Corinth. This ancient and illustrious city on the isthmus between
Peloponnesus and the mainland of Hellas occupied the meeting-point of
the great routes of commerce between the East and the West.
Like Chalcis in Euboea, Corinth derived her standard for weighing
the precious metals from Asia Minor, the unit of weight being the light
Babylonic stater of circ. 130 grs.
The system of division by 3 and 6 which prevails in the Corinthian
coinage sufficiently attests its Asiatic origin.
399
The style and peculiar flat fabric of most of the early Corinthian silver
coins distinguish them from those of all the other states of European
Greece.
At what precise time this wealthy commercial city began to send forth
her well-known Pegasos staters it is not easy to determine, but we shall
not be far from the truth in placing the commencement of the Corinthian
coinage as early as the age of Cypselus, B.C. 657-625.
As Aegina in those days commanded the commerce of the eastern side
of the isthmus, so Corinth, by means of her port Lechaeum, on the gulf
which bore her name, monopolized that of the western seas, and imparted the use of the Corinthian standard of weight to her Colonies,
Ambracia, Anactorium, Leucas, etc., on the shores of Epirus and
Acarnania, and to the Achaean cities of Magna Graecia on the other
side of the Ionian sea.
The connexion between the Corinthian standard with its system of division by 3 and 6 and the Achaean quasi-federal currency of S. Italy can
be most satisfactorily proved not only by the weights of the coins of
Croton, Sybaris, Metapontum, etc., but by their flat fabric, incusereversetype, and by the fact that they are sometimes restruck on Corinthian
coins of the archaic class.
The types of the Corinthian coins refer to the myth of Bellerophon
and Pegasos, and to the worship of AthenaΧαλινιτις, for she it was who
assisted Bellerophon to subdue the wondrous winged horse. Pegasos on
his part was regarded as the author of fountains of fresh water, which
with a stroke of his hoof he caused to gush forth from the rocks; cf. the
fountain of the Muses, Hippokrene, which Pegasos produced in this way;
hence Pegasos is also the horse of the Muses. On the Acrocorinthus he
was said to have alighted, and to have drunk from the fountain of
Peirene, where Bellerophon sought in vain to take and tame him, until
at last, while the hero lay asleep beside the altar of Athena, the goddess
came to him in a vision and gave him a golden bridle, which on
awakening he found beside him, and with this he easily subdued the
winged steed. Another version of the tale makes Athena herself tame
Pegasos, and it is she who hands him over to Bellerophon.
The worship of Athena at Corinth, it may be here remarked, was also
connected with the cultus of Poseidon and with the sea (cf. Preller. Gr.
Myth., i. 172).
The chief goddess of Corinth was, however, Aphrodite, and it is her
head which on the drachms takes the place of that of Athena.
The Pegasos staters of Corinth, familiarly called πωλοι (Poll. ix. 6,
76), were the principal medium of exchange along all the coasts of the
Corinthian Gulf, and even beyond the seas in Italy and Sicily, where the
largest hoards of them have been brought to light. In its divisional
system the Corinthian coinage possessed a practical advantage over
both the Attic and the Aeginetic, which enabled it to pass current in
the territories of its great rivals. Thus the Corinthian stater of about
130 grs. would pass as a didrachm side by side with the tetradrachms of
Athens, while the Corinthian drachm (1/3 stater) of about 44 grs. was
practically equivalent to an Aeginetic hemidrachm. The region in
which the Corinthian money circulated was therefore at no time
confined to the narrow isthmus and limited territory of the town of
Corinth.
400
The following are, as nearly as may be, the periods into which the
coins of Corinth seem to fall.
Time of Cypselus, B.C. 657-625.
Q Pegasos with curled wing.
[B. M. C., Cor., Pl. I. 1.]
Incuse square divided into eight triangular compartments, of which four are
in relief, as on the earliest coins of
Aegina, etc., which these coins resemble also in fabric [cf. B. M. C., Att.,
Pl. XXIII].
The fabric of these coins is flatter than that of any other money of
Greece proper. The Achaean mints of Southern Italy (Sybaris, &c.) seem
to have been the only ones influenced by this early Corinthian method
of striking coins. About the end of the sixth century the flat fabric is
abandoned, the coins become smaller in module and more compact, and
the head of Athena in an incuse square replaces the croix gammé.
Circ. B.C. 500-430.
Archaic Style.
Q Pegasos with curled wing.
Incuse square, within which head of
Athena Chalinitis helmeted; pure
archaic style.
For the above see B. M. C., Cor., Pl. II. 19-26, and C. Oman, in Corolla
Num., pl. XI.
Circ. B.C. 400-338.
Fine Style.
FIG. 221.
Q Pegasos, usually flying, with pointed
wing (Fig. 221), but occasionally
standing or walking, with curled wing,
or attached by a cord to a ring fixed
in the wall above him; on some few
specimens he is represented as drinking.
