Hadrian spent much of the winter of 124/125 touring the Peloponnese, visiting all the major cities and providing benefactions to them. The first part of his journey took him to Megara, Athens’ old adversary, then Epidaurus, Argos and Mantineia (see here). The Emperor then continued southward to the renowned city of Sparta before returning to Athens with a stop at Corinth, the seat and the largest city of the province of Achaea. A coin records his arrival at Corinth with a reverse showing a galley and the legend ADV(entus) AVG(usti), a type commonly associated with imperial visits.

At Sparta, Hadrian was welcomed by the ruling Euryclid family, who held significant influence over Spartan affairs. Hadrian was eager to honour and pay tribute to its storied past.

Hadrian was only the second Roman emperor to visit Sparta, following Augustus in 21 BC, and the last one. While Augustus visited Sparta only once, Hadrian did so twice (125 and 128) and held, in absentia, the patronomate, a position which appointed him as the protector of ‘Lycurgan customs’ of Classical Sparta (127/128). His visits to the Laconian capital were recorded in inscriptions, the first during the patronomates of Sidektas and Siteimos (IG V,1 32) and the other during the patronomate of G. Ioulios Meniskos (IG V,1 59). Associated with the AD 125 visit of the Emperor is a remarkable series of dedications of small altars to Hadrian ‘saviour’, ‘founder’ and ‘benefactor’. At least twenty-eight such altars have been recorded (IG V.1.381–405), having received from him some substantial marks of favour. Moreover, the Augustan age theatre, which Pausanias described as ‘worth seeing’, housed a statue of Hadrian (SEG 32, 400). 

Among the benefactions he provided were grants of territory. Epigraphic evidence suggests that Hadrian handed over to Sparta’s jurisdiction two land masses: the island of Caudus, located off the southwest coast of Crete and Corone, a small but prosperous port of Corone on the Messenian Gulf along with its fertile hinterland. At Caudus, a Spartan epimeletes (supervisor) is attested precisely in 124/5, the year of Hadrian’s first visit (IG V,1 494), while four Spartans are found in the post of epimeletes of Coronea, the earliest soon after 125 (IG V,1.34). Along with Caudus and Corone, another overseas possession, Cythera, an island off the southeast coast of the Peloponnese and occupied as private property by the Eurycles family (Strab. 8.5.1), was given to Sparta during the later period of Hadrian’s principate. The gifts of territory likely provided significant income to Sparta, contributing to the cost of new building constructions, including the massive redevelopment of the southeastern Acropolis (Cartledge & Spawforth, 2002).

Indeed, the honorific titulature ‘founder’ and ‘benefactor’ conferred on Hadrian by the Spartans indicates Hadrianic building activity at Sparta. Hadrian’s reshaping of the Acropolis included a stoa, an impressive building that served as a covered walkway or portico along the southern boundary of the Agora during Roman times. The monument was a two-storey marble stoa in the Doric order, measuring 188 meters long and 14.5 meters wide, with a central nymphaeum. Its gigantic scale is unlikely to be matched anywhere else in Roman Greece. This could be the “Persian stoa” that Pausanias saw during his visit in c. AD 160, which featured statues of Persian commanders who were defeated in battle by the Greeks (Waywell & Wilkes, 1994).

The most striking feature in the marketplace is the stoa, which they call Persian because it was made from spoils taken in the Persian wars. In the course of time, they have altered it until it is as large and as splendid as it is now. On the pillars are white-marble figures of Persians, including Mardonius, son of Gobryas. There is also a figure of Artemisia, daughter of Lygdamis and queen of Halicarnassus. (Paus. 3.11.3)

The western part of the Hadrianic stoa abutted the podium of the so-called Round Building (or tholos), dating back to around 600 BC. Its name derives from the excavators’ hopeful association with the ‘circular building containing images of Olympian Zeus and Olympian Aphrodite, located by Pausanias on one of the streets leaving the agora’ (Paus. 3.12.11). Some repairs to the structure were carried out during the Roman period, most probably during the later part of Hadrian’s reign, with the installation of the statues mentioned by Pausanias. This is echoed in the civic cult of Zeus Olympius instituted by the Spartans in Hadrian’s honour from 128/9 and attested by an altar dedicated to Zeus Soter Olympius (IG V,1 406). Pausanias saw Sparta’s ‘newest’ sanctuary of Zeus Olympius, along with the one of the Egyptian god Serapis (Paus. 3.14.5).

