The Battle of the Gulf of Corinth was a battle fought in c. 873 between the fleets of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and the

Cretan Saracens The Emirate of Crete ( ar, إقريطش, Iqrīṭish or , ''Iqrīṭiya''; gr, Κρήτη, Krētē) was an Islamic state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to the reconquest of the island by the Byzantine Empir ...

in the

Gulf of Corinth The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf ( el, Κορινθιακός Kόλπος, ''Korinthiakόs Kόlpos'', ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isth ...

. The Byzantines under

Niketas Ooryphas Niketas Oryphas or Oöryphas ( el, or , fl. 860–873). was a distinguished Byzantine official, ''patrikios'',. and admiral under the Byzantine emperors Michael III (r. 842–867) and Basil I the Macedonian (r. 867–886), who achieved several ...

managed to surprise the Saracens, resulting in a major Byzantine victory. According to the 10th-century chronicler

Theophanes Continuatus ''Theophanes Continuatus'' ( el, συνεχισταί Θεοφάνους) or ''Scriptores post Theophanem'' (, "those after Theophanes") is the Latin name commonly applied to a collection of historical writings preserved in the 11th-century Vat. g ...

—whose work was later reused almost without change by the 11th-century historian

John Skylitzes John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes, la, Johannes, label=none, la, Iōannēs, label=none Scylitzes ( el, Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, ''Iōánnēs Skylítzēs'', or el, Σκυλίτση, ''Skylítsē'', label=none ; la, ...

—in the early years of the reign of the Emperor

Basil I the Macedonian Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the ...

(r. 867–886) the Arab

emir of Crete The Emirate of Crete ( ar, إقريطش, Iqrīṭish or , ''Iqrīṭiya''; gr, Κρήτη, Krētē) was an Islamic state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to Siege of Chandax, the reconquest of the island by t ...

, Shu'ayb ("Saet" in Greek), son of the founder of the emirate,

Abu Hafs Abu Hafs may refer to: * Abu Hafs Umar al-Nasafi, a Muslim scholar of 11th/12th century * Mohammed Atef (Abu Hafs al-Masri), past military chief of al-Qaeda * Abu Hafs Umar al-Iqritishi, early ninth-century Andalusian pirate and founder of the Emir ...

, sent a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

renegade called

Photios Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...

, "a warlike and energetic fellow", on major raiding expeditions against the Byzantine Empire. The first raid was defeated by the ''droungarios'' of the Fleet,

, at the

Battle of Kardia The Battle of Kardia was a naval battle fought in between the fleets of the Byzantine Empire and the Cretan Saracens off Kardia, in the Gulf of Saros. The battle was a major Byzantine victory. According to the 10th-century chronicler Theophanes ...

(c. 872/3). Photios with the remnants of his fleet survived to return to Crete, and some time shortly after—probably c. 873, although some scholars place it as late as 879—launched another expedition, raiding the shores of the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

. Ooryphas once again led a fleet to meet the Saracens. Aided by favourable wind, he arrived at the harbour of

Kenchreai Kechries ( el, Κεχριές, rarely Κεχρεές) is a village in the municipality of Corinth in Corinthia in Greece, part of the community of Xylokeriza. Population 238 (2011). It takes its name from the ancient port town Kenchreai or Cenchr ...

on the northeastern Peloponnese within a few days. There he learned that the Saracens had moved south and west around the Peloponnese, raiding Methone,

Pylos Pylos (, ; el, Πύλος), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is th ...

, and

Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 , ...

, and entered the

Corinthian Gulf The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf ( el, Κορινθιακός Kόλπος, ''Korinthiakόs Kόlpos'', ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isth ...

to raid the western approaches of

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...

. Following them by circumnavigating the Peloponnese would take time, and Ooryphas was unwilling to risk allowing them to escape. Thus, according to the Byzantine historians, he decided to haul his ships over the

Isthmus of Corinth The Isthmus of Corinth (Greek: Ισθμός της Κορίνθου) is the narrow land bridge which connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of the mainland of Greece, near the city of Corinth. The word "isthmus" comes from the Ancien ...

into the Corinthian Gulf. This was done, and the Byzantine fleet fell upon the Saracens, who were caught completely off guard. He destroyed many of their ships and killed many of the raiders, including Photios, while many others were captured and—especially the Christian renegades among them—tortured to death in various ways. Historian David Pettegrew has cast doubt on the historicity of this event, pointing out that Ooryphas' portage of his fleet over the Isthmus is the first and only such recorded event after the 1st century BC, when the ''

diolkos The Diolkos (, from the Greek , "across", and , "portage machine") was a paved trackway near Corinth in Ancient Greece which enabled boats to be moved overland across the Isthmus of Corinth. The shortcut allowed ancient vessels to avoid the ...

'' was still active. Given that the portage of entire fleets across the Isthmus was considered even in Antiquity an extraordinary feat, and was hardly possible to be carried out in such short time as to surprise a fleet anchored near Corinth, Pettegrew suggests that Ooryphas' portage and victory must be considered more a

literary topos In classical Greek rhetoric, topos, ''pl.'' topoi, (from grc, τόπος "place", elliptical for grc, τόπος κοινός ''tópos koinós'', 'common place'), in Latin ''locus'' (from ''locus communis''), refers to a method for developing ar ...

evoking Classical models, specifically

Philip V of Macedon Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon ag ...

's similar action while campaigning against the

Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...

in 217 BC, rather than an actual event.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

David Pettegrew's ''Corinthian Matters'' Blog
with a series of articles on Ooryphas and the Isthmus: *
Drag Your Fleet: Portaging Military Vessels over the Corinthian Isthmus
*
Niketas Ooryphas and the Diolkos of Corinth, Part I
*
Basil’s Thunderbolt: Niketas Ooryphas, Part II
*
Did Niketas Drag His Fleet? The Ooryphas Saga, Part III
*
The Most Excellent Strategem of Niketas Ooryphas (Part IV)
{{coord missing, Greece 870s in the Byzantine Empire the Gulf of Corinth

Gulf of Corinth

Military raids