Part 193

Corinth, the chief city and state, in ancient times, of the narrow isthmus which connects Peloponnesus with northern Greece, "owed everything to her situation. The double sea by the isthmus, the confluence of the high road of the whole of Hellas, the rocky citadel towering aloft over land and sea, through which rushed—or around which flowed—an abundance of springs; all these formed so extraordinary a commixture of advantages, that, if the intercourse with other countries remained undisturbed, they could not but call forth an important city. As in Argolis, so on the isthmus also, other besides Dorian families had in the days of the migration helped to found the new state. … By the side of the Dorian, five non-Dorian tribes existed in Corinth, attesting the multitude and variety of population, which were kept together as one state by the royal power of the Heraclidæ, supported by the armed force of the Dorians. In the ninth century [B. C.] the royal power passed into the hands of a branch of the Heraclidæ deriving its descent from Bacchis [one of the earliest of the kings]; and it was in the extraordinary genius of this royal line that the greatness of the city originated. The Bacchiadæ opened the city to the immigration of the industrious settlers who hoped to make their fortunes more speedily than elsewhere at this meeting point of all Greek high-roads of commerce. They cherished and advanced every invention of importance. … They took commerce into their own hands, and established the tramway on the isthmus, along which ships were, on rollers, transported from one gulf to the other. … They converted the gulf which had hitherto taken its name from Crisa into the Corinthian, and secured its narrow inlet by means of the fortified place of Molycria. … They continued their advance along the coast and occupied the most important points on the Achelous."

_E. Curtius, History of Greece, book 2, chapter 1._

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CORINTH: B. C. 745-725. Constitutional Revolution. End of Monarchy. The prytanes. Commercial progress.

A violent contention which arose between two branches of the Bacchiadæ "no doubt gave the nobles of Corinth power and opportunity to end the struggle by a change in the constitution, and by the discontinuance of the monarchy; this occurred in the year 745 B. C., after eight generations of kings. … Yet the place at the head of the commonwealth was not to be entirely taken away from the ancient royal house. A presiding chief (a prytanis), newly elected each year by the whole nobility from the members of the royal race, was henceforward to conduct the government [see PRYTANIS]. It was a peculiar arrangement which this change introduced into Corinth. We may assume that the sovereignty was transferred to the nobles collectively, or to their representative. This representation seems to have been so regulated that each of the eight tribes sent an equal number of members to the Gerousia, i. e. the council of elders. … But the first of these eight tribes, to which belonged the royal family, was privileged. From it was chosen the head of the state, an office for which only a Bacchiad was eligible—that is, only a member of the old royal house, which took the foremost place in the first tribe. This clan of the Bacchiadæ is said to have contained 200 men. 'They were numerous and wealthy,' says Strabo. Accordingly the royal house did not exclusively retain the first rank in the state, but only in conjunction with the families connected with it by kindred and race. … The new constitution of Corinth, the government by nobles, under the dynastic presidency of one family, became a type for other cantons. It was a Corinthian of the Bacchiadæ who, twenty or thirty years after the introduction of the prytanes, regulated the oligarchy of the Thebans and gave them laws (about 725 B. C.) … The fall of the monarchy in Corinth at first brought with it disastrous consequences for the power and prestige of the commonwealth. The communities of the Megarians—either because the new government made increased demands upon them, or because they considered their allegiance had ceased with the cessation of monarchy, and thought the moment was favourable—deserted Corinth and asserted their freedom. The five communities on the isthmus united together around the territory of Megara, lying in the plain by the Saronic Gulf, where the majority of the Doric tribes had settled; the city of Megara, in the vicinity of two ancient fortresses … became the chief centre of the communities, now associated in one commonwealth. … The important progress of Corinth under the prytany of the Bacchiadæ was not due to successes upon the mainland, but in another sphere. For navigation and commerce no canton in Hellas was more favourably situated. Lying on the neck of the isthmus, it extended from sea to sea, an advantageous position which had indeed first attracted the Phœnicians thither in ancient times. … Corinth, says Thucydides, was always from the first a centre of commerce, and abounded in wealth; for the population within and without the Peloponnesus communicated with each other more in ancient times by land across the isthmus than by sea. But when the Hellenes became more practised in navigation, the Corinthians with their ships put down piracy and established marts on both sides; and through this influx of riches their city became very powerful."