In addition, based on brickwork, it has been suggested that Hadrian was the donor of Sparta’s aqueduct. The aqueduct brought water from the lower sources of the Eurotas River, some 12 kilometres northwest of the city, and terminated on the summit of the Acropolis above the theatre.

Hadrian’s host at Sparta was almost certainly the head of the Euryclid family, which had dominated the place since the time of Augustus. The founder of the family was Gaius Julius Eurycles, the son of Lachares, who obtained Roman citizenship and was the strategos of the League (koinon) of Free Laconians (IG V 1 1146), established in southern Greece in 21 BC by Augustus. Eurycles’ son was Gaius Julius Laco, duumvir quinquennalis and Isthmian agonothete (AE 1927, 1), as was Laco’s son Gaius Julius Spartiaticus. Eurycles and Laco issued coins bearing their names during their rule in conjunction with the effigies of Augustus and Claudius. After this period, there was a long gap in coin production in Sparta. Indeed, coins were not minted there again until the 120s, during the reign of Hadrian.

The current Euryclid, C. Julius Eurycles Herculanus, born towards the end of Domitian’s reign, pursued a respectable career in the imperial service and was the first Spartan to enter the Roman Senate as quaestor of Achaea through the sponsorship of Hadrian and going on to be tribune of the plebs, praetor at Rome, legate to the proconsul of Baetica and commander of Legio III Gallica in Syria (IG V,1 1172). He was linked by family ties to Claudius Atticus through the Corinthian Vibullii and was a cousin of Philopappus, the brother of the poetess Julia Balbilla, a companion of the empress Sabina (Birley, 1997). The family claimed descent from the Dioscuri and Hercules. The Dioscuri were common in the Spartan coinage, and Herculanus probably funded the revival of Sparta’s mint under Hadrian, showing the Dioscuri on horseback on the reverse (17 different obverse dies have been identified). When Eurycles Herculanus died c. 136–7, apparently without a male heir, the Euryclid line came to an end.

Eurycles Herculanus made significant contributions to his city, providing funds for the construction of public buildings, most of which were posthumous gifts. A civic official, Nikaron, son of Zelon, was in charge of the family estates and the administration of Herculanus’ bequest to his own city (SEG 11, 495). Among the buildings donated by Herculanus was a gymnasium (Paus. 3.14.6), a training facility likely associated with the establishment of new quinquennial games, the Euryclea, which included athletic contests and offered cash prizes to attract foreign athletes (IG V,1 666). Furthermore, a large thermal complex featuring rooms with hypocausts, wall niches for statuary and pilasters decorated with herms of Hercules in relief has been identified as part of the gymnasium of Eurycles (Spawforth, 2022).

On his death, Herculanus received posthumous heroic honours from the Spartans. A funerary monument was erected for him in the vicinity of the Agora at the expense of his cousin Julia Balbilla, who, based on blocks from his inscribed epitaph found reused in a Late Roman fortification wall (IG V,1 489 & IG V,1 575), personally supervised its construction (Spawforth, 1978). In line with the common practice of the Roman aristocracy to include the emperor in their wills, Herculanus bequeathed his family’s estates on the island of Cythera to the emperor, who in turn gave them back to Sparta. The island’s revenues could have been used to fund the newly established games founded in Herculanus’ memory and those of his illustrious ancestors (Steinhauer & Paspalas, 2006).

Eurycles Herculanus also benefited other cities. He had a stoa with a small shrine dedicated to the divine Antinous in Mantinea (IG V.2 281) and constructed magnificent public baths at Corinth that Pausanias was later to admire (Paus. 2.3.5).

Further initiatives taken by Hadrian following his second visit in 128/9 and, more importantly, his foundation of the Panhellenion in 131/2 would greatly raise Sparta’s profile. In the following decade, a succession of distinguished foreigners (non-Spartan) associated themselves with Spartan training by holding the eponymous patronomate. The earliest of these patronomoi, in the 130s, was the aged Athenian ex-consul, Tiberius Claudius Atticus, whose ties with Sparta had been exceptionally close ever since he spent part of his youth in exile there under Domitian. Atticus had trained as a Spartan ephebe and later required his son Herodes to do the same. The archaistic revival at Sparta was at its height, with festivals in the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, the Limnaion (Paus. 3.16.7), involving Spartan youths enduring endurance trials and being whipped as part of their initiation rites to strengthen them (the Lycurgan agoge).

