Corinthian Matters

Category: Sites, Diolkos

  • Niketas Portages the Isthmus (and exacts fierce vengeance)

    Over the next week, I’ll be providing translations of all the Byzantine passages narrating Niketas Ooryphas’ transshipment of vessels over the Corinthian Isthmus in the early 870s AD.  Today’s installment is Theophanes Continuatus Chronographia (pp. 300-301 in the Bekker 1838 edition), which narrates the life of the Emperor Basil I.   See Paul Stephenson’s brief explanation of this source.…

  • Drag Your Fleet: Portaging Military Vessels over the Corinthian Isthmus

    As I noted in a previous post, I will be giving a paper next week at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America on the subject of “Niketas Ooryphas Drags his Fleet: Portaging the Corinthian Isthmus in 883 AD.”  This remarkable transfer of military vessels in the 9th century is the first known…

  • Intro to Corinth Educational Video (with diolkos)

    Thanks to Will Rutherford who pointed me to this Intro to Corinth educational video created by St. Paul enthusiast Russ Wessley to set the scene for St. Paul in Corinth. The video called “Introduction to Corinth – Part 1” is the first of a series designed to establish the relationship of Paul to Corinth.  The…

  • Corinth at the Archaeological Institute of America – January 2011

    The annual meeting of the AIA in San Antonio is now only 3-1/2 weeks away.  As usual, there will be a range of papers related to the archaeology of Corinth and the Corinthia.  A summary below, and I include abstracts when available. SESSION 1D: Colloquium: Travel to Greece between Antiquity and the Grand Tour (Friday, Jan 7,…

  • St. Paul on the Isthmus

    Last week I had the chance to visit Grand Forks, North Dakota, and give a talk on the subject of “Setting the Stage for St. Paul’s Corinth: How an Isthmus Determined the Character of a Roman City.”  It was great to visit Grand Forks and the University of North Dakota especially as the weather was…

  • The Diolkos — A New Video

    I recently came upon this animated documentary short called the “Diolkos for 1500 Years” depicting the use of the ancient diolkos portage road across the Isthmus of Corinth.  It is in Greek, of course, but you can still follow along.  The film was initiated by the Society of Ancient Greek Technology, produced by the Technical Chamber…

  • The Commercial Facility of the Isthmus

    Bill Caraher has given us additional thoughts about some graffiti text on a wall of the baptistery of the Lechaion Basilica — observations that will be part of his presentation for the Corinth in Contrast Conference at the upcoming University of Texas.  I myself have been finishing up my own presentation on “Turning Profit on the…