Using the Digital Terrain Model component of Softdesk, Inc., a civil engineering program, we have been successful in transferring the elevation data (contour lines) from the series of 1:2000 topographical maps to create a simulated landscape in three dimensions. We have done this for the entire area of the topographical maps, ca. 35 square kilometres, creating a large DTM based on a 20 metre square grid based on 5 metre segments.

An example of such a smaller DTM was created to assist us in the understanding of the topography of the ancient Greek and Roman city. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, during the early years of the excavations at Corinth, a huge excavation dump created an artificial peninsula of land that extended from Temple Hill out to the north. The total length of the artificial mound is approximately 200 metres and its maximum height is approximately 15 metres. In the modern day, the excavation dump literally obscures a clear view of the nature of the topography of the ancient landscape. We created two DTM's to study the location. First we built a DTM from the contours of the topography map, reflecting the appearance of the area in the modern day. Then we connected the contour lines to the east and west of the artificial peninsula of land to create what may be a reasonable model of the landscape before the excavation dump was created. It is our hope to be able to study the modified landscape and DTM in order to better understand the ancient city.

We have used 3D Studio to generate renderings and animations of the digital terrain model of the 35 square kilometre area of Corinth, some including the colonial and Roman grid and the Greek city walls and the area from Akrocorinth in the south to the the Gulf of Corinth in the north. These images have assisted in the recreation of the landscape and are especially useful in demonstrating gross topographical features. Another kind of simulation is created simply by showing the contour lines of the topographical map from a distant three dimensional viewpoint. A further reconstruction of the ancient landscape can be created by combining the three dimensional terrain with the location of the Roman colony, Greek city walls, and Roman land division.