Head of Athena, of fine style, in Corinthian helmet over large neck-flap.
In the field a magistrate’s symbol,
which was changed perhaps annually; sometimes also there are one
or more dolphins in the field, which
cannot be regarded as magistrates’
symbols.
1 The trihemidrachms on which Bellerophon wears a petasos and chlamys belong to
a later period, circ. B.C. 338. They usually have the letters ΔΙ in the field. [B. M. C.,
Cor., Pl. XII. 28.]
402
Some of the smaller denominations mentioned above might, with
almost equal probability, be attributed to the period before B.C. 400,
but they were not superseded by bronze coins until after the middle of
the fourth century.
Fourth and Third Centuries to circ. B.C. 243.
Next in order, though in partcontemporary with the series above
described, there follows a large class of staters, drachms, etc., with
magistrates’ letters or monograms in the field of the reverse, in addition
to the adjunct symbol. These series, like the others, always have the
letter Q on the obverse.
Although it is very difficult to speak with assurance as to the chronological sequence of these lettered coins, the following dates may be
perhaps accepted as approximately correct. The list includes only such
specimens as I have myself seen (cf. A. Blanchet, in Rev. Num., 1907).
Before B.C. 400
Ξ
Symbols: Shell (on obv. Pegasos of archaic
style, with curled wing).
Circ. B.C. 400-350
ΑΛ
„ Trident.
,,
Ε or Ε
„ Forepart of bull; torch; rose;
bow; poppy-head; star. (Pegasos on obv., often walking.)
Q Pegasos with pointed wing to l.
[Hunter Cat., Pl. XXXVI. 19]
Ć .6
Corinth, although occupied by a Macedonian garrison from B.C. 338-243,
when it was delivered by Aratus, does not seem to have been deprived
of the right of coinage, for its Pegasos staters continued to be struck,
though much less plentifully than of old, until it became a member of
the Achaean League. But in B.C. 223 Corinth was surrendered by the
League to Antigonus Doson, and between this time and 196, when it was
again set free by the Romans and reunited to the League, it does not
appear to have been allowed to strike money, unless indeed the bronze
pieces with the heads of Poseidon and Herakles are to be assigned to this
period.
For illustrations of many of the above-mentioned coins see B. M. C.,
Cor., Pls. VI-XIV.
404
Corinth a Roman Colony.
[B. M. C., Cor., xxxiii-xlvi and Plates XV-XXIII.]
From its destruction by Mummius in B.C. 146, Corinth remained a heap
of ruins for the space of one hundred years. In B.C. 44 Caesar sent
a colony there (Colonia Laüs IuliaCorinthus), and the city became once
more a flourishing place, as, from the natural advantages of its position,
it could hardly have failed to become. Henceforth it struck bronze
coins with Latin legends, LAVS IVLI CORINT, CORINT, or COR, which,
down to the death of Galba, usually bear the names of Duoviri.
Of these annual Duoviri there are at least twenty-three pairs or single
names which occur on coins in the ablative case, accompanied by the
title IIVIR, sometimes with the addition of ITER[um] or QVIN[quennalibus]. The title QVIN. appears to have been added only in the
years in which the Census was taken, on which occasions the Duoviri
were entitled ‘Duoviri censoria potestate quinquennales.’
For a list of the Corinthian Duoviri see Earle Fox in Journ. Int.
d'arch. num., 1899, 89 f., and for the arrangement of the names upon
the coins see Froehner in Rev. Num., 1907, pp. 164 ff.
Vespasian, A. D. 69, withdrew the privileges which Nero had granted
to the Greeks and reconstituted Achaea as a Senatorial province.
Henceforth until the reign of Domitian (A. D. 81) no coins were struck
at Corinth. But in his reign a new series of coins begins, one of which
expressly states the fact that it was issued PERM[issu] IMP[eratoris]
(Imhoof and Gardner, Num. Comm. on Paus., Pl. B. XXI).
From the reign of Domitian to that of Gordian III the legends are
COL. IVL. FLAV. AVG. COR., COL. IVL. COR., or C. L. I. COR, while
the magistrates’ names are discontinued.
