Corinth (in ancient Greek and in modern Greek Κόρινθος / Kórinthos) is one of the most important cities of ancient Greece. It remains an important city of modern Greece, housing 36,555 inhabitants and being the capital of the nome of Corinthia. She is mentioned in the Iliad, where she also bears the name of Ephyre. Occupying a strategic position on the isthmus that connects Northern Greece to the Peloponnese and separates two important seas (the Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea), it was destined to become a great maritime power.
It was also located at the crossroads of two commercial axes, the north-south axis and especially the east-west axis, through which arrived luxury goods from the East and products from the Western colonies. It was easier to pull small ships across the isthmus or unload goods on one side to reload them on other ships on the other side, than to undertake a long and perilous journey around the Peloponnese . Its port is Léchée (gr. Léchaion or Lékhaion):far from the city, it was like Piraeus, connected to the city by the construction of Long Walls.
Antiquity
In mythology, Corinth is associated with Sisyphus and his descendants; this is where Medea and Jason took refuge after Medea had organized the murder of Pelias.
Corinth was occupied by the Dorians around 700 BC. According to tradition, the city was governed from -747 to -657 by the Dorian oligarchy of the Bacchiades; it was at this time that the colonies of Corcyra and Syracuse (-733) were founded.
Archaeological remains testify to the extent of the city's relations with foreign countries; Corinth became a sort of center of maritime trade for the Greek world, in particular thanks to its two ports, one, Lechae (gr. Lékhaion) on the Gulf of Corinth, and the other, Cenchrées (lat. Cenchrææ or gr. Kenkhraiai) on the Saronic Gulf.
Greek temple in the ancient city of Corinth
Greek temple in the ancient city of Corinth
The Corinthian Ameinocles, who is the oldest known Greek shipowner, built ships for Samos in -704; the first naval battle in Greek history opposed Corinth to Corcyra in -664.
The Bacchiades were overthrown by the tyrant Cypselos in -657. Dethroned, the Bacchias Demaratus would have emigrated to Etruria and would be the father of Tarquin the Elder, king of Rome.
Corinthian power and prosperity reached their peak under Cypselos and his son Periander. Three years after the death of the latter, succeeded by his nephew Psammetichus, the tyranny was overthrown and replaced by an oligarchic government which maintained friendly relations with Sparta and Athens.
With the rise of Athenian imperialism in the second half of the 5th century, relations with Athens deteriorated and the quarrel between the two cities over Corcyra and Potidae resulted in the Peloponnesian War in -431.
The Corinthians were among the fiercest and most active opponents of Athens throughout the war, although they suffered greatly from the loss of their trade, their fleet and their colonies. They took part in the defense of Syracuse, attacked by the Athenians during the expedition to Sicily.
Later however, Corinth joined Athens, Argos and Boeotia to fight against the tyrannical domination of Sparta (Corinthian War). Corinth's hostility, reinforced by its position at the base of the isthmus, posed a grave danger to Sparta, threatening its land communications with the North. The war ended with the Peace of Antalcidas, concluded with the help of Persia.
In the war against Philip II of Macedon, Corinth joined Athens in supporting the cause of Greek freedom. After the defeat of the Athenians and Thebans at Chaeronea (-338), it was in Corinth that Philip summoned an assembly of the Greek cities to form a confederation under Macedonian control.
Corinth later became one of the strongholds of the Achaean League. It then passed under the control of Macedonia until the victory of Flaminius over Macedonia in -198 / -196; it was then declared a free city like all the other Greek cities and became the seat of the Achaean League.
During Rome's campaigns against the League, it was completely devastated in -146 by Mummius, who wanted to avenge the slights suffered by the Roman ambassadors, and its inhabitants were massacred or reduced to slavery. In the words of Cicero, this episode represented the extinction of "the light of all Greece" (Tusculanes, III, 53).
After a century of desolation, Corinth was rebuilt by Julius Caesar who made it a Roman colony (44 BC).
When the apostle Paul visited the city a hundred years later, Corinth had become a flourishing city and the capital of the Roman province of Achaea. She was also a bishopric. After his trip, he wrote them two letters that are part of the biblical canon.
Middle Ages
During the Byzantine era, Justinian undertook the construction of a rampart of the isthmus of Corinth (Hexamilion) in 530, but the city nevertheless suffered attacks from the Avars, the Slavs and then the Normans.
In 1400 before the Turkish advance Theodore Paleologus, Despot of Mistra and brother of the Emperor of Constantinople, sold his possessions in the Peloponnese. Several strongholds were occupied by the Knights and rehabilitated, such as Acrocorinth, but the inhabitants of Mistra refused to recognize their sovereignty. Faced with the difficulty, the Grand Master of the Order, Philibert de Naillac handed over Mistra to Théodore Paléologue. In 1458 the city of Corinth fell into the hands of the Turks after a heroic resistance led from Acrocorinth.
Modern Age
The Knights of Malta took it back in 1612 but it was taken over by the Venetians in 1687.
The Ottomans took it over in 1715 until 1822.
Contemporary era
It suffered a new earthquake in 1928.