Corinthian Matters

A Resource for the Study of the Corinthia, Greece

Category: Sites, Canal

Corinthiaka

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I’ve been cleaning my inbox of alerts this week and have a little bundle of mid-summer Corinthiaka to get out. Here’s some of the latest ephemera from the blogosphere:

Archaeology:

New Testament:

Videos:

 

The First Urban Churches: Roman Corinth (In the Works)

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A couple of years ago, I had the good fortune of participating in a session at the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) conference on the theme of Polis and Ekklesia: Investigations of Urban Christianity. The paper I delivered outlined new perspectives on the diolkos and the implications of this research for understanding the commercial backdrop of the early Christian communities at Corinth.

The good news is that this session will soon be published by SBL as part of a multi-volume series on Polis and Ekklesia edited by James R Harrison and L.L. Welborn. The first three volumes are either in the works or forthcoming:

The First Urban Churches. Volume 1: Methodology: As the editors

have summarized this volume, “This book, comprising all the invited papers of SBL Consultation Polis and Ekklesia (SanFranciso, 2011) and with the addition of other solicited contributions, concentrates on the responsible use of documentary (papyrological, epigraphic), numismatic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence in reconstructing the historical, social, cultural, and economic life of cities, their inhabitants and neighbours in antiquity. This volume forms a preface to the study of the significant biblical cities in the first-century AD, charted in the subsequent eight volumes of the series.”

The First Urban Churches. Volume 2: Roman Corinth. According to the editors, “This book, comprising all the papers of SBL Consultation Polis and Ekklesia (Chicago, 2012) and with the addition of other solicited contributions, concentrates on the epigraphic, numismatic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence in reconstructing the historical, social, cultural, and economic life of Roman Corinth in the early Christian era.”

The First Urban Churches. Volume 3: Ephesus. According to the editors, “This book, comprising all the papers of SBL Consultation Polis and Ekklesia (Baltimore, 2013) and with the addition of other solicited contributions, concentrates on the epigraphic, numismatic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence in reconstructing the historical, social, cultural, and economic life of Ephesus in the early Christian era.”

Here’s an outline for the second volume on Roman Corinth, which is scheduled for delivery to the press later this year: 

1. Laurence L. Welborn, “Polis and Ekklesia: Investigating Roman Corinth in Its Urban Context”

2. Cavan Concannon, “Negotiating Multiple Modes of Religion and Identity at Roman Corinth”

3. Kathy Ehrensperger, “Negotiating Polis and Ekklesia: Challenge and Re-Assurance in 1 Cor 12:1-11”

4. Michael Peppard, “Roman Controversiae about Inheritance Disputes and 1 Corinthians 6”

5. David Pettegrew, “Lost in the Country: Corinthian Territory and the Early Christian Communities of the 1st Century CE”

6. Annette Weisenreider, “Bodies and Space: Sitting or Reclining in 1 Corinthians 14:30”

7. Brad Bitner, “Τὰ γραφέντα PRO ROSTRIS LECTA: Bilingual Inscribing in Roman Corinth”

8. Fredrick J Long, “‘The god of This Age’ (2 Cor 4:4) and Paul’s Empire-Resisting Gospel”

9. Laurence L. Welborn, “Paul, the Politics of ‘Equality’ and the Power Monopoly of the Corinthian Elite”

10. James R Harrison, “The Cursus Honorum in the Roman Colonies of Corinth and Philippi: Consequences for Paul’s Gospel and Rhetoric”

I spent much of January revising my 2012 conference paper and adding substance. My chapter, “Lost in the Country: Corinthian Territory and the Early Christian Communities of the 1st Century CE,” offers case studies in how the countryside / landscape might intersect with the study of the first Christians. In particular, I want to highlight the territory as a fundamental part of the “polis” in Roman times. Here’s the working abstract.

“Corinthian territory has occupied a paradoxical role in the modern scholarship surrounding Paul’s mission to Corinth and the Christian community in conflict. In one respect, the isthmian crossroads has functioned as an essential backdrop to understanding the population’s maritime orientation, commercial proclivities, and general tendencies to immorality and division. The twin harbors of Lechaion and Kenchreai, the pan-Hellenic sanctuary at Isthmia, and the diolkos allegedly made Corinth a city of transients at a great crossroads of the ancient world. In another respect, scholars have regularly disregarded the territory in their discussions of the Corinthian correspondence as though the region beyond the city’s boundaries was of little concern or interest to the earliest Christians. In this paper, I propose a different way of thinking about the intersections of the early Christian community with the countryside. Through a series of case studies on the diolkos, canal, harbors, and agriculture, I highlight the contingent developments of the territory and their effects on the developing ekklesia. The region was not a timeless commercial thoroughfare but developed historically in the course of the first century CE. This paper, then, recommends greater attention to the historical developments of the territory and their influence on the local religious communities.”

