Text| Stevens
Editor| Stevens
preface
Beginning around 800 BC, ancient Greek city-states, most of which were maritime powers, began to look beyond Greece to lands and resources. As a result, they established colonies in the Mediterranean.
Trade was usually the first step in the colonization process, and then, after the local population was subdued or incorporated into the colony, cities were established.
These people may have had varying degrees of connection to the homeland, but most became completely independent city-states, sometimes with Greek characteristics, and in other cases culturally closer to the indigenous peoples who were adjacent to them and incorporated their citizens.
Broadly speaking, one of the most important consequences of this process was that the flow of goods, people, art, and ideas during this period spread the Greek way of life widely to Spain, France, Italy, the Adriatic, the Black Sea, and North Africa.
In total, the Greeks established about 500 colonies, which involved up to 60,000 Greek citizen colonists, so that by 500 BC these new territories would eventually account for 40% of all Greeks in the Greek world.
Trade and resource opportunities
The Greeks were great navigators who crossed the Mediterranean and were eager to discover new lands and new opportunities. Even Greek mythology includes stories of expeditions such as Jason and his search for the Golden Fleece and Odysseus, the greatest heroic traveler.
First the islands around Greece were colonized, for example the first colony in the Adriatic was Corfu, founded by Corinth in 733 BC (traditional date), and then prospectors set their sights further afield.
The first colonists in general were merchants and small groups seeking to exploit new resources and start new lives outside their increasingly competitive and overcrowded homes.
The process of colonization may have been more gradual and organic than ancient sources suggest.
Trade centers and free markets (eporia) were the forerunners of true colonies. Then, from the mid-8th century BC to the mid-6th century BC, the Greek city-states (poleis) and individual groups began to expand beyond Greece with more deliberate and long-term intentions.
However, the process of colonization may have been more gradual and organic than ancient sources suggest.
It is also difficult to determine the exact extent of colonization and integration with the local population. Some parts of the Mediterranean saw the establishment of fully Greek city-states, while others had only trading posts consisting of more temporary residents such as merchants and sailors.
The word "colonization" itself implies the domination of indigenous peoples, the cultural superiority of the colonizers, and the specific cultural homeland that controls and drives the process.
This was not necessarily the case in the ancient Greek world, therefore, in this sense, Greek colonization was a very different process, for example, the policies of certain European powers in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Perhaps right here, a process better described as "cultural contact."
The establishment of colonies across the Mediterranean allowed the export of luxury goods such as fine Greek pottery, wine, oil, metalwork and textiles, as well as the extraction of wealth from the land – wood, metals, and agriculture (especially grain, dried fish, and leather), which for example often became lucrative trading centers and sources of slaves.
Founding cities (metropolises) may also establish colonies in order to establish a military presence in a specific area, thus protecting profitable sea routes.
In addition, colonies could provide an important bridge for inland trade opportunities. Some colonies even managed to rival the greatest founding cities; Syracuse, for example, eventually became the largest city-state in the entire Greek world.
Finally, it is worth noting that the Greeks did not monopolize the land, and hostile civilizations also established colonies, especially the Etruscans and Phoenicians, and at times, wars inevitably broke out between these great powers.
Greater Greece
Greek cities were quickly attracted to the "New World" – the fertile land, natural resources and good ports of southern Italy and Sicily.
Greek colonists eventually conquered the local population and imprinted their identity in the region to the point that they called it "Greater Greece" or Megalē Hellas, and it would become the most "Hellenistic" territory of all the colonies, both in the cultural and urban landscape, with Doric temples being the most remarkable symbol of Hellenism.
Some of the most important city-states in Italy are:
- Cumae (first Italian colony, founded by Chalcis & Kyme in 740 BC)
- Naxos (734 BC, Karkis)
- Sybaris (c. 720 BC, Achaean / Troisen)
- Croton (c. 710 BC, Achaia)
- Tarentum (706 BC, Sparta)
- Rhegium (c. 720 BC, Chalcis)
- Elea (c. 540 BC, Phocaea)
- Thurri (c. 443 BC, Athens)
- Heraclaya (433 BC, Tarrenton)
The main colonies in Sicily include:
- Syracuse (733 BC, founded by Corinth)
- Gela (688 BC, Rhodes and Crete)
- Selinus (c. 630 BC)
- Himera (circa 630 BC, Messana)
- Acragas (c. 580 BC, Gera)
The location of the new colonies in the heart of the Mediterranean meant that they could flourish as centers of trade between the major cultures of the time.
The location of these new colonies in the heart of the Mediterranean meant that they could flourish as a center of trade between the major cultures of the time (Greek, Etruscan and Phoenician civilizations).
They did prosper so much that writers spoke of great wealth and extravagant lifestyles.
Empedokles, for example, describes the pampered burghers and fine temples of Agrigento, Sicily; "The Akragantinians revel as if they are going to die tomorrow and build as if they will live forever".
The colonies even established their own branch colonies and trading posts, and in this way spread Greek influence further afield, including higher on Italy's Adriatic coast.
