Aratus

For the Isthmus of Corinth, forming a barrier between the seas, brings together the two regions, and thus unites our continent; and when Acrocorinthus, which is a lofty hill springing up at this centre of Greece, is held by a garrison, it hinders and cuts off all the country south of the Isthmus from intercourse, transits, and the carrying on of military expeditions by land and sea,

and makes him who controls the place with a garrison sole lord of Greece. Therefore it is thought that the younger Philip of Macedon[*](Philip V., 237-179 B.C.) uttered no jest, but the truth, whenever he called the city of Corinth the fetters of Greece.

Accordingly, the place was always an object of great contention among kings and dynasts, but the eagerness of Antigonus to secure it fell nothing short of the most frenzied passion, and he was wholly absorbed in schemes to take it by stratagem from its possessors, since an open attempt upon it was hopeless.