Corint vol 2 Teatrul

7/27/2019 Corint vol 2 Teatrul

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RESULTS OF EXCAVATIONSCONDUCTED BY

THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS

VOLUME IIT H E THEATRE

BY

RICHARD STILLWELL

TH E AMERI CAN SCHOOLOF CLASSICAL STUD I ES AT ATHENS


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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED


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PREFACEThe theatre of Corinth, first located over a

half centuryago, has shared,in its final public-ation, the fate of numerous other monumentsof antiquity, andhas also in commonwith themthe fact that it has not even yet been entirelycleared. Ever since it was my good fortune towork on that excavationas architecturalassist-ant to the late Dr. T. Leslie Shear, and to pub-lish in 1929 a preliminaryreport of the archi-tectural aspects of the building, it was my hopethat I could at some time take up the task oncemore and prepare a fuller publication. Otherobligations and interests deferred this formany years and it was with much pleasurethat I was able to turn once more to its manyproblems through a special grant from theAmerican School of Classical Studies whichenabledme to return again to Corinth n 1948.At first it was planned to do no more thanclean away the accumulation of over twentyyears of washed-down earth, and funds weremade available for this purpose. They weregenerously extended to allow a small amountof new digging in testing certain areas belowthe depth to which tlhey had formerly beencleared,but the limiting of new excavation byorderof the Archaeologicalauthorities, as wellas the need to observe economy, discouragedas much new exploration as might have beendesired.If therefore,as will be evident in whatfollows, certain areas were not more fullytested, the reasonis not far to seek.It is difficult to recordthe many personstowhom one is indebted for assistance and ad-vice; the number adds up to a long roster ofnames, with the certainty that some will beomitted who should have been included. I

Princeton UniversityOctober1951

must,however,acknowledgegratefully he kindcooperationof Professor Louis E. Lord, chair-man of the ManagingCommitteeof the School,who made the trip of 1948 possible. ProfessorOscar Broneer, then Acting Director of theSchool, gave freely of his time in consultingonvarious problems n which his long experiencewas most valuable. As ever, in things connect-ed with Corinth,Dr. Bert Hodge Hill, Honor-ary Director of the School, was most helpfulthroughhis intimate knowledgeof Corinthandits problems.Dr. Saul Weinbergkindly took anumber of photographsfor me, many of whichappear hereafter and, as assistant to the Di-rectorin chargeof Corinthduringthe springof1948, placed at my disposal our ever efficientforeman,EvangelosLekkas, and a small groupof experiencedworkmen. All these and manyothers are associated in my mind with thework on the theatre in which they had a share.Dr. F. J. DeWaele excavated there under Dr.Shear's supervision in 1928 and 1929, W. A.Campbell in 1930, and, at other times, Dr.Edward Capps, Jr. and Dr. HowardComfort.To their work, collectively and individually,much of the materialgatheredin this publica-tion is due. To others,who did not workon thetheatre, but to whom I am indebted for sug-gestions and assistance, thanks also are due:Dr. Homer Thompson, of the Institute forAdvanced Study, Professor E. Baldwin Smithand ProfessorA. M.Friend,of the Departmentof Art and Archaeologyat Princeton Univer-sity, and also that authority on theatres bothGreekand Roman, Dr. MargareteBieber,whohas kindly called a number of referencesandarticlesto my attention.

RICHARD STILLWELL


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TABLE OF CONTENTSPREFACE... .V... VILLUSTRATIONS.. . ... ix

FIGURES IN THE TEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixPLATES.. .... xi

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION: HISTORY OF THE EXCAVATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3II. LOCATION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

III. DETAILED DESCRIPTION: THE GREEK PERIOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15ORCHESTRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15KOILON.............................. . 21SKENE.. . 32

IV. DETAILED DESCRIPTION. THE ROMAN PERIOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41ORCHESTRA ..... . 41CAVEA .45PARODOI AND ADITI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49SCAENAAND PERIBOLOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58PULPITUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775

V. THE THEATRE AS AN ARENA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84VI. RESTORATION OF SCAENAE FRONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

VII. INVENTORY OF ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106VIII. SUMMARYAND CHRONOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131


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FIGURES IN THE TEXTFig.1. The theatre, looking north . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62. The orchestra, looking southeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73. Upper part of Stair VI, Greek period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94. Eastern part of orchestra showing the arena wall, Greek and late Roman gutters and drain con-nections ......................................95. View from the southwest showing the stage building, the peribolos and plaza . . .. . . . . 116. East end of scaena, and peribolos beyond . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127. The Hellenistic gutter . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168. Sections of gutter and bridge, and end elevation of typical seats and stair stringers . . . . . . 179. Mason's marks on gutter blocks, one fifth full size . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1710. Western mast socket. Excavation sketch . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1911. Sections showing placing of mast sockets east and west. At lower left, section along line of drainfroin East Parodos joining main drain . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1912. Foundations and rock cuttings at southeast angle of proskenion . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 2013. Detail of Greek seat construction and masons' marks on seat foundations . .. . . . . . . . 2214. Blocks with mason's marks . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2315. View across central part of koilon with Greek seat foundations . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 2316. Greek seat foundations and, at back, below foundations of upper Roman diazoma, two seat blocksin place .... . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2317. Steps and stringers of Stair IX. At back, foundation for upper Roman diazoma . . . . . . . 2418. Restored section showing two periods . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2519. Plan showing relation of earlier and later Greek periods . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2620. Looking down Stair IX. In middle distance, at left, seat blocks of row 45 are still in place . . 2921. Sections showing relation and details of Greek and Roman diazomata . .. . . . . . . . . . 2922. Foundation blocks for outer wall at head of Stair IX. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2923. Seat blocks in situ . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3124. Post holes for early skene, in rock scarp immediately behind wall of Hellenistic skene . . . . . 3225. Area with rock cuttings in front of skene . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3226. Section of skene and plan of central part . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3427. Stamp on roof-tile of skene . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3528. The east wall of the Hellenistic skene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . 3629. East wall of Hellenistic skene, looking down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3730. Restored plan and elevation of stair. Detail of ramp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3831. Cutting for stairway and inlaid blocks with setting lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3732. East end of stage building. At right, slanting socle for Hellenistic retaining wall and ramp . . . 3933. Charonianstairs, east . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

34. Charonian stairs, west . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4035. East end of sparsiones basin, and later connection with main drain . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4236. Channel connecting with main drain from the east . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4237. Late gutter block with holes for connection to main drain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4438. Dowel holes for securing parapet in connection with the late Roman gutter . . . . . . . . . . 4539. Rib wall foundations for Roman cavea. At bottom left, one of the Greek stairways . . . . . . 4640. Outer wall and buttresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4841. Roman seats made from re-used Greek seat blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4942. The east parodos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5043. Sections in east parodos showing fountain..5144. Sketch of east parodos.............. ...............5245. Field sketchof filling in east end of aditus .......... ..............5446. Isometricview of new entrance cUt in aditubs .......................5447. Rock cuttings for inner end of east aditus, south .


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x FIGURES IN THE TEXTFig.48. Analemma of west parodos showing reinforcing construction. The buttress at the extreme left be-longs to the original series. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5649. Inner end of west aditus, north side, showing re-used Greek seat blocks: a. north side; b. south side 5650. Outer end of western parodos, and sill for gate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5751. View looking east along the west parodos and the pulpitum to the east parodos . . . . ... . . 5952. Profile of bench in exedra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6053. Eastern part of scaena from northwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6054. Looking north over eastern part of scaena and adjacent areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6155. Foundations for central part of scaena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6156. View showing western part of scaena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6357. Section of north side of peribolos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6558. East wall of scaena with lower course of shallow buttress (a), and poros step block . . . . . . 6659. Fountain at centre of south side of peribolos at time of excavation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6760. The fountain in 1928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6761. Isometric view of the east hospitalium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6862. Sections and plan at east end of scaena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7063. Connection of east wall of east hall and buttress for analemma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7264. West wall of the east hall, seen from within . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7265. East hall, details .... . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . ... . 7366. Graffito from Byzantine reservoir in east hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7567. Restored section of pulpitum and aulaea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7868. Late Roman walls under pulpitum, showing re-used capping blocks from arena. Looking south . 7969. Late Roman walls of the post arena period, a, b. The skene front wall appears at c . . . . . . 7970. Socket for curtain windlass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8171. Plan and section of windlass block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8172. Revetment of pulpitum of the post arena period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8373. Section of southern refuge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8474. Letters in block from arena wall capping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8475. Half column re-used as a sill for north refuge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8576. Arena frieze. The first group to east of southern refuge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8877. Arena frieze. Charginglion and venator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8978. Arena frieze. Venatoresand cage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8979. Arena frieze. Lion, charging to right toward cage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9080. Arena frieze. Venatores and charging bull . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9181. Arena frieze. Venator pole-vaulting over a springing leopard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9282. Arena frieze. Venator, to right (west) of southern refuge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9383. Arena frieze. At left, a venator turning a handspring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9384. Basin with protecting grille made in Hellenistic gutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9885. Architectural details. Poros stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10786. Architectural details. Poros stone and marble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10987. Architectural details. Marble cornices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11388. Architectural details. Marble cornices and architrave-frieze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11589. Inscribed cornice block, No. 89 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11690. Capital from portico of regia, No. 107 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11891. Capital from portico of regia, No. 107, restored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11992. Capital, No. 113, found at high level near west parodos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11893. Pilaster capital, No. 114 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11894. Ionic capital, No. 119 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12095. Architectural details. Various . . . .. . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12396. Lower part of acanthus column, No. 189 . 12597. Base, drum and fragments of acanthus columns, No?s.189, 190). .1.............12598. Moldings,ull size ................7*Ii*** *** ee12799. Moldings ....128100. Moldings: above, Nos. 203, 217;s below, No. 208 half size. .................128


