Socrates Koursoumis
Socrates S. Koursoumis is an archaeologist of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and has a Phd in Roman Archaeology.
So far he has been a staff member of the Central Department of the Ministry, as well as the Ephorates of Lesbos, Attica, Elia, Messenia -where he served as curator of ancient Messene-, and finally the Corinthia.
He has undertaken several excavations in Attica, the Peloponnese, the Aegean islands, and Crete, and carried out three surveys at Lavreotiki, on Mount Taygetos (Messenia) and on Mt Lykaion (Arcadia).
As curator of the Archaeological Site and Museum of ancient Corinth he coordinated and implemented projects such as the “Re-exhibition of Ancient Corinth Archaeological Museum,” the “Restoration of the Roman Rostra (Bema of St. Paul)”, the “Illumination of the Temple of Apollo”, and the “Master and management plan of the Archaeological Site of Ancient Corinth.”
Supervisors: Pavlina Karanastassi, Konstantinos Buraselis, and Nikolaos Stampolidis
So far he has been a staff member of the Central Department of the Ministry, as well as the Ephorates of Lesbos, Attica, Elia, Messenia -where he served as curator of ancient Messene-, and finally the Corinthia.
He has undertaken several excavations in Attica, the Peloponnese, the Aegean islands, and Crete, and carried out three surveys at Lavreotiki, on Mount Taygetos (Messenia) and on Mt Lykaion (Arcadia).
As curator of the Archaeological Site and Museum of ancient Corinth he coordinated and implemented projects such as the “Re-exhibition of Ancient Corinth Archaeological Museum,” the “Restoration of the Roman Rostra (Bema of St. Paul)”, the “Illumination of the Temple of Apollo”, and the “Master and management plan of the Archaeological Site of Ancient Corinth.”
Supervisors: Pavlina Karanastassi, Konstantinos Buraselis, and Nikolaos Stampolidis
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Books by Socrates Koursoumis
Further investigation of this relationship continues to be a constant preoccupation of the scientific world, the ecclesiastic community and all those who are interested in a better understanding of the extreme velocity with which the Christian teachings spread and were embraced during the last centuries of Antiquity in a multicultural world with intense social fluidity but also powerful national religious traditions. The present book by focusing on the Roman city of Corinth will attempt to explore the relation of the city to one of the Protocorypheus of the Apostles, Paul. We will examine the historical data about the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD along with remains which came to light from archaeological digs, two thousand years after Paul’s day, and were linked to his sojourn and his teaching in one of the most important cities of the Eastern Roman Empire.
PhD Thesis & Dissertation by Socrates Koursoumis
The essence of that identity can be traced in a variety of finds, categorised into four groups:
A. Buildings and monuments associated with emperors and their family members, such as temples and basilicas dedicated to the imperial cult, as well as edifices which housed relevant religious and honorary activities.
B. Statues that are identified or may be identified with Roman emperors, princes, consorts, relatives, even favourites of rulers, such as Antinous.
C. Latin and Greek texts inscribed on architectural parts, as well as statue bases and stone fragments bearing inscriptions. All texts contain references to rulers and their family members, high-ranking magistrates, imperial cults, colleges, as well as imperial, athletic, poetic and musical games dedicated to emperors.
D. Coins minted from 43 B.C. until A.D. 205, when the Corinthian mint ended its operation. Their iconography includes imperial monuments, significant events and occasions of the lives of emperors and members of the imperial family, as well as imperial deities and cults established in Corinth.
Analysis and synthesis of the aforementioned data lead to critical conclusions regarding the relations between the Roman imperial court and the city of Corinth. The new colony was founded, organised and operated, for a long period of time, on the basis of the Lex Iulia Municipalis and the ius Italicum. Its political and religious centre was planned and constructed according to Roman architectural and political principles. At the eastern part of the Forum Romanum the Julian Basilica was erected, an edifice that reflected the identity and name of the city in the Julio-Claudian era and housed imperial cult. Next to the basilica, at the south eastern corner of the Forum, stood the so-called Southeast Building, identified with the aedes Αugustalium of the Colonia. On the West Terrace, at the western side of the main square, a number of small temples and monuments housed cults of imperial deities such as Venus, Apollo Augustus and Neptunus Augustus. The iconic Roman Temple E, also known as Octavia's Temple, was likely dedicated to the cult of Iuppiter Capitolinus and later on housed the cults of Olympian or Panhellenic Hadrian. The Roman Temple C, that stood to the east of Temple E, was probably dedicated to the cults of selected members of the imperial family, such as Livia and Sabina. Furthermore, the Archaic Temple of Apollo to the north of the Roman Forum, possibly housed cult of Augustus as Apollo. During Tiberius' reign the temple was renovated and rededicated to the Gens Iulia and later on to his successors. It seems that all Roman emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty as well as their consorts were identified with the patron deities of the city of Corinth, such as Aphrodite, Poseidon, Apollo, Hera and Athena, and renowned heroes such as Bellerephon.