Pausanias witnessed the cruel ritual of Sparta’s renowned agoge, although its Roman form was much altered. He describes boys being flogged, the altar covered with their blood, and the priestess holding the statue of the goddess. He adds that when the blows became less severe, the priestess would declare that the statue had become heavier and reprimand the floggers. Hadrian seems to have approved the Lycurgan customs at Sparta. In an Imperial edict or speech dating to the 130s to the inhabitants of Cyrene, an alleged Spartan colony, Hadrian refers to Spartan virtues and speaks of Laconian self-discipline (sophrosune) and training (askesis), which he took as a model to the Cyrenaeans (Reynolds, 1978).

The Spartans were to send an embassy to meet Hadrian at Nicopolis, either when he was leaving for Sicily in 125 or when he arrived in Greece in summer 128 (SEG XI 493).

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From Sparta onward, Hadrian’s route becomes unclear. He is generally believed to have visited Olympia, although there is no direct evidence of a visit there, and Pausanias does not mention any buildings or donations by Hadrian there. It is hard, however, to believe that he did not take the chance to visit Olympia and its temple of Zeus with Phidias’ cult statue. It is also unclear which route he would have taken from Sparta to Olympia, assuming he did go there.

He may have passed by Megalopolis and Lykosoura, famous for its extra-urban sanctuary of the local deity Despoina (Birley, 1997). In an inscription from Lycosura, the Megalopolitans honoured him as the “saviour and benefactor of the world and founder of their own city” (IG V,2 533). This suggests that he had received some direct favour, even if it was not necessarily due to a visit. Hadrian ordered a series of repairs to Despoina’s sanctuary. A stele dating to the early reign of Hadrian commemorates works in the naos and pronaos and offerings (IG V,2 520), and a statue was dedicated to him in the temple.

Lycosura was one of Arcadia’s most important sacred places, located on Mount Lykaion’s slopes. It housed a 4th-century BC temple dedicated to Despoina, who was worshipped alongside her mother Demeter and Zeus Lykaios. The temple contained a colossal sculptural group mentioned by Pausanias (reconstruction drawing here) created by the Greek sculptor Damophon of Messene. The group consisted of two colossal statues of Demeter and her daughter Despoina seated on a throne, flanked by smaller images of Artemis and the Titan Anytos (8.37.3-5). At the time of Pausanias’ visit, the sculptures would have been three hundred or more years old.

Hadrian could have also travelled west into Messenia, crossing Mount Taygetus, before continuing up the west coast. At the little town of Abia on the east coast of the Messenian Gulf, a statue of the Emperor was erected there ‘by decree of the Achaeans’, giving him the title ‘Boulaios of the Council’ (IG V1, 1352). In Messene, a limestone base that supported a bronze statue of Hadrian was set up in a niche of the theatre’s colossal three-storeyed scenae frons. However, those dedications are not necessarily the result of a visit.

The dedicator of the statue at Messene was Tiberius Claudius Frontinus Macer Campanus, son of Tiberius Claudius Saethida Caelianus I (IG V,1 1455), the lifelong high priest of the imperial cult and Helladarch of the Achaean League (Themelis, 2015). He belonged to the influential Saethida family, which is well-attested not just at Messene but also in Italy (Abellinum in Campania) and was the first Messenian to enter the Senate. Tiberius Claudius Frontinus’ sons (IG V,1 1451) also had respectable senatorial careers and held offices in the imperial administration. Pausanias refers to Saethida Caelianus I, stating that heroic honours were paid to him by the people of Messene after his death (4.32.2).