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PLATESI Plan. Corinth, the Central Area

II Plan of Theatre in present stateIII Plan of Hellenistic Theatre, restoredIV Plan detail of Greek orchestra and rock cuttingsVa Schematic drawing of cuttings for aulaea and phlyakes stage

b Section of holes for aulaea mastsc Elevation of stage building, present state

VIa Section showing east parodosb Schematic restoration of east parodosVIIa Restored plan of Roman theatre of the Second Century

b Restored plan of the arenaVIIIa Restoration of the Greek skene

b Schematic restoration of the Roman scaenae frons


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THE THEATRE


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CHAPTERINTRODUCTION: HISTORY OF THE EXCAVATIONWhen, in the spring of 1896, the AmericanSchool of Classical Studies at Athens began toexcavate on the site of Old Corinth,the loca-tion of the theatre was sought as a reference

point with which to relate and possibly find anumber of the other monuments of the city.1Pausanias mentions the theatre in connectionwith several other buildings: the temple ofAthena Chalinitis, he Odeion, he Gymnasium,Lerna, and the temple of Zeus.2Aceordingly,the director of the School, Professor R. B.Richardson, rightly assumed that from thetheatre as a starting point the topography ofthe city would gradually be revealed.It must be remembered that at the timenothing identifiable save the temple, later tobe known as the Temple of Apollo, remainedvisible. A large number of trial trenches weresunk in various locations in and about thevillage of Old Corinth,but it was not until May12, 1896, that a series of trials undertakenin apromising hollow about 250 metres to thenorthwest of the temple revealed the presenceof a theatre of large dimensions. The accountof the excavation was published by Dr. Rich-ardson in the annual report of the Directorfor 1896, and a more detailedstudy followedinthe American Journal of Archaeology.It wasascertainedthat the theatre was, originally,ofthe Greek period, and had been rebuilt inRoman times. Only some portions of the caveawere investigated; the orchestra and stagebuildingwere not found.3Had one of the trialtrenches (XVIII) been carrieda little fartherto the north, and but a metre deeper,it would

I For a brief account of the activities of the early years ofthe Corinth Excavations see Corinth, I, i, Cambridge,Mass.,

have touched the curved wall which boundedan arena contrived in the theatre in late impe-rial times, and, with this discovery, the pro-gram of excavating the building might wellhave been accelerated.Work ceased, however, early in June, andnothing further was done until the campaignof 1902, when, on May 8th, a new trench(XXXIV) was begun "with a view to findingout something about the stage building." Oneof the trenches of the first campaign had in-deed located what later proved to be a colon-naded peribolosbehind the Roman stage build-ing, but since the level of the remainscould notbe satisfaetorily related to the lowest pre-served row of seats, they were left for sometime unexplained.The new trenchwas laid outto cut across the centre of the stage, and whenit had reacheda sufficiently low level, it pro-duced a great many fragments of sculpture,includinga series of reliefs depicting a Gigan-tomachy, a combat between Greeksand Ama-zons, and the labors of Herakles.4 Marblearchitecturalfragments also appeared and, atthe close of the season, a small section of thefront wall of the Greekskene.

Not enough was known, however, about thevarious periods of the building to make someof the problems intelligible, and Dr. SamuelBassett, who was in charge of the treneh,terminatedhis workMay27th.The following year, 1903, Dr. David M.Robinson, then a member of the School, dugfor two weeks a trench parallel with the onejust mentioned, and found more fragments ofsculpture, including an additional quantity of4 To be published by Edward Capps,Jr., in Corinth,IX, ii.


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4 CORINTHfragments of the reliefs. An extension towardthe west, at right angles to the trench alongthe stage front, reached a point well beyondthe end of the Greek skene and actually un-covered a segment of the wall of the Romanarena,which, however, remainedunexplained.Dr. Robinson also was in charge of extendingone of the early trenches toward the south(XVIII B) and established the outer limit ofthe circleof the cavea.A further period of quiet descended on thebuildinguntil 1909 when Dr. W. B. Dinsmoor,then a fellow of the School, began, on May 10,to clean up the trenichesof 1902 and 1903 andstudy as much of the architectural remains aswere available. The south end of trenchXXXIV was extended and deepened and theRoman level of the orchestra established. Abrief trial in June and July located, in thesoutheast sector of the cavea, parts of tworows of Greek seats (Trench XVIII K).5Following this valuable piece of work, thetheatre once more lay neglected until 1925,when ProfessorT. Leslie Shear undertook theexcavation of the site. The accounts of hissuccessive campaigns in 1925, 1926, 1928 and1929 are fully published by him in the Ameri-can Journal of Archaeologyand need only besummarizedhere.6The first season (March9 to June 7, 1925)resulted in the discovery of the paintings onthe wall of the arena. The following year theentire orchestra and the whole of the arenawall were uncovered, as well as parts of thetwo parodoi and the greater part of the frontwall of the scene building. The presence of adeep gutter of Greek construction was estab-lished, and many more fragments of the reliefsand other sculpture came to light. The third

5 The author must acknowledge his indebtedness to thecareful collation of material from the early notebooks madeby William Bell Dinsmoor, as well as to many of his observa-tions which have proved just and helpful in the further studyof the building.6

season saw, consecutively, the clearing of thestage building, the completion of the excava-tion of the east parodos, and the opening up ofthe paved street and the plaza to the east andnortheast of the theatre. The work of thefourth season was chiefly in the west parodoswhich was excavated for its entire length, butnot completely cleared of a number of latewalls belonging to Early Christianand medi-aeval times, and the clearing of a large sectorof the centralportion of the cavea.As a fitting climax to the four campaignsinwhich Dr. Shear had borne the entire cost ofthis majorexcavation, aninscriptionappeared,in the pavement of the northeast plaza, whichstated that a certain Erastus, in returnfor hisaedileship, had laid the pavement at his ownexpense: ERASTUS PRO AEDILITATE S.P. STRAVIT.7 The coincidence of two per-sonal benefactorsof the theatre is striking.In his work on the theatre Dr. Shear wasassisted at various times by several membersof the school: Dr. F. J. DeWaele, Dr. C. A.Robinson, Jr., Dr. Howard Comfort, W. A.Campbell, and Richard Stillwell as architect.To Nora Jenkins Shear we owe the accuratecolorrecordof the paintings of the arenawall.The original frescoes have long since crumbled.In 1929, and again in 1930, the author hadoccasion to make a few small trials in search ofadditional data on the relative chronology ofvarious parts of the complex and, in 1948,after a long lapse of years, was again enabledto test out a few unexcavated corners. Muchremainsundug. Over one half of the area of thecavea is still covered. The peribolos north ofthe stage building is but partly cleared, andmuch more could be done on the problem ofthe approachesto the theatre. It is doubtful,however, whether the additional informationwould fully repay the heavy cost of excava-tion, but there can be no doubt that manyitems of interest would be found.


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CHAPTER I ILOCATION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION

(PLATE I)The theatre lies about two hundredand fifty

metres due northwest of the northwesternangle of the Roman market place. The sitetakes advantage of the natural slope of theterrainwhereit forms a step betweenthe upperlevel on which the Agora is situated, and thelowerterracewhich extends almost on an evengrade to the Asklepieion at the northern edgeof the city, hard by the outer wall. Originallythe natural difference in level between thehighest and lowest grades at the locationchosen for the theatre was from twelve tofourteenmetres, and in order to obtain greaterdeptlhthe floor of the original orchestra wassunk down about two metres into the disinte-grated hardpan and soft, easily quarriedrockbeneath. As a result, the parodos entrancesalways slopeddownward owardthe orchestra.The Corinthianswere fortunate in being ahleto place their theatre in such a convenientlocation, near the centre of the city's activitiesand readily accessible to the extensive areawhich lay between the market place and thenorthern edge of the town, an area where inGreek times there were, apparently, manyhiouses.Oneof these, with a richpebblemosaicfloor, was found by Dr. Shear not more thanfifty metres east of the theatre.1The geological situation also made it pos-sible forthe Corinthians o observethe preceptslater mentioned by Vitruvius, that theatresshould not face south, nor be built in marshyplaces,2 and it was also possible for them toconstruct the koilon with a minimum amount

auditorium. The materialof this fill, wherevertrials were made, is a clayey earth rangingfrom a reddish to a pale yellowish color, mixedwith sherds and an occasional loom-weightnone of which appear to date later than thethird quarterof the fifth century before Christ.The inference is, of course, that most probablythe first construction of the theatre cannotfollow at any great interval of time and is bestplacedin the last quarter of the fifth or, at verylatest, in the beginning of the fourth century.This matter will be consideredmore fully inconnectionwith the chronologyof the buildingperiods.3The orientation of the theatre is almost ex-actly true north and south, the stage occupy-ing the north side of the plan.In orderto facilitate an understandingof thebuilding and to give the reader a comprehen-sive view of the cycle of periods throughwhichit has passed, the following brief, general de-scriptionis given. The theatre has suffered somany changes in the courseof its history, andin some parts is so completely destroyed, thateven at the risk of a certain amount of repe-tition it seems desirableto outline the princi-pal featuresbeforegoinginto detail.