Among the types deserving of special mention on the coins of Corinth
as a Roman colony are the following:—Bellerophon holding or subduing
Pegasos. Bellerophon standing beside Pegasos while he drinks from
a stream at the foot of the Acrocorinthus. Bellerophon mounted on
Pegasos contending with the Chimaera. Pegasos leaping from the point
of the rock of the Acrocorinthus. Other frequent types refer to the myth
of Melikertes or Palaemon, in whose honour the games called Isthmia
were celebrated at the Isthmus. Such are the boy Melikertes lying on
the back of a dolphin under a pine-tree (Paus. ii. 1.3); the body of
Melikertes lying on a dolphin, which is placed on an altar beneath a tree
with Isthmos as a naked youth holding a rudder, or Poseidon with his
trident standing by; Palaemon standing or riding on the back of
the dolphin; circular temple of Palaemon, sometimes with sacrificial bull
in front; Ino holding her child Melikertes in her arms, before her, sometimes Isthmos seated on a rock, with a dolphin representing the sea;
Ino throwing herself from the rock Moluris with Melikertes in her arms,
in front, dolphin, or sea-god stretching out his arms to receive the child.
The following types are also worthy of note:—
Isthmos personified as a naked youth, either seated or standing, and
holding one or two rudders, in allusion to the two ports of Corinth, inscr.
in one instance ISTHMVS. The two ports Lechaeum and Cenchreae as
nymphs holding rudders, legend sometimes LECH, CENCH, or as recumbent male figures with the Acrocorinthus between them. The port
405
of Cenchreae with statue of Poseidon in the centre, on either side
of the harbour are the temple of Aphrodite and the sanctuaries of
Asklepios and Isis, while below are three galleys (Paus. ii. 2. 3).
Statues of Poseidon in various attitudes. Temple of Poseidon with
Tritons on the roof (Paus. ii. 1. 7). Poseidon in chariot drawn by hippocamps. Isis Pharia. Artemis huntress. Artemis Ephesia. Among the
numerous copies of statues on the coins of Corinth one of the most
interesting is that of the Aphrodite of the Acrocorinthus, standing naked
to waist, and holding the shield of Ares, on the polished surface of which
she is gazing at her reflection as in a mirror. This type illustrates the
epithet ωπλισμενη applied by Pausanias (ii. 5. 1) to the statue. The Acrocorinthus with temple of Aphrodite on the top, and buildings and a tree
at the foot. Head of Aphrodite or of the famous Hetaira Laďs, rev.
Tomb of Laďs, consisting of the capital of a column surmounted by a
lioness standing over a prostrate ram, as described by Pausanias (ii. 2. 4),
ταφος Λαιδος, ω δη λεαινα επιθημα εστι κριον εχουσα εν τοις προτεροις ποσιν.
Statue of Athena Chalinitis holding bridle, spear, and shield (Paus. ii.
4. 1), or bridling Pegasos. The sacred Fountain Peirene personified
as a nymph seated on a rock and holding a vase, or seated at the foot
of the Acrocorinthus, on the summit of which is the temple of Aphrodite, while in front is Pegasos drinking the water of the spring. Agonistic
types, wrestlers, runners, etc. Stadium with meta in the centre between
two horsemen racing at full speed. ISTHMIA in a wreath, etc. Dionysos standing or seated. Hermes with ram, standing or seated, or
carrying infant Dionysos. Tyche standing or seated. Zeus standing.
Athena standing. Herakles standing. Helios in quadriga. Kybele
seated. Asklepios and Hygieia. Hygieia seated feeding serpent.
Kronos with sickle. Hephaestos with tongs. Ares. Triptolemos in
serpent-car. The Propylaea surmounted by quadrigas. The Genius of
the Colony holding cornucopiae and patera, inscr. GEN. COL. COR.
The Temple of the GensJulia, inscribed on the front CAESAR,
AVGVSTVS, or GENT. IVLI. Head of Roma, inscr. ROMAE ET
IMPERIO. Head of the Senate, inscr.SENAT. P. Q. R. The later
coins of Nero record his visit to Greece, ADVE[ntus] AVC., ADLO[cutio]
AVC., etc.
For numerous other types, which we have not space to mention, see
Imhoof and Gardner, Numismatic Commentary on Pausanias, in the
Journ. Hell. Stud., 1885; and Earle Fox, in Journ. Int. d'arch. num.,
1899, 89 f., and 1903, 5 f., B. M. C., Cor., xlvi, and Z. f. N., xxiv. p. 56.
Marks of Value. Some of the Corinthian bronze coins of Imperial
times bear marks of value, e.g. those of the Duoviri, Inst.... and
L. Cas...., of which the larger specimens are countermarked A (= As)
and the smaller S (= Semis), although these latter were issued as
quadrantes, as they bear the letter Q in the field (B. M. C., Cor.,
p. xl). A still smaller coin (E. Fox, op. cit., 1899, 99) is countermarked
with three globules (= Quadrans). The letters SE on certain other
coins (B. M. C., xl) may also stand for Semis.
Tenea, originally a village about six miles south of Corinth, issued
bronze coins as a member of the Achaean League. It rose in importance
after the destruction of Corinth, and in Imperial times struck a few
coins with heads of S. Severus and Domna. Inscr. ΤΕΝΕΑΤΩΝ; Types,
Tyche; Dionysos standing (B. M. C., Pelop., 57; Z. f. N., 1874, 319).
