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Corinth (modern city)

City in the Peloponnese, Greece

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Through Municipality

It was founded as New Corinth (Greek: Νέα Κόρινθος, romanized: Néa Kórinthos) in 1858 after an earthquake destroyed the existing settlement of Corinth, which had developed in and around the site of the ancient city.

History

Corinth derives its name from Ancient Corinth, a city-state of antiquity. The site was occupied from before 3000 BC.

Iron Age

Bacchiad period

Historical references begin with the early 8th century BC, when ancient Corinth began to develop as a commercial center. Between the 8th and 7th centuries, the Bacchiad family ruled Corinth. Cypselus overthrew the Bacchiad family, and between 657 and 585 BC, he and his son Periander ruled Corinth as the Tyrants.

Classical Age

Greek period

In about 585 BC, an oligarchical government seized power. This government later allied with Sparta within the Peloponnesian League, and Corinth participated in the Persian Wars and Peloponnesian War as an ally of Sparta. After Sparta's victory in the Peloponnesian War, the two allies fell out with one another, and Corinth pursued an independent policy in the various wars of the early 4th century BC, most notably in the Corinthian War. Following the Macedonian hegemony in Greece, the League of Corinth was created by Philip II and then led by Alexander the Great. Corinth also helped Syracuse against Carthage by sending Timoleon. Acrocorinth was the seat of a Macedonian garrison until 243 BC, when the city joined the Achaean League.

Roman period

In 146 BC, Corinth was captured and completely destroyed by the Roman general Lucius Mummius following the Battle of Corinth.

Between 146 BC and 44 BC there was a 102-year hiatus showing a significant drop in activity. The site was not entirely empty as it was occupied by squatters and temporary workers who managed the land as ager publicus (public land) for Rome before the official colony was settled.

In 44 BC, Corinth was a newly rebuilt Roman colony with 16,000 colonists, that flourished and became the administrative capital of the Roman province of Achaea. Under the authority of Julius Caesar, the city was refounded as Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis. Caesar’s primary motivation for the 44 BC reconstruction was strategic and the colonists mainly came from the Gens Julii establishing estates for the familia. It provided a settlement for Roman freedmen and veterans while controlling the vital trade route across the Isthmus of Corinth. According to Strabo (Geography 8.6.23), Caesar chose this group to alleviate urban crowding in Rome and provide a loyal, industrious population for the trade hub.

Because the city was rebuilt by Romans, it was laid out in a typical Roman grid and became a Latin-speaking administrative hub, eventually serving as the capital of the province of Achaia. The Lechaion Road became the city's cardo maximus (main north-south axis). Excavations have traced its Roman paving and drainage systems, which were distinct from the earlier Greek pathways. The Greek agora was transformed into a Roman forum (marketplace). They retained some Greek structures, like the South Stoa, but repurposed them to fit the new civic layout. It also included a Roman-style amphitheater (uncommon in Greek cities) and specialized buildings like the Julian Basilica. Excavations of the Roman Villas at Anaploga show a stark hierarchy. While most lived in dense insulae (apartments), the elite built sprawling estates with elaborate mosaics, reflecting a rapid accumulation of wealth through Isthmian trade.

The "Decuriones" were the local city council members. While freedmen were technically barred from high office in Rome, the colonial charter of Corinth allowed them to rise to the rank of decurio. Evidence for this is found in the Corinthian Inscriptions (Vol. 8), which list names of elite officials with Greek roots but Roman citizenship.

To gain religious legitimacy, the new elite sponsored the Isthmian Games. Archaeological finds of "Agonistic Inscriptions" show that the new Roman citizens used these traditional Greek games to display their status to the wider Mediterranean world. One event of the Isthmian Games was held during the spring of AD 51.

In the New Testament, Paul went to Corinth during his second missionary journey (Acts 18), during the reign of Emperor Claudius (r. 41-54). He also wrote letters to the Corinthians and Romans. The Erastus Inscription, while not Jewish, this 1st-century paving stone mentions "Erastus, the Aedile" (a high-ranking city official). In the New Testament, Paul mentions an Erastus in his letter to the Romans (written from Corinth) alongside Jewish companions, illustrating the high social level at which the community intersected with city government. A heavy limestone lintel was discovered near the Lechaion Road (the main thoroughfare) bearing the Greek inscription [SYNA]GOGE EBR[AION]. While the stone itself likely dates to the 4th or 5th century AD, archaeologists often find that later synagogues were built directly on top of earlier 1st-century foundations.

Medieval Ages

In 857 CE, a major earthquake struck Corinth and its region causing around 45,000 deaths.

Modern era

In 1858, the old city, now known as Ancient Corinth (Αρχαία Κόρινθος, Archaia Korinthos), located three kilometres (two miles) southwest of the modern city, was totally destroyed by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake. New Corinth (Nea Korinthos) was then built to the north-east of it, on the coast of the Gulf of Corinth. In 1928, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake devastated the new city, which was then rebuilt on the same site. In 1933, there was a great fire, and the new city was rebuilt again.

During the German occupation in World War II, the Germans operated a Dulag Luft transit camp for British, Australian, New Zealander and Serbian prisoners of war and a forced labour camp in the town.

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