentioned many times in the New Testament, largely in connection with Paul the Apostle's mission there,
testifying to the success of Caesar's refounding of the city. Traditionally, the Church of Corinth is believed to have been
founded by Paul, making it an Apostolic See.
The apostle Paul first visited the city in AD 49 or 50, when Gallio, the brother of Seneca, was proconsul of Achaia.[54] Paul
resided here for eighteen months (see Acts 18:1–18). Here he first became acquainted with Priscilla and Aquila with whom
he later traveled. They worked here together as tentmakers (from which is derived the modern Christian concept of
tentmaking), and regularly attended the synagogue. In AD 51/52, Gallio presided over the trial of the Apostle Paul in
Corinth. This event provides a secure date for the book of the Acts of the Apostles within the Bible. Silas and Timothy
rejoined Paul here, having last seen him in Berea (Acts 18:5 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%201
8:5–18:5&version=nkjv)). Acts 18:6 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2018:6–18:6&version=nkjv)
suggests that Jewish refusal to accept his preaching here led Paul to resolve no longer to speak in the synagogues where he
travelled: 'From now on I will go to

the Gentiles'.[55] However, on his
arrival in Ephesus (Acts 18:19 (http
s://www.biblegateway.com/passag
e/?search=Acts%2018:19–18:19&ve
rsion=nkjv)), the narrative records
that Paul went to the synagogue to
preach.
Pirene fountain Paul wrote at least two epistles to

the Christian church, the First
Epistle to the Corinthians (written
from Ephesus) and the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (written from
Macedonia). The first Epistle occasionally reflects the conflict between the
thriving Christian church and the surrounding community.
Some scholars believe that Paul visited Corinth for an intermediate "painful
visit" (see 2 Corinthians 2:1) between the first and second epistles. After
writing the second epistle, he stayed in Corinth for about three
Ancient Roman statue in the
months[Acts 20:3] in the late winter, and there wrote his Epistle to the
Archaeological Museum of Ancient
Romans.[56] Corinth.
Based on clues within the Corinthian epistles themselves, some scholars have
concluded that Paul wrote possibly as many as four epistles to the church at Corinth.[57] Only two are contained within the
Christian canon (First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians); the other two letters are lost. (The lost letters would
probably represent the very first letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians and the third one, and so the First and Second
Letters of the canon would be the second and the fourth if four were written.) Many scholars think that the third one
(known as the "letter of the tears"; see 2 Cor 2:4) is included inside the canonical Second Epistle to the Corinthians (it
would be chapters 10–13). This letter is not to be confused with the so-called "Third Epistle to the Corinthians", which is a
pseudepigraphical letter written many years after the death of Paul.
There are speculations from Bruce Winter that the Jewish access to their own food in Corinth was disallowed after Paul's
departure. By this theory, Paul had instructed Christian Gentiles to maintain Jewish access to food according to their
dietary laws. This speculation is contested by Rudolph who argues that there is no evidence to support this theory. He
instead argues that Paul had desired the Gentile Christians to remain assimilated within their Gentile communities and
not adopt Jewish dietary procedures.[58]
Byzantine era
The city was largely destroyed in the earthquakes of AD 365 and AD 375, followed by Alaric's invasion in 396. The city was
rebuilt after these disasters on a monumental scale, but covered a much smaller area than previously. Four churches were
located in the city proper, another on the citadel of the Acrocorinth, and a monumental basilica at the port of Lechaion.[59]
During the reign of Emperor Justinian I (527–565), a large stone wall was erected from the Saronic to the Corinthian
gulfs, protecting the city and the Peloponnese peninsula from the barbarian invasions from the north. The stone wall was
about six miles (10 km) long and was named Hexamilion ("six-miles").
Corinth declined from the 6th century on, and may even have fallen to
barbarian invaders in the early 7th century. The main settlement moved from
the lower city to the Acrocorinth. Despite its becoming the capital of the theme
of Hellas and, after c. 800, of the theme of the Peloponnese, it was not until the
9th century that the city began to recover, reaching its apogee in the 11th and
12th centuries, when it was the site of a flourishing silk industry.[59]
In November 856, an earthquake in Corinth killed an estimated 45,000.[60]
The wealth of the city attracted the attention of the Sicilian Normans under The walled gates of Acrocorinth.
Roger of Sicily, who plundered it in 1147, carrying off many captives, most
notably silk weavers. The city never fully recovered from the Norman sack.[59]
Principality of Achaea
Following the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, a group of Crusaders under the French knights William of
Champlitte and Geoffrey of Villehardouin carried out the conquest of the Peloponnese. The Corinthians resisted the
Frankish conquest from their stronghold in Acrocorinth, under the command of Leo Sgouros, from 1205 until 1210. In
1208 Leo Sgouros killed himself by riding off the top of Acrocorinth, but resistance continued for two more years. Finally,
in 1210 the fortress fell to the Crusaders, and Corinth became a full part of the Principality of Achaea, governed by the
Villehardouins from their capital in Andravida in Elis. Corinth was the last significant town of Achaea on its northern
borders with another crusader state, the Duchy of Athens. The Ottomans captured the city in 1395. The Byzantines of the
Despotate of the Morea recaptured it in 1403, and the Despot Theodore II Palaiologos, restored the Hexamilion wall
across the Isthmus of Corinth in 1415.
Ottoman rule
In 1458, five years after the final Fall of Constantinople, the Turks of the Ottoman Empire conquered the city and its
mighty castle. The Ottomans renamed it Gördes and made it a sanjak (district) centre within the Rumelia Eyalet. The
Venetians captured the city in 1687 during the Morean War, and it remained under Venetian control until the Ottomans
retook the city in 1715. Corinth was the capital of the Mora Eyalet in 1715–1731 and then again a sanjak capital until 1821.
Independence
During the Greek War of Independence, 1821–1830 the city was destroyed by the Ottoman forces. The city was officially
liberated in 1832 after the Treaty of London. In 1833, the site was considered among the candidates for the new capital city
of the recently founded Kingdom of Greece, due to its historical significance and strategic position. Nafplio was chosen
initially, then Athens.
Modern Corinth
In 1858, the village surrounding the ruins of Ancient Corinth was destroyed by an earthquake, leading to the
establishment of New Corinth 3 km (1.9 mi) NE of the ancient city.
Ancient city and its environs
Acrocorinth, the acropolis