I’ll post more as this collection of essays moves toward publication.

A Flight Through the Corinth Canal

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I’ve said before that Corinth’s Isthmus seems to draw out the crazy in people. Think of Herodes Atticus, the wealthy aristocrat of the second century AD, beholding the landscape and consumed with a desire to cut a canal through it. Or Marcus Antonius, the grandfather of the triumvir, seeing the brilliant opportunity to portage his ships across and achieve instant fame in 101 BC.

In the modern era, cutting the canal was a Herculean effort. In more recent times, we’ve seen bungee jumping, glider flights, dramatic dog rescues, SUPing (look it up), and Robbie Maddison’s mad motorcycle jump.

The latest stunt came last week. The Hungarian Red Bull pilot, Peter Besenyei, flew his plane through the canal. He flew under bridges. He twirled. He ascended and plunged downward into the canal and did loops around the bridges. How could anyone think this is a good idea? You can read about it here and here and see the video here.

 

 

 

 

 

Besenyei commented:

“A dream has come true. The Corinth Canal, a historical place in Greece, had been a challenge for me for a long time. It feels great to be in this beautiful country, full of rich history and I especially enjoyed this unique experience.”

My take away: beware of consuming energy drinks on the Isthmus.

What’s next?

[H/t to Phyllis Graham for alerting me to the news piece.]

Corinthian Scholarship Monthly (December-February). Part 1

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With the end of last semester, holidays, and deadlines, I fell a bit behind on the Corinthian Scholarship Monthly posts. Yesterday I started to dig out, sift through emails, and find the gems in the bunch. This will be the first of two posts on new scholarship that went live in December to February. I’ll try to get the second part of CSM Dec-Feb by the middle of the month.

And kudos to the google bots for doing such a good job. While we’ve been sleeping, playing, teaching, and resting, those bots have been working non-stop to bring all sorts of little nuggets to our network. As always, I’ve included a broader range of articles and essays that mention the Corinthia without focusing on the region — on the assumption that you will be as interested as I am in a broader Mediterranean context. There are also a few entries from past years that the bots have just brought to my attention.

You can find the full collection of articles and books related to Corinthian studies at the Corinthian Studies Zotero Page. The new entries are tagged according to basic categories. Version 2 of the library in RIS format is scheduled to be released by summer.

Finally, I am always looking for reviewers of articles or books listed in the CSM posts. If you can write and are qualified, drop me a line.

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Ambraseys, N. N. “Ottoman Archives and the Assessment of the Seismicity of Greece 1456–1833.” Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering 12, no. 1 (February 1, 2014): 5–43. doi:10.1007/s10518-013-9541-5.

Angeli Bernardini, Paola, ed. Corinto: luogo di azione e luogo di racconto : atti del convengo internazionale, Urbino, 23-25 settembre 2009. Pisa [etc.]: F. Serra, 2013.

Baika, Kalliopi. “The Topography of Shipshed Complexes and Naval Dockyards.” In Shipsheds of the Ancient Mediterranean, edited by David Blackman and Boris Rankov, 185–209. Cambridge University Press, 2013. 

Balzat, Jean-Sébastien, and Benjamin W. Millis. “M. Antonius Aristocrates: Provincial Involvement with Roman Power in the Late 1st Century B.C.” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 82, no. 4 (December 2013): 651–672. doi:10.2972/hesperia.82.4.0651.

Blackman, David, and Boris Rankov. Shipsheds of the Ancient Mediterranean. Cambridge University Press, 2013. 

Borbonus, Dorian. Columbarium Tombs and Collective Identity in Augustan Rome. Cambridge University Press, 2014. 

Boyle, A. J., ed. Seneca: Medea: Edited with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary. Oxford University Press, 2014.

Collins, John J., ed. The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Docter, Roald, and Babette Bechtold. “Two Forgotten Amphorae from the Hamburg Excavations at Carthage (Cyprus, and the Iberian Peninsula) and Their Contexts.” Carthage Studies 5 (2011) (2013): 91–128.