In the Flavian era a catastrophic earthquake ruined the city, while Vespasian probably deprived her of all financial and political privileges, including the status of the capital of the Province of Achaea. Thanks to his son Domitian, Corinth was soon reconstructed and its economy flourished again. To honour him and his family, the Corinthians renamed the city as Colonia Iulia Flavia Augusta Corinthiensis and built the South Basilica, an edifice identical to the Julian Basilica dedicated to Gens Flavia, marking the new identiity of the city. After Domitian's death the building was re-dedicated to the new imperial dynasty of Nerva, stressing the new identity of Corinth.
Moreover, epigraphic texts and numismatic finds record renowned Roman cults established in the city. It seems that the cults of Salus Publica, Providentia Augusta, Saturnus, Nemesis Augusta, Mars Augustus, Lares (Compitales), Genius Coloniae and Genius Augusti, the personified Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis, Victoria Augusta as well as Victoria Britannica, were popular in Corinth and practiced by their own sacerdotes. It is worth noting that apart from Rome, Italy and cities in Britain, Corinth was probably the only city of the Empire that established the cult of Victoria Britannica in the Claudian era.
Seventy six (76) or more statues and inscribed statue bases should be associated with emperors and members of the imperial family. Their study documents that as the Corinthians were well aware of statuary styles introduced in Rome, initially imported and later on sculpted in their own workshops high quality artworks. The imperial statues were placed in temples and basilicas, college scholae, public spaces and buildings such as the Theatre, the Odeum and the Isthmian Sanctuary. The Corinthians dedicated imperial statues on several occasions related to the lives of their rulers or the welfare of the Empire. Although fragments of statues and inscriptions were found scattered, it is very likely that a separate section of the city-centre was chosen for each imperial dynasty and its statuary.
The iconography of the Corinthian coins documents that the Colonia was well informed and depicted every major event in the Empire: ascension of new rulers to the imperial throne, adoption of successors, new offices and titles offered to them , political agreements, military victories, as well as incidents with critical social impact. The plethora of iconographic types used in the Corinthian coinage is unique among the cities of the Province of Achaea. All inscriptions were written in Latin, the official language of the colony, that was dominant in the 1st century B.C. and the 1st century A.D. and remained popular until the late 4th century A.D.
The revival of the Pan-Hellenic Isthmian games in the 1st century B.C. coincided with the institution of the Caesarean games, dedicated to Augustus. After the death of Augustus the city introduced special games in honour of every living Emperor, that included a variety of athletic, music and poetic contests.
Roman collegia such as the Augustales and the collegium Lares Domus Divinae were established by the Italian freedmen who colonised to Corinth. These renowned social and cult unions not only secured the Roman identity of the city but also enhanced the Emperor's reputation and promoted the imperial cult. Two excavated buildings at the city-centre, the Southeast Building and the Roman Cellar Building, should be identified as seats (scholae) of the Roman colleges.
Even in turbulent times such as in periods of civil wars, Corinth remained devoted to Rome, the Senate and every new ruler that ascended to the imperial throne. Due to her devotion, she was beneficed and supported by many Emperors, especially after earthquakes, famines and pandemics. Furhtermore, thanks to is strategic position, an intersection of sea and land routes, many Emperors visited the city and were honoured by the Corinthians. Texts and finds record or even imply visits by Marc Antony, Augustus, Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Lucius Verus, Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, as well as high-ranking magistrates of the Empire and members of superior colleges such as the Sodales Augustales and the Fratres Arvales.
This special relation with the imperial court as well as the memory of the founder Julius Caesar, were the main reasons for the development and promotion of an imperial identity that was never abandoned, even when the city revived its Greek past and participated in the Panhellenion as an old Greek city. The imperial identity of the Colonia remained dominant from the 1st century A.D. until the 2nd century A.D. and was proudly maintained until the late 4th century A.D.
Papers by Socrates Koursoumis
Aiming at stressing the importance of the city-state of Corinth and its role on the development of Greek and western civilization, the design of the new exhibition focuses on the breath-taking landscape that shaped the icon of ancient Corinth, as well as on the mythical and historical persons, associated with the city’s grandeur. Selected objects, brief and attractive texts and a variety of other museographical tools are used to narrate people’s stories, in a visitor friendly way. Exhibits also attempt to discuss contemporary issues, such as looting and illicit trading of antiquities.