_M. Duncker, History of Greece, book 3, chapter 3 (volume 2)._

CORINTH: B. C. 509-506. Opposition to the desire of Sparta to restore tyranny at Athens.

See ATHENS: B. C. 509-506.

CORINTH: B. C. 481-479. Congress and organized Hellenic union against Persia.

See GREECE: B. C.481-479.

CORINTH: B. C. 458-456. Alliance with Ægina in unsuccessful war with Athens and Megara.

See GREECE: B. C. 458-456.

CORINTH: B. C. 440. Opposition to Spartan interference with Athens in Samos.

See ATHENS: B. C. 440-437.

CORINTH: B. C. 435-432. Quarrel with Korkyra. Interference of Athens. Events leading to the Peloponnesian War.

See GREECE: B. C. 435-432.

CORINTH: B. C. 432. Great sea-fight with the Korkyrians and Athenians.

See GREECE: B. C. 432.

CORINTH: B. C. 429-427. The Peloponnesian War: sea-fights and defeats. Fruitless aid to the Mitylenæans.

See GREECE: B. C. 429-427.

CORINTH: B. C. 421. Opposition to the Peace of Nicias.

See GREECE: B. C. 421-418.

CORINTH: B. C. 415-413. Help to Syracuse against the Athenians.

See SYRACUSE: B. C. 415-413.

CORINTH: B. C. 395-387. Confederacy against Sparta. The Corinthian War. Battle on the Nemea. The Peace of Antalcidas.

See GREECE: B. C. 399-387.

CORINTH: B. C. 368-365. Attempt of Epaminondas to surprise the city. Attempt of the Athenians.

See GREECE: B. C. 371-362.

CORINTH: B. C. 337. Congress of Greek states to acknowledge the hegemony of Philip of Macedon.

See GREECE: B. C. 357-336.

CORINTH: B. C. 244. Capture by Antigonus Gonatus, king of Macedon.

See MACEDONIA, &c.: B. C. 277-244.

CORINTH: B. C. 243-146. In the Achaian League.

See GREECE: B. C. 280-146.

CORINTH: B. C. 146. Sack by the Romans.

See GREECE: B. C. 280-146.

CORINTH: B. C. 44. Restoration by Cæsar.

"In the desolate land of Greece, Cæsar, besides other plans, … busied himself above all with the restoration of Corinth. Not only was a considerable burgess-colony conducted thither, but a plan was projected for cutting through the isthmus, so as to avoid the dangerous circumnavigation of the Peloponnesus and to make the whole traffic between Italy and Asia pass through the Corintho-Saronic gulf."

_T. Mommsen, History of Rome, book 5, chapter 11._

"Cæsar sent to Corinth a large number of freedmen, and other settlers were afterwards sent by Augustus; but it is certain that many Greeks came to live in the new Corinth, for it became a Greek town. Corinth was a mass of ruins when the new settlers came, and while they were removing the rubbish, they grubbed up the burial places, where they found a great number of earthen figures and bronze urns, which they sold at a high price and filled Rome with them."

_G. Long, Decline of the Roman Republic, volume 5, chapter 32._

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"Corinth rapidly rose under these auspices, became a centre of commerce and art, and took the lead among the cities of European Hellas. Here was established the seat of the Roman government of Achaia, and its population, though the representations we have received of it are extravagant, undoubtedly exceeded that of any Grecian rival."

_C. Merivale, History of the Romans, chapter 40._

CORINTH: A. D. 267. Ravaged by the Goths.

See GOTHS: A. D. 258-267.

CORINTH: A. D. 395. Plundered by the Goths.

See GOTHS: A. D. 395.

CORINTH: A. D. 1146. Sacked by the Normans of Sicily. Abduction of silk weavers.

See BYZANTINE EMPIRE: A. D. 1146.

CORINTH: A. D. 1445. Destruction by the Turks.

The fortifications of the isthmus of Corinth were stormed and the Peloponnesus invaded by Amurath II. in 1445. "Corinth itself, a city sanctified by its antiquity, by its gods, by its arts, by the beauty of its women, by its fountains, its cypresses, its very ruins themselves, whence its unrivalled situation had always restored it, fell anew, buried in its flames, by the hands of Tourakhan, that ancient and ambitious vizier of Amurath. Its flames were seen from Athens, from Ægina, from Lepanto, from Cytheron, from Pindus. The inhabitants, as also those of Patras, were led into slavery in Asia, to the number of 60,000."

