Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 2.djvu/69

 B. vni. c. vi. 21. CORINTH. 61 and his descendants continued to exist for three generations. A proof of the wealth of this family is the offering which Cypselus dedicated at Olympia, a statue of Jupiter of beaten gold. Demaratus, one of those who had been tyrant at Corinth, flying from the seditions which prevailed there, carried with him from his home to Tyrrhenia so much wealth, that he be- came sovereign of the city which had received him, and his son became even king of the Romans. The temple of Venus at Corinth was so rich, that it had more than a thousand women consecrated to the service of the goddess, courtesans, whom both men and women had dedi- cated as offerings to the goddess. The city was frequented and enriched by the multitudes who resorted thither on ac- count of these women. Masters of ships freely squandered all their money, and hence the proverb, " It is not in every man's power to go to Corinth." l The answer is related of a courtesan to a woman who was reproaching her with disliking work, and not employing her- self in spinning ; " Although I am what you see, yet, in this short time, I have already finished three distaffs." 2 21. The position of the city as it is described by Hierony- mus, and Eudoxus, and others, and from our own observation, since its restoration by the Romans, is as follows. That which is called the Acrocorinthus is a lofty mountain, perpendicular, and about three stadia and a half in height. There is an ascent of 30 stadia, and it terminates in a sharp point. The steepest part is towards the north. Below it lies the city in a plain of the form of a trapezium, at the very foot of the Acrocorinthus. The compass of the city itself was 40 stadia, and all that part which was not protected by the mountain was fortified by a wall. Even the mountain it- self, the Acrocorinthus, was comprehended within this wall, wherever it would admit of fortification. As I ascended it, the ruins of the circuit of the foundation were apparent, which gave a circumference of about 85 stadia. The other sides of the mountain are less steep ; hence, however, it stretches on- 1 Ou TTCLVTOQ dvdpoQ tQ KopivOov l<70' 6 7rov, which Horace has ele- gantly Latinized, Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum. 2 iarovQ distaffs; also, masts and sailors.