In the Homeric Catalogue, Corinth is called ἀφνειός; it was wealthy even under the Bacchiads, and under Cypselus and his son; its commerce, however, was at different times disturbed by the navy of Athens, and this is one of the earliest examples of commercial jealousy. Corinth was greater by its land commerce than as a maritime power; but still it had a navy, and founded numerous and splendid colonies, as Syracuse, Corcyra, Ambracia, Leucas, and a number of towns on the western coast of Greece, partly with, and partly without the co-operation of Corcyra. But the planting of these colonies belongs to the period of the Corinthian aristocracy and tyrannis; during its democratic government, the city lost its bold spirit of enterprise and its warlike character, just as was the case at Florence. From the amount of contingents furnished by Corinth in times of war, it is clear that it was populous, though not in proportion to its extent. But the Corinthians never shewed themselves noble; as early as the Persian wars they displayed malice and envy towards Athens; and Plutarch is unjust in blaming Herodotus for speaking against Corinth. The Corinthians were the chief instigators of the undertakings against Athens, which afterwards they had reason to repent, when Sparta exercised her power with an utter disregard of every one else; the Corinthians then brought about a reaction to ruin Sparta, which, by the wretched manner in which she had used her supremacy, brought upon herself a heavy responsibility with her contemporaries no less than with posterity. During the Macedonian period Corinth is mentioned only as a wealthy commercial city; in the troublous times, when the Greeks were involved in maritime wars, when Illyrians and Etruscans rendered the sea about Malea and Taenarus (which were inhabited by the ancestors of the Mainots) unsafe, and when the Cretans also carried on piracy, people preferred going to Corinth, instead of sailing round Peloponnesus; the continuity of the voyage was sacrificed, and the merchandise was conveyed to Lechaeon, and thence to Corfu and Illyricum.[19] Corinth thus became a principal staple of commerce. The different phases of the commerce of the Corinthians may be traced _a priori_ from its historical relations. Corinth rose and sank; the time of its highest prosperity was that in which Athens, like modern Venice, was in a state of utter decay, about Olymp. 180, in the reign of Antigonus Gonatas. All commerce then became concentrated at Corinth, just as the whole commerce of the Adriatic has in modern times become concentrated at Trieste. Though it was under the supremacy of Macedonia, the city became very wealthy, and was in comfortable circumstances. A Macedonian garrison was quartered in Acrocorinthus. Corinth, however, was not only a commercial place, but also had manufactures, which had been transferred thither from Athens, on account of its more favourable situation. The χαλκὸς Κορινθιακὸς is