[B. M. C., Cor., pp. xlviii-lxviii and Plates XXIV-XXXIX.]
Under this general heading it is convenient to classify all those
copies of the Corinthian Pegasos staters which are without the letter
Q. They were issued by various towns in Acarnania, Corcyra, Epirus,
Illyricum, Sicily, and Bruttium.
Anactorium (B.C. 500-250), F, , , Α, ΑΝ, ΑΝΑ, ΑΝΑΚΤ,
ΑΝΑΚΤΟΡΙΩΝ, ΑΝΑΚΤΟΡΙΕΩΝ, also ΑΚΤΙΟ and ΑΚΤΙΑΣ
in reference to the Actian games in connexion with the temple
of Apollo on the Actian promontory in the territory of Anactorium (B. M. C., Cor., lix). Abbreviated names of magistrates,
perhaps officials of the Acarnanian League, with their symbols,
occur on coins subsequent to B.C. 350.
Acarnanian Federal with , struck in Leucas (circ. B.C. 300-250), and
later (circ. B.C. 250-167) (at Thyrrheium ?) on a standard reduced
to 1 06 grs., the weight of a double Victoriatus.
(b) In Corcyra:— (circ. B.C. 338-250), Κ, , , and ΚΟΡ, or ΚΟΡΚΥΡΑΙΩΝ
Epirote federal (after B.C. 295), (ΑΠΕΙ) and Α (probably for
Ambracia), and after B.C. 238 hemidrachms on the standard of
the half Victoriatus, 26 grs. with Α.
Of the above cities which adopted the Corinthian stater, Anactorium,
Leucas, and perhaps Ambracia appear to be the only ones which did so
before the close of the fifth century, for of these towns alone, in addition
to Corinth, are staters extant of the transitional and early fine style.
Epidamnus, Argos-Amphilochicum, and Alyzia followed their example
at a somewhat later period, but it was not until after the middle of the
fourth century that the Corinthian stater came into general use in the
western parts of Greece, in Bruttium, and in Sicily. From this time
until the middle of the third century the Pegasos staters continued to be
issued in large quantities, chiefly, it is to be inferred, for the purposes of
trade with Italy and Sicily, where the largest finds of this class of coin
have been brought to light.
The Pegasos coinage, common though it undoubtedly was to many
cities, is not to be confounded with a federal coinage properly so called,
such as that of the Achaean League, as there is no reason to suppose that
it was adopted in pursuance of reciprocal treaties between Corinth on
the one part, and the towns participating in the coinage on the other.
The various cities would seem rather to have selected the Corinthian
types independently of one another, and for their own individual convenience and profit, much in the same way as many Asiatic cities, long
after the death of Alexander, copied the Macedonian tetradrachm, which
his conquests had raised to the rank of an international coin, familiar in
all the markets of the Greek East.
In the outset no doubt the Corinthian coinage may have been imposed
either by choice or by necessity upon Anactorium and Leucas by the mother
city, Corinth; but from these mints the system appears to have spread
naturally enough throughout the Acheloüs district among towns which,
as members of the Acarnanian League, were quite beyond the influence
of the ‘city of the two seas'.
Thus, as Imhoof-Blumer (Acarnania, p. 12) has pointed out, the
Pegasos staters within the limits of Acarnania became a quasi-federal
Acarnanian coinage, while outside those limits they would circulate freely
side by side with the staters of Corinth herself, Ambracia, Syracuse, etc.,
as a generally recognized international currency.
Home
, 
, Α, ΑΝ, ΑΝΑ, ΑΝΑΚΤ,
ΑΝΑΚΤΟΡΙΩΝ, ΑΝΑΚΤΟΡΙΕΩΝ, also ΑΚΤΙΟ and ΑΚΤΙΑΣ
in reference to the Actian games in connexion with the temple
of Apollo on the Actian promontory in the territory of Anactorium (B. M. C., Cor., lix). Abbreviated names of magistrates,
perhaps officials of the Acarnanian League, with their 
, struck in Leucas (circ. B.C. 300-250), and
later (circ. B.C. 250-167) (at Thyrrheium ?) on a standard reduced
to 1 06 grs., the weight of a double Victoriatus.
, 
, and ΚΟΡ, or ΚΟΡΚΥΡΑΙΩΝ
(ΑΠΕΙ) and Α (probably for
Ambracia), and after B.C. 238 hemidrachms on the standard of
the half Victoriatus, 26 grs. with Α.
(circ. B.C. 450), or Δ, ΔΥΡ,
ΔΥΡΑ, ΔΥΡΡΑΧΙΝΩΝ (circ. B.C. 350-229).
, ΛΟ, ΛΟΚ, ΛΟΚΡΩΝ.
.
.
.