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The Development of the Greek World, 800-500 BC

Colonisation: causes, nature, course and consequences 

Jeffrey Lumb

Blacktown Girls High School

 

 

 

Outcomes

H1.1	describe and assess the significance of key people, groups, events, institutions, societies and sites within the historical context
H2.1	explain historical factors and assess their significance in contributing to change and continuity in the ancient world
H4.1	use historical terms and concepts appropriately
H3.4	explain and evaluate differing perspectives and interpretations of the past
H3.3	analyse and evaluate sources for their usefulness and reliability

 Principal Focus: Through an investigation of the archaeological and written sources for the development of the Greek world 800 – 500 BC, students learn about significant developments, forces and relevant historiographical issues that shaped the historical period.

 Students learn about:

Colonisation and tyranny:

• colonisation: causes, nature, course and consequences

 

Glossary

Content

• The age of colonisation
• Sources for the period
• Main areas: mother cities and their colonies
• General causes of colonisation
• Specific causes for particular areas
• Steps in establishing a colony
• Results of colonisation
• Revision
• Looking further

The age of colonisation

During the "Dark Age", the trade routes which had been controlled first by the Minoans and then later by the Mycenaeans came to be monopolised by the Phoenicians. It is therefore tempting to associate the renewed interest of the Greeks in overseas trade with the decline of Phoenician influence consequent upon its becoming subordinated to the Assyrian empire in the 8th century. 

Starting around 750 BC, certain of the stronger Greek cities began sending out colonies. Greek colonisation was unlike the sort practised by European imperial powers such as Spain, Portugal, France and England in the modern era. Greek colonies were not interested in subjugating and living among native populations, although some hellenisation (spreading of Greek culture) did take place inevitably as the result of proximity.

Rather, in the Greek colonies we see the same sort of localised independence and jealous guarding of citizenship familiar from the classical city states. The Greek word for "colony" was apoikia, literally "away from home"; the word suggests how the Greeks themselves viewed colonies in general. Typically the customs and institutions of the colony were translated wholesale from the mother city (metropolis), which named a leader for the colony (an oikistes) and set the terms under which the colonists would undertake the venture. 

Sources for the period

It is at this time, when the move to establish colonies was gaining pace, that we first begin to get reliable and precise dates in Greek history, and come to look increasingly closely at what the Greeks of the classical period thought and said had happened; this is indicated by what they wrote or inscribed on monuments and such like. 

Even though we now have these written sources, the way the Greeks wrote, and the ways they thought  about the past, become as important as the events themselves.

Archaeological evidence, however, still remains crucial in providing an accurate and balanced view of the period. The few records actually from the period are fragmentary. This material comprises mainly pottery (basically because it is more durable than metal objects). Pottery objects were often taken by migrating families in the form of day-to-day utensils.

For example, historians trying to isolate the early development of Greek ideas about political equality sometimes question the claims made by colonial cities that the original distribution of lots in their city had been carried out on the basis of equality. Some scholars believe in essence that such claims are ideologically motivated, and are attempts to project the ideology of the present into the past and thereby make it more attractive by imbuing it with the authority of antiquity. 

Main areas: mother cities and their colonies

Miletus: many colonies in the Black Sea area, such as Sinope, Abydos, Cyzicus; also Naucratis in Egypt. .

Megara, Chalcedon and Byzantium: around the Bosphorus, also Sicilian Megara.

Chalcis and Eretria (Euboean cities): many colonies in the North Aegean, especially in the Chalcidice area, and Pydna, Methone; Cumae and Rhegium in Italy; Catana and Leontini in Sicily.

Corinth:  Corcyra and parts of Illyrian Coast; Syracuse in Sicily; Potidaea in the North Aegean, also Ambracia.

Achaean cities:  mainly in southern Italy, such as Croton, Sybaris.

Phocaea: Massilia and parts of Spain and Gaul; also Lampsacus.

Samos:  Tartessus near Gibraltar.

Thera:  Cyrene in North Africa.

Sparta: Tarentum (Taras) in Italy.

Note that some colonies founded other colonies, e.g. Sinope  Trapezus, Cocyra Epidamnus, Syracuse,  Leucas and Camarina.

Importantly, there was no Athenian colonisation at this time.

Greek colonisation spread Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean, increasing the influence and, eventually, the power of the Greek cities.

To view an interactive map of ancient Greek colonisation click here   (shockwave plug-in required)

 

General causes of colonisation

Agricultural  The average produce from the fields was barely sufficient in good seasons so famine conditions in poor seasons, placed huge burdens on those working the land. The limited quality andquantity of good farming land were also important. There were problems of transporting produce to sea ports and markets. The division of estates among all the heirs had the result that farms became too small. The system of primogeniture (inheritance of land and possessions by the eldest son) left the rest of the family landless. Any recourse to litigation left the unsuccessful without land. Colonisation could solve these problems. Over-population produced an ever-increasing group of landless and discontented individuals. Political and civil disputes often led to the expulsion or migration of the losing party. It might be the intention of this party or individual to be leader in a new area. Oppression and political dominance of the nobles made the much poorer classes eager to escape this; there was a desire for political freedom in new areas, hence colonisation took place. Commercial desire and the need for raw materials and new markets for the export of oil and wine and imports for new industries; there was a need for new tools and weapons and for new trade routes; hence colonies were established in new areas for new and wider avenues for trade and commerce. The strategic need for new settlements for defence in case of attack or invasion, the need for advantageous positions in trade and commerce, the need for good geographical positions to offset gains of rival city states led to the setting up of colonies in strategic areas. General spirit of the Greeks, who were  adventurers and travellers from their early history.

