Introduction to Ancient Greek Colonies
I've always been fascinated by both colonization and diaspora communities, whether conquistadors
conquering the world for gold and god, or the Irish fleeing famine. What makes people
leave their homelands to start a new life in a completely different place? These days,
moving to a new country is easier than ever. We've pretty much mapped the entire surface
of the earth, all of its continents, oceans, mountain ranges, rivers, and even relatively
inaccessible areas such as the heart of the Amazon rainforest or the icy mountains of
Antarctica. With the exception of restrictions due to global pandemics, travel between continents
has never been easier. This, however, was not the case for the people of the country
that we today know as Greece. Despite having few, if any, of the advantages that we have
today, within the span of a few centuries, they had established colonies that in many
cases became some of the greatest cities in all of antiquity. Several of these cities
still thrive today. Let's examine the stories of these brave and highly capable people,
as well as some of the places that they spread out to in this program on Ancient Greek Colonies.
Between roughly the years 750 to about 550 BC, a number of Greek city-states in what's
today mainland Greece, its nearby islands, as well as the west coast of what's today modern
Turkey established trading outposts and separate cities along the shores of the Mediterranean,
Adriatic, and Black Seas. We generally call this process of outward expansion Greek colonization.
What makes these colonies extremely interesting is that they were founded at different times by
the people of different city-states for different reasons. There was no coordinated or centralized
planning amongst city-states. If anything, there was fierce competition for whatever foreign land
might still have been available. Most of the eastern Mediterranean had already been occupied
by the great kingdoms and empires of the Near East. Such places were already too populated and
unsafe for a massive influx of foreign colonists. Thus, early Greek colonies were set up in less
populated and less hostile regions. Places such as southern Italy, large islands such as Sicily,
Sardinia, and Corsica, the southern coasts of what's today France and Spain, northern Africa,
and east to the lands surrounding the Black Sea. Basically, wherever conditions
still remained favorable and any local resistance could be subdued.
Why would people leave their homes and everything they knew to venture into what
was often a distant and relatively unknown land to start a new life? Such a journey
clearly posed many risks as who really knew what was out there. The reasons though for leaving
awfully greatly outweighed those for staying in what was rapidly becoming an untenable situation
in the motherland. One major problem in the 8th century BC was overpopulation. With the Greek
speaking peoples adopting better agricultural techniques and technologies, what little arable
land Greece had became much more productive. This increased crop yields, which provided more food
for consumption and ultimately led to an increase in the population. However, there was only so much
land to go around. If one were to visit or even simply take a look at Greece and some of the
surrounding areas on a map, they'd soon realize that it's not a very big place. What's more,
is that the majority of the terrain is quite rocky, and so the percentage of arable farmland
that can actually be used to grow crops is really quite small, and most of that had been
owned for generations by aristocrats who were not inclined to share it with the general public.
What was able to be used, in time, ended up not being enough to feed the general population,
and so the citizens of many Greek city-states had to look outside their boundaries for good
farmland. In addition, many of the existing farms had been divided and subdivided amongst
sons several times until the plots that remained were too small to support entire families. Such
restrictions though didn't apply overseas, where there was no aristocracy, at least initially,
and second, third, and fourth sons could obtain their own plots of land that could be several
times larger than anything they could have dreamed to have obtained in their home city-state.
Another reason, or perhaps motivation, for seeking one's fortune abroad was for better
trading opportunities and the acquisition of natural resources. Being a maritime people,
the Greeks since Mycenaean times had traveled the seas and come into contact with many different
peoples, several of which they had forged trading relationships with. While these trade networks
had mostly dissolved during Greece's so-called Dark Age, by the 9th and 8th centuries BC,
they had resumed once again and were probably even more extensive and lucrative than in centuries
past. Along with groups of Phoenicians from the Levant, who at any time were either partners or
rivals, Greek-speaking peoples were some of the most successful maritime traders of the Iron Age.
Thus, many chose to take their chances on the high seas rather than to remain on land,
where they had few options for work outside of farming, herding, various craft industries,
or, in many cases, fighting as mercenaries. Given the lucrative international trade
opportunities overseas, it's no surprise that some of the earliest Greek colonies were at the
confluence of popular trade routes. For example, the early colony of Kymi, better known as Koumai,
was at the intersection of a busy trade route that linked the western part of the Italian
peninsula with the mainly Etruscan populated areas to the north. Other colonies established
in southern Italy as well as on the island of Sicily were also near maritime routes that linked
Europe with North Africa and the western Mediterranean. Many of these areas were
ideal for farming and growing olive trees, and this, along with the rich opportunities for trade,
allowed the colonies that were established there to eventually become wealthier than
any city-state or polis on the Greek mainland. The earliest trading outpost that we know of
was Pithecusae on the volcanic island of Istia, about 10 km off the coast of Naples,
Italy. It was founded by Greeks from Chalcis and Eritrea around 775 BC,
and the first of many such settlements to come. There's debate as to whether or not Pithecusae
was just a trading outpost, a full-fledged colony, or little more than a pirate's den.