An inscription in the sanctuary at Olympia records sacrifices to Hadrian by the Achaean League on his birthday shortly after a fragmentary reference to Zeus Apobaterios, ‘Zeus of safe landings’ who was worshipped to commemorate the safe completion of naval journeys (IvO 57 l. 38). In this case, it probably refers to Hadrian’s safe arrival in Greece. The inscription is a decree issued by the Achaean League, stating that the League had voted to grant various honours to Hadrian and sent an embassy to request his acceptance of these honours. Hadrian replied with a letter in which he accepted some honours while declining others. The Achaeans inscribed the decree along with Hadrian’s letter and erected copies at Olympia, Argos, Isthmia, Delphi, and Athens. Additionally, the Hadrian statue erected at Abia by the League may also have been one of the honours included in this inscription (source). According to Pausanias, statues of Trajan and Hadrian were erected in the pronaos of the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. An altar set up in honour of the Emperor survives (IvO 380).

There are statues of emperors: Hadrian, of Parian marble dedicated by the cities of the Achaean confederacy, and Trajan, dedicated by all the Greeks. (Paus. 5.12.6)

Coins minted at Elis during Hadrian’s reign featured an image of Phidias’ renowned statue of Zeus. This imagery has been interpreted as a reflection of Hadrian’s visit to the region, suggesting that he may have funded the restoration of the grand statue, which was over five hundred years old at the time of his visit (Birley, 1997). However, there is a lack of sources to support this claim. Olympian Zeus was soon to receive special attention from Hadrian in Athens.

Pausanias visited Olympia c. AD 173. From his accounts, we learn that the statue was made of gold and ivory, that Zeus was represented seated on a throne, wearing a mantle and sandals and that on his head was a wreath imitating olive shoots. We learn that in his right hand, he held a golden Nike, while in his left hand, he held a sceptre topped with an eagle. The Nike was also made of gold and ivory, adorned with a garland on her head, and she also held a fillet (5.11.1). Only through Pausanias do we know that Damophon was commissioned to restore Phidias’ chryselephantine statue, which had been damaged by an earthquake in 183 BC (4.31.6). Damophon was publicly honoured by the Eleans for the excellent job he did.

The renowned Herodes Atticus, recently awarded senatorial rank and accepted as a friend of the emperor (SIG 3. 863), would be responsible for the famous nymphaeum in Olympia, housing the imperial cult (built around AD 150). The flamboyant fountain dominated the northern end of the sanctuary with its great height, the tallest after the Temple of Zeus, and its colourful façade full of inscriptions and portraits, including Hadrian (see here). There can be no doubt that Pausanias saw Herodes’ nymphaeum. Oddly enough, he fails to mention it. This is likely due to his general disinterest in things of his own period (Habicht, 1985).

The Nymphaeum consisted of two water basins and featured two layers of eleven niches arranged in a semi-circle. At the centre stood a statue of Zeus. A marble bull statue was placed on the balustrade between the two basins in a suitably prominent position. According to the inscription on the bull, the nymphaeum was dedicated while Regilla, Herodes’ wife, was serving as priestess of Demeter at Olympia. It was the final piece of an aqueduct about 3 km in length to provide the sanctuary with clean water.

If Hadrian did visit Olympia, he might have wanted to see Scillus, where Xenophon lived for many years in exile after returning with the Ten Thousand and where he had been buried, according to the locals (Birley, 1997). Pausanias reports that ‘Scillus is a hunting ground for wild boars and deer’, an ideal opportunity for Hadrian to indulge his passion. When the huntsman Xenophon bought the estate there, he built a small temple to Artemis Ephesus for having helped save him from the Persians, and he held an annual celebration in her honour.

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Hadrian then reached Corinth, the capital of Achaea’s senatorial province and the Roman governor’s residence. This now prosperous Roman colony (founded by Julius Caesar in 44 BC as Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis) had become a centre of the imperial cult and a commercial hub. By the mid-2nd century AD, Corinth was established as the capital of Achaea with a typical Greek and Roman mix. Many public buildings were rebuilt, the Forum and the temples were full of statues, and with the help of Herodes Atticus, Corinth became a marble-clad showplace. As a Roman colony, Corinth was designed according to the typical Roman urban plan, with the Forum in the centre of the town and the Lechaion Road serving as the cardo Maximus, extending from the Forum straight to the Lechaeum, the west harbour of Corinth lying 12 stades (Paus. 2.3.2). An amphitheatre, the venue of gladiatorial duels and combats with wild beasts, stood on the northeast corner of the city, 1200 metres away from the Temple of Apollo.