THE ORCHESTRAThe most strikingfeatureto be seen today isthe deep limestone gutter crossed by ninebridges which correspondto the nine centralklimakes of the koilon (Fig. 1, Pls. II, III).3F. J. DeWaele, R.E., Suppl. VI, col. 191, states that thetheatre referred to by Xenophon, Hell., IV, 4, 3, cannot be


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FIG. 1. THE THEATRE, LOOKING NORTH


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LOCATION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION 7

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FIG. 2. THE ORCHESTRA, LOOKING SOUTHEAST

Within the arc formned by the gutter, andconcentric with it, is a molding 0.05 m. highmarking the foot of a now vanished curbcourse, which in turn bounded the full circle ofthe orchestra. This molding turns outward toeither side when it reaches the first and ninthbridges, runs east and west for 2.30 m. fromthe angle thus formed, and then is returnednearly, but not quite, at a right angle to theends of the proskenion (P1. III). The curb alsofollowed the same lines and formed, in effect,shoulders at either side of the orchestra circle,a feature for which there is no exact parallel.4

4A somewhat similar effect is given by the way in whichthe wide, shallow gutter of the theatre at Epidauros termi-nates a little beyond the transverse axis of the orchestra

About 0.50 m. higher than the top of thedeep gutter are the remains of a broad, shallowgutter made from large blocks of hard Acro-corinth limestone. The inner ends of the blockswere cut to receive a marble parapet, or bar-rier, which was dowelled into place. This con-struction belongs to the late period of thetheatre, later than the construction of a veryhard packed sand and clay floor which waslaid over a fill of poros stone fragments andlime mortar (Fig. 2). This layer will be referredto hereafteras the sand strosis, and it is to beconnected with a period when the theatre wasused as an arena.One other feature should be mentioned at


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8 CORINTHof the sand strosis, was a shallow water basin,1.80 m. wide and over twenty metres long(Pls. II, IV). The upper part of the basin wascut off by the laying of the sand strosis whichruns quite across it; its present depth, belowthe top of the sand strosis, is about 0.35 m. Notrace remains to show how water was broughtto the basin, but a small hole at the east givesdrainage into the great channel that formerlyserved the deep gutter. At a period subsequentto its first construction a space 0.50 m. widewas walled off on the north side of the basintomake a water channel. Where the channelreached the ends of the basin the walls werecut through and the channel extended west toan undetermined distance, and east to themarginof the early drain.The orchestra floor of Greek and early Ro-man times has been entirely removed. Theoriginal fill was dug out and replaced by thefoundation of rubbleconcretewhich lies imme-diately below the sand strosis, and extendsdown to bed rock, nearly at the level of thebottom of the deep gutter. Only two levelsremain above the sand strosis: one, a hard,lime-cement layer based on a miscellaneousfill of broken stone, tiles, pieces of marblerevetment and sculpture fragments 5 the other,resting almost directly on this layer, a pave-ment of marble slabs, somewhat irregularlylaid and probably replacing, or perhaps onlyrepairing,a pavement which once rested on thecement bed.

THE CAVEAThe koilon of Greek times provided a greatamount of material for the Roman rebuilding,but enough remains to establish most of theprincipal features. Originally there were four-teen sections with fifteen stairways.6 Many ofthe foundation blocks for the Greek seats re-5 Includinga portraithead identified as that of the emperorGalba. A.J.A., XXX, 1926, p. 455, fig. 8.

main, but of the seats themselves, only ascattered few are preserved in place. Theywere of a very simple rectangular section withearth packed between each row, similar tothose at the theatre at Eretria, but lackingeven the slight nosing which is found there.The string blocks which flanked the stairs arefairly well preserved in some places, and highup in Stairs VI and IX, a few step blocks arestill in place (Fig. 3). Nothing remains belowthe originalninth row of Greekseats since thatpart was all quarriedaway by the constructionof the arena with its high protecting wall.

Not a single seat of the Roman theatresurvives.7 The seat foundations can be seen inmany places, in the form of rubble walls whichradiate, more or less, from the centre of thetheatre. The slope of the cavea was madesteeper in Roman times, apparently when thetheatre was first reconditioned, and for thispurpose heavy rib walls, filled in between withearth and debris, were erected. In the lowerrows, as now preserved, just above the arenawall, a number of Greek seat blocks were re-used as foundations, turned at right angles totheir originalorientation. The diazomata of theRoman theatre were carried on solid rubbleconcrete foundations, and it is in connectionwith these especially that those rows of Greekseats which were preserved are still to be seen.It is evident that the builders merely savedthemselves trouble in laying out the curve byleaving a couple of rows of the Greek seats inplace and building to them.Further down, between the arena wall andthe orchestra, are a few poor foundations forRoman seats that were erectedwhen the arenawas abandonedand the theatre returned to itsproper use. At the extreme west side of thecurve are four steps of one of the stairs whichbelonged othis last phase of the theatre (Fig. 2).

7R. B. Richardson, "Report of the Director", FifteenthAnnual Report of the Managing Committeeof the American


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LOCATION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION 9Of the outer wall there are some traces.Along the street just east of the theatre asection is still preserved,and to the southwest,at the head of StairIX, are a number of found-

ation blocks and one block of a higher course.The remains at both these points are most

-131

FIG. 3. UPPER PART OF STAIR VI, GREEK PERIOD

probably Roman. No sure trace of the Greekouter wall has been identified. Probably it laya little inside the line occupied by the Romanand its material supplied its successor. Thereis good evidence to show that the Greekouterlimit did not extend uniformly in a curve ofconstant radius from one analemma to theother, but that the last section on each wingcontained fewer rows.In the arenaperioda tribune was built in thewestern quadrant of the cavea, and the firstnine or ten rows of Roman seats wereremoved

rock for about half of its height (ca. 1.50 ni.)and continued upwards in masonry, liberallychinked with fragments of marble revetment.The entire surface was stuccoed and paintedwith scenes of venatoresighting with beasts, aswill be describedelsewhere (Figs. 2, 4).8

..,.,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.........D, .-:~

FIG. 4. EASTERN PART OF ORCHESTRA SHOWING THE ARENAWALL, GREEK AND LATE ROMAN GUTTERS AND DRAIN

CONNECTIONS

THE PARODOIIn the Roman reconstruction of the theatrealmost all the blocks of the Greekparodoiwereripped out, but enough remains to make arestorationpossible. Several foundation blocksof the western Greekanalemmaare still visible.The eastern has vanished entirely, and is onlysuggested by some cuttings in the rock, which,however, are not sufficiently definite to verifyexactly the location of the analemma on thatside. On the north of the parodoi, flanking the

skene, were stone ramps leading to the logeion


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10 CORINTHearth behind.Their remains still exist at eitherend of the Greekstage.The Roman parodoi may be divided intotwo parts: an outer portion, along the ana-lemma of the theatre, and an inner, vaultedadtitus, eachedby an entrance from the north.Both the east and west entrances were laterblocked,and new, narrowerentrancesmade bycutting through the north wall of each aditusat a point just outside the ends of the scenebuilding. The analemmata were strengthenedby buttresses, 0.90 m. square, but after a timethese proved insufficient and, having beenthrown out of plumb, they weresupplementedby larger piers, 1.20 m. square, built againstthe wall midwaybetween the earlier buttresses.Further reinforcementwas provided by largepiers opposite the new buttresses and about2.50 m. away, with an arch, forminga kind offlying buttress, thrownacross each gap. Onthewest, in addition to the flying buttresses, thebase of the analemmawall was thickened. It isevident that the pressureof the earth fill be-hind the analemmata was too great for theoriginalconstruction, and it is also most prob-able that the settlement was hastened by anearthquake.The vaults over the covered parts of theparodoi were of strong rubble concrete,severallarge fragments of which had to be broken upin the excavations in orderto clear the aditi.

THE STAGE BUILDINGGREEK

At present the Greek skene (Fig. 5, P1.Vc)consists of three courses of the front wall, asection of the rearwall, two courseshigh, anda short section of three courses that marksthenorthernextremity of the east end.All are bedded on rock or hardpan, which,along the back wall wherever the rock was

required the use of interior supports, but ofthese no trace has been distinguished. At thesoutheast cornerof the skene is a deep cuttingas though for the foundation of a stair tower.In it have been sunk, flush with the rock,threerows of blocksformingthe west, north and eastsides of a chamber,whose interior dimensionsare given by setting lines cut on the insetblocks. The floor of this cutting is at the levelof the second course of the front wall, but thegeneralrock level, and hence the main part ofthe floor of the hyposkenion, was 0.60 m. to0.70 m. higher.