_A. Lamartine, History of Turkey, book 11, section 10._

CORINTH: A. D. 1463-1464. Unsuccessful siege by the Venetians. Fortification of the Isthmus.

See GREECE: A. D. 1454-1479.

CORINTH: A. D. 1687. Taken by the Venetians.

See TURKS: A. D. 1684-1696.

CORINTH: A. D. 1822. Revolt, siege and capture by the Turks.

See GREECE: A. D. 1821-1829.

CORINTH: End----------

CORINTH, Mississippi, Siege and Battle.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (APRIL-MAY: TENNESSEE-MISSISSIPPI), and (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER: MISSISSIPPI).

CORINTH CANAL, The.

"On Sunday [August 6, 1893] the canal across the Isthmus of Corinth—[projected by Cæsar—see ROME: B. C. 45-44] begun by Nero, and completed, nearly 2,000 years later, by a Greek engineer, M. Matsas—was opened by the King of Greece, who steamed through the canal in his yacht, accompanied by a procession consisting of four Greek torpedo-boats and other vessels, including three English men-of-war and an English despatch-boat. The canal … will be practicable for all but the largest vessels."

_The Spectator, Aug. 12, 1893._

[Transcriber's note: "It was planned by the Hungarian architects István Türr and Béla Gerster… Its construction was started by a French company, which ceased works only after the two ends had been dug, due to financial difficulties. A Greek company took over, the main contractor being Antonis Matsas, and continued (and completed) the project." http://wiki.phantis.com]

CORINTHIAN TALENT.

See TALENT.

CORINTHIAN WAR, The.

See GREECE: B. C. 399-387.

CORIONDI, The.

See IRELAND, TRIBES OF ANCIENT.

CORITANI, OR CORITAVI. A British tribe which occupied the lower valley of the Trent and its vicinity.

See BRITAIN, CELTIC TRIBES.

CORN LAWS (English) and their repeal.

See TARIFF LEGISLATION (ENGLAND): A. D. 1815-1828; 1836-1839; 1842; and 1845-1846.

CORNABII, OR CORNAVII, The.

An ancient British tribe which dwelt near the mouths of the Dee and the Mersey.

See BRITAIN, CELTIC TRIBES.

CORNWALL, Duchy of.

In the division of the spoils of his conquest of England, William the Conqueror gave to his brother Robert almost the whole shire of Cornwall, besides other vast estates. "Out of those possessions," says Mr. Freeman, "arose that great Earldom, and afterwards Duchy, of Cornwall, which was deemed too powerful to be trusted in the hands of any but men closely akin to the royal house, and the remains of which have for ages formed the appanage of the heir-apparent to the Crown."

See, also, WALES, PRINCE OF.

CORNWALLIS, Charles, Lord. In the War of the American Revolution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (AUGUST), (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER); 1780 (FEBRUARY-AUGUST); 1780-1781; 1781 (JANUARY-MAY); 1781 (MAY-OCTOBER).

Indian administration.

See INDIA: A. D. 1785-1793.

Irish administration.

See IRELAND: A. D. 1798-1800.

CORON, Battle of (B. C. 281).

See MACEDONIA, &c.: B. C. 297-280.

CORONADO, Expedition of.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: PUEBLOS.

CORONATION.

"The royal consecration in its most perfect form included both coronation and unction. The wearing of a crown was a most ancient sign of royalty, into the origin of which it is useless now to inquire; but the solemn rite of crowning was borrowed from the Old Testament by the Byzantine Cæsars; the second Theodosius was the first emperor crowned with religious ceremonies in Christian times. The introduction of the rite of anointing is less certainly ascertained. It did not always accompany coronation, and, although usual with the later emperors is not recorded in the case of the earlier ones."

_William Stubbs, Constitutional History of England, chapter 6, section 60._

CORONATION STONE.

See SCOTLAND: 8TH-9TH CENTURIES; also, LIA FAIL.

CORONEIA, Battles of (B. C. 447 and B. C. 394).

See GREECE: B. C. 449-445; and B. C. 399-387.