Even colonies were established in North Africa, especially Cyrene by Thera in c. 630 BC, and it became clear that the Greek colonists would not limit themselves to Greater Greece.
Greek and Phoenician colonization
Ionian
From the 8th century BC, the Greeks established settlements on the Aegean coast of Ionia (or Asia Minor). Important colonies included Miletos, Ephesos, Smyrna and Halikarnassos.
Athens traditionally claimed to be the first colonizer in the region, which also aroused great interest among the Lydians and Persians. The region became a hotbed of cultural activity, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy, and produced some of the greatest Greek ideas.
Art and architectural styles absorbed from the East also began to influence the motherland; Features such as palm-shaped capitals, sphinxes and expressive "Orientalized" pottery would inspire Greek architects and artists to explore entirely new artistic avenues.
France and Spain
The main colonial city-state in southern France was Phocaea, which founded the important colonies of Alalia and Massalia (circa 600 BC). The city also established a colony in southern Spain, or at least an extensive trade network.
Notable city-states established here are Emporion (founded by Massalia, the traditional date of its founding is 575 BC, but more likely decades later) and Rhode.
Compared to the colonies in other parts of the Mediterranean, the Spanish colonies were less culturally typical of Hellenistic culture, very fiercely competitive with the Phoenicians, and at least according to Greek literature, the region seems to have always been considered a distant and remote land continent for the Greeks.
Black Sea
The Black Sea (Black Sea for the Greeks) was the last area of Greek colonial expansion, especially the city of Ionia, which was the place where the rich fishing grounds and fertile land around Hellespont and Bentos were sought.
The most important founding city was Miletos, which in ancient times was thought to have 70 colonies that might have been exaggerated. The most important of these are:
- Kyzikos (founded 675 BC)
- Sinop (circa 631 BC)
- Pantikapaion (c. 600 BC)
- Olbia (c. 550 BC)
Megara was another important mother city, with the foundings of Calcidon (c. 685 BC), Byzantium (668 BC), and Heraclia Pontiac (560 BC).
In the end, almost the entire Black Sea was surrounded by Greek colonies, although, as elsewhere, war, compromise, intermarriage and diplomacy had to be used with indigenous peoples to ensure the survival of the colonies.
Especially in the late 6th century BC, colonies provided tribute and weapons to the Persian Empire and were protected in return.
After the failed invasions of Greece by Xerxes in 480 BC and 479 BC, the Persians withdrew their interest in the region, which allowed larger city-states such as Herakleia Pontike and Sinope to conquer the local population and smaller neighboring city-states by conquering the local population.
The resulting prosperity also allowed Heraklia to establish her own colony in the 420s BC in places such as Chersonesos in the Crimea.
From the beginning of the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC, Athens took an interest in the region, sending colonists and establishing garrisons. The physical presence of Athens was short-lived, but more permanent was the influence of Athens on culture (especially sculpture) and trade (especially Black Sea grain).
With the final retreat of Athens, the Greek colonies had to fend for themselves, alone to deal with threats from neighboring countries, such as the Royal Scythians, and eventually Macedonia and Philip II.
Greek and Phoenician colonies
Relations with the Motherland
Most colonies were built on the political model of the Greek city-states, but the types of government included those that were ubiquitous in Greece itself—oligarchy, tyranny, and even democracy—that might be very different from the institutions of the founder's mother city.
By adopting founding myths and broad and typical Greek features of everyday life, such as language, food, education, religion, sports and gymnasiums, dramas with unique Greek tragedies and comedies, also maintained a strong Greek cultural identity, art, architecture, philosophy and science.
So much so that a Greek city in Italy or Ionia, at least on the surface, looks and behaves very similar to any other city in Greece.
Trade greatly contributed to the establishment of a common "Greek" way of life. Commodities such as wine, olives, timber and pottery were imported and exported between the city-states.
Even artists and architects themselves moved far from home and set up studios, so temples, sculptures and ceramics became recognized as Greeks throughout the Mediterranean.
Of course, colonies did establish their own regional identity, especially since they often included indigenous peoples with their own specific customs, so each colonial region had its own idiosyncrasies and differences.
In addition, frequent changes in eligibility to become citizens and forced resettlement of the population meant that colonies tended to be more culturally diverse and politically unstable than Greece itself, so civil wars occurred more frequently.
However, some colonies performed remarkably, with many eventually surpassing the founding Greek superpower.
end
Travelers within the Greek world were also physically active, as evidenced by literature and drama, the devotion left by pilgrims at holy sites such as Epidaurus, and participation in important annual religious festivals such as the Dionysian festival in Athens.
The different colonies had distinctly different characteristics, but the collective effect of these habits just mentioned effectively ensured that the vast areas of the Mediterranean acquired enough common features to be aptly described as the Greek world.
Moreover, the influence is long-lasting, since even today one can still see the common aspects of the culture shared by the citizens of southern France, Italy and Greece.
Resources
Oxford Classical Dictionary
"Companion of the Classical Greek World"