Blocks projecting from the skene mark theends of the proskenion and, on the east, ashortsection of the stereobateof the colonnadeis preserved. The remainderof the line of thecolonnade is well marked by a shallow rockcutting. A fainterrockcutting and a few blocksat the east indicate that the proskenion wasdeepened at some time. Subsequent to theoriginalconstruction,a central passage was in-serted through the front wall of the skene, andcarried forward to the front of the deeperproskenion.At either end of the skene are blocks withtheir joints normal to the lines of the parodoi.These are closely bonded with the remains ofthe front wall at its western end. On the east,the connection has been broken,but there arethree blocks laid lengthwise on a downwardslope toward the orchestra which give thegradeof the approach. Thereis a raisednub onthe easternmostblock showingthat a ramp upbegan at that point. On the west, foundationsfor the same constructionmay be seen.Cut into the rock in front of the skene aretwo sunkenchannels,roughly0.50 m. wide andabout one metre deep, which pass from withinthe proskenionto a point just a little beyonditto the south. Both were providedwith shallowsteps, best seen in the eastern one, where, at


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.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~4.w

FG 5 VI W R MT SO H ET H WN T E T G I DN TH P RB O N P0

FIG. 5. VIEW FROM THE SOUTHWEST SHOWING THE STAGE BUILDING, THE PERIBOLOS AND PLAZA


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12 CORINTH

l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0or

l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i.6 ATEDOFSAN,ADPRBLSBYN

It is quite easy, by stooping, to go through thepassage and emerge in the orchestra n front ofthe proskenion.There can be no question butthat these passages are Charonianstairs; theinteresting feature for the Corinth theatre isthat there are two sets.ROMAN

The ruins of the Roman stage building showthat it was of the usual western type, withthree exedras in which were the porta regiaand the two hospitalia. At either end of thescene building were stairs opening from thenorth, which gave access either to upper roomsor to the eavea itself. On the north side of thebuilding, facing on a court, two semicircularexedras with stone benches provided for the

hospitalia gave access to slightly larger roomsat the east and west extremities of the build-ing (P1.VIJa).Less than half the length of the stage build-ing is preserved above the foundations, andeven this much has suffered severely frompillaging, especially on the side toward thestage, so that any reconstructionof the plan isto some extent conjectural. The outer, northwall is preservedto a height of three coursesatthe northeast corner (Fig. 6). A portion of thesocle and three courses of the easternhospital-ium remain, together wvith the entrancethrough it to the stage, and about one third ofthe circuit of the eastern of the two exedrasfacing on the court. A small section of porosstone paving for the area in front of the regia


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LOCATIONAND GENERALDESCRIPTION 13rubble concrete which formed the foundationsfor those areas where no direct superinmposedweight of consequence was to be carried. Atall points where the solid parts of the planwere to be carried up to the full height of thebuilding the foundations were of cut stonemasonry. In general the concrete masses werenot laid directly on hardpan, but on a levellingcourse of cut stone, many of the blocks beingre-used from a building of the early Romanperiod. Therecan be little doubt that an earlierscaenae frons once occupiedmost of the spacecovered by the present ruins, which must datefrom the second century of our era. The exactplan of the earlier form of the Roman scaenacannot be recovered, but from the characterof the architectural blocks built into the latefoundations, especially certain cornice blocks,it would seem that the first building was of thestraight-fronted, Asia Minor variety, withcolumns, or pairs of columns, "en ressault."

STRUCTURES CONNECTED WITH THETHEATREA large colonnaded court extended the en-tire length of the stage building along its northside. Beyond this was a street runningapprox-imately east and west. Originallybuilt of poros

stone, the court was later revetted in marble;a new stylobate of white limestone installedabove the earlier one, and marble paving laidbetween the colonnade and the wall. Presum-ably the colonnade itself was rebuilt in marble.On the south, in the centre, three long marbleslabs were placed instead of the white lime-stone, and the spacing of the columns inter-rupted by some sort of entrance to the regia,or by a background or a smallwater basin andfountain at the middle of the south side. Thisbasin is to be associated in its original formwith the early period of the court, but was

ing down at right angles to the parodoi. Originally the walls which faced the stage buildingwere pierced by five openings, provided withwooden doors. The eastern hall also had alarge opening which faced south and gave onthe outer portion of the parodos,almost oppo-site the entrance to the vaulted aditus. Thecorresponding portion of the west hall is nolonger preserved, but the arrangementwasdoubtless similar. Subsequent to the first con-struction of the halls the small doorways werefilled by blocks set in from the outer side. Theeast hall, in the latest periodof the theatre, be-came a large reservoir,waterproofedby heavystucco with careful thickening at the angles,and paved with large bricksor tiles. The south-ern opening was heavily blocked up, and alarge piece of marbletympanumwith a squarehole cut throughit was placedlow downin theoriginalopeningas a gate to a well built flumedesignedto carrywater to flood the orchestrawhen it was desired to use it for a naumnachia.A spillwaywas contrivedjust outside the open-ing, thereby blocking most of the parodosapproachfrom the east, and from the spillwaythe flume was led down through the easternporta versura. Although the original height ofthe room or reservoir s no longerpreserved,adepth of only a trifle more than three metreswouldgive sufficient capacityto fill the orches-tra containedwithin the marble parapet to adepth of about one metre, or very nearly thelevel of the parapettop.

APPROACHES TO THE THEATREFull information on the approaches andaccessto the theatre is lackingand can only beobtained by a large amount of further excava-tion. Some of the approaches, however, areknown.9 A recent article by Gustavo Traversari, "Tetimimo eColimbe'tra,"Dioniso, Boll. dell'Ist. Naz. del DrammaAntico,


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14 CORINTHOnthe east a paved street led down from theupper level. Near the southeast quadrant ofthe cavea a series of steps and short ramps zig-zagged down the slope where it was steepest,

and the approach was then continued, skirtingthe cavea wall past the end of the east parodos,to a large, paved plaza northeast of the stagebuilding. From this plaza there was access tothe court behind the stage, and also to thepassage which led between the east hall andthe end of the stage building to the east aditus.The plazawas also accessible romastreet which,coming from the east, presumably started atthe Lechaion Road, and ran on past the northside of the theatre court.Excavations just outside the extreme limits

of the west parodos failed to discover anypavement, or any very conclusive signs of astreet at this point, but the presence of a largesill at the entrance to the outer parodos, withcuttings for a gate, shows that there wasdefinitely an entrance at this point and wemust assume a street here, running in agenerally northerly direction.To facilitate access to the upper parts of thecavea, vomitoria must have been provided.Traces of one may still be seen in the southeastsector, but the remains consist merely of a silland foundations lying outside the circle of thecavea wall, which at this point has been entire-ly removed, and only the cuttings in hard panremainto show whereit once ran.


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CHAPTER I I IDETAILED DESCRIPTION. THE GREEK PERIOD

ORCHESTRA(PLATES II, III)

The original levels both of the earliestorchestra of the Greek theatre and of theorchestra of Hellenistic' times are no longerpreserved, but they may be approximatedvery closely. The formerwould have been onlya very little above the level to which thenative rock was cut over an area that extendswithin the entire circle of the later, Hellenistic,gutter construction, as well as over that lateroccupied by the proskenionof the Hellenisticstage building.This level is from 0.80 m. to 1.10 m. belowtheatre datum level,2 and at least 0.80 m. be-low the lowest possible level for the Hellenisticorchestra floor. It is no longer practicable torecover accurately the radius of this earlyorchestra, but it would have measured about10.80 m. to 11.00 m. from the lowest (nowvanished) row of seats. Its existence may beassured from a combination of facts, one beingthat otherwisethere would have been no logicalreason to excavate the rock to such a depthover so largean area. The non-existenceof any

1 The term Hellenistic as used here includes the latter partof the fourth century B. C.2 Theatre datumlevel is taken on the marbleandlimestoneedging course which formed the south side of a narrowchannel between the late Roman orchestracement floor andthe pulpitum of the same period. It is established at 57.71 m.above mean sea level. The general Corinth datum for thepublication of the buildings about the market place, inCorinth,I, i, was reckoned from the southwest angle of thestylobate of the Temple of Apollo, 84.85 m. above sea level,and hence 27.14 m. above theatre datum. Since it happensthat this last correspondsvery closely with what was presum-

actual floor level is explainedby the fact thatthe installation of a solidfoundationforalater,marblepavementof the Romanperiodbroughtabout a complete removal of whatever Greekor Hellenistic levels may have existed. Theearly orchestra is also indicated by the diffi-culty of reconciling the character of construc-tion of the seats of the Greek theatre, whichare of the simplest nature, with the high qual-ity of workmanshipand sophisticated techni-que of the Hellenistic gutter construction. Thetwo simply cannot belong in the same period.East and west, a little to the north of a linebisecting the orchestra, are rock cuttingswhich have no relation to the Hellenisticorchestra, but which could well be connectedwith an earliercircle, although neither of thecuttings is preserved to a sufficient length tomake sure that it follows a curvedline. On thewest, especially, a deep step of about 0.50 m.appears which may be the trace of an earlywater channel or gutter, in no way related tothe later one which is preserved.It is impos-sible to recovermore of this cuttingwithout anextensive demolition of later work above it.Thereis no stone stage buildingto be associat-ed with the early period,but two rowsof holesfor wooden uprights seem definitely earlierthan the Hellenistic stage building, and prob-ably indicate a wooden skene. These will beconsideredbelow.The rock surface which underlay the early


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16 CORINTHand clay to a depth of a few centimetres. Theexisting rock levels show that this floor waspitched away from the stage. In diggingunderthe floor of the long Roman water basin whichrunsacrossthe orchestrafromeast to west, thefill between it and the rock was of a veryclayey, yellowish soil and probably representsthe original fill for the early floor. Unfortu-nately the only sherds found in this fill were ofcoarse fabric, but they appeared to be quiteearly.