Acrocorinthis, the acropolis of ancient Corinth, is a monolithic
rock that was continuously occupied from archaic times to the
early 19th century. The city's archaic acropolis, already an easily
defensible position due to its geomorphology, was further heavily
fortified during the Byzantine Empire as it became the seat of the
strategos of the Thema of Hellas. Later it was a fortress of the
Franks after the Fourth Crusade, the Venetians and the Ottoman
Turks. With its secure water supply, Acrocorinth's fortress was
used as the last line of defense in southern Greece because it
commanded the isthmus of Corinth, repelling foes from entry
into the Peloponnesian peninsula. Three circuit walls formed the
"Corinth with Acrocorinth" by Carl Anton Joseph
man-made defense of the hill. The highest peak on the site was Rottmann, 1847
home to a temple to Aphrodite which was Christianized as a
church, and then became a mosque. The American School began
excavations on it in 1929. Currently, Acrocorinth is one of the most important medieval castle sites of Greece.
Two ports: Lechaeum and Cenchreae

Corinth had two harbours: Lechaeum on the Corinthian Gulf and Cenchreae on the Saronic Gulf. Lechaeum was the
principal port, connected to the city with a set of long walls of about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) length, and was the main trading
station for Italy and Sicily, where there were many Corinthian colonies, while Cenchreae served the commerce with the
Eastern Mediterranean. Ships could be transported between the two harbours by means of the diolkos constructed by the
tyrant Periander.
Important monuments
Temple of Apollo
Fountain of Glauke
Sacred Spring
Peirene
Asklepieion
South Stoa
Odeion
Bema (later Church of Apostle Paul)
Temple E
Julian Basilica
Acrocorinth Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore
Castle of Acrocorinth
Notable people
Ancient Greece
Achaicus (1st century AD), Christian
Adrian of Corinth (3rd century AD), Christian saint and martyr
Archias (8th century BC), founder of Syracuse
Desmon (8th century BC), athlete

