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Diolkos

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 short cut allowed Antiquity|ancient vessels to avoid the dangerous circumnavigation of the Peloponnese peninsula. The main function of the Diolkos was the transfer of goods, although in times of war it also became a preferred means of speeding up naval campaigns. The to long roadway was a rudimentary form of railway, and operated from ca. 600 BC until the middle of the 1st century AD. The scale on which the Diolkos combined the two principles of the railway and the overland transport of ships remained unique in antiquity.

Function

The ''Diolkos'' saved ships sailing from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea a dangerous sea journey round the Peloponnese, whose three headlands had a reputation for gales, especially Cape Matapan and Cape Malea. By contrast, both the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf were relatively sheltered waters. In addition, the overland passage of the Isthmus, a neck of land wide at its narrowest, offered a much shorter route to Athens for ships sailing to/from the Ionian coast of Greece.

History

Ancient literature is silent on the date of the construction of the Diolkos. For Thucydides (460 BC–395 BC) the Diolkos already seemed to be something ancient.Werner, Walter: "The largest ship trackway in ancient times: the Diolkos of the Isthmus of Corinth, Greece, and early attempts to build a canal", ''The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology'', Vol. 26, No. 2 (1997), pp. 98–119 (99 & 112) Excavated letters and associated pottery found at the site indicate a construction date at the end of the 7th century BC|7th or beginning of the 6th century BC, that is around the time when Periander was tyrant of Corinth.Verdelis, Nikolaos: "Le diolkos de L'Isthme", ''Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique'', Vol. 81 (1957), pp. 526–529 (526)Cook, R. M.: "Archaic Greek Trade: Three Conjectures 1. The Diolkos", ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', Vol. 99 (1979), pp. 152–155 (152)Drijvers, J.W.: "Strabo VIII 2,1 (C335): Porthmeia and the Diolkos", ''Mnemosyne'', Vol. 45 (1992), pp. 757ndash;76 (75)Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M.: "Le Diolkos de l’Isthme à Corinthe: son tracé, son fonctionnement", ''Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique'', Vol. 117 (1993), pp. 233–261 (256)Lewis, M. J. T., "Railways in the Greek and Roman world", in Guy, A. / Rees, J. (eds), ''Early Railways. A Selection of Papers from the First International Early Railways Conference'' (2001), pp. 8–19 (11) The Diolkos remained reportedly in regular service until at least the middle of the 1st century AD, after which no more written references appear. Possibly the trackway was put out of use by Nero's abortive canal works in AD 67.Cook, R. M. (1979), p. 152 (Fn. 8) Much later transports of warships across the Isthmus in the late 9th centuryCook, R. M. (1979), p. 152 (Fn. 7)Werner, Walter (1997), p. 114 and around 1150 are not assumed to have been on the Diolkos due to the extensive time lag.Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), p. 12

Role in warfare

The Diolkos played an important role in ancient naval warfare. Greek historians note several occasions from the 5th century BC|5th to 1st century BC when warships were hauled across the Isthmus in order to speed up naval campaigning.Although the name of the Diolkos is not explicitly mentioned in these historical sources, its use on these occasions is generally assumed as the Diolkos existed earlier and was available later. (Cook, R. M. (1979), p. 152 (Fn. 7); MacDonald, Brian R. (1986), p. 192 (Fn. 6)) In 428 BC, the History of Sparta|Spartans planned to transport their warships over the Diolkos to the Saronic Gulf to threaten Athens,Thucydides, “A History of the Peloponnesian War”, 3.15.1 while later in the Peloponnesian War they carted over a squadron heading quickly for operations at Chios (411 BC).Thucydides, “A History of the Peloponnesian War”, 8.7–8 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.Polybius, "Histories", 4.19.77–79 Three years later, a Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian fleet of 38 vessels was sent across by Philip V of Macedon|Philip V, while the larger warships sailed around Cape Malea.Polybius, "Histories", 5.101.4 After his victory at Battle of Actium|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.Werner, Walter (1997), p. 113f. In 868|AD 868, the Byzantine admiral Niketas Oryphas had his whole fleet of one hundred dromons dragged across the Isthmus in a quickly executed operation,Werner, Walter (1997), p. 114 but this took place most likely on a different route.

Role in commerce

Despite the frequent mentioning of the Diolkos in connection with military operations, modern scholarship assumes that the prime purpose of the trackway must have been the transport of cargo, considering that warships cannot have needed transporting very often, and ancient historiography was always more interested in war than commerce.MacDonald, Brian R.: "The Diolkos", ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', Vol. 106 (1986), pp. 191-195 (192)Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993), p. 235Werner, Walter (1997), p. 112Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), p. 13 Comments by Pliny the Elder|Pliny and Strabo who described in times of peace the Diolkos as being in regular service also imply a commercial use of the trackway. Coinciding with the rise of Architecture of ancient Greece|monumental architecture in Greece, the construction of the Diolkos may have initially served particularly for transporting heavy goods like marble, monoliths and timber to points west and east.MacDonald, Brian R. (1986), p. 193Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), p. 14 It is not 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.MacDonald, Brian R. (1986), p. 195