Corinth, known for being “well-watered,” was renowned for its abundant water sources, with numerous springs associated with ritual activity. Baths, public fountains and water displays were built throughout the city. Among the gifts that Hadrian provided to Corinth were baths and an aqueduct, the city’s other great source of water. Pausanias, who visited the city of Corinth between 150 and 160, mentions this major hydraulic work on two occasions (2.3.5, 8.22.3) and notes that Hadrian was responsible for bringing water from Lake Stymphalus to Corinth and attributes one of the many baths to Hadrian. However, he adds that C. Julius Eurycles Herculanus had donated the most sumptuous ones. American excavations at Corinth have brought to light nine fountains and a dozen Roman bath complexes, the earliest from the Augustan period. Although the baths built by Hadrian have not yet been identified, they were likely supplied by the aqueduct commissioned by the Emperor.

The Corinthians have baths in many parts of the city, some put up at the public charge and one by the emperor Hadrian. The most famous of them is near the Poseidon. It was made by the Spartan Eurycles, who beautified it with various kinds of stone, especially the one quarried at Croceae in Laconia. On the left of the entrance stands a Poseidon, and after him Artemis hunting. Throughout the city are many wells, for the Corinthians have a copious supply of flowing water, besides the water which the emperor Hadrian brought from Lake Stymphalus, but the most noteworthy is the one by the side of the image of Artemis. Over it is a Bellerophontes, and the water flows through the hoof of the horse Pegasus. (Paus. 2.3.5)

The modern city contains none of these sanctuaries, but I found the following notable things. In the Stymphalian territory is a spring, from which the emperor Hadrian brought water to Corinth. In winter the spring makes a small lake in Stymphalus, and the river Stymphalus issues from the lake; in summer there is no lake, but the river comes straight from the spring. This river descends into a chasm in the earth, and reappearing once more in Argolis it changes its name, and is called Erasinus instead of Stymphalus. (Paus. 8.22.3)

The course of Hadrian’s aqueduct, its construction, and other technical details have been studied by Yannis Lolos. His recent investigations have significantly increased our understanding of the Corinthian aqueduct, as he has followed and traced its entire line and described the remaining structures in detail (Lolos, 1997). The aqueduct featured at least four underground tunnels and approximately 70 bridges along its route, with 22 still visible today. Depending on the subsoil, the aqueduct consisted of a channel cut into the rock or an underground canal. It had an average gradient of five metres per kilometre and delivered as much as 80,000 cubic meters a day, according to Lolos’ estimate. The public fountains of the city and its baths would have been the main beneficiaries of the Stymphalian water (Lolos, 2018).

Hadrian’s aqueduct ran for 85 kilometres from a source located on the southeast slope of Mount Kylini at an altitude of ca. 620 m. The path crossed the northern part of Lake Stymphalus to the entrance of the first tunnel (see here) and continued southeast to Mount Megalovouni (known in antiquity as Kelossa). From there, it changed direction and proceeded northeast, passing south of Ancient Nemea before reaching Mount Stroggylos. The route then continued eastward, eventually turning north to ascend the slopes of Acrocorinth, reaching an altitude of approximately 190 meters. The aqueduct then descended eastward towards the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore and the centre of the city (Lolos, 2018). Archaeologists recently uncovered a portion of the aqueduct during excavations in Chiliomodi (ancient Tenea) in Corinthia (see here). The rediscovered section is over 30 metres long and runs north to south. It consists of a channel covered by a semicircular roof made of stone and mortar.

Hadrian and his friend Herodes Atticus were both involved in projects to embellish the city. Under Hadrian, the theatre gained an elaborate new scaenae frons (stage building) faced with marble relief sculpture, and Herodes Atticus refurbished the Odeon just to its south. Pausanias mentions both buildings, but he does not provide a description of them or their decorations (2.4.5 & 2.3.6).