Dinarchus (4th century BC), orator and logographer
Diocles (8th century BC), athlete
Diogenes of Sinope, 4th century BC, one of the world's best known cynics
Eumelus (8th century BC), poet
Euphranor (4th century BC), sculptor and painter
Periander (7th century BC), listed as one of the Seven Sages of Greece
Quadratus (4th century AD), Christian saint and martyr
Timoleon (4th century BC), statesman and general
Xeniades (5th century BC), philosopher
Xenophon (5th century BC), athlete
Medieval
Cyriacus the Anchorite (5th century), Christian saint
William of Moerbeke (13th century), first translator of Aristotle's works into Latin.
Ancient Corinth in literature

Alcmaeon in Corinth, a play by Greek dramatist Euripides, premiered in 405 BC
The Queen of Corinth, a play by English dramatist John Fletcher, published in 1647
See also
Corinthian helmet
Corinthian bronze
Isthmian Games
Temple of Isthmia
References
1. Dillon, Matthew; Garland, Lynda (2000). Ancient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the
Death of Socrates (c. 800–399 B.C.) (https://books.google.com/books?id=PD14aQTG05UC). Psychology Press.
p. 352. ISBN 978-0415217552.
2. Lavezzi, J. C. (2003). "Corinth before the Myceneans". Corinth. 20: 63–74.
3. Blegen, C. W. (1920). "Corinth in Prehistoric Times". American Journal of Archaeology. 24 (1): 1–13. JSTOR 497547
(https://www.jstor.org/stable/497547).
4. Dunbabin, T. J. (1948). "The Early History of Corinth". Journal of Hellenic Studies. 68: 59–69. doi:10.2307/626300 (htt
ps://doi.org/10.2307%2F626300). JSTOR 626300 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/626300).
5. Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.1.1
6. Euripides, Medea
7. Pausanias, Description of Greece ii. 1.6 and 4.7.
8. "Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.1-14 - Theoi Classical Texts Library" (http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias2A.ht
ml). Theoi.com. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
9. Édouard Will, Korinthiaka: recherches sur l'histoire et la civilisation de Corinth des origines aux guerres médiques
(Paris: Boccard) 1955.
10. Telestes was murdered by Arieus and Perantas, who were themselves Bacchiads. (Smith, Dictionary of Greek and
Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I p. 450). It has been debated what extent this early history is a genealogical
myth.
11. Perhaps the designation "king" was retained for cultic reasons, as a king was normally an essential intercessor with
the gods. (Stewart Irvin Oost, "Cypselus the Bacchiad" Classical Philology 67.1 (January 1972, pp. 10–30) p. 10f.)
See: rex sacrorum.
12. Diodorus Siculus, 7.9.6; Pausanias 2.4.4.
13. Storey, Glenn (2006). Urbanism in the Preindustrial World: Cross-Cultural Approaches (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=P43ChiFyVVEC&pg=PA37). University of Alabama Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0817352462.
14. Politics, 1274a
15. Histories, Herodotus, Book 5.92 E
16. His mother had been of the Bacchiadae, but she was lame and married outside the clan.
17. Economics, Book 2. 1346a, Aristotle
18. Salmon, J. B. (1984). Wealthy Corinth. A History of the City to 338 B.C. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 019814833X.
19. An etiological myth-element to account for the name Cypselus (cypsele, "chest")
20. Pausanias, 5.18.7.
21. Histories, Herodotus, Book 5.92F
22. Diogenes Laertius, i. 13.
23. Histories, Herodotus, Book 3.52
25. Herodotus relates that Arion the harpist was sailing home on a Corinthian vessel when the crew decided to rob and
kill him. He begged them to let him sing a last song before killing him. He threw himself overboard and escaped to
Taernarus on the back of a dolphin. He presented himself to Periander, who then condemned the sailors (Herodotus
Histories Book 1.24).
26. Bookidis N., "Corinthian Terracotta Sculpture and the Temple of Apollo," Hesperia 69, 4, 2000, p. 386
28. Thucydides 1:13
29. Thucydides, Book 1:13
30. Stone, Jon R. (2004). The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations. p. 76. ISBN 0415969093.
31. Histories, Herodotus, Book 7:202
32. Histories, Book 9:88, Herodotus
33. Lazenby, John Francis (1993). The Defence of Greece, 490–479 B.C. (https://books.google.com/books?id=mVRwQg
AACAAJ) Aris & Phillips. pp. 248–253. ISBN 978-0856685910.
34. Carey, Brian Todd; Allfree, Joshua; Cairns, John (2006). Warfare in the Ancient World (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=3OSfBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32). Pen and Sword. p. 32. ISBN 978-1848846302.
35. Histories, Herodotus, Book 9:105
