CORINTH, a celebrated city of antiquity, for some
time the most illustrious of all the Greek cities. It is
said to have been founded 1514 years before Christ,
by Sisyphus the son of Eolus, and grandfather of
Ulyſſes. Various reasons are given for its name,
but most authors derive it from Corinthus the son of
Pelops. It was situated in the south part of the Ilth-
mus which joins the Peloponnesus, now the Morea, to
the continent. It consisted of a citadel built upon an
eminence, and thence named Acrocorinthus; besides
which it had two maritime towns subject to it, named
Lecheum and Gonchrea. The whole state extended
scarce half a degree in length or breadth; but so ad-
vantageously were the above-mentioned ports situa-
ted, that they might have gained the Corinthians a
superiority, if not a command, over all Greece, had
not their advantageous situation inclined them to com-
merce rather than war. For their citadel was almost
impregnable; and, commanding both the Ionian and
Ægean seas, they could easily cut off all communica-
tion from one half of Greece with the other; for
which reason this city was called, one of the fetters of
Greece.
But as the genius of the Corinthians led them to
commerce rather than martial exploits, their city be-
came the finest in all Greece. It was adorned with the
most sumptuous buildings, as temples, palaces, theatres,
porticoes, &c. all of them enriched with a beautiful kind
of columns, which from the city were called Corinthian.
But though the Corinthians seldom or never engaged
in a war with a view of enlarging, but rather of de-
fending, their little state, they did not forget to culti-
vate a good discipline both in time of peace and of
war. Hence many brave and experienced generals
have been furnished by Corinth to the other Grecian
cities, and it was not uncommon for the latter to pre-
fer a Corinthian general to any of their own.
This city continued to preserve its liberty till the
year before Christ 146, when it was pillaged and burnt
by the Romans. It was at that time the strongest place
in the world; but the inhabitants were so disheartened
by a preceding defeat, and the death of their general,
that they had not presence of mind enough even to
shut their gates. The Roman consul, Mummius, was
so much surprised at this, that at first he could scarce
believe it; but afterwards fearing an ambuscade, he
advanced with all possible caution. As he met with
no resistance, his soldiers had nothing to do but de-
stroy the few inhabitants who had not fled, and plun-
der the city. Such of the men as had staid, were all
put to the sword, and the women were sold for slaves.
After this the city was ransacked by the greedy sol-
diers, and the spoils of it are said to have been im-
mense. There were more vessels of all sorts of me-
tal, more fine pictures, and statues done by the great-
est masters, in Corinth, than in any other city in the
world. All the princes of Europe and Asia, who had
any taste in painting and sculpture, furnished them-
selves here, with their richest moveables: here were
cast the finest statues for temples and palaces, and all
the liberal arts brought to their greatest perfection.
Many ineffable pieces of the most famous painters
and statuary fell into the hands of the ignorant sol-
diers, who either destroyed them or parted with them
for a trifle. Polybius the historian was an eye-witness
to this barbarism of the Romans. He had the mortifi-
cation to see two of them playing at dice on a famous
picture of Arisides, which was accounted one of the
wonders of the world. The piece was a Bacchus, so
exquisitely done, that it was proverbially said of any
extraordinary performance, "it is as well done as the
Bacchus of Arisides." This masterly piece of paint-
ing, however, the soldiers willingly exchanged for a
more convenient table to play upon: but when the
spoils of Corinth were put up to sale, Attalus king of
Pergamus offered for it 600,000 sesterces, near 5000l.
of our money. Mummius was surprised at such a high
price offered for a picture, and imagined there must be
some magical virtue in it. He therefore interposed
his authority, and carried it to Rome, notwithstanding
the complaints of Attalus. Here this famous picture
was lodged in the temple of Ceres, where it was at
last destroyed by fire, together with the temple. An-
other extraordinary instance of the stupidity of Mum-
mius is, that when the pictures were put on board the
transports, he told the masters of the vessels very se-
riously, that if any of the things were either lost or
spoiled, he would oblige them to find others at their
own cost; as if any other pieces could have supplied
the loss of those ineffable originals, done by the
greatest masters in Greece. When the city was
thoroughly pillaged, fire was set to all the corners of
it at the same time. The flames grew more violent
as they drew near the centre, and at last uniting there
made one prodigious conflagration. At this time the
famous metalline mixture is said to have been made,
which could never afterwards be imitated by art.
The gold, silver, and brass, which the Corinthians had
concealed, were melted, and ran down the streets in
streams, and when the flames were extinguished, a
new metal was found, composed of several different
ones, and greatly esteemed in after ages. The walls
of the city were then demolished, and rased to the
foundation: but the city was rebuilt again by Julius
Cæsar, and made a Roman colony. It continued sub-
ject to the Roman emperors till the division of the
empire, after which it fell to the share of those of Con-
stantinople. On the decline of that empire it fell to
the Venetians, but was taken from them by Moham-
med II. The Venetians retook it in 1678; but the
Turks became masters of it again in 1715, and have
kept it ever since. It is now greatly decayed; for the
houses are not contiguous, but intermixed with fields
and
Corinth and gardens, which make it look like a village. The country about it abounds with corn, wine, and oil; and from its cattle, is one of the finest prospects in the world, over the sea to the east and west, and a fertile country to the north and south. The narrowest part of the isthmus, on which it stands, is above six miles over. There are still to be seen the ruins of the temples dedicated to the Sun, Pluto, Diana, Neptune, Ceres, and Bacchus. The inhabitants are most of them Christians, of the Greek church, who are allowed liberty of conscience by the Turks. E. Long. 28. 13. N. Lat. 38. 14.