Regardless, it provided close access to the main trade routes on the Italian mainland,
as well as contact with the wealthy Etruscans who controlled them. In particular, Greek traders were
after raw materials that were in short supply in Greece, specifically tin, silver, and iron ore.
In exchange, the Greeks supplied the Etruscans with wine, finished metal products, painted pottery,
and ceramics. By around 750 BC, Pithecusae had become quite prosperous, something apparent by
the valuable items and artifacts that have been uncovered there. The most famous of these is the
so-called Cup of Nestor. Dating to between 750 to 700 BC, it's a clay drinking cup painted in
the old geometric style of Greek art, but with one of the earliest surviving examples of Greek
alphabetic writing. However, by around 700 BC, Pithecusae was pretty much abandoned.
So, where did they go? Most likely, just across the water to the Italian mainland and the colony
of Koumai. Unlike Pithecusae, which most believe started out as a simple trading post, Koumai was
intended to be a permanent, full-fledged settlement, and because of this, most historians give it the
honor of being the first true Greek colony. In fact, it's likely that the traders from Pithecusae
were scouting locations for a permanent settlement and chose the site of Koumai for its fertile soil,
access to the natural harbors of the Gulf of Naples, and its relatively close proximity to
the great Etruscan cities further to the north. Within three decades, settlers from Koumai began
to form their own colonies, the most notable being Zancle in Sicily, today the modern city
of Messina, and, about 100 years later, Neopolis, which became Napoli, also known as Naples,
Italy. As the size of Koumai and its satellite settlements grew, so too did tensions with the
Etruscans. These came to a head around 500 BC, when Aristodemus of Koumai fought against and
defeated the Etruscans, and later became Koumai's ruler. In 474 BC, Koumai, which was allied with
another Greek colony, Syracuse, defeated the Etruscans at sea, essentially destroying their
power in that part of Italy. However, just a century later, in 421 BC, Koumai fell to another
Italian people, the Samnites, and, years later, became a possession of the Roman.
However, that was still several centuries in the future. By the 730s BC, word had gotten around
the Greek-speaking world of the success of Koumai, and soon, competing Greek city-states launched
expeditions to establish their own colonies. In fact, between 730 to 700 BC, it's estimated that
a new town was founded in southern Italy or Sicily every other year. There were so many
Greeks in southern Italy that the Romans called the area Magna Graecia. Unlike Pithecusae and
Koumai, which were established primarily for commercial reasons, most of the other colonies
that followed them in southern Italy and Sicily were founded for agricultural purposes, and also
to relocate citizens of overpopulated city-states. These areas were ideal for settlement. The
climate was good, the soil fertile, and their location was close to the busy maritime trade
routes that linked Europe with North Africa. Sicily would go on to become a major part of
the ancient Greek-speaking world. However, before that happened, the island already had its own
native non-Greek population. Thucydides wrote specifically about three groups, the Sycans,
Sycels, and the Ilimians. In addition to these, Strabo mentioned two other groups, the Morghyts
and the Ausoni. Most of the initial colonists came from Corinth, Chalkis, Rhodes, and Crete,
and their settlements were all founded along the eastern coast of the island. The first was Naxos,
followed by Syracuse, Leontini, Catane, and others. In some cases, the colonies were
established peacefully, in others by expelling the indigenous population. Within a short period
of time, more colonies were established, especially along Sicily's southern coast,
many of them starting out as settlements that were founded by other colonies. Some of them
were more like forts whose purpose was initially to protect their mother colonies from the island's
natives, who by now must have greatly resented the Greek presence in their homeland. The indigenous
Sicilians weren't the only groups hostile to the newcomers. On the opposite side of the island were
Phoenicians and Carthaginians. Both were colonizing the other end of Sicily and had also allied with
one of the island's indigenous groups, the Ilimians. While fortune seemed to favor the Greeks in Sicily,
that didn't mean that there weren't any problems. Though they often shared a common rivalry with
both the indigenous peoples as well as the Phoenicians, their greatest enemies were often
themselves. There are many instances of colonies fighting with each other, mostly between cities
inhabited by Dorian Greeks against those that were populated with Ionian Greeks. Shortly after
their establishment, most Greek colonies in southern Italy and Sicily were governed by
oligarchies until about the 6th century BC, after which tyrants seized power, usually by presenting
themselves as the best bet against both anarchy and outside threats, whether they be hostile natives,
Phoenicians, Carthaginians, or rival colonies. Southern Italy and Sicily though were just the
beginning of Greek westward expansion. Soon there were Greek-speaking peoples settling along the
shores of places as far away as southern Spain. Most of these settlements though were not full-fledged
colonies but generally large trading posts. One exception though was Massalia, on the site of the
modern-day city of Marseille, France. Archaeologists have determined that by the mid-7th century BC,
merchants from abroad were trading heavily with the local inhabitants. It's not known for sure
whether or not they were Greek Soritruscans, but objects from both civilizations have been
discovered at indigenous burial sites in the region. Regardless of who was there first, around 600 BC,
Greek settlers from Phokaea established the town of Massalia, supposedly after defeating
Carthaginians in a battle at sea. The local Ligurian tribes supposedly welcomed the new
settlers, and within a short time Massalia began to prosper as a regional commercial hub where
Greeks, Ligurians, and traders from Celtic kingdoms in southern Spain all gathered to exchange their wares.
