Listed 10 sub titles with search on: Ancient literary sources for destination: "KORINTHOS Ancient city PELOPONNISOS".
The Lacedaemonians resolved to cross with a fleet to Asia in order to put down Artaxerxes. Agesilaus, who was appointed to lead the expedition across to Asia and to be in command of the land forces, sent round to all parts of the Peloponnesus, except Argos, and to the Greeks north of the Isthmus, asking for allies. Now the Corinthians were most eager to take part in the expedition to Asia, but considering it a bad omen that their temple of Zeus surnamed Olympian had been suddenly burnt down, they reluctantly remained behind.
This extract is from: Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Harvard University Press
Cited Sept 2002 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
Corinth is called "wealthy" because of its commerce, since it is situated
on the Isthmus and is master
of two harbors, of which the one leads straight to Asia, and the other to Italy;
and it makes easy the exchange of merchandise from both countries that are so
far distant from each other. And just as in early times the Strait of Sicily was
not easy to navigate, so also the high seas, and particularly the sea beyond Maleae,
were not, on account of the contrary winds; and hence the proverb, "But when
you double Maleae, forget
your home." Source unknown at any rate, it was a welcome alternative, for
the merchants both from Italy and from Asia, to avoid the voyage to Maleae
and to land their cargoes here. And also the duties on what by land was exported
from the Peloponnesus and
what was imported to it fell to those who held the keys. And to later times this
remained ever so. But to the Corinthians of later times still greater advantages
were added, for also the Isthmian
Games, which were celebrated there, were wont to draw crowds of people. And the
Bacchiadae, a rich and numerous and illustrious family, became tyrants of Corinth,
and held their empire for nearly two hundred years, and without disturbance reaped
the fruits of the commerce; and when Cypselus overthrew these, he himself became
tyrant, and his house endured for three generations; and an evidence of the wealth
of this house is the offering which Cypselus dedicated at Olympia,
a huge statue of beaten gold. Again, Demaratus, one of the men who had been in
power at Corinth, fleeing from the seditions there, carried with him so much wealth
from his home to Tyrrhenia that not only he himself became the ruler of the city
that admitted him, but his son was made king of the Romans. And the temple of
Aphrodite was so rich that it owned more than a thousand temple slaves, courtesans,
whom both men and women had dedicated to the goddess. And therefore it was also
on account of these women that the city was crowded with people and grew rich;
for instance, the ship captains freely squandered their money, and hence the proverb,
"Not for every man is the voyage to Corinth." Source unknown. Moreover,
it is recorded that a certain courtesan said to the woman who reproached her with
the charge that she did not like to work or touch wool: "Yet, such as I am,
in this short time I have taken down three webs." (Strabo 8.6.20)
The Corinthians, when they were subject to Philip, not only sided with him in
his quarrel with the Romans, but individually behaved so contemptuously towards
the Romans that certain persons ventured to pour down filth upon the Roman ambassadors
when passing by their house. For this and other offences, however, they soon paid
the penalty, for a considerable army was sent thither, and the city itself was
razed to the ground by Leucius Mummius; and the other countries as far as Macedonia
became subject to the Romans, different commanders being sent into different countries;
but the Sicyonians obtained
most of the Corinthian country.
Polybius, who speaks in a tone of pity of the events connected with the capture
of Corinth, goes on to speak of the disregard shown by the army for the works
of art and votive offerings; for he says that he was present and saw paintings
that had been flung to the ground and saw the soldiers playing dice on these.
Among the paintings he names that of Dionysus by Aristeides, to which, according
to some writers, the saying, "Nothing in comparison with the Dionysus," referred;
and also the painting of Heracles in torture in the robe of Deianeira. Now I have
not seen the latter, but I saw the Dionysus, a most beautiful work, on the walls
of the temple of Ceres in Rome; but when recently the temple was burned, the painting
perished with it. And I may almost say that the most and best of the other dedicatory
offerings at Rome came from there; and the cities in the neighborhood of Rome
also obtained some; for Mummius, being magnanimous rather than fond of art, as
they say, readily shared with those who asked. And when Leucullus built the Temple
of Good Fortune and a portico, he asked Mummius for the use of the statues which
he had, saying that he would adorn the temple with them until the dedication and
then give them back. However, he did not give them back, but dedicated them to
the goddess, and then bade Mummius to take them away if he wished. But Mummius
took it lightly, for he cared nothing about them, so that he gained more repute
than the man who dedicated them. Now after Corinth had remained deserted for a
long time, it was restored again, because of its favorable position, by the deified
Caesar, who colonized it with people that belonged for the most part to the freedmen
class. And when these were removing the ruins and at the same time digging open
the graves, they found numbers of terra-cotta reliefs, and also many bronze vessels.
And since they admired the workmanship they left no grave unransacked; so that,
well supplied with such things and disposing of them at a high price, they filled
Rome with Corinthian "mortuaries," for thus they called the things taken from
the graves, and in particular the earthenware. Now at the outset the earthenware
was very highly prized, like the bronzes of Corinthian workmanship, but later
they ceased to care much for them, since the supply of earthen vessels failed
and most of them were not even well executed. The city of the Corinthians, then,
was always great and wealthy, and it was well equipped with men skilled both in
the affairs of state and in the craftsman's arts; for both here and in Sicyon
the arts of painting and modelling and all such arts of the craftsman flourished
most. The city had territory, however, that was not very fertile, but rifted and
rough; and from this fact all have called Corinth "beetling," and use the proverb,
"Corinth is both beetle-browed and full of hollows." Source unknown (Strabo 8.6.23)
Old name of Corinth (Paus. 2,1,1, also see Il. 6.152).
Formerly called Ephyraea, founded by Sisyphus, named after Corinthus.
Nevertheless we then proceeded, by means of an alliance, to detach Boeotia and Corinth from Sparta, and to resume friendly relations with Argos, thereby involving Sparta in the battle of Corinth.
So the Epidamnians went to Corinth, and delivered over the colony in obedience to the commands of the oracle. They showed that their founder came from Corinth, and revealed the answer of the god; and they begged them not to allow them to perish, but to assist them.This the Corinthians consented to do. Believing the colony to belong as much to themselves as to the Corcyraeans, they felt it to be a kind of duty to undertake their protection. Besides, they hated the Corcyraeans for their contempt of the mother country. Instead of meeting with the usual honors accorded to the parent city by every other colony at public assemblies, such as precedence at sacrifices, Corinth found herself treated with contempt by a power, which in point of wealth could stand comparison with any even of the richest communities in Hellas, which possessed great military strength, and which sometimes could not repress a pride in the high naval position of an island whose nautical renown dated from the days of its old inhabitants, the Phaeacians. This was one reason of the care that they lavished on their fleet, which became very efficient; indeed they began the war with a force of a hundred and twenty galleys (Thuc. 1.25.2-4).
This extract is from: Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. Richard Crawley. London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton. 1910.
Cited Sept 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
Planted on an isthmus, Corinth had from time out of mind been a commercial emporium;
as formerly almost all communication between the Hellenes within and without Peloponnese
was carried on overland, and the Corinthian territory was the highway through
which it travelled. She had consequently great money resources, as is shown by
the epithet "wealthy" bestowed by the old poets on the place, and this
enabled her, when traffic by sea became more common, to procure her navy and put
down piracy; and as she could offer a mart for both branches of the trade, she
acquired for herself all the power which a large revenue affords.
This extract is from: Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. Richard Crawley. London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton. 1910.
Cited Sept 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
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