Diolkos Totally Explained

Everything about The Diolkos totally explained

The Diolkos—from the Greek dia (across) and holkos (portage)—was a paved trackway in Ancient Greece which enabled boats to be moved overland across the Isthmus of Corinth. The to long roadway was a rudimentary form of railway, Excavated letters and associated pottery found at the site indicate a construction date at the end of the 7th or beginning of the 6th century BC, that's around the time when Periander was tyrant of Corinth. The Diolkos remained reportedly in regular service until at least the middle of the 1st century AD, after which no more written references appear. and around 1150 are not assumed to have been on the Diolkos due to the extensive time lag.

Role in warfare

The Diolkos played an important role in ancient naval warfare. Greek historians note several occasions from the 5th to 1st century BC when warships were hauled across the Isthmus in order to speed up naval campaigning. In 428 BC, the Spartans planned to transport their warships over the Diolkos to the Saronic Gulf to threaten Athens, while later in the Peloponnesian War they carted over a squadron heading quickly for operations at Chios (411 BC). In 220 BC, Demetrius of Pharos had a fleet of about fifty vessels dragged across the Isthmus to the Bay of Corinth by his men. Three years later, a Macedonian fleet of 38 vessels was sent across by Philip V, while the larger warships sailed around Cape Malea. After his victory at Actium (31 BC), Octavian advanced as fast as possible against Marc Antony by ordering part of his 260 Liburnians to be carried over the Isthmus. In AD 868, the Byzantine admiral Niketas Oryphas had his whole fleet of one hundred dromons dragged across the Isthmus in a quickly executed operation, but this took place most likely on a different route. Comments by Pliny and Strabo who described in times of peace the Diolkos as being in regular service also imply a commercial use of the trackway. It isn't known what tolls Corinth could extract from the Diolkos on its territory, but the fact that the trackway was used and maintained long after its construction, indicates that it remained for merchant ships an attractive alternative to the trip around Cape Malea for much of antiquity.

Structure

Course

The Diolkos runs across the narrowest part of the Isthmus, where the trackway followed the local topography in a curved course in order to avoid steeper gradients. The roadway passes the Isthmus ridge at ca. height with an average gradient of 1:70, Its total length is estimated at 6–7 km (3.7–4.3 mi) depending on the number of supposed bends taken into account. A total of has been archaeologically traced, mainly at its western end close to the bay of Corinth. From there on, the Diolkos either followed in a straight line the course of the modern canal, or swung south in a wide arc.

Track and transport

The Diolkos was a trackway paved with hard limestone The roadway was to wide. the mode of ship transport has largely to be reconstructed from the archaeological evidence. The tracks indicate that transport on the Diolkos was done with some sort of wheeled vehicle. Either vessel and cargo were hauled across on separate vehicles, or only the cargo was taken across and reloaded on a different ship at the other side of the Isthmus. although a technical analysis has shown that the transport of Triremes (25 t, 35 m (115 ft) long, 5 m (16 ft) beam) was technically feasible, but difficult. To prevent the danger of breaking the keel in middle during transport, hypozomata must have been used which were thick ropes running from bow to stern meant to reduce sagging and hogging of the hull.

Ancient railway

According to the British historian of science M.J.T. Lewis, the Diolkos represented a railway, in the basic sense of a prepared track which so guides the vehicles running on it that they can't leave the track. Measuring between and, Also, its average gauge of around On the other hand, the marked cambers of this road section may point at deliberate tracks as well. In 1913, J.G. Frazer reported in his commentary of Pausanias on traces of an ancient trackway across the Isthmus, while parts of the western quay were discovered by Fowler in 1932. who uncovered a more or less continuous stretch of and traced about in all.

Petition

Today, erosion caused by ship movements on the nearby Canal has left considerable portions of the Diolkos in demolition, particularly at its excavated western end. Critics who blame the Greek Ministry of Culture for continued inactivity have launched a petition for saving and restoring the registered archaeological site.

Ancient sources

The following ancient writers mention the transfer of ships across the Isthmus (in chronological order):

Thucydides 3.15.1, 8.7, 8.8.3–4
Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 647–648
Polybius 4.19.7–9 [318], 5.101.4 [484], frag. 162 (ed. M. Buettner-Wolst)
Strabo 8.2.1 [C.335], 8.6.22 [C.380], 8.6.4 [C.369]
Pliny, Natural History, 4.8–10, 18.18
Cassius Dio 51.5
Hesychius (ed. Schmidt, I, p. 516.80)
Suidas 2.92
George Sphrantzes 1.33
Livy 42.16.6
Joubert, P.A.: Géographie d'Édrisi 2 (Paris 1840), p. 123

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