Similar to colonies in southern Italy, Massalia also sent out missions to establish new colonies,
which eventually included Nicaea and Empurium. These colonies mainly supplied raw materials
such as silver, iron, tin, and lead to Massalia, which were then exported back to mainland Greece
for a hefty profit. The colonies around Massalia also served as bases for trading expeditions
further into the interior. One way they achieved success in this was through exchanging Greek wine
for really whatever they wanted. In the same way that French traders in the 1600s
traded brandy with the indigenous inhabitants of North America for animal pelts, the Greeks took
wine with them into the interior of what was then Gaul and introduced it to the Celtic tribes there.
It's believed that in time, these people learned how to cultivate grapes and eventually their own
wine. Unlike in some other areas, where colonies were established to the detriment of the indigenous
peoples, the relationship between the Greeks of southern France and Spain with the locals
seems to have been both a peaceful and mutually beneficial one.
Other colonies were much closer to home. On the northern coast of the Aegean was Thrace.
Between the years 720 to about 700 BC, Greeks mainly from Chalcis started to settle there,
ousting many of the Thracians in the process. Renaming the area Chalkidis, meaning Chalkidian
land, the Greeks from Chalkis established at least 30 different settlements there. By the 600s BC,
other arrivals, especially from Corinth, settled in the area and founded the city of Potidaea.
About 10 kilometers off the coast of Thrace is the island of Thassos, which was home to a colony
of the same name. Around 700 BC, it attracted colonists, mostly from the island of Paros,
in the southern Aegean, who were after its rich mineral deposits, including gold, silver,
and marble. The island was also known for its highly prized timber. It was a dangerous life
though, as the colonists had to constantly fight against the fierce, native Thracians,
something mentioned often in the poems of Archilochus.
Colonies were also established directly south of the Greek mainland, across the Mediterranean
in what's today the North African country of Libya. The most famous colony here was Kyrene,
which was established around 630 BC. According to an account by Herodotus,
which has also somewhat been verified by another source, Kyrene's settlers left behind the island
of Thera at the advice of the oracle of Delphi, but only after a severe drought.
Herodotus' tale goes as follows.
Theras, and king of the island of Thera, went to Delphi. He was attended by other citizens,
in particular by Batos, a member of the tribe of the Euphimides, who were Minions.
Although Grinos, king of the Therians, had come to consult the Pythia about other matters,
she instructed him to found a city in Libya. He replied,
But my lord, I am now too weighted down with age to pick up and settle elsewhere.
Please command one of the younger men to go instead. And as he said this, he pointed to Batos.
That was all that happened at the time, and after they had returned home,
they ignored the oracular response. After all, they had no idea where Libya was,
and would not dare to lead a colonial expedition off into the unknown.
But afterward, no rain fell on Thera for seven years, and all the trees on the island
withered away except for one. So, the Therians again consulted the Oracle,
and the Pythia again urged them to colonize Libya. Since they had obtained no solution to their
problem, they sent messengers to Crete in search of a Cretan or resident alien who might have gone
to Libya. The messengers wandered throughout Crete until they came to the city of Itanos,
where they met a Murex fisherman named Korobios, who said he had once been blown off course by the
wind and had come to the Libyan island called Plataea. They persuaded him to help them by
offering him money and took him to Thera. From there, a small party sailed out on a scouting
expedition. Korobios led them to the island of Plataea, and after leaving him there with
provisions sufficient to last a designated number of months,
they quickly sailed back to report to the Therians about the island.