36. The Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, Book 1:29
37. The Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, Book 1:45
38. Thucycdides, Book 1, "The dispute over Corcyra", 50
41. especially the latter part, the Decelan War
42. On The Crown Book 18.96
43. On the Peace, Isocrates, Speech 68, section 68
44. Hellenica, Books 3–7, Xenophon
45. Nicomachean Ethics, Book 3.8
46. Demosthenes Against Leptines 20.52–20.53
47. Philippic I, Book 4.24
48. Shipley, G. 2000. The Greek World After Alexander 323–30 BC. London: Routledge (pp. 121–122).
51. Josiah Russell, in "Late Ancient and Medieval Population", estimates 50,000 people in Roman Corinth.
52. Walbank, Mary (1989). "Pausanias, Octavia and Temple E at Corinth". The Annual of the British School at Athens. 84:
385–386.
53. Scotton, Paul; Vanderpool, Catherine; Roncaglia, Carolynn (2014). Actas VIII Congreso Internacional Arqueología
Clásica. p. 1629. ISBN 978-8460679493.
54. Acts 18:12 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2018:12–18:12&version=nkjv)
55. Paul and Barnabas had said the same thing to the Jews of Antioch in Acts 13:46
56. Bryant, T. A. (1982). Today's Dictionary of the Bible. Bethany House Publishers, NY.
57. Orr, William F. and James Arthur Walther (1976). 1 Corinthians: A New Translation (Anchor Bible). Doubleday, p. 120.
58. David J. Rudolph (21 October 2016). A Jew to the Jews: Jewish Contours of Pauline Flexibility in 1 Corinthians 9:19–
23. Second Edition (https://books.google.com/books?id=oTVQDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA100). Wipf and Stock Publishers.
pp. 100–. ISBN 978-1498296168.
59. Gregory, Timothy E. (1991). "Corinth". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. London and New
York: Oxford University Press. pp. 531–533. ISBN 978-0195046526.
60. Gunn, Angus Macleod (2007). Encyclopedia of Disasters: Environmental Catastrophes and Human Tragedies. p. 32.
Further reading
Adkins, Lesley and Roy A. Adkins. Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece. New York: Facts on File. 1997.
Alcock, Susan E. and Robin Osborne (ed.s). Classical Archaeology Malden: Blackwell Publishing. 2007.
Del Chiaro, Mario A (ed). Corinthiaca: Studies in Honor of Darrell A. Amyx. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.
1986.
Dixon, M. Late Classical and Early Hellenistic Corinth: 338–196 BC. London: Routledge. 2014.
Friesen, Steven J., Daniel N. Schowalter, James C. Walters (ed.), Corinth in Context: Comparative Studies on
Religion and Society. Supplements to Novum Testamentum, 134. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2010.
Gebhard, Elizabeth R. and Timothy E. Gregory (ed.), Bridge of the Untiring Sea: The Corinthian Isthmus from
Prehistory to Late Antiquity. Hesperia Supplement, 48. Princeton, NJ: American School of Classical Studies at
Athens, 2015.
Grant, Michael. The Rise of the Greeks. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 1987.
Hammond, A History of Greece. Oxford University Press. 1967. History of Greece, including Corinth from the early
civilizations (6000–850) to the splitting of the empire and Antipater's occupation of Greece (323–321).
Kagan, Donald. The Fall of the Athenian Empire. New York: Cornell University Press. 1987.
Romano, David Gilman. Athletics and Mathematics in Archaic Corinth: the Origins of the Greek Stadion. Memoirs of
the American Philosophical Society, vol. 206. 1993.
Salmon, J. B. Wealthy Corinth: A History of the City to 338 BC. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1984.
Scahill, David. The Origins of the Corinthian Capital. In Structure, Image, Ornament: Architectural Sculpture in the
Greek World. Edited by Peter Schultz and Ralf von den Hoff, 40–53. Oxford: Oxbow. 2009.
Tartaron, Thomas F., Daniel J. Pullen, Timothy E. Gregory, Jay S. Noller, Richard M. Rothaus, William R. Caraher,
Joseph L. Rife, David K. Pettegrew, Lisa Tzortzopoulou-Gregory, Dimitri Nakassis, and Robert Schon. "The Eastern
Korinthia Archaeological Survey: Integrated Methods for a Dynamic Landscape." Hesperia 75:453–523, 2006.
Will, E. Korinthiaka. Recherches sur l'histoire et la civilisation de Corinthe des origines aux guerres médiques. Paris :
de Boccard, 1955.
British Admiralty charts: BA1085, BA1093, BA1600
Results of the American School of Classical Studies Corinth Excavations published in Corinth Volumes I to XX,
Princeton.
Excavation reports and articles in Hesperia, Princeton.
Partial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897
External links
Video Lecture on the Archaeological Findings at Corinth (http://www.sagu.edu/thoughthub/ancient-corinth)

