Twenty-five papers presented at the December 1996 symposium held in Athens to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the American School of Classical Studies excavations at ancient Corinth. The papers are intended to illustrate the range in subject matter of research currently being undertaken by scholars of ancient Corinth, and their inclusion in one volume will serve as a useful reference work for nonspecialists. Each of the topics (which vary widely from Corinthian geology to religious practices to Byzantine pottery) is presented by the acknowledged expert in that area. The book includes a full general bibliography of articles and volumes concerning material excavated at Corinth. As a summary of one hundred years’ research it will be useful to generations of scholars to come.

Corinth, The Centenary: 1896-1996

History

Ancient Civilizations

American School of Classical Studies at Athens

Rescue excavations were carried out along the terrace north of Ancient Corinth by Henry Robinson, the director of the Corinth Excavations, and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens on behalf of the Greek Archaeological Service, in 1961 and 1962. They revealed 70 tile graves, limestone sarcophagi, and cremation burials (the last are rare in Corinth before the Julian colony), and seven chamber tombs (also rare before the Roman period). The burials ranged in date from the 5th century B.C. to the 6th century A.D., and about 240 skeletons were preserved for study. This volume publishes the results of these excavations and examines the evidence for changing burial practices in the Greek city, Roman colony, and Christian town. Documented are single graves and deposits, the Robinson “Painted Tomb,” two more hypogea, and four built chamber tombs. Ethne Barnes describes the human skeletal remains, and David Reese discusses the animal bones found in the North Terrace tombs. The author further explores the architecture of the chamber tombs as well as cemeteries, burial practices, and funeral customs in ancient Corinth. One appendix addresses a Roman chamber tomb at nearby Hexamilia, excavated in 1937; the second, by David Jordan, the lead tablets from a chamber tomb and its well. Concordances, grave index numbers, Corinth inventory numbers, and indexes follow. This study will be of interest to classicists, historians of several periods, and scholars studying early Christianity.

Tombs, Burials, and Commemoration in Corinth's Northern Cemetery

Arts & Photography

Warner Slane, Kathleen

History & Criticism

Early-20th-century explorations of the Roman Forum at Ancient Corinth revealed a massive early imperial building now known as the Julian Basilica. The structure stood on a podium over four meters high, and it dominated the east end of the forum in size, aspect, and function until its destruction in the 4th century A.D. Within it was one of the largest known shrines to the imperial cult and the likely site of the imperial court of law for the Roman province of Achaia. The basilica housed 11 or more large-scale statues most likely to members of the Julio-Claudian family (including Augustus, Augustus’s heirs Gaius and Lucius, and arguably Divus Iulius, Germanicus, Nero Caesar, and Claudius), as well as an altar to Divus Augustus and dedications to the numen and genius of Augustus, the Gens Augusta, and other family members. This richly illustrated volume provides a thorough, contextual study of this important building, the remains of which were first published by Saul Weinberg in 1960 (Corinth I.5). Scotton and Vanderpool showcase the architectural and sculptural remains, and Roncaglia presents the epigraphical material, each providing extensive catalogues with new photos, in addition to color reconstructions of the basilica and its grand interior.

The Julian Basilica: Architecture, Sculpture, Epigraphy (Corinth)

Scotton, Paul D.

Vanderpool, Catherine de Grazia

Roncaglia, Carolynn

Volume XXIII in the&nbsp;Corinth&nbsp;series is dedicated to the finds from the Gymnasium Area, excavated between 1965 and 1972&nbsp;by James R. Wiseman and the University of Texas at Austin. Fascicle XXIII.1 presents the marble sculpture, 126 pieces dating between the 6th century B.C. and 5th century A.D. and found in or near a variety of built features, including the ornately decorated Bath-Fountain complex. Among the sculptural finds are portraits of athletes and civic officials and depictions of Dionysos, Hermes, and Aphrodite and the nymphs. Herms and statue bases also form part of the assemblage. This corpus grants us insight into the sculptural practices after the founding of the Roman colony at Corinth, and critical knowledge concerning display context, reuse, and the deposition of sculpture at a gymnasium in a large regional center of the eastern Mediterranean.

The Gymnasium Area: Sculpture (Corinth, 23)

Sturgeon, Mary C.

In the first section of this book, Amyx catalogues and discusses more than 200 fragments of Archaic Corinthian pottery with figure decoration, selected from those previously unpublished or inadequately published. The authors have also given attention to vase-painters of the Protocorinthian and Corinthian periods who were previously known chiefly from works exported in antiquity, and have succeeded in establishing the importance of the Corinth Museum as a center for the study of the Corinthian Style. In the second section, Lawrence presents the contents of a well dug and filled in the Archaic period. The material ranges from Early Protocorinthian to Late Corinthian and includes an important body of material from a potters’ dump, here treated separately. Shape development and chronology have been established, especially for oinochoai and kotylai, based on the long series of stratified examples. Other material in the fill includes coarse ware and fragmentary fine ware. The authors attribute a number of pieces to known and newly identified vase-painters.

