Wealthy Corinth: A History of the City to 338 Bc

by J.B. Salmon

Oxford University Press, 1987; Sandpiper Books special edition, 1997. Hardbound book as new. Dust jacket as new. Dust jacket protected in mylar sleeve; black cloth boards as new with fine gilt titles at spine; binding sound; pages and illustrations as new. 412 pages text, Appendices I-V 15 pages, Endnotes 2 pages; Bibliography 19 pages; Index 13 pages; 44 Plates 25 pages; 8.75 X 5.75 X 1.25; 1 lb. 13 oz. shipping weight. This is the archaeology and history of one of the principle city-states, or poleis, of Ancient Greece. The name Corinth is probably non-Greek and the earliest foundations probably date back to the Early Bronze Age of the 4th millenium BCE or even before. The site may very well have been inhabited during the Neolithic of the previous two millenia. The site of Corinth is strategic and good for trade, both protected by the land mass of Greece, yet with access to the Gulf of Corinth, which access made it a great trading city.

508 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 1984

Reviews

[Ryan Schaller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extremely dense, academic history of the city of Corinth and from what I can tell, it is pretty much the only book length academic study of the city. Professor Salmon begins with an extremely thorough overview of archaeological evidence from the area of Corinth. I suspect that this opening is why the book has low ratings here. Frankly, I skipped over that section because my interest is not in pottery fragments. Once you get to the discussion of the economy, the government, and the Persian War through Corinthian War Period, the book becomes far more approachable and enjoyable. I expect to use this as a reference material whenever I need to check something Corinth related in my study of Classical Greece.