THE HELLENISTIC ORCHESTRA(PLATES III, IV)

This is by far the most impressive piece ofconstructionnow preservedand deservescare-ful description. As an example of the highdevelopment of stereotomy of the fourth andthird centuriesit ranks with the best contemp-orarywork at Corinthand elsewhere.A deep gutter, 0.52 m. wide and from0.63m.deep at the west to 0.76 m. at the east, sur-rounds about half of the orchestracircle (Fig.7). The bottom is paved with slabs of porosstone, with a joint every 0.60 m., set directlyinto the soft, native rock. The outer edges ofthe slabs were cut down 0.04 m. to form arebate to receive the wall blocks of the gutter.These arein two coursessave wherethe north-east sector was not open to view, and along thedrain which connected with the gutter and,maintaining the same width, but increasingindepth, passed northeastward under the eastparodos and carriedthe water away from thetheatre (Fig. 8). Thedrain walls in these partsconsist of orthostate slabs.The bottom course, on both sides of theopen gutter, had joints exactly under thecentre line of the several bridges whichspanned the gutter, and also half way be-tween. Thus the outer blocks measured1.40 m.long, the inner slightly less. The width of these

blocks that brokejoints with the course above.They project unevenly toward the interior ofthe circle, and are set down a little into bedrock. The height of the bottom courses variesaccording to the pitch of the bottom of thegutter; their top surfacesare level.

__i

.

_ _

. .. ..

. * . .~~~~~~~~~~~~~......

.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.. . ..... .

FIG. 7. THE HELLENISTIC GUTTER

The upper courses, inside and out, measureo29 m. high. Oneither side, three blocks, veryevenly spaced, occupy each interval betweenbridges.Towardthe centre of the orchestratheblocks show a raised surface, separated fromthe lower portion of the block by a cymareversa molding, and serving as a bed for thering of blocks that formed the curb of theorchestra. No curb block remains, but settinglines and pry-holes show that it consisted ofblocks about 0.40 m. wide and approximately1.40 m. long. The joints came directly abovethose of the lowest gutter course, next below