Archaic Corinthian Pottery and the Anaploga Well

Lawrence, Patricia

Amyx, D. A.

Inferior clays and glazes, unsuited to the red-figure style, means that the indigenous production of red-figure vases in Corinth was very limited. However for about 75 years, in the middle of the 5th century B.C., Corinthian potters tried to imitate the Athenian fashion and this book catalogues 186 pieces of their work. The author discusses the reasons for the production of Corinthian red figure even in limited quantities. Six painters are identified as responsible for at least half the known pieces. Thirteen deposits provide chronological evidence to supplement that of the painting style. The volume serves to bring forward a small but significant segment of the non-Attic pottery industries, and should stimulate interest in other unpublished, unreported examples.  All items in the catalogue are illustrated in photographs; line drawings are used to demonstrate details of technique.

The Red-Figure Pottery (Corinth)

Herbert, Sharon C.

Corinthian Conventionalizing pottery is a fine ware produced during the 6th, 5th, and 4th centuries B.C. While Athenian workshops produced black- and red-figured vases, their Corinthian counterparts were decorating vases predominantly with black and red bands, patterns, and floral motifs. This book provides a full and comprehensive study of Corinthian Conventionalizing pottery found during the American School’s excavations at ancient Corinth. Through the examination of contextual information, shape development, and changes in the style of painting, a chronology of the vases is proposed. This is followed by a discussion of painters, workshops, and groups. Evidence for systematic export is also presented.

Corinthian Conventionalizing Pottery

Risser, Martha K.

In 1971 in the southwestern area of the Roman Forum of Corinth a round-bottomed drainage channel was discovered filled with the largest deposit of pottery of the 4th century ever found in the city, some coins, terracotta figurines, and metal and stone objects. This volume publishes the pottery and metal and stone objects, and includes a re-examination of the coins by Orestes Zervos. Some of the cooking ware has been subjected to neutron activation analysis, and a statistical analysis of all recovered pottery has been completed. The contents of Drain 1971-1 are important for the function of the Classical buildings in this part of Corinth, especially Buildings I and II, and for the chronology of the renovation program that included the construction of the South Stoa, which was probably not built before the last decade of the 4th century.

Late Classical Pottery from Ancient Corinth: Drain 1971-1 in the Forum Southwest

Pemberton, Elizabeth G.

McPhee, Ian

Using deposits recently excavated from the Panayia Field, this volume substantially revises the absolute chronology of Corinthian Hellenistic pottery as established by G. Roger Edwards in Corinth VII.3 (1975). This new research, based on quantitative analysis of over 50 deposits, demonstrates that the date range for most fine-ware shapes should be lowered by 50–100 years. Contrary to previous assumptions, it is now possible to argue that local ceramic production continued in Corinth during the interim period between the destruction of the city in 146 B.C. and when it was refounded as a Roman colony in 44 B.C. This volume includes detailed shape studies and a comprehensive catalogue. With its presentation of this revised “Panayia Field chronology,” Corinth VII.7 is a long-awaited and much-needed addition to the Corinth series.

Hellenistic Pottery: The Fine Wares (Corinth)

James, Sarah A.

At the time of its creation in the Hadrianic period, the Corinth Theater presented the most elaborate form of Roman theater architecture to date; a three-storied columnar facade made of multicolored marble. The polychrome architecture did not stand alone, for the scaenae frons was also impressively embellished with painted marble reliefs beneath the columns, with painted statuary between the columns and in the niches, and with painted busts in the pediments. This blaze of color would have conveyed many different messages to ancient audiences since the sculptural complex evoked the Theater’s political, religious, and cultural function as well as the self-identification of the city. A colossal seated portrait of the deified emperor Trajan dominated the display, surrounded by other members of the Roman imperial family. However the depiction of Gigantomachy, Amazonomachy, and Herakles scenes on podia and the Greek character of other sculptures around the building made a conscious link to indigenous culture. As the author’s reconstruction shows, the entire assemblage, arranged in thematic segments, would have attempted to resolve in symbolic form the real cultural negotiation at the heart of Roman Corinth. This book presents in detail the freestanding sculptures, assembled from fragmentary remains, and reveals an additional group of architectural sculptures as well as figures in niches and between columns. With Corinth IX.2 it completes the publication of sculptures excavated from the theater by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Drawing on over 30 years of study, the author also presents her ideas about sculptural decoration in the Corinth theater and throughout the Roman East. Using epigraphical as well as architectural evidence she explores questions of dedication and patronage to shed important new light on the social role of Roman theater, a forum for far more than just entertainment.

Sculpture: The Assemblage from the Theater (Corinth)

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