The Gate

When the Roman consul Aemilius Paullus visited Corinth in 168 BCE, he admired its formidable citadel and command over the Isthmus.¹ Massive fortifications protected the city and territory behind layers of walls, earthworks, and ditches, while well-built harbors, solid roads, and ancient settlements defined the communication network of the region. Paullus and his contemporaries encountered and valued this landscape as a timeless composite, but these cultural features had grown piecemeal over centuries. The significant sites in the landscape, such as Corinth, Isthmia, and Lechaion had slowly accumulated their extent, structure, and monumentality, while the main roads across the Isthmus and