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DETAILEDDESCRIPTION.THE GREEK PERIOD 1.7--~~~~~~~~~~~~r

~~~~~~~pI III I I

0 o~~5 1.00

e Al - t+ .15 t .525 ? .57 t e .a0.04 .04 P1..57S

FIG. 8. SECTIONS OF GUTTER AND BRIDGE, AND END ELEVATION OF TYPICAL SEATS AND STAIR STRINGERS

course which have been completely exposedaremason'smarks:T and H (Fig. 9).Theheight of the curbmay be approxiniatedas follows.The top of the second courseof theHellenisticskenewallis, on the average,0.44 m.

FIG. 9. MASON'S MARKiS ON GUTTER BLOCKS, ONE FIFTIIFULL SIZE

above the top of the proskenionfoundation,or, generally, 0.47 m. above the bed of thecurb. The face of this second course of theskene has been cut down about 0.05 m. whereit projects forward of the third course, andindicates the level of the floor of the prosken-ion, about 0.42 m. above the bedding of thecurb. This, then, would be the maximumheight for the curb if we suppose that the or-chestra floor was at the exact level of the topof the stylobate of the proskenioncolonnade,but it is reasonable to allow the stylobate to

the height of the curb at 0.32 m. or onefoot.3The beds of the bridge blocks are at thesame level as those of the upper coursesof thegutter, but their tops are about 0.01 m. higher,a device intended to compensate for wear. Araised band surroundsthe lateral surfaces ofeach bridge and frames an arch-likehollowingof the stone, but the arch forms do not con-tinue through the width of the bridge.Instead,they funnel downward so that under themiddle line the stone is almost full thickness(Fig. 8). The width of the bridges is 0.79 m.On the inner endthey show a joint just short ofthe eymamolding,which s cutonanotherblock.Only the seven bridges nearest the centralaxis of the theatre spanned the open gutter.The next, east and west, were exposed to thesouth and carrieda returnof the eyma moldingand its curbto either side on a line parallel tothe stage. This return extends outward for adistance of 2.30 m. and then turns north al-most, but not quite, at right angles to the3


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18 CORINTHstage. The angle of each is 92 degrees,with thetwo lines diverging toward the north. Beyondthe line marked by this shoulder the gutterwas covered, but it is clear that the circle ofthe orchestra was carried around the wholeway, for its foundations still exist beyond thesemicircle, and a rock cutting in front of theline of the Hellenistic proskenion fits thiscurve very exactly.The east and west edges of the shoulders,ashas just been remarked,are not quite perpen-dicularto the front of the skene (P1.III). Theyran, one to a point which may still be seenmiarkedby an irregularity on the projectingendof the western stereobateof the proskenion,and the other to a line formed by two blockswhich still extend from its eastern cornerandserved as foundation for the molded course,and the curb courseabove.The outer series of gutter blocks is uni-formly 0.57 m. wide, measured on the radiusof the orchestra, until the end bridges arereached. The outer end joints of the bridgesfollow the same curve. Outside of the outerrange of gutter blocks, and set down flush intothe rock,is a secondseriesof blocks which beara raised marginorlip cut on a curve concentricwith the seats, and not with the orchestra.Theirlengths, on the radiusof the circle, vary,therefore, with the divergence of the twocircles,from0.75 m. at the centre axis to morethan 1.60 m. at the angles of the shoulders,which, together with the raised lip for thepassagein front of the lowest row of seats havebeen worked on single blocks. From this pointnorthward there are again two seriesofblocks.The inner bears the eyma moldingand bed forthe curb, as well as a lower surface whichformed a very shallow depression or channelbetween the curb and the lip for the passageskirting the lowest row of seats. The outerrange, beginning about 0.05 m. inside the lip,extends as far as was necessaryto underlap the

The inner, top course of the gutter isfastened with inverted U clamps, carefullyleaded. No dowel holes appear to secure thecurb, although one would expect it, since anypressure of trodden earth within would tendto displace the blocks outward, and it was forthis purpose that the course below the curbwas so carefully clamped together. Elsewherethere are no clamps or fastenings of any kind.The joints of the entire construction are radialto the orchestra centre as far as the lastbridges; after that they radiate from thecentre on which the seats are described. Theadjoining surfaces of all the blocks of thisgutter construction seem, if we may judgeby the two orthree places wherea break makesinspection possible, to have been treated witha well cut anathyrosis with broad marginalareas, and appear very similar in all respectsto the character of work on the South Stoa.4For the stereotomy of the constructionnearthe end bridges an examination of the plan(P1. IV) will be better than a verbal descrip-tion. There are certain features, however,which should be pointed out. First, one end ofthe gutter never went further than just northof the western end bridge. Onlythe foundationfor the orchestracircle is carriedon, and con-sists of orthostates, well joined, but notbrought to an even surface on the outer side.They are not curved, but set as the sides of apolygon. The straight course which carriedthebranch of the curb that ran back to theproskenion rests on a stereobate which is notaligned with the direction of the curb, but isset perpendicularto the stage. This in turnrests in a level rock cutting which is not quiteparallel to the course for which it was cut.Obviously it was intended that final align-ments should be made when the proper levelwas reachedand not before.

Some time after the gutterhad been finishedtwo massive blocks ca. 0.80 m. square were let


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION.THE GREEK PERIOD 19in to the east and west shoulders. Their topsare now very roughly hacked, as though theyhad been cut down at some time. Each has abowl-shapedcutting about 0.45 m. in diametercenteredin the top. The bowl in the west blockis a little deeper (0.40 m.) than the other.The western block rests, in part, on a low,well cut slab which has been set into the rock,and the manner in which the projecting endof one of the blocks for the curb bed has beencut away is plainly seen (Figs. 10, 11). Thelarge block, with the socket, was secured by awedge-shaped block very carefully fitted be-

.. ,

FIG. 10. WESTERN MAST SOCKET. EXCAVATION SKETCH

tween it and the projecting end of the lastbottom course block of the inner wall of thegutter. On the east face of the socket block is acutting, 0.12 m. wide, which formsa channel inthe side, and follows roughly the curve of thebowl within. What purpose this may haveserved is not clear unless it was a means ofallowing water that accumulated in the areabetween the curb of the orchestra circle andthe straight curb to reach the gutter. It mayalso have served in lowering the block intoplace, although one would expect a similarcutting on the opposite side. Thereis, however,none to be seen.

The block in the easternshoulderrests partlyon the lower,outer course of the gutter and hasbeen cut away in the form of a half arch so asto corbel out over it (Fig. 11). The half arch soformed could never have been visible, and thisrefinement may be merely to lighten the blockon that side, whereit lacked adequate support.It may also have been suggested by the rathercurious fact that the block immediately northof the bridge block was also hollowed outslightly on the under side, though it in turncould never have been visible. There is nogroove or channel in the east block, but on thesouth side, near one corner, is a series of pry-

SECTION, EASr 5HOULDEP. SECTION ALONC; CUTTEQ.

+0 _._ , , _,. _, ?0

SECTION Ca. 5.00 FURTHER NORTH SECTION, WEST SHOULDER0 _


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CORINTH

&~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&

FIG. 12. FOUNDATIONS AND ROCK CUTTIGS AT SOUTHEAST ANGLE OF PEOSKENIOFIG. 12. FOUNDATIONS AND ROCK CUTTINGS AT SOUTHEAST ANGLE OF PROSKENION

holes that may have served the purpose ofeasing the block down onto its bed.The function of these blocks is uncertain,but a possible explanation is that they wereintended to serve as sockets for masts to whicha velum could have been attached. It isapparent also that they were used at a timewhen the Hellenistic gutter was still in oper-ation, for if it had been abandoned it is un-likely that they would have been inserted withthe same care, and quite unlikely that so muchcare should have been taken not to obstructthe easternsection of the gutter. The socket ofthe western block has a hole that goes clearthrough the bottom. The other has no outlet,and for this reason it is not probable that thesockets can be connected with fountains, orany similar device.5

The orthostates which line the channel ofthe main drain beyond the last bridge are, inpart, re-used blocks. Some of them bear aheavy coat of good, yellow, waterproof stuccosuch as is commonly employed in Corinthduring the Greek period. Two blocks show aprojecting, nearly rectangular taenia on oneedge, but no other distinguishable characteristics. Possibly they are to be associated withthe earlierorchestra gutter, if in fact there wasone, or they may come froma water basin suchVIII, 1893, pp. 405-409, fig. 15. Bulle, Untersuchungenangriechischen Theatern, (Abh. Mun. Akad., XXXIII, 1928)p. 193, suggests that they were for a water driven mechanicaldevice which, perhaps, a Sikyonian mechanic had dedicatedand used to entertain the spectators during an intermission.Since the upper surfaces of the blocks at Corinth appear tohave been hacked off we cannot say positively that therewere no cuttings on them for a similarpurpose, but it is mostunlikely that so much trouble would have been taken to bed


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION.THE GREEK PERIOD 21as the one indicatedby a channelat a low levelin the east parodosof the Roman theatre.The straight curbs running north from theeast and west shouldersof the orchestrawerecut off about halfway between their southernends and the proskenion by a long, shallow,Roman water basin that ran clear across theorchestra. There is no doubt, however, thatthey once extended to the angles of theproskenion,since there is a suitable rock cut-ting for the western one, and two foundationblocks of the eastern, as has been noted above,are still in situ (a, a, Fig. 12). On the west faceof the northernof the two blocks is a mason'smark +. From the way in which the jointshave been cut it appears that the curbs werelaid after the foundation for the proskenioncolonnadehad been set. It is importantto notethis since, if the evidence is correctly inter-preted, the constructionof the proskenion,andhence the skene, cannot be later than thegutter.

THE KOILONThe koilon of the Greektheatre was dividedinto fourteen kerkides by thirteen flights ofstairs. Two additional flights along the ana-lemmata brought the number of klinmakes pto fifteen. Contrary o the practicerecomnmend-ed by Vitruvius6 additional flights were notintercalated above the diazoma as was thecase, for example, at Epidauros or at Athens.In fact, the theatre in its originalformmay besaid not to have had properdiazomata at all,

6 Vitruvius, V, vi, 2; V, vii, 2. The Vitruvian conventionfor the plan of the Greek theatre with three inscribedsquares in the orchestra gives seven kerkides, and eightklimakes. In a theatre the size of Corinthor Epidauros thiswould producea series of long arcs of seats along which spec-tators would have to thread their way in orderto reach theirplaces.Apparentlythe Romanarchitectignoredthe possibilitythat additional stairs were sometimes interpolated below thediazomata, thereby raising the total to fifteen, as originallyat Corinth. If the central stair were blocked, as well as eachalternate stair to either side, but the extensions of all thestairs above the upper diazoma left open, his ideal arrange-ment would correspondexactly with the Corinth theatre as

though an irregularitywhich may be noted inthe rise of two successive rows of seats abouttwo thirds of the way up the slope may be ex-plained as a sort of embryonic attempt at adiazoma. Half way up the slope, the usual seatconstruction is varied by a course of stonesplaced, ratherroughly,between two successiverows of seats, and somewhat further downthere is evidence that a diazoma was laterintroducedby the simpleprocess of eliminatingtwo rows. Each of these levels will be discussedin detail below.It may also be establishedthat the two outerkerkides did not run up as far as the remainderof the circuit of the koilon, but ended some tenor twelve rows short of the outer limit. Thisappears in connection with the western ana-lemma of which a few blocks are still in situ.As far as it is preserved the thickness of theanalemmawall was nearly 1.24 m., just enoughto carry a normal flight of stairs 0.75 m. wideand leave a little less than 0.50 m. for a para-pet. The cutting for this wall can be tracedalong a line markedby the existing blocks to apoint just beyond the entrancefrom the northinto the vaulted portion of the Romanparodos.Some part of the end of this wall must havestill existed in Roman times, perhaps only thelowest course, for a later wall, connected withthe Roman period, is built against its westernreturn. The later wall survived whereas theearlier fell prey to stone plunderers.The lasttwo metres of the cutting do not quite followthe line of the remainderof the analemmabutmake an obtuse anglewith it, thus eliminatingan acute angle at the extreme corner of theanalemma (P1. II). On the east side nothingremains,but a carefulinvestigation has estab-lished that in this direction the analemmanever ran any further than its counterpartatthe west.

