Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/482

* CORINTH. 412 CORINTH. citadel was the Acrocorinthns, an isolated liill lS8(i foot liifih. with precipitous sides, and com- manding one of the finest views in Greece. At the northern foot of tliis hill lay the city of Corinth, on a broad terrace nearly 200 feet above the level of the isthnins. In the Homeric epic Ephyra is mentioned as the home of Sisyphus and Bellero- phon, bnt the city does not seem to have played a great part in the heroic age, and appears in dependence upon the rulers of Jlycense, with which place it was connected by a very early sys- tem of roads. Discoveries of pre-Mvcena>an pot- tery in graves show that there was a settlement at the foot of the Acrocorinthus in very early times, but as yet few remains of the Jlj-censean age have come to liglit. The growth of the city seems to have occurred after the Dorian conquest of the Peloponnesus, and to have been especially favored by the development of the intercourse with the west: for this its situation with har- bors on both the Corinthian and Saronic gulfs gave it peculiar advantages, which were further enhanced by alliances with Samos and Chal- cis on Kubiva. By the end of the eighth century B.C., Corinth was the chief trading city of Greece, and the extent of its trade is shown by the num- ber of Corintliian vases foimd in Italian graves, as well as by the testimony of ancient writers. Among the colonies founded by Corinth at this period was Syracuse. The government was a strict oligarchy under the leadership of the family of the Bacchiadae, but when, early in the seventh century B.C., Corcyra successfully main- tained her independence of the mother city, a revolution occurred, and Cypselus liecame tyrant ( c.(!57 B.C. ) . Under his rule and that of his son. Periander. the prosperity of the city in- creased, Corcyra and Epidaurus were reduced, and the establishment of Potidsea on the north- ern coast of the .Egean gave Corinth a share in the rich trade of ilacedon and Thrace. About B.C. .582 the tyrants were overthrown, and a moderate oligarchy established, which seems to have remained as the usual form of government, though occasionally interrupted by democratic revolutions. Like the other cities of Pelopon- nesus (except Argos), Corinth became a member of the Lacedemonian League, and played her part in the Persian wars. The great develop- ment of Athenian power was a serious blow to the conmiercial interests of Corinth, and accord- ingly we find the city active in promoting the Pelotionnesian War. After the fall of Athens, the Corinthians became jealous of the Spartan rule, and formed an alliance with Thebes and Athens, which led in B.C. 395 to the Corinthian War. Later, Corinth returned to the Spartan alliance, and supported the city in the war waged with the Thebans imder Epaminondas. Three years after the battle of Chieronea (b.c. 3.38). it was garrisoned by the Macedonians, who held it until B.C. 196,' with the exception of B.C. 242 to B.C. 223, when it was occu- pied by Aratus for the Achaean League. When the freedom of Greece was proclaimed by the Romans, Corinth was restored to the Achjean League. Having become the centre of the last uprising of Cfreece against the "Roman power, it was utterly destroyed (b.c. 146) by L. ilumniius, the Roman general, and for a whole century it continued in ruins. In b,c. 46 Julius Ca-sar rebuilt it. and it afterwards became the capital of the Roman Province of Achaia ; and although it never again attained its early importance, it became both jirosperous and powerful. Saint Paul planted a, Cliristian church here, to which he addressed two epistles. In a.d. 1458 it was conquered by the Turks under Mohammed II., was taken by the Venetians in 1087, and retaken by the Turks in 1715, who held it till 1823. Reduced to ashes ill tlie Revolutionary War, and again utterly de- stroyed by an earthquake in 1858, Corinth is now rebuilt in a more convenient position on the shore of the CJulf of Corinth. Ancient Corinth was sur- rounded by walls, having a circuit of about four and one-half miles, or, including the Acrocorin- thus, of eight miles. It had two harbors — Lechwnm. on the Gulf of Corinth (q.v. ), and Cen- chrcw.on theSaronicCiulf, opcninginto the.Egean. The former was connected with the city by two parallel walls. The wealth and prosperity of Cor- inth made it the seat of luxury and licentiousness. Besides the sea deities Poseidon and Amphitrite, Aphrodite claimed a large share in the religion of the city, and her temple alone is said to have had 1000 courtesans as sacred slaves. The Co- rinthian lietcerrE were famous throughout Greece. In the earlier jieriod Corinth was famous for it» work in clay and bronze, and even in later times 'Corinthian bronze' was almost as precious as gold. Though devoted to art, and filled with costly paintings and statues at the time of its capture by ]Iummius, the city does not occupy a prominent place in either art or literature, and but few Corinthians except Periander and Ti- moleon appear among the famous names of Greece. Before 1896 the chief remains of an- cient Corinth were the foundations on the Acro- corinthus and the seven columns of a very early Doric temple, probably of the time of Periander. In 1896 excavations were begun by the American School of Classical studies at Athens, and al- though few works of art or inscriptions have been found, the discoveries have furnished a sure basis for the topography of the ancient city, of which the traveler Pausanias (q.v.) gives a de- tailed description. The chief sites determined are the Theatre, the Fountains of Pirene and GJlauce. the road to Lech^uni, the Propylica, and the Agora to which it led, and the identification of the old temple with the Temple of Apollo. The mediaeval walls are still in a fair state of preservation. Consult: E. Curtius, Peloponnesos (Gotha, 1851-52) ; Wilish, Bcitriige zur inneren GeschicJite des alien Korinth (Zittau. 1887) ; id., OeschicMe Korinths von den PeiserkricgcH bis zum dreissigjiihriffen Frieden (Zittau, 1896) ; these pamphlets contain also a liibliography of Corinthian history. The reports of the Ameri- can excavations are published in the American Journal of Archceology, 2d series, vol. i., et seq. (New York, 1897), a popular account by Direc- tor Richardson, in the Century Maga::ine (New York, 1899) ; and by Coolev in Records of the Past,!. (Washington, 1902)." CORINTH, or New Cokinth. An episcopal city and seaport of Greece, situated on the north coast of the Isthmus of Corinth, three and one- half miles northeast of the ancient city (q.v.) and one and one-half miles southwest of the northern terminus of the Corinth Canal (Map: Greece. D 4). Corinth is about 55 miles west of Athens. The town was founded in 1858 after the destruction of the vestiges of old Corinth by an earthquake. It is wholly a modern town and has wide streets. It is connected liy rail with