The Significance of the Geography of Ancient Corinth (http://www.sagu.edu/thoughthub/geography-of-ancient-corinth)
Ancient Corinth – The Complete Guide (http://www.ancientcorinth.info)
Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Fortress of Acrocorinth (https://web.archive.org/web/20140413144900/http://odysseus.cul
ture.gr/h/3/eh355.jsp?obj_id=15661)
Excavations at Ancient Corinth (https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/excavations/ancient-corinth) (American School of Classical
Studies at Athens)
Online database of the Corinth Excavations (http://ascsa.net/research?q=collection:Corinth) (American School of
Classical Studies at Athens)
History timeline (https://web.archive.org/web/20090202202717/http://corinth.sas.upenn.edu/hist.html)
Coins of Ancient Corinth (Greek) (http://coinproject.com/search_city_result.php?city=Corinth&region=CORINTHIA&ty
pe=1)
Coins of Ancient Corinth under the Romans (http://coinproject.com/search_city_result.php?city=Corinth&region=CORI
NTH&type=5)
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Coordinates: 37°54′19″N 22°52′49″E

Ancient city and its environs

Prehistory and founding myths

Corinth under the Bacchiadae

Corinth had been a backwater in 8th-century Greece.[9] The

Corinth under the tyrants

Greek city-states tended to overthrow their traditional hereditary priest-kings,

According to Herodotus, the

Archaic Corinth after the tyrants

581 BC: the Isthmian Games were established by leading families.

550 BC: Corinth allied with Sparta.

519 BC: Corinth mediated between Athens and Thebes.

In 491 BC, Corinth mediated between Syracuse and Gela in Sicily.

In 458 BC, Corinth was defeated by Athens at Megara.

travelled: 'From now on I will go to

Pirene fountain Paul wrote at least two epistles to

In November 856, an earthquake in Corinth killed an estimated 45,000.[60]

Ancient city and its environs

Acrocorinth, the acropolis

Two ports: Lechaeum and Cenchreae

Desmon (8th century BC), athlete

Ancient Corinth in literature

Video Lecture on the Archaeological Findings at Corinth (http://www.sagu.edu/thoughthub/ancient-corinth)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ancient_Corinth&oldid=910644433"

This page was last edited on 13 August 2019, at 13:38 (UTC).

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