DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4593#0293
THE PELOPONNESUS 269
and then to cut a canal to join the friendly waters.
One of these projects was a measure of war, the other
a measure of peace and commerce. The political
union of Greece made the wall unnecessary; the
development of its commerce and that of the world
made the canal more desirable than ever.
As we crossed the Isthmus the train stopped first
to let us see the remains of the old wall, and after-
wards that we might see the new canal, then within
a few weeks of completion. The wall, dating from
remote times and subject to many restorations, here
and there shows its sullen teeth. The canal from
the fine bridge which the railroad has thrown across
may be seen up and down its whole length, and fur-
nishes an interesting illustration of how the past and
the present arc joined in Greece. More than seven-
teen centuries ago, when Pausanias crossed this isth-
mus, he saw the marks of the first attempt to cut a
canal. "Whoever attempted" he said, "to make
the Peloponnesus an island died before the completion
°f a canal across the isthmus. The place where they
began to dig is clearly seen, but they did not make
much progress on account of the rock, and the
Peloponnesus remains what it was by nature,—a
peninsula."
Periander, the tyrant of Corinth, who lived about
six hundred years before Christ, is credited with first
Projecting a canal across the isthmus. In Roman
times the attempt was made by the Emperor Nero,
°ut abandoned probably on account of more warlike
undertakings. Herodes Atticus continued the work
which Nero began. The canal thus made was one
hundred and fifty feet in width, about one hundred
and then to cut a canal to join the friendly waters.
One of these projects was a measure of war, the other
a measure of peace and commerce. The political
union of Greece made the wall unnecessary; the
development of its commerce and that of the world
made the canal more desirable than ever.
As we crossed the Isthmus the train stopped first
to let us see the remains of the old wall, and after-
wards that we might see the new canal, then within
a few weeks of completion. The wall, dating from
remote times and subject to many restorations, here
and there shows its sullen teeth. The canal from
the fine bridge which the railroad has thrown across
may be seen up and down its whole length, and fur-
nishes an interesting illustration of how the past and
the present arc joined in Greece. More than seven-
teen centuries ago, when Pausanias crossed this isth-
mus, he saw the marks of the first attempt to cut a
canal. "Whoever attempted" he said, "to make
the Peloponnesus an island died before the completion
°f a canal across the isthmus. The place where they
began to dig is clearly seen, but they did not make
much progress on account of the rock, and the
Peloponnesus remains what it was by nature,—a
peninsula."
Periander, the tyrant of Corinth, who lived about
six hundred years before Christ, is credited with first
Projecting a canal across the isthmus. In Roman
times the attempt was made by the Emperor Nero,
°ut abandoned probably on account of more warlike
undertakings. Herodes Atticus continued the work
which Nero began. The canal thus made was one
hundred and fifty feet in width, about one hundred