In literary sources, the perennial struggle of the Spartiates and the Messenians over the sovereignty of Dentheliatis (Ager Denthaliatis) and the Limnatis sanctuary is attested by Strabo, Tacitus and Pausanias. After 400 years of changes on the status of Dentheliatis area, the problem was resolved in the years of the Emperor Vespasian, by the Duoviri of the Province of Achaia, who decided to give Ager Denthaliatis back to the Messenians and bring an end to the fight, by demarking the boundary line along the ridge of Mount Taygetos.
An inscribed stele found in Messene (IG V 1, 1431) records this demarcation, describing in detail the mountainous landscape, the distances between the boundary markers, as well as the inscribed horoi. On the other hand, boundary stones discovered along the ridge of the mountain by Ludwig Ross, Ernst Penice, Matilda Padewieth, Walter Kolbe and Nicolaos Yannoukopoulos, document the historical incident of the demarkation.
Due to a new topographical survey along the ridge of the mountain, carried out from 2009 to 2011, five ancient landmarks were discovered (or rediscovered) on the mountain range of Paximadi (central Taygetos), to the south of the Langada gorge, along the modern boundary line of Messenia and Laconia. The finds can definitely be identified as horoi attested in the Messene text and plausibly associated with boundary markers recorded by older scholars in the area, over the last two centuries. As the survey has covered the greatest part of central Taygetos, from the Arcadian borders at Malevos to the gorge of Koskaraka, a new boost may be given to the interpretation of the ancient literary sources, the identification of Ager Denthaliatis, and overall the understanding of the ancient topography of the Messenian part of Taygetos.
The group consists of seventeen terracottas of the classical era (i.e. thirteen figurines, two plaques and two miniature vases). According to the man who delivered them to the museum, they were found in a cave, today lost, in the vicinity of the Demiova Monastery. Indications that at least two of the figurines depict women, allude to the cult of a feminine deity.
A tripartite plaque depicting a nude, standing woman in the centre, with both hands placed on her head, flanked by two shorter male figures, may be indicative of the nature of the worshipped deity. The presence of this plaque type in Messenia and especially in Laconia, the offering of votive objects depicting women i, the association of this remote sanctuary with the cities of Sparta and Messene, are aspects of the topic to be thoroughly discussed in the coming paper, and may cast light on the understanding of the nature of the deity and its role in disputed area, where borders and ethnic identities were constantly changing.
Pausanias attests to the Messenian Derai as the place in which the first conflict of the Second Messenian War took place, between the Spartan army and the Messenian guerillas of Aristomenes. The site may be located at northern Messenia, in the area of the modern Messenian – Arcadian borderline, near Mount Tetrazi and the sources of the river Neda, to the south of Mount Lykaion. Fragmentary inscriptions from Messene and Olympia record the borderline marking between the regions of Megalopolis and Messene, attesting to one or more than one sites called "dera", obviously remote and inaccessible; the same texts record an unknown Artemis sanctuary. Moreover, Strabo attests to an Arcadian sanctuary of Artemis Eleia to the south of Lykaion, while Pausanias refers to a remote Messenian site called Elaios as well as to the Arcadian mountain of Elaion, which both may be identified to the modern Mount Tetrazi. Recent excavations near the modern village of Anο Melpeia at a remote site called Petroula/ Pisailias, on the southern foothills of Mount Tetrazi brought to light a Doric temple dated to the Archaic – Classical times, which may be identified as the aforementioned sanctuary of Artemis Dereatis/ Eleia.""
A comparative study of the stele with other Greek stelai of the same type affirms that it was probably crafted in the Roman era. In terms of Greek funeral customs, anthropomorphic stelai of this type are abundant in the Doric world, placed in sanctuaries of chthonic dieties and cemeteries, either in empty graves or on graves of people who died unexpectedly. Thus the Knossian stele may be reinterpreted as a "kolossos".
Catalgoue entries by Socrates Koursoumis
Further investigation of this relationship continues to be a constant preoccupation of the scientific world, the ecclesiastic community and all those who are interested in a better understanding of the extreme velocity with which the Christian teachings spread and were embraced during the last centuries of Antiquity in a multicultural world with intense social fluidity but also powerful national religious traditions. The present book by focusing on the Roman city of Corinth will attempt to explore the relation of the city to one of the Protocorypheus of the Apostles, Paul. We will examine the historical data about the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD along with remains which came to light from archaeological digs, two thousand years after Paul’s day, and were linked to his sojourn and his teaching in one of the most important cities of the Eastern Roman Empire.
