Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/697

 CORINTHDS. Tfi, taia Id ■ aluirp fmnt. Iti mrthem ad< ii tba Btmcst, nnikr irhicta the citj lies npm ft level ipot in Um (wm of ft tnpeuiun, close to Ibe nrj iwAi of the Acrooorintbus. Tbe dtj itself wu 40 stulia [n circumference, uid was smTDnndal with nils irhcKTcr it wu not protected b; the niDiinlaJn. The mouDtda of the Auocariolhiu ulu •ru included within the sune inclwtLre, so far u it wu able to rscciva a walli and as we ascended, the lemiuiie of the line of fnnifications were Tieible. The ■hule cinnit of the walla anwuntnl to about 85 sta- dia. On the other sides the monntain ia las steep, but it is lierB spread out further, and prwente a wide prxpect. On tho snmmit ia a small temple of Aphrodite; and onder the summit is the small foun- tain of Feirene, haTing no outlet, but alwajs full of dear and drinkable water. TUej say that bom this fbnnlain and from name other aabtemineoiu rdns tbe finintain bursts forth, which is at the foot oT the mountain, and which flows into Uie city, snpidying the latter with a lufficiencr of water. Then is alw ■n abnndance of wells in the city ; and, as it is said, in the Acrawtinthiis likewise, but we did not see tnj. Below the Peirene is the SisTphcium, pre- Berriug eonsiderablB remains of a temple or jmlace built of white marble. From the snmmit towards and Helicon, covered with snow," to wiiom the perpendicular height of the mou above the aea is 575 metio, equal to IPBG English Feet, wbich is equal to three stadia and a tenth at 607 foet to the stadium. (Leake, Ptlnponaetiaca, p.39^.) All modem traTellars agree that the Acru- rwinthiu, rising abruptly and isoUtsd from the plain, is utie of ihe n)«t striking objects of its cLa« that they had eier seen. Col. Mureobeervestbat "neither the Aerepolis of Athens, nor the Lari»a of Ar;^, nor any of the more cdebnted mountain fortieesee of western Kuropo — noteren Gibralmt — can enter into the remolBt nanpetition with this gigantic citadel It is one of those objects more fiequentlj, perbaf*, to be met with in Greece than in any other country of Kurope, of which no drawing can oonrey other than ■ very &int notion. The ontline, indeed, of Ihii (xiLoasal maaa of rugged rock and green award, inter B|crsed here and there, but scantily, with the cna- lomaiy fringe of ahnibe, although from a distatJce jt entera inl« fine composition with the aurronnding landaape, can in ilaelf baldly be oiled pcluiesque and the formal line of embattled Turkish or Venetian wall, which crowna the summit, does not set it off to adTantage. Its vast site and bnght produce the l^reatest e^ct. as viewed fhm) the seven Doric co- lumng, standing nearly in the centre of the wildemn* of mbbiah lud horels that now mark the site of tha dty which itfonnerlfprolected." Tbe Acrocorinthns ia weU dcKribed bj Livy (ilv. SB) u, " an in im- manem altitudinem editsj" and Statins is not guilty of much eiaggoatian in the lines (TAii. vii. 106): .... ''qua sumnuu caput Acmcorinthna in Tollit, et altema geminum mare protegit nmbTa.' The view from the AcrvcorinthnB comprehends " a gmter number of celebrated objecti tlian any cAher iu Greece. Hjmettus botmdg the boriloo to the eastward, and tb* Parthenon is distinctly seen at a dinct diatance of not much lees than 50 £iigli>h CORINTHUfl. 679, mils. Beyond the isthmue and bay of Leehaenni an seen all the great smnmlts of Loeris, Phocis, Itoentia, anil Attica, and the two gulli from the hill of Korn/i (Gonoessa) on the Corinthiac, to Snninm. at the entrance of the Saronic gulf. To tho west- ward the view is impeded by a great hill, which maj be called the XSwa, or eye-sore, of the Acnj- corinthui. especially with i^^ard to modem war. Its summit is a truncated peak, which may he nacbod. on homback, by turning to the right of the roarl which leads to the Acrooorintbus, at a small dis- tance short of the firet gate.'' (Leake.) The citv of Corinth lay at the nonhem foot of the AcnxDrinifaus. It did not stand in the plain, but upon a broad, levd ruck, which is nearly £00 feet in height above the plain, lying between it and the bay of Lechaoum. Acroai this plain, as we have already mtioned, ran the long walls connecting Curintli d its porl-town Leciueum. Corinth was uio of the lai^est cities in Gmre, d was in sine inferior only to Athena. Acconiuig Strabo the walls of the city were 40 stadia, nnd those of the city and Acrororinlhiis t<^ether BH Btudia. Each of t1» two Long Walls connerling Corinth and Lechaeum v as 12 stadia in length; and nddiog to thete the fortilicstion of Lecbaeiun, tha whole rircuit of the (brtitieations was about 120 siftdin; but a cnnsiJerable portim <if the spare tbua included was probably not covered with houses. The fortifications were very strong; and anloflyand thick were the walls, that Agia. the son of Archidamus, is reported to have exclaimed upon beholdjiig them, " What women are these that dwell in this city." (Plnt.jlpDp*(*.jtoc. p.315.) Oflhepi^lalionof Corinth we hare no trustwortlij accounts. Clinton, computes the popolaticai of the whole state at about 100,000 peiwms, of whom he supinea 70,000 or SD.OOOtohsve inhalnted Ihe city, and the remaining aO,UOO or 30,000 to have been 'distributed tlirtiugli the country. According to a statemint inAthenoeiia (vi, p. S72) Coiintli had 460.000 slaves; hut this ' er is quite incredible and ought probably to be ted to 60000 In that catie the free pupub / ^£. '&. £E-> ^/i ' 1. Trap'io