The inner ends of the analemmata, towardare not but may


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22 CORINTHThe construction of the seats is of the

simplest kind (Figs. 13, 15, 16). They consistof plain blocks of poros stone, 0.30 m. high,0.37 m. wide on the top surface,and of varyinglengths, usually about 1.40 m. The front faceis slightly curved to the periphery of the circleto which they are set, and the backs usuallyshow a roughly finished surfaceprojectingtwoto four centimetres beyond a drafting at thetop, rear edge of the block. Thus the beds ofthe blocks, which are also generally onlyroughed out save where they rested on founda-tion blocks, vary in width between 0.39 m.and 0.43 m. The ends of the blocks, save wherethey abutted on a stair, have anathyrosis.

The foundations for these simple seats,which are nothing more than a stone version ofthe old wooden TIpiaare individual, roughlyrectangular blocks provided with a raised lipat the front so as to keep the seats from slip-ping forward. One of these occurs under eachseat joint. Three blocks have mason's marks,A, , F respectively (Figs. 13, 14). Very occa-sionallya foundation willconsist of two narrowblocks side by side. Pry-holes are often inevidence on the tops of the foundation stones,which were set in hardpan or, in the higherlevels of the koilon, on a hard packed fill ofearth, clayey and reddish in tone, but some-times verging to a yellow color. The fill con-

"L.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~t


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION. THE GREEK PERIOD 23

zG-_ | | i l | s N > | l s | 6':.9.:.'#.'...-| .: . : e '.4 . .@ . ." J~~~~~~~~~~~6.... . ........e? E !W ._

: : . - :;.w #s ,' ; e s i e w r i i 4 .. . - e v.$i s .~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~..... .. .. ....fmf~~~~~~~~~~~.

i-,,3, }E f

s; s . t !' > . l. . 0 s .. . - . . ...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.. .. ...r * . i


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24 CORINTHtains sherds and gives a means of determiningthe period before which the theatre could nothave been constructed. Where it has beenpossible to test this fill no sherds have beenfound that need be dated later than the lastquarter of the fifth century B.C. Such decor-ated sherds as were found included a few red-figured fragmentsas well as Geometric.Between the seats the space was filled withearth with its hard packed surface at the levelof the bottom of the drafting on the rear edgeof the blocks.At the ends of each row, where the last blockwas finished smooth, the projection behindwas cut away so that the end of the seat pre-sented a perfectly rectangular shape. Thisouter end rested on a thin, upright slab (Fig.13), which made both a foundation for the seatand a dam for the earth fill behind it, and alsodefined the width of the stair. These successivestringersare well fitted and usually notch overthe next one below. They are from 0.14 m. to0.18 m. wide. The depth varies, but the bot-toms are always level and set into hard pan orfill as are the seat foundations. Only towardthe lower part of the koilon, for three or fourmetres above the line of the later Romanarenawall, are the foundations set in rock.The stairs were of three types, though thefirst to be described is probably the original.Opposite each interval between the rows ofseats a plain block was inserted with its frontedge extending 0.10 m. forwardfrom the rearline of a given row of seats, while its rearedgewas about 0.20 m. ahead of the face of the nextrow above (Fig. 3). Therewas a space of packedearth about 0.30 m. wide between the steps.Those recovered in Stair VI were all badlyworn and it is difficult to tell whether theywere originally laid with their tops level.Probably they were tilted forward slightly toform a compromise between a stair and astepped ramp. In the central part of Stair IX

with cobblestones filled in the space betweenstep blocks. The upper part of the stair iscompletely paved (Fig. 17). In the course oftwo centuries or more of service the steps musthave been worn out and replaced more thanonce. The preservedblocks are all surprisinglytliin, not over 0.14 m. at most, without count-ing wear.

_

FIG. 17. STEPS AND STRINGERS OF STAIR IX. AT BACK,FOUNDATION FOR UPPER ROMAN DIAZOMA

As observed in the section on the orchestra(p. 15) it is impossible to reconcile this verysimple, almost primitive construction with thegutter complex. The fact that the rock hasbeen quarrieddown to a low level within theHellenistic gutter, far beyond any reasonabledepth were the later level the same as theoriginal, forces us to conclude that there wereoriginally more rows of seats than in Hellen-


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DETAILEDDESCRIPTION.THE GREEK PERIOD 25sure, not properlya seat, but a plinth for thefirst actual row. These were sacrificed whenthe theatre was remodelledand the new gutterput in. No trace remainsof an early gutter, butthis would, in any case, have been completelycovered,or replaced,by the later construction,as will be seen by consulting the section(Fig. 18).

The extant remains of the Hellenistic stagebuilding are almost surely contemporarywiththe later period of the orchestra, for they allare part of the same reconstruction. Anattempt to relate the plan of the Greektheatreto the ideal layout of Vitruvius results in aninteresting coincidence.The Vitruvian scheme of a circle with aninscribed square giving the location of thefront of the proskenion cannot be made toagree with the theatre in the Hellenistic period.If, however, we take the early koilon,add threelower rows of seats, and describe our circle atthe face of Row A, the side of an inscribedsquare exactly marks the line of the prosken-ion (Fig. 19). We may assume that in thereconstruction the skene and proskenion werelocated first of all, and by the method pre-scribed, usingthe lowest row of the then exist-ing seats.7Theseelementshaving been located,

the three lower rows of seats would have beentorn out, the gutter put in, with its centrelocated on the axial line of the theatre, and anew row or two of seats, now becoming thefirst and second rows, replaced the originalfourth and fifth rows which must have beenremoved to make room for the reconstruction.For this theory one further piece of evidence

exists. On the exact centre axis of the theatre,a little beyond the central bridge and thefoundation blocks inserted in the rock to thesouth of it, is a neatly cut setting line on thesurface of the rock. This, in such a place, wouldhave had no significance, nor indeed beennecessary if the present deep gutter had beencontemporarywith the rest of the koilon. Butif we suppose that the lower, original rows ofseats were rippedout and the rock below rowsfour and five brought to a new level to receivethe altered construction, then a setting line tomark the exact axis of the theatre and assurethat the new gutter was properly alignedwould have been necessary.The lowest preserved seat foundation is inthe ninth row of the later periodof the koilon;everything below was removed when thetheatre was converted to an arena. Many ofthe foundations and stair stringersfurther up

I-,

iB FI RST PERIODB, , S5ECONDERIOD

- ESRECrON S N P

A B r AEFIG. 18. RESTORED SECTION SHOWINGE WO PERIODS


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26 CORINTHdistance from the front of one row to the frontof the next is not uniform, but changes some-where along the slope. The lower half of thekoilon shows a run of about 0.81 m. to anaverage rise of 0.263 m. The upper part of thekoilon reduces the run to about 0.77 m. with aslightly lower rise, thus tending to keep thesame pitch. It is not possible to say, however,whether this was actually the case, or whetherthe upper zone was given a slightly steeperpitch as at Epidauros.8 The only place wherethe slope of the upper section can be measuredis along Stair IX, and in this sector settlementhas apparently caused the upper part to sinkdown, so that actual measurement shows alower pitch for the last ten preserved rows.

FIG. 19. PLAN SHOWING RELATION OF EARLIER AND LATERGREEK PERIODS

Such a dispositionwould be most improbable.It is also noticeable that in the central sector,and in the one next east, the pitch seemssteeperthan near Stair IX. Thismay be due tothe slipping forward of the hardpan and filloverlying the rock below. Also, in the south-east sector, the two preservedrows,45 and 46,

are not at all level for each row sinks towardthe northeast as much as 0.14 m. in a distanceof six or seven metres.The lowest string coursesflanking the stairsprovide the most reliabledata, and from themwe can set the slope at a ratio of 1 to 3.06. Thisis extraordinarily shallow and bespeaks anearly date for the construction of the koilon.9The restoration of the lowest rows is de-pendant on the restoration of the pitch. Usingthe figure given above, which from a repeatedseries of measurenmentseems most reliable,we can restorea coursesome 0.18 m. highrest-ing on the blocks set into the rock outside ofthe gutter course. This series is the one withthe raised cutting (about 0.07 m.)10concentricwith the seats. Behind this cutting the surfaceof the stones is worn down and setting lineshere and there give the location of the front ofthe next course, about 0.68 m. behind theconcentric cutting. As the face of the lowestrow of seats calculated from the nearest pre-served row would have to come 1.20 m. fromthe cutting, the width of the plinth wouldhavebeen about 0.52 m. On this the spectatorswould have set their feet. A more probablealternative is that instead of simple seats thelowest row took the form of prohedria.Thiswould allow us to make the plinth coursehigher and hence require a step intermediatebetween its top and the level of the raisedsur-face just outside the concentriccutting.11

Actually there is evidence for such a step,for opposite each flight of stairs the worn sur-face of the raised passage extends only about0.45 m. back fromthe cutting and the unwornpart has the width of the stair. At either sideof where this step would have lain the wornsurface extends out to the line of the plinth.9 The slope of the lower two-thirds of the koilon at Epi-dauros is 1 in 2.19.10This measurement is taken from the unworn surface atthe outer edge of the course where it formed a bed for theplinth below the prohedria. At its inner edge, toward the


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION. THE GREEK PERIOD 27Figure 18 showinlg the section of the lowerrows of seats suggests the manner n which thisconclusionhas been reached.A number of inscribed Greek seat blocks12were found re-used in the foundations of thesteeper Roman cavea, and two more appearedin the lowest courses of the inner end walls ofthe western aditus (Fig. 49). By a curiouschance all but one block lie in the western partof the cavea, although we should assume thatoriginally they were distributed in one or morerows around the circle. The inscription was notcontinuous since the heights of the letters varyfrom one piece to another. Only two blocks inthe aditus are preserved for more than halftheir original length, and even these have beenshortened somewhat. There can be no doubt,however, that all were seat blocks, since theyshow the characteristicprofilewith the rebatecut at the upper, rear edge of each block.Several are a trifle lower than the average(0.29 m. against 0.30 or 0.31 m.) and theirlower surfaces, carefully levelled, show thatthey rested on a complete course of masonryrather than on isolated foundations. Thiswould place them, most probably, n one of thelower rows of the koilon, in the space betweenthe gutter and the arena wall. The differencein the heights equals the average upward pro-jection of the raisedlip on the forwardedge ofthe isolated seat foundation blocks.THE DIAZOMATAThe location of the diazomata is not clearlymarked. Above the twentieth row of seats, forwhich a few foundationblocksremain, there isa gap of two rowsfor which there are no foun-dations whatever in situ. Opposite this gap,moreover, the string blocks of the stairs havebeen hacked down to approximately the levelof the bed of row 20. This may be seen in StairIX and Stair VII. It is probable that at onetime a which did not to the