Note: It is an oversimplification to say that colonisation was just a response to overpopulation and dwindling food supply.

 

Specific colonies and reasons for their settlement

Black Sea Area:  Miletus' colonies of Abydos and Cyzicus were established for fish and woollen products, Sinope for naval construction, Trapezus for metals and as a centre for exports of fish and grain. These colonies were set up to gain  rich trade from the interior, especially in silver, iron, timber and grain; Miletus' colonies elsewhere on the shores of the Black Sea were set up for export of local produce; the colonies in and around the Hellespont region were established for strategic control of trade routes e.g. Abydos again; Megara's colonies in search of land, grain and trade, Chalcedon for arable land and agricultural produce, Byzantium for commerce and trade and for strategic control of the Bosphorus and trade routes through the Black Sea; checks of both cities on each other in this area; control of each other.

North and North West Aegean Area:  Colonies of Chalcis and Eretria were established for new arable land as well as resources such timber, gold and tin. Some colonies held strategic importance in Chalcidice, their geographic positions allowed the control of exports including silver; ship-timber and pastoral products. Corinth's colony of Potidaea was part of the Cypselid Tyrants' plan to make Corinth a great sea power, and so it increased its strategic importance. Corinth's other colonies in this area controlled the trade and supply of products to the Corinthians. 

Western Mediterranean Area:  The Achaean colonies of Sybaris and Croton were established for agricultural purposes cattle raising, control of the sea, western se aroutes and also overland trade. Metapontum was established for agriculture. The colonies at Cumae, Catana Leontini, Rhegium, Corcyra were established for strategic control of land and sea routes. Syracuse was established for its excellent arable land and harbour, it became a centre of trade and commerce and therefore a strategic position. Whilst Corcyra's colony of Epidamnus was established for its potential as a trading market and its agriculture. Sparta's colony at Tarentum was as a result of the First Messenian War.

Other areas:  The colonisation of Thera was established to house voluntary political exiles. Thera's colony in Cyrene was established for its arable land and pastures. Miletus' colony at Naucratis was established for trade, its potential for exports and imports and its strategic position.

 

Steps in establishing a colony

The oecist (founder) would recruit settlers from his own polis or other city-states. The oracle was consulted. Then the location and support of the gods were sought. Religious ties were very important in binding the colony to the founding (or mother) city. The area for settlement was chosen. The colonists took with them the customs and traditions of the "mother-city". This was symbolised in the transporting of a home fire. Independence was a feature of the colony, once founded. It is for this reason that no single polis developed what modern historians would call a colonial empire at this time. Political independence was important in shaping the new colony. Contact and trade were maintained with the mother city. Relations between the colony and founding city were important and frequently mutually beneficial. This maintenance of contact was an important medium for the hellenisation (the spreading of Greek culture) of the Mediterranean.

 

Results of colonisation

* extensive trade and commerce * new trade and importance of exports and imports * great increase in wealth for those engaged in trade and so rise of a new moneyed class, thus the shift in the basis for social classes from birth to wealth * new raw materials for industry and so rapid industrial growth, thus the rise of a middle class of artisans * social and economic importance of this new upper and lower middle class, but still without any political status * development of slavery * adverse position and life of poorer classes, especially with debt and loss of land * advances in textiles, ship-building, metalwork, pottery, architecture * new system of coinage and growth of systems of credit, loans and interest * spread of Greek culture: Greek cultural influence on non-Greeks who came in contact with Greek mother-cities and colonies * new techniques learned from association with new peoples in new  areas * new contacts brought a broadening of knowledge; however the concept of the Greek idea of non-Greek-speakers being barbarian continued * further developments of agriculture.

 

 

Revision

Answer these questions. 

  (Click on the links for assistance.)

1. What contribution does archaeology make to our knowledge of this period?
   
   
2. Explain the agricultural problems that were important in the colonisation movement.
   
   
3. Using the map above and an atlas of the ancient world, locate the major colonies outlined above.
   
   
4. What role did the desire for trade play in Greek colonisation?
   
   
5. What procedures did the Greeks follow in setting up a new colony?
   
   
6. Using the material contained above and your own research, what role did the oracle at Delphi (Delphic Oracle) play in Greek colonisation?   What is significant about its location?

    You might also try this web page for some additional material.....Click here .

 

Looking further

All of these books are easily obtainable:

Bradley, P.	Ancient Greece: using evidence, pp 95-101
Bury, J. B. & Meiggs, R.	A History of Greece, pp 70-85
Ehrenberg, V.	From Solon to Socrates,  pp 14-21
Kelly, M.	View from Olympus, pp 31-39
Koutsoukis, A. J.	History of the Ancient World - Ancient Greece, pp 26-35
Roebuck, C.	The World of Ancient Times, pp 182-190

 

The following Internet sites are excellent sources for a number of aspects relating to this historical period:

Classics Resources
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/classics.html
An excellent site that has links to everything in the ancient world

The Perseus project
http://medusa.perseus.tufts.edu/
Another excellent source for ancient Greece

Ancient History Source Book for Greece http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook07.html

Good overview of the period: http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GREECE/ATHENS.HTM

The Greeks: Crucible of Civilisation (also has Flash 4 version)
http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/
An excellent animated site with sound based around the acclaimed T.V. series

The Herodotus web site: http://www.herodotuswebsite.co.uk/

 

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