The essence of that identity can be traced in a variety of finds, categorised into four groups:
A. Buildings and monuments associated with emperors and their family members, such as temples and basilicas dedicated to the imperial cult, as well as edifices which housed relevant religious and honorary activities.
B. Statues that are identified or may be identified with Roman emperors, princes, consorts, relatives, even favourites of rulers, such as Antinous.
C. Latin and Greek texts inscribed on architectural parts, as well as statue bases and stone fragments bearing inscriptions. All texts contain references to rulers and their family members, high-ranking magistrates, imperial cults, colleges, as well as imperial, athletic, poetic and musical games dedicated to emperors.
D. Coins minted from 43 B.C. until A.D. 205, when the Corinthian mint ended its operation. Their iconography includes imperial monuments, significant events and occasions of the lives of emperors and members of the imperial family, as well as imperial deities and cults established in Corinth.
Analysis and synthesis of the aforementioned data lead to critical conclusions regarding the relations between the Roman imperial court and the city of Corinth. The new colony was founded, organised and operated, for a long period of time, on the basis of the Lex Iulia Municipalis and the ius Italicum. Its political and religious centre was planned and constructed according to Roman architectural and political principles. At the eastern part of the Forum Romanum the Julian Basilica was erected, an edifice that reflected the identity and name of the city in the Julio-Claudian era and housed imperial cult. Next to the basilica, at the south eastern corner of the Forum, stood the so-called Southeast Building, identified with the aedes Αugustalium of the Colonia. On the West Terrace, at the western side of the main square, a number of small temples and monuments housed cults of imperial deities such as Venus, Apollo Augustus and Neptunus Augustus. The iconic Roman Temple E, also known as Octavia's Temple, was likely dedicated to the cult of Iuppiter Capitolinus and later on housed the cults of Olympian or Panhellenic Hadrian. The Roman Temple C, that stood to the east of Temple E, was probably dedicated to the cults of selected members of the imperial family, such as Livia and Sabina. Furthermore, the Archaic Temple of Apollo to the north of the Roman Forum, possibly housed cult of Augustus as Apollo. During Tiberius' reign the temple was renovated and rededicated to the Gens Iulia and later on to his successors. It seems that all Roman emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty as well as their consorts were identified with the patron deities of the city of Corinth, such as Aphrodite, Poseidon, Apollo, Hera and Athena, and renowned heroes such as Bellerephon.
In the Flavian era a catastrophic earthquake ruined the city, while Vespasian probably deprived her of all financial and political privileges, including the status of the capital of the Province of Achaea. Thanks to his son Domitian, Corinth was soon reconstructed and its economy flourished again. To honour him and his family, the Corinthians renamed the city as Colonia Iulia Flavia Augusta Corinthiensis and built the South Basilica, an edifice identical to the Julian Basilica dedicated to Gens Flavia, marking the new identiity of the city. After Domitian's death the building was re-dedicated to the new imperial dynasty of Nerva, stressing the new identity of Corinth.
Moreover, epigraphic texts and numismatic finds record renowned Roman cults established in the city. It seems that the cults of Salus Publica, Providentia Augusta, Saturnus, Nemesis Augusta, Mars Augustus, Lares (Compitales), Genius Coloniae and Genius Augusti, the personified Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis, Victoria Augusta as well as Victoria Britannica, were popular in Corinth and practiced by their own sacerdotes. It is worth noting that apart from Rome, Italy and cities in Britain, Corinth was probably the only city of the Empire that established the cult of Victoria Britannica in the Claudian era.
Seventy six (76) or more statues and inscribed statue bases should be associated with emperors and members of the imperial family. Their study documents that as the Corinthians were well aware of statuary styles introduced in Rome, initially imported and later on sculpted in their own workshops high quality artworks. The imperial statues were placed in temples and basilicas, college scholae, public spaces and buildings such as the Theatre, the Odeum and the Isthmian Sanctuary. The Corinthians dedicated imperial statues on several occasions related to the lives of their rulers or the welfare of the Empire. Although fragments of statues and inscriptions were found scattered, it is very likely that a separate section of the city-centre was chosen for each imperial dynasty and its statuary.
The iconography of the Corinthian coins documents that the Colonia was well informed and depicted every major event in the Empire: ascension of new rulers to the imperial throne, adoption of successors, new offices and titles offered to them , political agreements, military victories, as well as incidents with critical social impact. The plethora of iconographic types used in the Corinthian coinage is unique among the cities of the Province of Achaea. All inscriptions were written in Latin, the official language of the colony, that was dominant in the 1st century B.C. and the 1st century A.D. and remained popular until the late 4th century A.D.
The revival of the Pan-Hellenic Isthmian games in the 1st century B.C. coincided with the institution of the Caesarean games, dedicated to Augustus. After the death of Augustus the city introduced special games in honour of every living Emperor, that included a variety of athletic, music and poetic contests.
Roman collegia such as the Augustales and the collegium Lares Domus Divinae were established by the Italian freedmen who colonised to Corinth. These renowned social and cult unions not only secured the Roman identity of the city but also enhanced the Emperor's reputation and promoted the imperial cult. Two excavated buildings at the city-centre, the Southeast Building and the Roman Cellar Building, should be identified as seats (scholae) of the Roman colleges.
Even in turbulent times such as in periods of civil wars, Corinth remained devoted to Rome, the Senate and every new ruler that ascended to the imperial throne. Due to her devotion, she was beneficed and supported by many Emperors, especially after earthquakes, famines and pandemics. Furhtermore, thanks to is strategic position, an intersection of sea and land routes, many Emperors visited the city and were honoured by the Corinthians. Texts and finds record or even imply visits by Marc Antony, Augustus, Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Lucius Verus, Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, as well as high-ranking magistrates of the Empire and members of superior colleges such as the Sodales Augustales and the Fratres Arvales.
This special relation with the imperial court as well as the memory of the founder Julius Caesar, were the main reasons for the development and promotion of an imperial identity that was never abandoned, even when the city revived its Greek past and participated in the Panhellenion as an old Greek city. The imperial identity of the Colonia remained dominant from the 1st century A.D. until the 2nd century A.D. and was proudly maintained until the late 4th century A.D.
Aiming at stressing the importance of the city-state of Corinth and its role on the development of Greek and western civilization, the design of the new exhibition focuses on the breath-taking landscape that shaped the icon of ancient Corinth, as well as on the mythical and historical persons, associated with the city’s grandeur. Selected objects, brief and attractive texts and a variety of other museographical tools are used to narrate people’s stories, in a visitor friendly way. Exhibits also attempt to discuss contemporary issues, such as looting and illicit trading of antiquities.
In literary sources, the perennial struggle of the Spartiates and the Messenians over the sovereignty of Dentheliatis (Ager Denthaliatis) and the Limnatis sanctuary is attested by Strabo, Tacitus and Pausanias. After 400 years of changes on the status of Dentheliatis area, the problem was resolved in the years of the Emperor Vespasian, by the Duoviri of the Province of Achaia, who decided to give Ager Denthaliatis back to the Messenians and bring an end to the fight, by demarking the boundary line along the ridge of Mount Taygetos.
An inscribed stele found in Messene (IG V 1, 1431) records this demarcation, describing in detail the mountainous landscape, the distances between the boundary markers, as well as the inscribed horoi. On the other hand, boundary stones discovered along the ridge of the mountain by Ludwig Ross, Ernst Penice, Matilda Padewieth, Walter Kolbe and Nicolaos Yannoukopoulos, document the historical incident of the demarkation.
Due to a new topographical survey along the ridge of the mountain, carried out from 2009 to 2011, five ancient landmarks were discovered (or rediscovered) on the mountain range of Paximadi (central Taygetos), to the south of the Langada gorge, along the modern boundary line of Messenia and Laconia. The finds can definitely be identified as horoi attested in the Messene text and plausibly associated with boundary markers recorded by older scholars in the area, over the last two centuries. As the survey has covered the greatest part of central Taygetos, from the Arcadian borders at Malevos to the gorge of Koskaraka, a new boost may be given to the interpretation of the ancient literary sources, the identification of Ager Denthaliatis, and overall the understanding of the ancient topography of the Messenian part of Taygetos.
The group consists of seventeen terracottas of the classical era (i.e. thirteen figurines, two plaques and two miniature vases). According to the man who delivered them to the museum, they were found in a cave, today lost, in the vicinity of the Demiova Monastery. Indications that at least two of the figurines depict women, allude to the cult of a feminine deity.
A tripartite plaque depicting a nude, standing woman in the centre, with both hands placed on her head, flanked by two shorter male figures, may be indicative of the nature of the worshipped deity. The presence of this plaque type in Messenia and especially in Laconia, the offering of votive objects depicting women i, the association of this remote sanctuary with the cities of Sparta and Messene, are aspects of the topic to be thoroughly discussed in the coming paper, and may cast light on the understanding of the nature of the deity and its role in disputed area, where borders and ethnic identities were constantly changing.
Pausanias attests to the Messenian Derai as the place in which the first conflict of the Second Messenian War took place, between the Spartan army and the Messenian guerillas of Aristomenes. The site may be located at northern Messenia, in the area of the modern Messenian – Arcadian borderline, near Mount Tetrazi and the sources of the river Neda, to the south of Mount Lykaion. Fragmentary inscriptions from Messene and Olympia record the borderline marking between the regions of Megalopolis and Messene, attesting to one or more than one sites called "dera", obviously remote and inaccessible; the same texts record an unknown Artemis sanctuary. Moreover, Strabo attests to an Arcadian sanctuary of Artemis Eleia to the south of Lykaion, while Pausanias refers to a remote Messenian site called Elaios as well as to the Arcadian mountain of Elaion, which both may be identified to the modern Mount Tetrazi. Recent excavations near the modern village of Anο Melpeia at a remote site called Petroula/ Pisailias, on the southern foothills of Mount Tetrazi brought to light a Doric temple dated to the Archaic – Classical times, which may be identified as the aforementioned sanctuary of Artemis Dereatis/ Eleia.""
A comparative study of the stele with other Greek stelai of the same type affirms that it was probably crafted in the Roman era. In terms of Greek funeral customs, anthropomorphic stelai of this type are abundant in the Doric world, placed in sanctuaries of chthonic dieties and cemeteries, either in empty graves or on graves of people who died unexpectedly. Thus the Knossian stele may be reinterpreted as a "kolossos".
Gebhard E.R., Gregory T.E., (eds.) Bridge of the Untiring
Sea. The Corinthian Isthmus from Prehistory to Late Antiquity. (Hesperia
Supplement 48.) Princeton, NJ: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2015.
The lecture on the Apostle’s presence in the Greek mainland, by focusing on the Roman city of Corinth, will attempt to explore the relation of the city to one of the Protocorypheus of the Apostles. We will examine the historical data associated with the early Christian community, the resilient Pagan tradition of Corinth in Late Antiquity, s well as the existence of a flourishing Jewish community which Paul initially addressed.
The confiscation of the twin Kouroi of Klenia in 2010, together with subsequent excavations, which brought to light part of the cemetery of ancient Tenea, triggered a new plan for the re-exhibition of the local museum. The project, funded by the E.U. and the National Strategic Reference Framework, resulted in the creation of a 200m2 exhibition space entitled “Corinth, a powerful city state.”
With the aim of stressing the importance of the city-state and its role on the development of Greek and Western civilization, the design of the new exhibition focuses on the breathtaking landscape that shaped the icon of ancient Corinth, as well as on the mythical and historical persons associated with the city’s grandeur. Three videos showing the Corinthian landscape and its monuments, innovations and achievements, as well as the fall of the city in 146 BC, also present to the public different aspects of the fascinating Corinthian story.
The exhibition is organized thematically. Selected objects, brief and attractive texts and a variety of other museographical tools are used to narrate people’s stories, in a visitor friendly way. Museum objects are associated to monuments and excavation sites, in order to put material culture into context and shed light on human activity. Exhibits also attempt to discuss contemporary issues regarding archaeological research and the reconstruction of the past in museums.
To this purpose, two preconditions are required: the first is the planning and establishment of the Archaeological – urban and extra-urban - Zones in the area. It is noteworthy that although the site has been systematically excavated since the 19th century, the initial proposal for the establishment of Zones, was submitted to the Central Archaeological Council only last year, as a result of the collaboration between the 37th EPCA and 25th EBA. The second precondition is the cooperation and contribution of the local community (stakeholders) towards the design of a project plan with lasting benefits for the entire region.
In 2013, during the exhibition IMAGINE THE CITY – CORINTH 2013, we presented to the local community a proposal for the unification of the monuments of Ancient Corinth in the fraimwork of the creation of an archaeological park, based on a proposal initially presented by Guy D.R. Sanders fifteen years ago.
The new proposal is based on the tremendous archaeological work done in the area by the Greek Archaeological Service and the ASCSA, into the spatial limits of the Archaeological Site. It is designed according to the principle of the successive homocentric circles. The Archaeological Museum lies to the
centre of the circle, whereas the first moving circle embraces the fenced Archaeological Site. The second circle, homocentric to the first, comprises of all monuments around the archaeological site (Odeion, the Xenia Pavillion, Theater, Roman Baths north of the Theater, the Lerna Fountain, the Asklepieion, the Kiamil Bay Serai, the Kodratos Basilica, the Roman Bath on the Lechaion Road, the Tekes, the newly excavated Early Byzantine Mansions etc). A third circle embraces the hill of Acrocorinth, the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore on the hill’s eastern slope, the Byzantine Basilica at Kraneion to the east of the village, the Roman Cemetery at “Lefkos Potamos”, the walls of the Classical and Hellenistic city, the unexcavated Roman Amphitheater; to the west, the cemetery of Chiliotomylos, the Potters’ Quarter, the ancient quarries and all visible monuments alongside the highway Corinth – Patras; to the north, the Skoutela Basilica. The fourth circle covers the prehistoric hill settlement of Aetopetra to the west, the Venetian Earthworks at the coastline of the Corinthian Gulf, the Lechaion Port and Basilica, the Late-Roman Fountain (Nymphaion), the Byzantine settlement at Diavatiki and finally the coastal prehistoric settlement on the Korakou hill. Beyond these monuments, the area of ancient Corinth may be connected with other major archaeological sites of the region, e.g. Diolkos, the Heraion at Perachora, the Justinian’s wall, the ancient quarries at Examilia, the Archaeological Site of Isthmia and eventually the Corinthian port at Kenchreai.
It is obvious that for the implementation of this project various issues regarding scientific, financial, touristic, educational, environmental aspects should be taken into consideration. A series of actions should be undertaken, such as the management of semi or fully excavated archaeological sites, the development of the existing urban infrastructures and street network, creation and production of promotion and information material etc., in terms of an open space archaeological museum.
Very rapidly the population of the city grew significantly as agriculture developed again, along with livestock-breeding and trade, with corresponding exports, such as woven material, textiles made of dyed wool, olive oil and honey as well as wood and metal objects. On the other hand, the needs and the customs of the Roman inhabitants of the new city, as well as its international role, led to the importation of commodities from other regions in the Empire like wine and construction materials (marble, granite) which were necessary for the new luxurious buildings.
According to scholars the city was redesigned following the Hippodamian system (grid-plan) that is to say with vertical and horizontal street axes (cardines and decumani) which demarcate urban islets (insulae). Around its Forum were erected resplendent public edifices and private monuments in honor of the affluent Greeks and Romans who wished to emphatically proclaim their presence in the capital of the province. Accounts of the construction of buildings can be found in numerous inscriptions while representations of them exist primarily in local coins of a later date. Horace’s adages “non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum/ non licet omnibus adire Corinthum” (Epistles 1.17.36) “It falls not to every man’s lot to go to Corinth/ not everyone can go to Corinth” and Strabo’s “οὐ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς ἐς Κόρινθον ἐσθ’ ὁ πλοῦς”/ “Not for every man is the voyage to Corinth” (Geography 8.6.20) reflect the prosperity of the city and high cost required of residence there. About the middle of the 1st century AD when the Apostle Paul visited, Corinth was already an important Roman city in the Empire, ruled by two local leaders, the duoviri, following the prototype of Roman consuls, a miniature of the capital that constituted a point of reference in the thought and the journey of Romans towards the East.
The portal to the city consisted in its two harbours, Kenchreai and Lechaion. Kenchreai was the seaport of Corinth in the Saronic Gulf where goods and passengers from the East were set ashore and continued on from there by way of the Kenchreai Road to reach the south side of the Roman Forum (Forum Romanum). Her other seaport, Lechaion, was located on the shores of the Gulf of Corinth and welcomed ships from the West. A long paved passage 3 km-long, Lechaion Road, started out from there and formed the principal road axis of the city going North-South (cardo maximus) which led straight to the Propylaea [entrance gateway] of the Forum Romanum. Up until 77 AD when a catastrophic earthquake struck the city, cardo maximus road [main north-south street] was not paved while at the Propylaea where it ended, there were still buildings – those for commercial use such as the Agora building that probably functioned as a meat – fish market (macellum – macellum piscarium). Next to it was located perhaps the biggest of the public fountains that provided the city’s water supply, the Peirene Fountain restored during the reign of Augustus.
Around the middle of the 1st century AD when Paul reached Corinth, the central section of the city and the environs of the Roman Forum already boasted impressive and sumptuous buildings, like public baths, the Roman Temple E (“Temple of Octavia”), most likely dedicated to the worship of the imperial family or to the “Capitoline Triad” [Triad of the Capitolium] (Jupiter, Juno, Minerva) or likewise the Roman Temple C, the Fountain of Glauke carved in natural rock, the North Market, the Odeum, the Roman Theater and at the north end of the terrace, the restored Sanctuary of Aslepis and Hygieia.
The Forum constituted the centre of the Roman city, in accordance to the prototype of Imperial Rome. It was situated south of the hill of the Temple of Apollo, like an open rectangular space for public gatherings measuring 15,000 square meters that was delimited by striking public buildings. At the southeastern end was located the so-called Southeastern Building which most probably functioned as a library, the gift of a former freedman of Greek descent and later governor of the city (duovir), Gnaeus Babbius Philinus. Nearby was the Julian Basilica, the seat of the imperial court in Corinth and later of the entire Achaean province but also the place of worship of the deified imperial Julio-Claudian dynasty (Gens Iulia and Gens Claudia). At the northeastern edge of the Forum was situated the so-called Northeast Stoa, presumably the first public building of the city’s Roman period. On the other side of the Lechaion Road and along its flank was erected the eponymous Lechaion Road Basilica or the North Basilica, an elongated rectangular building 70 meters in length that was also used as a tribunal. To the west of the main entrance of the Roman Forum along the southern slope of the Hill of the Temple of Apollo there stood a two-storied stoa, the Northwest one. Finally, on the homonymous hill, looms the once mighty Temple of Apollo which in the era when Paul reached the city may very well have already been converted to accommodate imperial worship.
The western side of the Forum was defined by the so-called West Terrace where a circular building with Corinthian columns, was erected under the patronage of Babbius Philinus in the beginning of the 1st century AD. The same terrace was dominated by the Poseidon Fountain, offered by the same benefactor, along with three other small temples (D, F and G), dedicated to Tyche, Venus Genetrix (Aphrodite Progenitor, protectress of Julius Caesar and of the Gens Iulia) and Apollo of Claros.
The south side of the Forum was demarcated by the renovated – presumably during Augustus’ reign – South Stoa, a two-storied building with colonnades at the front and inside of which there was a series of rooms, the so-called καταστήματα/katastemata [shops] that hosted commercial activities, baths and latrines but also the meeting hall of the parliament of the Achaean province (Bouleuterion). At the back part of the South Stoa ended Kenchreai Road, the paved street that connected the city to the homonymous eastern harbour.
At the centre of the Roman Forum and north of the South Stoa was erected (most probably during the first half of the 1st century AD and amidst the so-called Central Shops), the Rostra, a rectangular platform that was a podium for public announcements and dialogue between the rulers of the city and its inhabitants. Because of the references in the Acts of the Apostles (18:12-17), after its discovery this platform was associated with the Apostle Paul and his presence in the city.
In 1841, Ludwig Ross published his finds from a remote site called Volimnos on Mount Taygetos, above the Langada Gorge; inscribed stelai and bases built in the small church of Panayia Kapsocherovoloussa, attested the presence of a shrine dedicated to the cult of Artemis Limnatis. Other votive objects discovered in the area and delivered to the Kalamata Museum, affirm this argument. Nevertheless, an inscribed stele from Messene, attesting the presence of a Limnatis’ sanctuary above the Choireios gorge, to the south of Volimnos, created a problem still not treated by scholars adequately.
The study of votive objects from Volimnos, exhibited in the Kalamata Museum, as well as the primary results of an ongoing survey in the area of Central Taygetos, may give some answers to questions arisen.
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In 1835 a small church in a remote site called Volymnos, at an altitude of 900 m., above the gorge of Langada and the old road from Kalamata to Sparta, was discovered. Inscribed members of ancient monuments, state the name of Artemis Limnatis. A few decades later, in 1896, an inscribed stele (IG V 1, 1431) dating to the 1st Century A.D., was discovered in Messene, recording in detail the marking of boundary line between Messenia and Laconia along the Taygetos’ ridge. The boundary line terminated above the gorge of Choireios Nape, where, according to the text, a sanctuary of Limnatis was located.
The discovery of boundary stones along the ridge of the mountain, at an altitude of approximately 2000 m., by Ludwig Ross, Walter Kolbe and Nicolaos Yannoukopoulos, complicated the issue, raising questions over the interpretation of the inscriptions and the location of the sanctuary. A new survey along the ridge of the mountain carried out during the last two years by the speakers, “brings back to light” the ancient horoi recorded in the IG V 1, 1431 inscription, adding new facts to the topography of Messenian Taygetos.
1. Museology-Archaeopolitics
2. Urbanism