Things had gotten so bad on Thera that each family was required to send at least one son
to join the expedition to found the new colony, or else face harsh consequences.
At a minimum, death and the confiscation of all of their property.
An inscription discovered at Cyrene dating to the 4th century BC, which also contains a copy of
what's called the Oath of the Settlers, describes the plan to colonize Cyrene.
The assembly has resolved. Since Apollo of his own accord told Batos and the Therians to found
Cyrene, the Therians have resolved to send Batos as the first founder and king out to Libya,
and that Therians are to sail as his companions. On equal and like terms are they to sail,
according to household, with one son to be selected, and those who are of age,
and of the other Therians, those who are free, are to sail. If the colonists establish the colony,
then a Therian who sails later shall hold both citizenship and be eligible for office in Cyrene.
But if they do not establish a colony, and the Therians are unable to aid them,
but hardships afflict them for five years, then from that land they are without fear of redress
to depart for Thera, back to their own property, and they are to be citizens of Thera.
But anyone who should refuse to sail when the city sends him out,
shall be liable to the death penalty, and his property shall be confiscated.
Anyone that takes him in, or that hides him, be he a father hiding a son, or a brother
hiding a brother, shall suffer the same things as he that refused to sail.
On these terms, they that remain here on Thera, and they that are sailing to found a colony,
have made a covenant, and they have cursed them that should transgress against it,
and not abide by it, whether amongst them settling in Libya, or amongst them remaining here.
Landing on the Libyan coast, the settlers founded Cyrene.
Cyrene ended up being one of the most prosperous Greek colonies of all, and was governed for
centuries by the Batiat family, named after Batos, the leader of the original expedition.
The colony exported grain, wool, oxides, and a local plant known as silphium, which was used as
a laxative. Later on, the citizens of Cyrene established the nearby colonies of Barca and
Euhesperides, with the entire area eventually adopting the name Cyreneca.
Cyrene is also a good example of the typical relationship that a colony had with its mother
city. As soon as it was founded, the new colony was considered to be a completely independent
state, with its own rulers and government. Thus, the modern definition of a colony, where the
settlement is still part of and controlled by a mother nation, didn't necessarily apply to the
Greek-speaking world. So for example, in the Oath of the Settlers inscription discovered on Cyrene,
the founders of Cyrene ceased to be citizens of Thera the moment that the colony was established.
Only after five years, and if the colony completely failed, could they regain their
Therian citizenship. Fortunately for them, this was not the case, and Cyrene would go on to become
much more prosperous and powerful than its mother colony, Thera. Though politically independent,
the relationship between the mother city and colony was never completely severed.
After all, the two were related by blood. Colonists still had mothers, fathers, siblings,
cousins, close friends, and many other relationships in the mother city. In many cases, the colonies
also provided surplus food or other items to the mother colony first before selling them on the
open market. This actually was the case with Cyrene, which was able to supply Thera with grain
during its greatest time of need. Finally, we have the Greek colonies that
surrounded the Black Sea, of which there were many. According to Strabo, it was Miletus in
southwestern Asia Minor, today in modern Turkey, that was the mother city of most of them. Miletus
was one of, if not the most prosperous city in the part of the ancient Greek world known as Ionia,
and some scholars have wondered why its leaders felt the need to send settlers to the distant
shores of the Black Sea. This most likely may have been because the interior of Asia Minor
was occupied by other powerful states, the one just bordering Miletus being the Kingdom of Lydia.
Eventually, Miletus was obliged to accept a treaty with Lydia that reduced its territorial
possessions. Initially, Miletus didn't suffer from overpopulation or a lack of farmland like
other Greek city-states, but its traders probably wished to find a way to acquire raw materials
such as copper, tin, silver, and gold from the interior of Asia Minor by bypassing kingdoms
such as Lydia. Thus, they founded the city of Sinope, almost directly at the center of the
southern coast of the Black Sea. Though it had not one but two harbors, it was isolated by mountains
from the interior of Asia Minor. While this helped to protect it, it also meant that the city had to
rely almost exclusively on seaborne trade, which allowed it to export precious metals from the
nearby mountains to its south. Other colonies around the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara included
Byzantium, Chalcedon, Heraclea, Pantykapeum, Kizikos, Istria, Trapezos, and too many others to name.
There were just so many Greek colonies that it's impossible to go over all of them in such a short
program, but in future we'll individually cover some of the more famous ones, so stay tuned!
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