Moreover, here is no trace of a wall to the rearof the diazoma, though it must once have ex-isted. Between rows 27 and 28 there are, inplaces, blocks which have been set in betweenthe rows. Their tops are level with the footingsof the higher row. What purpose these couldhave served is not clear, but possibly theywere put in to provide a more solid footingthan the usual packed earth, and thus formthe pavement of a narrow passagewhich couldhave served as a diazoma, without having theusual form. If the row below these blocks werenot occupied by spectators the passage wouldhave been 0.80 m. wide. To be sure, this isextremely narrow, but with fifteen flights ofstairs the distance across each kerkis at thislevel was only about nine metres. This inade-quate provision for a feature which later onbecame common may be quite in orderif theearly date of the Corinth theatre, in its stoneform, is maintained.The third possibility for a diazoma is almostas peculiar as the first two. Rows 45 and 46 arepreserved,with their seats, in three places: inthe southeast quadrant n kerkis IV where twosuccessive rows are visible fora lengthof aboutsix metres, in kerkis VII, where again tworows can be seen for about four metres (Fig.16), and in kerkis VIII, where row 45 is stillpreserved,but row 46 is missing (Figs. 20, 21).The preservationof so many seats at this levelis due to the fact that here was established thefoundation of the Roman diazomajust belowthe upper maeaniurn,and the later builders eftthe Greek seats in place for greater conveni-ence in followingout the curve. Being, for themost part, concealed under the heavy rubblefoundation walls of the steeper Roman caveathey also escaped the attention of the stoneplunderersof later times.The curious thing about these two rows isthat they do not observe the regularrise. Thedifference n their levels is only 0.12 m. or one


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28 CORINTHof the heavy rubble wall above the upper rowmight be in part responsible, but it is im-probable that in this case the differencewouldhave been so uniform, since it is almost pre-ciselv the same in the seats in kerkis IV, andkerkis VII. Moreover, the two rows in kerkisIV both slope down to the north, as notedabove, and do so evenly, the difference inelevation between them remaining constant.The upper of the two rows is heavily worn.How a diazomashould be restoredat this pointis hard to say. The Roman constructionaboveand behinidrow 46 has destroyed any trace ofseats or foundations for row 47. Figures20 and21 show the condition.

Since the normal function of a diazomawasto give access at a given level to a flight ofstairs which began at that level, and sincethere is no trace whatever in the section aboverows 45 and 46 in kerkis IV of there havingbeen such an intermediate flight, the import-ance of diazomata in the original periodof theCorinththeatre is considerably essened. Theywould have become merely minor conven-iences for lateral circulation without beingformalpassagewaysto give accessto additionalstairs in the upperzone.There can be no doubt, however, about thelowest of the diazomata just described, thatbehindrow 20. Two possibleexplanations maybe advanced. In row 19, a large part of whichis preserved, StairVIII is blocked by a stoneseat (a, Fig. 15) carefully fitted in. Hence, atsome time, this stair was interrupted,and it ispossible to suggest that each alternate stairwas also interrupted in the same manner, thelower portions of these stairs given over toseats, and the diazoma introduced to giveaccess to the full number of staircases whichremained above that level. Thus the disposi-tion of stairs in the lowest third of the koilonwould have come to agree with the VitruvianIt that this alteration

for every original stairway. Probably it was achange introduced later in the Hellenisticperiod, but, to judge from the wear on theinserted block, some time before the destruc-tion of the theatre in the sack of Mummius.In excavating the koilon particular atten-tion was paid to observing indications of theplacing of the bronze sounding vessels, thevasa aerea of Vitruvius,13 specially referredtoby him in connectionwith Corinth.No definitesigns of their location were found. Accordingto the theoretical placing of the jars in a largetheatre, such as this was, there should havebeen three rows dividing the koilon into four(equal?) parts. If, in the Hellenistic period,theCorinth heatre contained 54 rows of seats, thevases would presumablyhave been arranged nconnection with rows 13-14, 26-27, and 40-41. Of the three ranges only the middle onecorrespondswith any noticeableirregularity nthe seating, the stone blocks inserted behindrow 27, and as far as excavated this band hasnot revealed anything in the way of compart-ments (cellae) where vases could have beenplaced. With 57 or 58 rows, as seems to havebeen the case in the earliest period, the vaseswould have occurredin connection with rows16-17, 28-29 and 43-44, counting from thelowest early row. The net result of this wouldbe to place them again very nearly wheretheywould have been located in the later period,and hence does not change the fact that onlythe middle band may provide a slight indica-tion that there was anything unusual at thatlevel.THE OUTER WALL

Very little if anything remains of the outerwall of the Greek theatre. The line of thecircuit appears near the east theatre street13 Vitiruvus, V, v, 1 and V, v, 8. A. N. Caristie,Monuments

antiquesa Orange, Paris, 1856-7, p. 89, refers to an extractfrom The Theatresof Crete,by Belli, in 1582 and 1589, with


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION.THE GREEK PERIOD 29

.Jr ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ A.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...k-J.... .

a ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~t-J

4v,

FIG. 20. LOOKING DOWN STAIR IX. IN MIDDLE DISTANCE,AT LEFT, SEAT BLOCKS OF ROW 45 ARE STILL IN PLACE

:F~~~~*

.. .. ...

FIG. 22. FOUNDATION BLOCKS FOR OUTER WALL AT HEADOF STAIR IX.

n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~F I L LOVTER WALL

F I L L t > 5gt4

UPPER, ROMAN

#W45S ECOND R-OMANDIAZOMA

#4)

#2)0. q SECOND ROMAN

7-778DIAZOMA NEAR,V j I r--45 CENTR-AL AXPSLOWVER RZOMANtDIAZOMA ... .


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30 CORINTHwhere some ten or twelve metres of wall withbuttresses may still be seen (Fig. 40, P1. II).About half of this length is preserved to aheight of three coursesabove the pavement ofthe street and, from its construction and itssimilarity to the work on the parodoi of theRoman theatre, seems almost certainto belongto the early Roman period. Another section isrepresentedby some cuttings in hardpan justnorthwest of a large buttress of Roman date inthe southeast quadrant, and a third sectionshows in a trench at the head of StairIX (Fig.22). This consists of a course of large headerblocks resting on a foundationof rubble whichhas been laid without mortar. The blocks pro-ject unevenly and some carrya cutting for thenext course near their forward, or inner, ends.Behind this cutting, ca. 1.00 m. further out, isa well defined setting line. A single block,which suggests a buttress, is also preserved,and this has been further strengthened by anadditional block still further out, resting on afill of concrete. The rough, poros rubble foun-dation for the header coursehas beenfaced onits innerside by a wall of rubble which extendsdown to hardpan. On the inner end of oneheader is a mason's mark in the form of asquaretheta (Fig. 17, at upper right).The problem is whether some part of thisconstruction may be Greek. The working isfairly rough but not moreso than for the foun-dations of the western analemma. The innerends of the headers were never intended to bevisible and consequently must have beencovered by the last seats of the Greekkoilon.It would be normal to provide some sortofpassage around the top of the koilon, and togive this any breadth at all the slope of theupper seats would have to be raised consider-ably above what it is at present. It is verydoubtful if the necessary amount could bemade up by allowing for the settlement thathas undoubtedly taken place. At present the

headers. The face of the last preserved seatfoundation is 4.85 m. inside of the cutting forthe wall course that rested on the headerblocks, and there is a change in the construc-tion of the stair at this point which suggeststhat it never went any higher, but that in thestring course beside it we may see the beddingfor the last row of seats.The importance of deciding between Greekand Roman lies in the resulting determinationof the actual size of the Greek theatre. Thearguments may be briefly stated as follows:A. For Roman:1. The character of the workmanship of theheader blocks and the rubblefoundation belowis not decisive, but favors the Roman period.The mason's mark is not conclusive, but asimilar mark appears on the second Romandiazoma (Fig. 20). The rubble poros stonefoundation resembles other foundations of theRoman period in Corinth, especially that ofthe so-called"goodhigh wall'"14t the east sideof the court in front of the Basilica by theLechaion Road, and another wall in the earlyRoman periodof Peirene.152. It is very difficult to reconcilethe level ofthe blocks with the disposition at the head ofStairIX.3. The final string course blocks of this stairsuggest that there were never any higher up(Fig. 17).B. For Greek:

The fill against the forward face of theheader courseseems, fromthe records,to havebeen wholly Greek, of various periods, downto late Hellenistic.16A terracotta mold for a14 Corinth, I, i, p. 165."IAs yet unpublished.16 The fill immediately south of the header course containedno sherds later than the end of the fourth century B. C.,together with fragments of good Greek stucco. The blocks,however, could easily have been laid down into an undisturbed


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION.THE GREEK PERIOD 31helmeted head of Athenal7was found in 1910"at a low level" a short way within the outerwall, but the exact level is not recorded. Pre-sumably it belonged to the fill put in by theRomans when the cavea was altered.Cuttings n hardpan in a trench in the south-east quadrant suggest a circuitwall within theline of the Roman one, althoughno trace of thewall itself remains. Most probably it was builtof squaredstone, and was entirely removedbythe Roman buildersto furnishmaterial for thelarger circuit. It is also probablethat the Greekwall was not thick enough to serve for thehigher building, and hence advantage wastaken of this fact to enlarge slightly the areaof the cavea.If we assume, then, that the Greek theatrewas slightly smallerthan the Roman, and thatthe presenthead of Stair IX representsthe fullrange of the seats of the koilon, we have a totalof 58 rows of seats for the theatre in its originalGreek form, without deducting any for dia-zomata. The radius to the last row would havemeasured very nearly 55 metres, or almost asmuch as the theatre at Epidauros, measuredto a correspondingpoint.One other matter remains to be consideredin the plan of the theatre; the question as towhether there was a widening out of the curveof the koilon in the end sections. This feature,particularly mentioned by Vitruvius,18 s to beobserved at Epidauros where the koilon isdescribed on three centres. To be sure, fromD6rpfeld's plan,19 t is not done according toVitruvius' formula, but rather more subtly.Athens, Megalopolis,and in fact nearly everyother large Greek theatre from the fourthcentury on observe this feature. Corinthdoesnot. A portion of Stair II is still in place, and a

17 D. M. Robinson, A.J.A., XV, 1911, pp. 484-495, figs. 1-3.18 Vitruvius, V, vii, 1 and 2.19Kabbadias, Fouilles d'Epidaure,pl. II; D6rpfeld-Reisch,op. cit., fig. 70, reproducedand discussed by 0. A. W. Dilke,

"The Greek Theatre Cavea," B.S.A., XLIII, 1948, pp.189-142, where he cites as examples of plans which are of the

line sighted on its axis strikes the same pointas do the axes of the other stairs. The westanalemma, also, when restoredon the basis ofthe preserved foundations, shows that it isparallel with a radius drawn from the commoncentre. Had the circle opened out this wouldnot be the case.If, then, there is truth in the theory that thewidening was caused by the increased use ofthe stage and area immediately in front of it,then the Corinth theatre should belong to aperiod when this was not the general practiceand, save for a relatively temporary woodenskene, the orchestra was the locus of actionaccording to the old tradition.SEATING CAPACITY

On the upper surface of some of the seatblocks are grooved lines at right angles to theface of the seat, spaced uniformly 0.36 m.apart. Many of the preserved blocks are soworn that the lines no longer appear, butwhere they do there can be no doubt of theirpurpose, which was to mark off the spacesallotted to the spectators. Just west of StairIX two seats of rows 31, 32 are still in situ.Theupper shows the spacing lines very clearlyand also bears on its face the words NIKANIKAroughly incised in the soft stone (Fig. 23). Un-fortunately we have no blocks so marked fromthe lower levels of the koilon and cannot tell

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