Isthmus of Corinth

ABSTRACT: This documentary response sheet contains a series of sequential questions drawn from the video, BBC: In Search of the Trojan War, episode 6: The Fall of Troy (shown in-class; also available online via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBk9j9Slb1Y [58.24 minutes]).  These sequential questions aim to maximize both student attention to various pertinent points made throughout the documentary and greater retention of the materials covered by the documentary.  In addition, the documentary has been vetted for overall content accuracy (albeit updated and/or corrected in-class), and selected to provide supplementary visual aids (e.g., images of regions, sites, finds, and other materials), additional specialist views (e.g., interviews), and other data to aid in student comprehension of the course lectures and readings from the textbooks. REVISED: April 2024.

Isthmus of Corinth:
”... that stone of scandal…I do not know if it is more prejudicial because it separates two seas with such a lack of navigation, or because it unites two lands with so much disturbance to the peace of the Kingdom ...”,  with these words Tommaso Gradenigo, Provveditore Generale of the Kingdom of Morea, gave the best description of that area, which was the land border with the Turks, after the conquest of the Peloponnese by the Venetians in 1684.
This natural passage, since ancient times, forced the occupants to a continuous activity in the construction of defensive works, in order to prevent the continuous invasions from the north.
Given that, two were the main defensive positions that the Venetians dealt within this area: a) the zone of the strait and b) the fortress of the Acro Corinth.
Despite the imposing position of the latter, the control of the strait of Isthmus was, however, impossible because of the distance of the fortress itself from the Isthmus.
In this area, the fortifications of the ancient Corinth were almost disappeared and only the walls of the  Examilion, built by the Emperor Justinian were visible, as an attempt to "close"  the strait from the gulf of Lepanto (Korinthiakos) to the gulf of Aegina (Saronikos).  During the Venetian occupation, these fortifications were restored and used only to control the passage.
On August 1687 the Venetians, commanded by Francesco Morosini, finally managed to take over the fortress of Acrocorith, which they held firmly until 1715, despite the fact that in 1689 and 1692, the Turks had attempted to re-occupy it.
Immediately after the conquest, and during the Carlowitz negotiations, the plenipotentiary of Venice, Carlo Ruzzini, failed to obtain for the Serenissima what Morosini had attempted with the two campaigns against Athens and Negroponte (Euboea): the areas north of the Isthmus, such as Megara or Thebes, because due to their mountainous terrain, where much easier to defend. 

The resolution taken in Carlowitz, can be considered as a further defeat for Venice, because the lack of natural positions to support a valid defense against the invasions of the Turks and was the negative and alarming point for the future of the new territories.
The last hope for the defense of the kingdom was therefore entrusted to military engineers which proceed applying modern defensive concepts and the new constructions were designed according to the most updated principles of military architecture.

The main criterion of the defensive works was to allow the Senate to use the minimum number of troops, which would consequently require the minimum expense for their maintenance.

Especially for the Isthmus, the Venetians dealt diligently  and almost all the military engineers in the service of the Serenissima, expressed their opinion or designed proposals for the new fortifications. There are more than 100 proposals in various archives, and futhermore, in order to understand the geomorphology of the area, the Senate asked for the construction of a wooden model.
In this article, the most important proposals for the fortification of Isthmus, in chronological order are presented and analysed, while a survey with use of GPS, Aerial photografs of different period as well as drone's systems  was made to locate their actual state.

Although today the remains of the Venetian fortifications at Isthmus are almost extinct, the intangible heritage of the concept and the effort to build a linear fortification is particularly important, as the only ideal solution to the problem of defending such an extensive area.

The military engineers, in their proposals, applied the latest fortification techniques and experiences from other parts of Europe, such as the linear defense systems applied by Vauban in the Dutch War (1673).

Unfortunately, due to the lack of money and soldiers for the defense of such a large area, the works was never completed and then abandoned.
Due to their ephemeral nature (mainly earth works), few remains have been saved, and these, despite their rich documentation in the Venetian archives, were not recognized in time and were almost destroyed by modern interventions, contrary to the interest that was demonstrated by the state and institutions for the classical antiquities of the region.

We hope that this article will help to save the few fortifications that are still surviving from its famous “Linea di Corinto” of the 17th-18th century.

The narrow neck of land that joins the Peloponnese with the Greek mainland was central to the fortunes of the city of Corinth and the history of Greece from the classical Greek period to the end of the ancient world. Corinth was perfectly situated for monitoring land traffic between Athens and Sparta and overland movements between eastern and western seas.

David Pettegrew’s book offers a new history of the Isthmus of Corinth from the Romans’ initial presence in Greece during the Hellenistic era to the epic transformations of the Empire in late antiquity. A new interpretation of the extensive literary evidence outlines how the Isthmus became the most famous land bridge of the ancient world, central to maritime interests of Corinth, and a medium for Rome’s conquest, annexation, and administration in the Greek east. A fresh synthesis of archaeological evidence and the results of a recent intensive survey on the Isthmus describe the physical development of fortifications, settlements, harbors, roads, and sanctuaries in the region. The author includes chapters on the classical background of the concept isthmos, the sacking of Corinth and the defeat of the Achaean League, colonization in the Late Roman Republic, the Emperor Nero’s canal project and its failure, the growth of Roman settlement in the territory, and the end of athletic contests at Isthmia. The Isthmus of Corinth offers a powerful case study in the ways that shifting Mediterranean worlds transformed a culturally significant landscape over the course of a millennium.

1) Corinto: la polis sull’istmo e l’attività dei Cipselidi (704, 657-583).
2) Atene e Megara: il conflitto per l’isola di Salamina e la navigazione.
3) Pisistrato, tiranno di Atene (546-528): la politica marittima nell’Egeo e nell’Ellesponto.
4) La talassocrazia di Policrate di Samo.
5) Greci d’Asia e Imperi orientali: dall’indipendenza all’assimilazione.
Conclusions: The success of the city-states depended on the possibility and ability to make the best use of resources and opportunities associated to - and deriving from - water, the sea and seafaring. This entailed, in diverse situations but in alike manners, organizational, technological and economic efforts that came to influence the short- and long-term historical developments.
Sea-bound activities and access to the Mediterranean markedly distinguished the social and political identity of the Greeks - especially the Greeks of Asia Minor - in opposition to the land-based Oriental empires.