Greek Overseas Colonising 800s-500s B.C.

Pomeroy Textbook and Brightspace Documents

When did substantial number of people begin leaving Greece?

The second half of the 800s B.C.

Where did people leaving Greece around the 850s go?

Southern Italy and Sicily, where they established new farming communities

What initially caused Greek overseas trade to increase?

The Euboeans joining the international trading post of Al Mina in 825 B.C.

After joining Al Mina, what did the Euboeans do?

They established a trading circuit that stretched between Al Mina and Pithecusae, causing the Greeks to once again become important participants in the Aegean and Mediterranean trade

What did new Greek trade opportunities mean for Greek settlers?

Good sized lots of good soil and also opportunities to trade their own products and those of old Greece for raw materials with inhabitants of southern Europe

How did Greek colonisation impact Greeks in Greece?

It meant more work for craftsmen, sailors, shipbuilders, outfitters, and haulers

How were farmers in Greece benefitted by Greek trade?

They could send surplus production on boats to travel for profit

Who benefitted most in Greece from Greek colonisation?

Big landholders who could produce large surpluses for the market and could subsidise the costs and bear the losses of long sea voyages

How long did widespread emigration of the Greeks continue?

It began in ~850 B.C. and continued until around 500 B.C.

When Greek emigration ended in 500 B.C., how big was the Greek world?

It extended from Spain in the west to Colchis in the east and from the northern coast of Africa in the south and Ukraine in the north

What were the two primary causes for Greek expansion?

• Search for sources of metal to satisfy the Greeks’ growing need for these resources

• Greek men’s hope of acquiring the land required to live the life of a citizen in the new poleis as opportunities for land at home dwindled

What is an apoikia?

A new settlement, literally a home away from the original home

What did a city-state need to do to prepare to found an apoikia? (ē)

• Choose a site for the settlement

• Obtain divine approval for it

• Plan the new settlement

• Choose its oikistēs

What is an oikistēs?

A founder

How did sponsorship of apoikiae work?

It was loose, and many were actually private enterprises with no city-state organising the new settlement’s foundation

In a new settlement, what were the responsibilities of the oikistēs?

• Leading the outgoing settlers

• Assigning allotments to the settlers

• Establishing the city’s defences

• Establishing sanctuaries of the gods

How would links between the original city-state and the new settlement appear?

The apoikia would remain linked to its metropolis by bonds of kinship and cult, but the settlement was a new and completely independent polis

What was the first stage of emigration from Greece?

In the second quarter of the 800s B.C. movement was direction towards Italy and the western Mediterranean

What was the second stage of emigration from Greece?

In the late 800s B.C. movement was concentrated on the north Aegean and Black Sea

Who were the pioneers among new Greek settlers in Italy?

The Euboeans, who founded a settlement in the early 800s on the island of Pithecusae 

Who were the habitants of Pithecusae?

Many Greeks as well as being about 10% Phoenician and some Italic peoples

Why was Pithecusae so successful?

It had good harbours and was well situated to exploit iron deposits on the nearby island of Elba and to trade with the native populations of the mainland

Other than Pithecusae, what settlements did the Euboeans found?

Cumae around 750 B.C. on the Italian mainland and four settlement in Sicily in the last third of the 700s B.C.

Why did city-states on the Peloponnese send out settlers?

Unequal distribution of land at home

To where did city-states of the Peloponnese send settlers?

Italy and Sicily

What was the one and only overseas venture of the Spartans?

Taras in southern Italy which was settled by exiled dissidents

How did settlement continue after the initial movement out of Greece?

Early apoikiae spun off daughter settlements and newcomers from other parts of Greece came lookng for farmland and trading opportunities

What is an example of a settlement founding another settlement?

Settler from Phocaea (coast of Asia Minor) founding Massilia (coast of southern France)

Why was the foundation of Massilia advantageous?

Its location near the mouth of the River Rhone allowed easy access to the lucrative trade with the Celtic inhabitants of the upper Rhone Valley

Why did the Greeks not colonise west of Sicily?

They ceded opportunities to the Phoenicians who were founding many of their own settlements

What areas attracted the Greeks most and why?