The original theatre was built in the 5th century BC and, like many theatres in Greece, underwent a number of changes during its nine century of use. During the Hellenistic period, before the sack of 146 BC, a renovation was carried out that included the addition of a more permanent stage structure. The core of the theatre survived Roman destruction, and sometime during the early years of Augustus’ reign, it was rebuilt in a more Roman style. This rebuilding included a steeper slope for the seating area (cavea) and the addition of a portico in the upper section between the theatre and the Odeon. A significant renovation, which involved rebuilding the stage area, took place during the Hadrianic period. Eventually, in the early 3rd century AD, the theatre was altered to accommodate gladiatorial games by removing some of the orchestra seating.

The Hadrianic period saw the three-storied scaenae frons totally revetted in marble and embellished with three semicircular exedrae with fluted columns standing across the front. It was decorated with three series of marble reliefs depicting scenes from themes that were particularly popular in ancient Greek art. One frieze has scenes from the struggle between gods and giants (Gigantomachy), the other from the Greeks’ struggle against the Amazons (Amazonomachy), and the third from the Labours of Hercules. They were each placed on a single story. The Gigantomachy, which measures 19.44 meters in length, is believed to have been placed on the lowest story. The Amazonomachy, measuring 17.92 meters long, may have occupied the second story, while the Labour of Hercules, at 15.12 meters, was likely located on the top story (Sturgeon, 1977). The front of the pulpitum was also probably decorated with frieze (like in the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens), but this part of the theatre was destroyed when the theatre was converted into an arena.

The frieze slabs were discovered during excavations conducted in the theatre by the American School of Classical Studies in Athens during the first two decades of the last century. All fragments are housed in the Corinth Museum, with fifteen on public display.

In his biography of Herodes Atticus, Paul Graindor stated that Corinth was Herodes’s favourite city after Athens. Indeed, Herodes’ benefits to Corinth were based on a longstanding relationship between the family and the city. Philostratus mentions that Herodes built a magnificent Odeon at Corinth, and Pausanias saw such a building on his tour of the city. However, he did not mention Herodes as the donor. It is more than likely that Herodes was responsible for the renovations of the Odeon rather than the building. The northern façade of the Odeon was now covered in marble, and a spacious open courtyard with colonnades was created between the Odeon and the theatre, forming a cohesive design. Inside the Odeon, a statue of Hadrian in armour, or what remains of it, was discovered (see here). In the 3rd century AD, the orchestra of the Odeon was also enlarged and renovated to become an arena.

In honour of Hadrian’s visit, the Corinthians issued an “Adventus Augusti” coin, the coming of the emperor, as they had done for Nero (RPC I, 1204). The Hadrianic bronze coins feature an imperial galley with a superstructure and eight oarsmen on the reverse and the legend col(onia) Iul(ia) Cor(inthiensis) adv(entus) Aug(usti) (“the Julian of Corinth, arrival of Augustus) (RPC III, 131–132–136). In addition, Hadrian was honoured by the Achaeans at Corinth for his extensive efforts to restore and improve the province and raise the status of Achaea’s cities. They dedicated a statue and honoured him as a “restorer”, “saviour”, and “benefactor of Greece” (Corinth 8,3 102). Dated to his eighth tribunician power, i.e. 124/5, the erection of the statue may be connected to the Emperor’s visit and benefactions, either in anticipation of them or afterwards in thanks.

Coin production at Corinth significantly increased during the early Hadrian’s reign. The variety of reverse types and the number of obverse dies indicate a surge in production (Walbank, 2003). Gods and goddesses linked with Corinth appeared on the reverses: Bellerophon (a Corinthian hero), Pegasus and the Chimaera, Aphrodite (protectress of the city) on Acrocorinth, Asclepius and Hygieia, the nymph Peirene, Poseidon seated standing or in biga, Melicertes on a dolphin in a round temple and the Isthmus personified (see here). However, Corinth also demonstrated its awareness of being a Roman colony by featuring the head of the goddess Roma on the obverse and either a hand holding corn ears and a poppy head or a temple facade on the reverse (RPC III, 244 & 245).