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.Werner, Walter (1997), p. 109 The roadway passes the Isthmus ridge at ca. height with an average gradient of 1:70, while the steepest sections rise up to 6%.Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993), p. 246 Its total length is estimated at 6–7 km (3.7–4.3 mi), or Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), p. 10 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. There the known trackway begins at a mooring place south of the canal, runs parallel to the waterway for a few hundred meters, after which it switches to the north side, running in a slight bend a similar distance along the canal.Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993), p. 237–246 From there on, the Diolkos either followed in a straight line the course of the modern canal,Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993), p. 238 (Fig. 3) or swung south in a wide arc.Werner, Walter (1997), p. 108 (Fig. 16) The roadway ended at the Saronic Gulf at the village Schoinos (today: Kalamaki) described by Strabo as eastern terminal. Some sections of the Diolkos have been destroyed by the Corinth Canal|19th century canal or other modern installations.Werner, Walter (1997), p. 106

Track and transport

The Diolkos was a trackway paved with hard limestone and parallel grooves running about apart.Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), p. 12 The roadway was to wide. Since ancient sources tell us little about how the ships were hauled across,Werner, Walter (1997), p. 109 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.Werner, Walter (1997), p. 111 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. Cook, R. M. (1979), p. 153 It is assumed that the vessels were usually rather boats than ships,Drijvers, J.W. (1992), pp. 76 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,Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993), p. 259–261 but difficult.Werner, Walter (1997), p. 109 (Fig. 17) To prevent the danger of breaking the keel in middle during transport, ''hypozomata'' must have been used which were thick ropes running from Bow (ship)|bow to stern meant to reduce sagging and hogging of the hull (watercraft)|hull. Ship and cargo were presumably pulled by men and animals with the help of ropes, Block and tackle|tackles and possibly also capstans.Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), p. 12f. The scientist Trolley aimed at establishing the manpower which was necessary for hauling the vessels over the Isthmus ridge: Assuming that a Trireme soaked with water weighed 38 t including its trolley, and that a man can exert a force of 300 Newton|N over a longer period of time, the pulling teams - depending on the slope and the surface of the cat track - must have numbered between 112 and 142 people (33 550 to 42 500 N). Bringing the trolley up to speed would have even required 180 men. With 2 km/h speed over an estimated length of 6 km, the transfer process from sea to sea would have thus taken three hours to complete.Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993), p. 252f., 257-261 Assuming less load and Rolling resistance|rolling friction, Raepsaet, in contrast, calculates a maximum pulling force of 27 000 N, which would have resulted in a significantly smaller towing crew. Under these circumstances, the use of harnessed oxen - which has been refuted by Trolley on the basis of their relatively dimishing pulling capabilities -For example, according to Trolley, three pairs of oxen can exert only twice as much pulling force as a single one (Raepsaet & Tolley 1993, p. 261). would have become feasible. In any case, the necessary expenditure of energy at the Diolkos must be regarded in both scenarios as considerable.

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 cannot leave the track.Lewis, M. J. T., "Railways in the Greek and Roman world", in Guy, A. / Rees, J. (eds), ''Early Railways. A Selection of Papers from the First International Early Railways Conference'' (2001), pp. 8–19 (8 & 15) Measuring between and , remaining in regular and frequent service for at least 650 years, and being open to all on payment, it constituted even a public railway, a concept which according to Lewis did not recur until around 1800.Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), p. 15 Also, its average Rail gauge|gauge of around is similar to modern standards. However, a close examination of the excavated tracks may give a more differentiated picture. While there is agreement that the grooves in the eastern part were cut deliberately into the stone slabs to guide cart wheels,Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993), p. 243 those in the western section are interpreted by some authors as a result of wear or do not appear at all.Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993), pp. 237–243Werner, Walter (1997), pp. 103–105 On the other hand, the marked cambers of this road section may point at deliberate tracks as well. Generally, varying forms of the grooves can also be explained with the long time of operation of the trackway during which modifications and repairs must have significantly changed the appearance of the Diolkos.

Modern exploration

The chief engineer of the Corinth Canal Béla Gerster conducted extensive research on the topography of the Isthmus, but did not discover the Diolkos. Remains of the ship trackway were probably first identified by the German archaeologist Lolling in the 1883 Baedeker edition.Werner, Walter (1997), p. 98 In 1913, J.G. Frazer reported in his commentary of Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias on traces of an ancient trackway across the Isthmus,Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993), p. 236 while parts of the western quay were discovered by Fowler in 1932. Systematic excavations were finally undertaken by the Greek archaeologist Nikolaos Verdelis between 1956 and 1962,Verdelis, Nikolaos: "Le diolkos de L'Isthme", ''Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique'', (1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963) who uncovered a more or less continuous stretch of and traced about in all. Even though Verdelis’ excavation reports continue to provide the basis for modern interpretations, his premature passing prevented full publication, leaving many questions open concerning the exact nature of the structure.Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993), p. 239 Additional investigations ''in situ'', meant to complement Verdelis’ work, were later published by Georges Raepsaet and Walter Werner.Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993)Werner, Walter (1997)

Present Condition

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 Minister for Culture (Greece)|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):All references from Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M. (1993), p. 234, save Livy and al-Idrisi (Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), p. 18)
- 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)
- Livy 42.16.6
- Strabo 8.2.1 C.335, 8.6.22 C.380, 8.6.4 C.369
- Pliny, ''Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History'', 4.9–11, 18.18
- Cassius Dio 51.5
- Hesychius (ed. Schmidt, I, p. 516.80)
- Suidas 2.92
- George Sphrantzes 1.33
- Joubert, P.A.: ''Géographie d'Muhammad al-Idrisi|Édrisi'' 2 (Paris 1840), p. 123