Areas around the Hellespont and the Black Sea had good fishing grounds, rich soil, mineral wealth, trading possibilities, and a lack of rivals in the area

What was one example of a successful Black Sea settlement?

Byzantium was founded by the Megarians in 660 B.C. and 1000 years later under the name Constantinople would be capital of the Roman Empire

In what ways were settlements still Greek?

They build monument temples, patronised Panhellenic institutions such as the Delphic oracle and Olympic games, and stayed aware of cultural developments in the Aegean

What was the Greeks’ relationship like with the people already occupying lands they were trying to settle?

It was sometimes positive due to the opportunity for people to access the products and culture of the Greeks but frequently involved conflict due to the Greeks’ intrusion

What is an example of an existing people embracing Greek culture after settlement?

The Etruscans in Italy adapted the Greek alphabet, Greek art, and cultic practice

What is an example of an existing people rejecting Greek culture after settlement?

In Naucratis in Egypt the Greek settlement operated as a trading post under strict Egyptian supervision

When conflict occurred, how did the Greeks ‘successfully’ take over a settlement?

They expelled or enslaved the existing populations

Where was Euboea?

It was a long, inshore island in central Greece and was Ionian

What were the two important city-states of Euboea?

Chalcis and Eretria which shared the plain of the River Lelanton, which they sometimes fought over (Chalcis ultimately won)

What were the two commercial ventures of Chalcis and Eretria?

The planting of a trade colony at Al Mina (825 B.C.) and a trade colony at Pithecusae (775 B.C.)

Of Chalcis and Eretria, which is the more important?

Chalcis, as it was famous for its metals industry and production of bronze armour and high-quality iron swords

How did Chalcis thrive?

Manufacturing of metals and a seaborne trade network

What was the main ally of Chalcis?

Corinth

Who owned Al Mina?

The Armenian kingdom of Urartu, which gave permission for the Greeks and Phoenicians to be there

Who were the technical owners of Pithcusae?

Etruscans, who gave permission for a trade colony to operate 

What two factors in many city-states accelerated overseas settlement?

Overpopulation and food-insecurity

What two enemies did Greece make in overseas colonisation?

The Phoenicians and the Carthaginians who all competed for west-Mediterranean trade and access

What were the three preeminent colonising city-states?

Chalcis and Corinth in mainland Greece and Miletus in Ionia

What were the two basic patterns of ancient Greek colonising?

Trade colonies and farming colonies

What was a trade colony?

A colony established at the outskirts of a strong foreign kingdom with permission → Al Mina, Pithecusae

What was a farming colony?

A land-grabbing Greek incursion into Sicily, Italy, the north Aegean coast, or North Africa devoted mainly to farming

How would the Greeks establish a farming colony?

They would displace the native peoples by forcible ejection, intimidation, or buying them off with trade goods, sometimes enslaving some of them

Who were the Greek colonists?

They came from the peasant class, except for expedition leaders who were aristocrats

What made an area desirable for Greek colonisation?

Good farmland and weak inhabitants that would be easy to overpower

What is an example of a Greek farming colony?

Syracuse founded by Corinth in 733 B.C. that had good harvests and an excellent harbour

What was the third earliest Greek colony?

Cumae, founded by Euboeans from Pithecusae in 750 B.C. with Etruscan permission

How did Cumae function?

It combined trade and farming patterns but soon become the scene of battle against the Etruscans

For what was Cumae famous?

Its temple to the god Apollo and its oracle of Apollo Sibyl of Cumae, modelled after the oracle at Delphi

Why were fields of Sicily so fertile?

Calcium carbonate washing down from the slopes of the volcano Mt. Etna

What was an example of indigenous people who were ejected from their farmland?

The Sikels of east Sicily were ejected by incoming Greeks

Why were southern Italian farmlands so desirable?

They offered more space and better rainfall allowing Greeks to grow wheat 

What is the only known example of a settlement revolting against its mother city?

Corcyra revolting against Corinth between 664-600 B.C. due perhaps to overcontrol by Corinth and the rivalry would play a role in the later Peloponnesian War

Why was the colony of Cyrene founded?

The city-state of Thera was suffering from drought and famine and the farmlands of Cyrene were abundant and trade relations nearby were good

Who was the patron gods of colonists?

Apollo