Founded by Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., the Roman colony of Corinth,
Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis was layed out virtually on top of the
former Greek city that had been destroyed by the Roman consul Lucius Mummius
in 146 B.C. The site remained largely uninhabited for 102
years. According to literary sources, the Greek male population had been
killed and the women and children had been sold into slavery.1
The location of Corinth had been important during the Greek period, situated
near the Isthmus, the land bridge between the Peloponnesos and mainland
Greece, as well as having ports on the Saronic Gulf and the
Corinthian Gulf.
In the new foundation of 44 B.C. the Romans utilized many of the existing Greek buildings in the design of their own city although the
organization and city plan of the Roman colony was different than its Greek
predecessor. At this time, at the end of the ninth year of the project, we
have succeeded in defining a detailed plan of the urban Roman colony. Additionally,
evidence exists for what is likely to be several phases of Roman
agricultural land division (centuriation) of the territorium.
1For a general discussion of the history of Corinth during this time period, see James Wiseman, 'Corinth and Rome I: 228 B.C. - A.D. 267', Aufstieg und Niedergang der Romischen Welt II, 7.1, Berlin, 1979, pp. 438-548.