Forbes, Hamish A. “Off-Site Scatters and the Manuring Hypothesis in Greek Survey Archaeology: An Ethnographic Approach.” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 82, no. 4 (December 2013): 551–594. doi:10.2972/hesperia.82.4.0551.

Frangoulidis, Stavros. “Reception of Strangers in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses: The Examples of Hypata and Cenchreae.” In A Companion to the Ancient Novel, edited by Edmund P. Cueva and Shannon N. Byrne, 275–287. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, 2014.

Hall, Jonathan M. Artifact and Artifice: Classical Archaeology and the Ancient Historian. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. 

Hawthorn, Geoffrey. Thucydides on Politics: Back to the Present. Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Heil, Andreas, and Gregor Damschen, eds. Brill’s Companion to Seneca: Philosopher and Dramatist. Leiden: Brill, 2013. 

Hollander, William den. Josephus, the Emperors, and the City of Rome: From Hostage to Historian. Leiden: Brill, 2014. 

James, Paula. “Apuleius’ Metamorphoses: A Hybrid Text?” In A Companion to the Ancient Novel, edited by Edmund P. Cueva and Shannon N. Byrne, 317–329. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, 2014.

Jeffreys, Elizabeth. “We Need to Talk about Byzantium: Or, Byzantium, Its Reception of the Classical World as Discussed in Current Scholarship, and Should Classicists Pay Attention?” Classical Receptions Journal 6, no. 1 (January 1, 2014): 158–174. doi:10.1093/crj/clt032.

Kamen, Deborah. “Sale for the Purpose of Freedom: Slave-Prostitutes and Manumission in Ancient Greece.” The Classical Journal 109, no. 3 (March 2014): 281–307. doi:10.5184/classicalj.109.3.0281.

Kampbell, Sarah Marie. “The Economy of Conflict: How East Mediterranean Trade Adapted to Changing Rules, Allegiances and Demographics in the  10th – 12th Centuries AD.” PhD Thesis, Princeton University, 2014. 

Klapaki. “The Journey to Greece in the American and the Greek Modernist Literary Imagination: Henry Miller and George Seferis.” In Travel, Discovery, Transformation: Culture and Civilization, Volume 6, edited by Gabriel R. Ricci, 59–78. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2014.

Kolluoğlu, Biray, and Meltem Toksöz, eds. Cities of the Mediterranean: From the Ottomans to the Present Day. I.B.Tauris, 2010. 

Korner, Ralph J. “Before ‘Church’: Political, Ethno-Religious, and Theological Implications of the Collective Designation of Pauline Christ Followers as Ekklēsiai.” PhD Thesis, McMaster University, 2014. 

Kreitzer, L.J. “Hadrian as Nero Redivivus: Some Supporting Evidence from Corinth.” In Judaea and Rome in Coins 65 BCE-135 CE: Papers Presented at the International Conference Hosted by Spink, 13th-14th September 2010, edited by David M Jacobson and Nikos Kokkinos, 229–242. London: Spink, 2012. 

Legarreta-Castillo, Felipe De Jesus. The Figure of Adam in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15: The New Creation and Its Ethical and Social Reconfigurations. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2014.

Matz, Brian J. “Early Christian Philanthropy as a ‘Marketplace’ and the Moral Responsibility of Market Participants.” In Distant Markets, Distant Harms: Economic Complicity and Christian Ethics, edited by Daniel Finn, 115–145? New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Mitski, Efterpi. “Commodifying Antiquity in Mary Nisbet’s Journey to the Ottoman Empire.” In Travel, Discovery, Transformation: Culture and Civilization, Volume 6, edited by Gabriel R. Ricci, 45–58. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2014. 

Morhange, Christophe, Amos Salamon, Guénaelle Bony, Clément Flaux, Ehud Galili, Jean-Philippe Goiran, and Dov Zviely. “Geoarchaeology of Tsunamis and the Revival of Neo-Catastrophism in the Eastern Mediterranean.” Rome “La Sapienza” Studies on the Archaeology of Palestine & Transjordan 11 (2014): 61–81.

Ong, H. T. “Paul’s Personal Relation with Earliest Christianity: A Critical Survey.” Currents in Biblical Research 12, no. 2 (February 7, 2014): 146–172. doi:10.1177/1476993X12467114.

Pachis, Panayotis. “Data from Dead Minds?  Dream and Healing in the Isis / Sarapis Cult During the Graeco-Roman Age.” Journal of Cognitive Historiography 1, no. 1 (January 23, 2014): 52–71.

