| Civil war on Corcyra followed the island's aristocrats | | | | possession of Byzantium until 1204, which saw the fall |
| (favouring Corinth and Sparta) and its democrats | | | | of Constantinople. This great capital was the cradle of |
| (siding with Athens). After much bloodshed, Corcyra | | | | Orthodoxy, and the fall of `The City' is still considered |
| fell to the Lacedaemonian general, Kleonymos, in | | | | by Greeks to be, after the Crucifixion, the darkest day |
| 303BC; then, in 301BC, to Agathokles, Tyrant of | | | | in history. Life between the 4th and 13th centuries was |
| Syracuse, and to Ptolemy in 284BC. A pattern was | | | | - here as in most of Europe - nasty, brutal and short, |
| emerging in this corner of the Ionian Sea: the rich pearl | | | | with a series of Pythonesque barbarians storming the |
| that was Corfu -rich for strategic purposes as well as | | | | twin peaks. The Vandals sacked the island in 455, |
| for its natural resources - would be snatched by | | | | followed by the Goths in 550; the Saracens attacked |
| successive waves of invaders. Corfiot history, from | | | | repeatedly between the 7th and 11th centuries. In 1081 |
| the 3rd century BC on, may be seen as a revolving | | | | the island was taken by the Normans, under Robert |
| door of European predation, though those who came | | | | Guiscard; they were subsequently defeated by the |
| to plunder invariably left something of value in their | | | | Venetians, but then returned under Bohemond, |
| wake. | | | | Robert's son, only to be defeated by the Byzantines... |
| Distinguishing between pirates and protectors must | | | | to return again under Robert's nephew, Roger II of |
| have proved difficult for the Corfiots, since a veritable | | | | Sicily! No wonder the islanders finally took to the |
| parade of both were subsequently to descend upon | | | | heights of the town and erected strong walls. |
| the island. A glance at a map hints at the reason, and | | | | For three weeks during 1203, the bays were filled with |
| shows a remarkable geographic similarity to the `great | | | | the vast fleet of the Fourth Crusade, which weighed |
| boot' of Italy-Corfu resembles a little boot, its ankle | | | | anchor here on its way to sack Constantinople. It was |
| symbolically flexed back to kick something away. The | | | | an awesome display, but for once the fleet had their |
| ancients saw the island as a harp or scythe shape, | | | | sights on a richer trophy than the little Ionian isle. |
| and named it accordingly, but the modern name | | | | Much of what we regard today as 'Corfiot' - the Old |
| comes from the Greek word korifon, after the pair of | | | | and New Fortresses, the narrow streets (kantounia) |
| summits now crowned by the Old and New | | | | and their elegant residences, the lovely cobbled |
| Fortresses. | | | | squares and Italianate churches, the Roman Catholic |
| The Romans, provoked beyond endurance by attacks | | | | cathedral, the elaborately decorated government |
| on their mariners by Illyrian pirates, declared war on | | | | buildings - is, in fact, Venetian. |
| them in around 229BC. The Illyrians, in turn, laid siege to | | | | Of all the conquerors and administrators, pirates and |
| Corfu, but the island was immediately liberated by | | | | protectors that Corfu has seen, none left such an |
| Caius Fulvius, and placed itself willingly under the | | | | impression as The Most Serene Republic. The |
| protection of its powerful neighbour. The Romans | | | | Venetians, who occupied Corfu for a mere 400 years |
| would stay on for the next five centuries, and some | | | | (compared with the millennium of Byzantine and |
| illustrious Italians visited Corcyra: Cicero and Cato; Marc | | | | Frankish domination), left a distinctive mark on the |
| Antony and Octavia; Agrippina and her children, Julia | | | | island's skyline, its social organization, its forms of |
| and Caligula. | | | | cultural expression - even its cuisine - that remains to |
| In 40 AD two disciples of St Paul, saints Jason and | | | | this day. One may still sit on the Spianada, a lovely |
| Sosipater, brought Christianity to Corfu and established | | | | town green originally cleared to give a free field for |
| the island's first church, St Stephen's - which explains | | | | Venetian artillery, dining on Venetian delicacies in the |
| the plethora of modern place names reading Aghios or | | | | company of a direct descendant of someone listed |
| San (Saint) Stefanos around the island. | | | | among the `first families' in the Venetian Libro d'Oro |
| Following the splitting of the Roman Empire by | | | | and be serenaded by musicians singing Venetian |
| Diocletian late in the 3rd century into western and | | | | Kandades. It is as though the Serenis sima (the 'Most |
| eastern portions - the latter to become Byzantium - | | | | Serene' republic) has only recently - and temporarily - |
| Corfu's regime changed. It was to remain, on and off, a | | | | departed. |