city state · Greece and the Aegean
Corinth
Origins
Corinth grew in the early Iron Age on the Isthmus linking the Peloponnese to central Greece, below the fortress hill of Acrocorinth. Dorian settlers formed the city, and from the 8th century BCE it was governed by the Bacchiad clan, who founded Corcyra and Syracuse in 733 BCE.
Rule and society
Cypselus overthrew the Bacchiads c. 657 BCE, and his son Periander made Corinth a major power. Corinthian pottery dominated Mediterranean markets in the 7th century BCE, and the diolkos let ships be dragged across the Isthmus. After the tyranny an oligarchy ruled, and Corinth was a key ally in the Peloponnesian League; its quarrels with Corcyra and Athens helped start the Peloponnesian War.
Decline and legacy
Corinth fought Sparta in the Corinthian War of 395 to 387 BCE. Macedonian kings garrisoned Acrocorinth until Aratus took it for the Achaean League in 243 BCE. Lucius Mummius destroyed Corinth in 146 BCE; Julius Caesar refounded it as a Roman colony in 44 BCE.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (5)
- Corcyra split from Corinth664 BCE
- Corinth was part of Peloponnesian League550 BCE – 395 BCE
- Corinth was a vassal of Antigonid Kingdom of Macedonia294 BCE – 243 BCE
- Corinth was part of Achaean League243 BCE – 146 BCE
- Corinth was conquered by Roman Republic146 BCE
More states of Greece and the Aegean →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Corinth. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/corinth
- MLA
- “Corinth.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/corinth. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Corinth.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/corinth.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Corinth’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/corinth (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