Pallis, Georgios. “Inscriptions on Middle Byzantine Marble Templon Screens.” Byzantinische Zeitschrift 106, no. 2 (January 2013): 761–810. doi:10.1515/bz-2013-0026.

Polinskaya, Irene. A Local History of Greek Polytheism: Gods, People and the Land of Aigina, 800-400 BCE. Leiden: Brill, 2013. 

Priestley, Jessica. Herodotus and Hellenistic Culture: Literary Studies in the Reception of the Histories. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. 

Punt, Jeremy. “Framing Human Dignity through Domination and Submission? Negotiating Borders and Loyalties (of Power) in the New Testament.” Scriptura 112 (2013): 1–17. doi:10.7833/112-0-82.

Rankov, Boris. “Slipping and Launching.” In Shipsheds of the Ancient Mediterranean, edited by David Blackman and Boris Rankov, 102–123. Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Reed, David Alan. “Paul on Marriage and Singleness:  Reading 1 Corinthians with the Augustan Marriage Laws.” PhD Thesis. University of St. Michael’s College, 2013. 

Saliari, Konstantina, and Erich Draganits. “Early Bronze Age Bone Tubes from the Aegean: Archaeological Context, Use and Distribution.” Archeometriai Műhely [Archaeometry Workshop] (2013): 179–192.

Shpuza, Ermanl. “Allometry in the Syntax of Street Networks: Evolution of Adriatic and Ionian Coastal Cities 1800–2010.” Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design (2014). doi:doi:10.1068/b39109.

Siek, Thomas James. “A Study in Paleo-Oncology: On the Identification of Neoplastic Disease in Archaeological Bone.” Master of Arts Thesis, University of Waterloo, 2014. 

Thein, Alexander. “Reflecting on Sulla’s Clemency.” Historia 63, no. 2 (April 1, 2014): 166–186.

Toffolo, Michael B., Alexander Fantalkin, Irene S. Lemos, Rainer C. S. Felsch, Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier, Guy D. R. Sanders, Israel Finkelstein, and Elisabetta Boaretto. “Towards an Absolute Chronology for the Aegean Iron Age: New Radiocarbon Dates from Lefkandi, Kalapodi and Corinth.” PLoS ONE 8, no. 12 (December 26, 2013): e83117. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083117.

Waterfield, Robin. Taken at the Flood: The Roman Conquest of Greece. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Williams, Drake, and H. H. “‘Imitate Me’: Interpreting Imitation In 1 Corinthians in Relation to Ignatius of Antioch.” Perichoresis 11, no. 1 (June 1, 2013): 77–95.

Wright, Christopher. The Gattilusio Lordships and the Aegean World 1355-1462. Leiden: Brill, 2014.

Preserving the Ancient Diolkos

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Some time ago, I summarized the degradation of the diolkos of Corinth over the last several decades. This piece on Enet.gr from June 2013 (in Greek) suggests official plans underway to fund a concrete embankment on the eastern side of the diolkos that would protect the pavements of the trans-Isthmus road from the continuing erosion by currents, winds, and wave action from the nearby canal.

The study and project have been proposed by the Central Archaeological Council in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment, with a projected cost of 2.5 million Euro. The pavements of the diolkos now submerged would be lifted and supported to their original location. Large concrete blocks (4-6 m in dimension) reinforced with stone embankments would be placed east of the run of the excavated diolkos.

Not sure what, if anything, will become of this but a major project of this sort is overdue – in light of the road’s importance for the historiography of the Corinthia — and the proposed plan for an embankment seems like a reasonable approach. Vetting this on Corinthian Studies FB suggests that the plan has not moved forward since June.

For some sense of the destruction of the diolkos over the last fifty years….

This is a photo of the diolkos (facing southeast) near the Corinthian Gulf as it originally appeared in the early 1960s after excavation:

Praktika Athenais Image 103_m

My photo of the diolkos (facing northwest) after 50 years of erosion:

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And a neat visual from the article of a planned embankment with pedestrian walkway that would protect the monument (facing northwest).

Corinthiaka

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Some miscellaneous Corinthiaka that have slowly aggregated over the last month or so.

Pinterest_Corinth

  • Finding Corinthia images via Google freely available for reuse (h/t to Beth Mark for showing me this trick):

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Published Proceedings of Corinth Conference held in Urbino, Italy, 2009

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Big conferences seem to be the new thing in Corinthian studies. Gather a gaggle of scholars to hash out the complexity of ancient Corinth. In the last fifteen years, the recent flurry of conferences on the Corinthia have slowly been making their way to publication.