A rather interesting Hadrianic coin, an as struck between 118 and ca. 124, features the “Marsyas of the Forum” image on its reverse, showing Marsyas holding a wineskin, which stood in the forum at Rome (RPC III, 190). It appears on two marble relief panels of the Hadrianic period, the so-called Anaglypha Traiani, which show scenes in the Forum (see here). In its numismatic context, this particular statue of Marsyas was associated with the city’s prestigious status as a Roman colonia and with civic freedom and, in particular, with the grant of the ius Italicum, a privilege of a higher status granted to certain colonies, including tax exemption (Walbank, 2003). However, the presence of Marysas on coins indicating that the city was granted ius Italicum is still a matter of debate. According to Walbank, there is epigraphic evidence that Corinth was granted immunity from taxation by Hadrian at the instigation of the Epidaurian aristocrat Cn. Cornelius Pulcher, probably in 124 when he was in Corinth, and that this was commemorated by the issue showing Marsyas in the Roman Forum (Corinth 8,1 80, line 5).

Another coin featured the Isthmian wreath, particularly emphasising the Games held at the Panhellenic sanctuary of Poseidon (RPC III, 368). The agonistic festival celebrated every two years at the sanctuary of Poseidon on the Isthmus was one of the oldest and most famous Panhellenic festivals and attracted contestants and spectators from all over the Greek world. According to legend, the Isthmian Games began as funeral games for the child hero Melicertes-Palaimon. When he and his mother, Ino-Leucothea, leapt into the Saronic Gulf, a dolphin brought his body to the Isthmus, where he was found by Sisyphus, king of Corinth, who buried him and instituted the games in his honour (Paus. 2.1.3). The altar and sacred pine tree of Melicertes stood on the shore. As the dolphin rider, he was the patron of sailors and protected them from shipwrecks.

After the Romans destroyed Corinth in 146 BC, the city lost its autonomy and almost certainly control of the Isthmian Games. Pausanias reports that the games did not lapse but continued under the administration of neighbouring Sicyon as long as Corinth lay deserted (2.11.2). They were returned to Corinthian control a few decades after the Roman colony was established between 7 BC and AD 3 and continued until the 3rd century AD (source). The games featured various athletic competitions, such as foot races, boxing, wrestling, the pentathlon, and horse and chariot racing.

Upon the Isthmus is the temple of the Isthmian Neptune, shaded above with a grove of pine trees, where the Corinthians celebrated the Isthmian games. (Strabo 8.6.22)

In Roman times, the Palaimonion shrine dedicated to Melicertes-Palaimon was situated at the southeast side of the Poseidon precinct, where the tomb of the local hero was thought to be located. Bulls were sacrificed to him in a pit and wholly consumed by fire. Hadrian’s visit (?) may have been the occasion for the building of the first temple, a circular structure of the Ionic style with a conical roof supported by columns, as shown on Corinthian coins of the period. The coin representations show small tholos with five columns and a statue of Palaimon lying on the back of a dolphin (see here). A few years later, in the Antonine period, the temple was dismantled to make way for the East Stoa and moved to the south. It was connected to Melicertes’ tomb by means of an underground channel. 

Within the enclosure is on the left a temple of Palaemon, with images in it of Poseidon, Leucothea and Palaemon himself. There is also what is called his Holy of Holies, and an underground descent to it, where they say that Palaemon is concealed. Whosoever, whether Corinthian or stranger, swears falsely here, can by no means escape from his oath. (Paus. 2.2.1)

Given Herodes’ interest in Corinth, it is not surprising that he also donated to the neighbouring Panhellenic sanctuary of Isthmia. Both Pausanias (2.1.8) and Philostratus (VS 2.5519) mention multiple offerings made by the family in Isthmia, especially a “large statue group in gold and ivory of Poseidon and Amphitrite placed inside the temple of Poseidon”. Like Hadrian, Atticus had a predilection for hydraulic projects and constructed a bathhouse in Isthmia. The baths had fourteen spacious rooms decorated with mosaics, frescoes, sculptures, and a rich variety of marble brought to Isthmia from all parts of the Roman world.

According to Philostratus, Herodes’ greatest unfulfilled ambition was to complete the canal across the Isthmus of Corinth. He considered it the only lasting and memorable achievement he could undertake. However, he did not get the project underway as he never asked for permission from the Emperor.

By March AD 125, Hadrian crossed the Isthmus of Corinth and made his way back to Athens for the Dionysia, the great festival held in the theatre in honour of Dionysus, which he had first attended in 112. He was to serve as agonothetes (HA Hadr. 13.1) while wearing Greek attire, making a positive impression on the local residents (Dio 69.16.1).

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