CORPS DE BELGIQUE.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1864 (OCTOBER).

CORPUS JURIS CIVILIS, The.

"The Corpus Juris Civilis represents the Roman law in the form which it assumed at the close of the ancient period (a thousand years after the decemviral legislation of the Twelve Tables), and through which mainly it has acted upon modern times. It was compiled in the Eastern Roman Empire (the Western ceased in 476 A. D.) under the Emperor Justinian, … who reigned 527-565 A. D. The plan of the work, as laid out by [his great law-minister] Tribonian, included two principal parts, to be made from the constitutions of the Roman emperors, and from the treatises of the Roman lawyers. The constitutiones' (law-utterances) of the emperors consisted of: 1. 'Orationes,' proposals of law, submitted to and adopted by the Senate; 2. 'Edicta,' laws issued directly by the emperor as head of the state; 3. 'Mandata,' instructions addressed by the emperor to high officers of law and justice; 4. 'Decreta,' decisions given by the emperor in cases brought before him by appeal or otherwise; 5. 'Rescripta,' answers returned by the emperor when consulted on questions of law by parties in a suit or by magistrates. {615} … Three or four collections had already been made, in which the most important constitutions were selected from the mass, presented in a condensed form, and arranged according to their subjects. The last and most elaborate of these collections was the Theodosian Code, compiled about a century before the accession of Justinian; it is still in great part extant. … The new Codex Constitutionem, prepared in little more than a year, was published in April, 529. The next work was to digest the treatises of the most eminent law writers. Thirty-nine were selected, nearly all of whom lived between 100 B. C. and 250 A. D. Their books (2,000 in number) were divided among a body of collaborators (sixteen besides Tribonian), each of whom from the books assigned to him extracted what he thought proper. … and putting the extracts (9,000 in all) under an arranged series of heads. … The Digest—or Pandects (all-receiving), as it is also called from the multiplicity of its sources—was issued with authority of law, in December, 533. … While the Digest or Pandects forms much the largest fraction of the Corpus Juris, its relative value and importance are far more than proportionate to its extent. The Digest is, in fact, the soul of the Corpus. … To bring the Codex Constitutionem into better conformity with the Digest, it was revised in 534 and issued as we now have it in November of that year. … The Corpus Juris includes also an elementary text-book, the Institutiones (founded on the 'institutiones' of Gaius, who flourished about 150). … The Institutes, Digest and Codex were given, as a complete body of law, to the law-schools at Constantinople, Rome, Berytus, Alexandria, Cæsarea, to be studied in their five years' curriculum. In the courts it was to supersede all earlier authorities. … Later statutes of Justinian, arranged in order of time, form the Novels ('novellae constitutione,' most of them in Greek), the last component of the Corpus Juris."

_J. Hadley, Introduction to Roman Law, lecture 1._

ALSO IN: _J. E. Goudsmit, The Pandects._

CORREGIDOR.

See ALCALDE.

CORSICA: Early history.

"The original inhabitants of Corsica are supposed to have been Ligurians, but at a very early period the people had commercial intercourse with Spain, Ionia and Tuscany. The island was subsequently occupied by the Carthaginians, who, however, were expelled by the Romans during the first Punic war. A few years later Corsica came under the dominion of Rome, and that sway was nominally maintained until the downfall of the Empire. It then fell under the dominion of the Vandals, and after their expulsion owned successively the rule of the Goths, the Saracens and the Pisans, and finally of the Genoese. It came into the possession of the latter people in the year 1120. Pisa subsequently made several attempts to drive out her rivals, but they were in the end void of results. But in 1448, Genoa, having sustained great losses in the constant wars in which she was engaged, was induced to surrender the administration of Corsica and of her colonies in the Levant to a corporation known as the Bank of St George. From that time the island was administered by governors appointed by the Bank of St George, almost precisely in the manner in which, in England, up to 1859, the East Indies were administered by an 'imperium in imperio.'"

_G. B. Malleson, Studies from Genoese History, chapter 3._

CORSICA: A. D. 1558-1559. Revolt against the Genoese rule, and re-subjection.

See GENOA: A. D. 1528-1559; and FRANCE: A. D. 1547-1559.

CORSICA: A. D. 1729-1769. The Struggle for independence. Romance of King Theodore. The Paolis. Cession to France.