In December, someone kindly posted in the comments field of an unrelated post about a new book in Italian on the city of Corinth that publishes the proceedings of another conference held in 2009. Here’s the reference from Worldcat: Angeli Bernardini, Paola, ed. Corinto: luogo di azione e luogo di racconto : atti del convengo internazionale, Urbino, 23-25 settembre 2009. Pisa [etc.]: F. Serra, 2013.

I haven’t yet seen it, but the book apparently runs 300 pages with images, and includes essays on the history and archaeology of the city from the Bronze Age to the late antiquity. The focus, though, appears to be the archaic and classical city as revealed in studies of ancient literature. Essays include topics such as Eumelus, Pindar, lyric poetry, tyranny and Cypselus, the Argonaut myths, Thucydides and Herodotus, Aelius Aristides, Nonnus of Panopolis, and the Corinth canal. An abstract, bibliography, and purchase information are available here. I’ve copied the abstract below:

Abstract: “Polis di lunga storia, annoverata già da Omero nel Catalogo delle navi e ricordata nell’Iliade (13, 663-665), la città in epoca postomerica ebbe anche un cantore epico, Eumelo, quale che sia la sua identificazione, autore di un poema dal titoloKorinthiaka. Celebrata da Simonide e da Pindaro e più volte menzionata da Bacchilide, le sue vicende erano ben conosciute anche da Simonide. Nel complesso, nei versi dei poeti e nell’eco della loro poesia nel corso dei secoli troviamo lo specchio della rilevanza di questa città nell’arcaismo. Tucidide parla della sua ricchezza e prosperità, legate soprattutto alla singolare posizione geografica e all’ardire dei suoi commercianti. Tanti, dunque, i problemi di ordine mitico, storico, politico, religioso, letterario che la riguardano. Una città che poteva vantare due porti e che aveva l’opportunità di affacciarsi su due mari, vie di accesso verso l’Oriente e verso l’Occidente, veniva considerata singolare e fortunata, almeno dal punto di vista geografico. Nel corso del volume e nei vari contributi si incontrano, di Corinto, molte definizioni, legate all’approvigionamento idrico, all’abilità nautica e commerciale dei suoi abitanti, alla manualità tecnicoartistica, alla perizia degli armatori, alle qualità militari. E soprattutto al patrimonio religioso e mitico. Vengono inoltre illustrati gli aspetti politici e sociali delle vicende più significative cui la polis andò incontro fin dai primi secoli della sua storia; vicende che hanno lasciato un segno nella tradizione poetica e nella documentazione storiografica. Sotto tutti questi profili l’antica città di Corinto, grazie ai contributi qui stampati, può dire di più di quanto non sia stato rilevato fino ad ora.”

 

Sections and Chapters:

Introduction: Paola Angeli Bernardini, Premessa.

Myth:

  • Gabriella Pironti (Università di Napoli Federico II), L’Afrodite di Corinto e il ‘mito’ della prostituzione sacra
  • Marco Dorati (Università di Urbino Carlo Bo), Il sogno di Bellerofonte: incubazione e modelli ontologici

Epic-Lyric Tradition:

  • Alberto Bernabé (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Bacchide, Dioniso e un frammento dell’Europia di Eumelo
  • Alessandra Amatori (Università di Urbino Carlo Bo), Corinto, Corcira e il mito argonautico nei Naupaktia
  • Paola Angeli Bernardini (Università di Urbino Carlo Bo), Le definizioni di Corinto e dell’Istmo nell’epica e nella lirica arcaica: semantica e retorica
  • Liana Lomiento (Università di Urbino Carlo Bo), Lode della città in Pindaro, Olimpica 13 per Senofonte corinzio
  • Andrea Debiasi (Università di Padova), Riflessi di epos corinzio (Eumelo) nelle Dionisiache di Nonno di Panopoli.

Theater:

  • Suzanne Saïd (Columbia University, New York), Corinthe dans la tragédie grecque
  • Oretta Olivieri (Università di Urbino Carlo Bo), Alcmeone, un eroe itinerante a Corinto: i frammenti dell’omonima tragedia di Euripide

Post-Classical Literature:

  • Luigi Bravi (Università G. D’Annunzio di Chieti-Pescara), Poeti, scrittori e artisti in area corinzia dopo la guerra del Peloponneso
  • Elisabetta Berardi (Università di Milano), Elio Aristide e il discorso Istmico a Posidone (Or. 46).

