The Greek city of Corinth, on the northern shore of the
Peloponnese peninsula, west of Athens, was an important trading centre long
before the Romans arrived. When they did, in 146 BC, they destroyed the city
and left it as a deserted shell.
The revival of Corinth came about as a result of Julius
Caesar’s policy of settling retired and discharged legionary veterans in
colonies distributed throughout the Empire. The first colonists arrived after
Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC and they set about constructing a city very
much on Roman lines.
Some Greek elements were retained in the new city, such as
the Agora (forum), several stoas (covered walkways) and the Temple of Apollo,
but the impression conveyed by what can be seen today is that this was a Roman
city that would in time become suitable as the capital of a province, in this
case Archaea.
Roman Corinth was very much a commercial centre, with a
number of the buildings relating to mercantile activities.
Commerce clearly brought wealth to Corinth, as evidenced by
the buildings devoted to leisure and entertainment. The original Greek theatre
was converted to accommodate Roman pleasures, such as gladiatorial contests.
There was also an odeum – a small theatre designed for musical performances.
Corinth was a religious city, with six temples built to
revere the Roman gods during the second century AD. We know that Corinth had a
small but active Christian community, from the fact that St Paul wrote two of
his best-known epistles to the Corinthian Christians during the mid-first
century. Paul is known to have stayed at Corinth for 18 months, during which he
worked as a tentmaker and preached.
However, during the third century the fortunes of Corinth
went into decline as commercial activity decreased. The Roman city was itself
abandoned, with the centre of modern Corinth lying a few miles to the
northeast. This has made it possible for extensive archaeological work to be
done on the Roman remains, with the result that much has been learned about how
a typical colonial capital operated.
A notable feature a few miles away from the Roman city is
the Corinth Canal, cut through the narrowest point of the isthmus (four miles
wide) to provide easier access to the port of Piraeus. Several projects to
build a canal were proposed in classical times but abandoned for various
reasons, including the difficulty of cutting down through up to 250 feet of
solid limestone.
One attempt was made by the Emperor Nero in 67 AD, when on a
visit to the region. He instructed the Praetorian Guard to begin work
immediately and joined in by shovelling up a bucketful of dirt and carrying it
away on his back. However, he soon lost interest in the idea, which was not
revived until long after his assassination in 69 AD. The current canal, which
follows the same course that Nero had in mind, was begun in 1881 and completed
in 1893.
© John Welford
