late 4th century BCE
AE 15mm 3,46g
K-O; amphora /
Grapes with tendrils.
SNG Evelpidis 1890; cf. SNG Cop 167-8
Nearly since its founding, Korkyra had daddy issues. Legend has that it all started with Periander, the tyrant of Corinth, and his son Lykrophon, who held a grudge because he believed Periander had killed his mother.
Family reunions were a mess until Periander had the bright idea to ship Lykrophon to Korkyra. The fresh air and separation would do him good, or so he thought. That worked out relatively well, and in his old age Periander thought it would be a bright idea for Lykrophon to rule Corinth, and Periander take Korkyra.
Well, Korkyra wasn’t fond of that plan, so they killed Lykrophon. In retaliation, Periander took three hundred Korkyran men and castrated them. This caused a strain in their relations.
Later on, Thukydides reports the first Greek naval battle occurred between Korkyra and Corinth. By that time, Korkyra had grown to one of the top naval powers in Greece. Some time after that, a different dispute between Korkyra and Corinth was a principal cause of the Peloponnesian War. The two cities continued bickering after that time.
While Alexander the Great didn’t have much to do with Korkyra, Kassander twice put it under siege. The first time they were rescued by Kleonymos of Sparta, while the second involved an intervention by Agathokles of Syracuse, who then took control over the island.
When Agathokles’ daughter Lanassa married Pyrrhos, Agathokles gave Korkyra to his new son-in-law as a wedding present, which was pretty nice. Unfortunately for Pyrrhos, she soon divorced him in favor of his arch-enemy Demetrios I Poliorketes and gave him Korkyra.
The island was taken back by Pyrrhos’ son Ptolemy, who performed a daring raid with but sixty soldiers in 274 BCE. When both Ptolemy and Pyrrhos were killed in battle at Argos two years later, Korkyra remained part of the Epeirote League.
300-229 BCE
AE 7.79g, 20mm
Prow of a galley right
Kantharos, bunch of grapes above K-O below.
SNG Cop 182
Death of the tyrant Periander of Corinth, who had built the city into a major trading center. After Periander supposedly defiles the corpse of his wife, his son Lykophron departs for Korkyra. When Periander offers him the rule of Corinth, the inhabitants of Korkyra kill Lykophron rather than let him depart. Periander dies of grief.
Faced with the Persian invasion, the Greeks ask Korkyra for aid. They supply 80 ships, but they don’t arrive in time for the Battle of Salamis. Many Greeks believe this was deliberate.
Corinth obtains control over Anaktorion through fraud after the city had been joinly occupied by Corinth and Korkyra.
Eresos, Byzantion, Chios,Mytilene, Methymna, Rhodes, Thebes, Korkyra, Eretria, Kios, Samos, Naxos, Andros, Myrina (Lembos), Hephaistia, Imbros, and Thasos join the Second Athenian League, reaffirming its alliance with Athens in response to the growing threat of Persian interference and internal Greek conflicts.
Mnasippos of Sparta blockades Korkyra and subjugates them to starvation, then puts to death or sells to slavery all who flee.
Kassander seizes Dyrrhachion, but the garrison he leaves there is besieged and the city is retaken by Illyrians and Korkyra.
Kassander besieges Korkyra, but is unsuccessful.
Kleonymos of Sparta takes Korkyra, but doesn’t hold it for long.
Korkyra is again besieged by Kassander, but Agathokles of Syracuse destroys his fleet.
Korkyra is provided as dowry to Pyrrhos by Agathokles of Syracuse for the marriage of his daughter, Lanassa.
Lanassa leaves Pyrrhos for Demetrios Poliorketes and attempts to transfer ownership of Korkyra to him.
Alexander II of Epeiros dies, ending the Epirote League and giving Korkyra its independence.
Korkyra is occupied by Illyrians under Demetrios of Pharos.
Rome liberates Korkyra from the Illyrians and declares the city free and a Roman protectorate.
Korkyra is ruled by a Roman prefect.
Korkyra is attached to the Roman province of Macedonia.