History:

  • Domenico Musti (Università Sapienza di Roma), Corinto città cruciale
  • Carmine Catenacci (Università G. D’Annunzio di Chieti-Pescara), Delfi e Corinto arcaica. Gli oracoli pitici sulla colonizzazione di Siracusa e sulla tirannide dei Cipselidi
  • Pietro Vannicelli (Università Sapienza di Roma), Aristeo figlio di Adimanto tra Erodoto e Tucidide
  • Maurizio Giangiulio (Università di Trento), Per una nuova immagine di Cipselo. Aspetti della tradizione storica sulla tirannide di Corinto
  • Eleonora Cavallini (Università di Bologna), Peripezie di unadynaton: il canale di Corinto nelle fonti antiche.

Archaeology and Iconography:

  • Adele Zarlenga (Roma), Culti e siti di area corinzia in alcune recenti ricerche
  • Cornelia Isler-Kerényi (Erlenbach), La madre di Pegaso
  • Sara Brunori (Università di Urbino Carlo Bo), Eracle e l’Idra di Lerna nell’iconografia corinzia. Indice dei nomi. Indice dei passi discussi.

Contact me if you are interested in reviewing this work.

The Corinth Canal Project of 67-68 AD

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One of the most interesting bits of research I conducted during my leave last year was Nero’s doomed Corinth Canal project of 67-68 AD. The enterprise, its failure, and subsequent condemnation form a key chapter in the book I’m finishing on the Isthmus of Corinth. Historically, scholars have argued that everyone and their brother wanted to canalize the Isthmus in antiquity, that Nero was simply the last in a long line of would be canal-cutters. In the chapter, I try to outline Nero’s attempt within the immediate historical context of the AD 60s rather than some age old desire to canalize the Isthmus.

I’ll be posting periodically on some of this research into the canal ancient and modern. I paste below an abstract of the paper (“The Corinth Canal Project of 67-68 AD”) I will present at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in January. It’s a substantial revision of a more preliminary paper I gave at the meeting of the Association of Ancient Historians last May.

In 1881, on the eve of the enterprise to canalize the six-kilometer wide Corinthian Isthmus, the Hungarian engineer, Béla Gerster, completed a careful study of the extant remains of the Emperor Nero’s failed canal project nearly two millennia earlier. Published in a brief article in BCH and revised for his book on the modern Corinth Canal, Gerster’s description and map of the ancient trenches, pits, and mounds mark the only detailed record of the remnants before they were destroyed by the construction of the modern canal (1882-1893). While Gerster’s study of the trenches and pits documented an enormous undertaking (the excavation of half a million cubic meters of earth and stone) that indicates the seriousness of the ancient project, this information has played surprisingly little role in modern assessments of Nero’s tour of Greece and his Corinthian canal enterprise. In this paper, I discuss the remnants of the canal cuts within the context of a broader study of the Isthmus, and show how the remains shed light on the engineers’ plans for canalization, specific techniques of construction, chronology of the enterprise, amount of work remaining, and subsequent transformation of the landscape. The dimensions of the cuts, pits, and shafts highlight the Herculean nature of the task confronting the canal cutters, but also demonstrate the sensible approaches adopted by the engineers to meet the challenges of severing an 80 m high ridge of limestone, sandstone, and marl. Gerster’s record of trenches and shafts offers clues to the plans for the ancient Corinth Canal near the moment of abandonment in A.D. 68 and before Greek and Roman writers condemned the project as impossible.

Historic Photos of the Isthmus

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Friends at FB have posted or sent me links to several facebook pages and albums devoted to photos, postcards, and images of Greece from the late 19th / early 20th century.  Theodoros Metallinos has posted hundreds of fascinating images in these albums, and this photos page at Istoria Eiknographia (PERIODIKO) also displays hundreds of old photos.

Some great early photos of Corinth, the Isthmus, and Canal among them….

Construction of Corinth canal, 1882 (from this page)

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Construction of canal, 1884 (from this page)

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Construction of the canal, 1886, photograph of Αναστασίου Γαζιάδη

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This one of the functioning canal from 1902 (from this page )

Canal, 1935 (from this page)

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German on the Isthmus, 1943 (from this page)

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Couldn’t find a tag for this one at the canal.

Corinth, 1922 (from this page)

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Blogosphere: Corinthia

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A frequent sort of blog that regularly appear in my google alerts are travel accounts of visits to Ancient Corinth. Most of these cover familiar ground and are most useful for good photos of Corinth, the Corinthian landscape, and the archaeological remains. Here is a sample of summer entries: