Ancient Corinth

Ancient Corinth was a major city of Greece on the Isthmus of Corinth, roughly halfway between Athens and Sparta, flourishing from around 900 BC until its destruction by Rome in 146 BC, after which Julius Caesar refounded it as a Roman colony in 44 BC. By 400 BC it was one of the largest and most important Greek cities, with a population estimated at 90,000, falling to around 50,000 under Roman rule. It controlled key trade routes, is credited with developing the trireme warship, and hosted the Isthmian Games from its two harbors below the fortress of Acrocorinth, and it later became an early center of Christianity through the missionary work of Paul the Apostle. Its ruins lie near the modern city of Corinth, which was founded after an 1858 earthquake destroyed the older village on the ancient site, and the American School of Classical Studies has excavated there since 1896.