diolkos
diolkos,stone trackway across the isthmus of Corinth, for transporting ships and/or cargoes between the Saronic and the Corinthian gulfs. Archaeology suggests a date under the tyrant Periander (c.627–587 BC; there is literary evidence that he considered a canal. Wheeled wagons ran in carved grooves c.1.5 m. (5 ft.) apart; traffic probably moved in one direction at a time. triremes used it during the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), perhaps after modifications; but it was probably constructed for merchant vessels. It may quickly have become incapable of transporting most vessels fully laden, so that cargoes alone were carried. It was used by a fleet as late as AD 883.
John B. Salmon
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