It is argued in this article: 1) that the rough ancient walls within the post-antique Middle Gate of Acrocorinth, and below the North Bastion, were parts of the retaining walls for a zigzag ramp ascending to the ancient gateway, which always stood more or less on the site of the extant Upper Gate; 2) that there may have been two Hellenistic phases to the extant south tower of the Upper Gate, the first, built entirely of poros ashlars, belonging to the time of Demetrios Poliorketes (with whom Carpenter had associated all the extant remains), the second to the second half of the third century; 3) that the early Hellenistic poros ashlar survives only at the bottom of the flank walls of the tower, the entire west face and the beginning of the flank returns having been rebuilt in hard Acrocorinth limestone, the upper portions of the returns in reused poros blocks; 4) that, as suggested by Scranton, the northwest walls of Acrocorinth may originally have started across the great North Bay from the northeast foot of the northwest cliffs, then ascended to the head of the bay more or less along the line of the footpath leading to the extant North Postern; 5) that the ancient poros wall at the head of the west extremity of the North Bay was not a Late Antique reconstruction, as Carpenter suggested, but rather a part of the early Hellenistic circuit of Demetrios, and that this stretch of wall has remained in situ ever since it was built; and 6) that the ancient gate or postern in the North Bay was always more or less on the site of the extant North Postern.* In 1936, the city-walls of ancient Corinth were described and discussed in detail by Rhys Carpenter and A.W. Parsons. The authors' conclusions with regard to absolute chronology, though modified in certain respects by R.L. Scranton, have been widely accepted as representing in broad outline one of the more dependable sequences in the overall chronology of Greek fortifications.' Corinth 111.2 has in fact proved, and deservedly so, to have been a milestone in the study of Greek military architecture, especially where the authors' conclusions were based on evidence from controlled excavations; after a half century, despite an ever-increasing interest in the subject, the framework of the Carpenter-Parsons-Scranton interpretation has remained essentially unchallenged.2 Yet it would be surprising if some details did not invite reconsideration in the light of more recent work, at least for sectors where the Corinthian remains are ragmentary or the evidence regarding them contradictory or confusing, and especially when, as in the case of the entire circuit of Acrocorinth, evidence from excavations is lacking. T e following pages attempt to clarify the history f the ancient walls guarding the western approaches and the head of the great North Bay of Acrocorinth. My own interest in these walls was rekindled in the fall of 1977 by discussions with Charles K. Williams and the late Colin Edmonson, both of whom challenged my acceptance of some of Carpenter's conclusions, particularly with respect to the history of the ancient West Gate of the fortress. Since that time I have several times reexamined the walls of Acrocorinth, once on my own, once in the company of Charles Williams (both of these occasions early in 1978), and thrice together with my wife, Joan E. Winter (in 1982, 1983, and 1986). I believe that the views here presented, though scarcely conclusive, accord somewhat better than those of my predecessors with the evidence of the ancient remains.3 * A brief summary of this paper was presented at a Conference on Hellenistic fortifications held at Valbonne, France, in December 1982. The following abbreviations are used: Corinth 111.2 R. Carpenter and A.W. Parsons, Corinth III, Pt. 2: The Fortifications ofAcrocorinth and the Lower Town (Princeton 1936). Scranton R.L. Scranton, Greek Walls (Cambridge, Mass. 1941). Corinth 111.2; modification by Scranton 56-57, 85-87. 2 Carpenter-Parsons-Scranton chronology followed without reservation in F.E. Winter, Greek Fortifications (Toronto and London 1971), and also in general by A.W. Lawrence, Greek Aims in Fortification (Oxford 1979) 155, 326. 3 I have benefited greatly from the observations and criticisms of Colin Edmonson and Charles K. Williams (to the latter of whom I am further indebted for accommodation on several occasions in the American School Excavation House at Corinth), and more recently from those of the anonymous referees for AJA. I am grateful to the American School of Classical Studies at Athens for the award of Special Research Fellowships in 1977-1978 and 1987-1988; to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and its predecessor, the Canada Council, for a Sabbatical Leave Fellowship for 1983-1984, and for Research Grants in 1977, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1987-1988; and to the University of Toronto for Research Leave Grants for the same years. In all our sojourns in Greece my wife and I have enjoyed the hospitality, facilities, and services of the American Journal of Archaeology 95 (1991) 109 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.24 on Mon, 12 Sep 2016 05:44:04 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 110 FREDERICK E. WINTER [AJA 95 III SU RVEYMAP OF AC ROCO R INTH hi~??is~ z 0 1, 1/J