n colonies are depicted with yellow labels (4th century BC)
Macedonia and Thrace (–405 BC), sporting
Arethusa and a
quadriga Numerous colonies were founded in
Northern Greece, chiefly in the region of
Chalcidice but also in the region of
Thrace. Chalcidice was settled by Euboeans, chiefly from Chalcis, who lent their name to these colonies. The most important settlements of the Euboeans in Chalcidice were
Olynthos (which was settled in collaboration with the
Athenians),
Torone,
Mende,
Sermyle,
Aphytis and
Cleonae in the peninsula of
Athos. Other important colonies in Chalcidice were
Acanthus, founded by colonists from
Andros and
Potidaea, a colony of
Corinth.
Thasians with the help of the Athenian
Callistratus of Aphidnae founded the city of
Datus. During the
Peloponnesian War, the Athenians with the
Hagnon, son of Nikias founded the city of Ennea Hodoi (Ἐννέα ὁδοὶ), meaning nine roads, at the current location of the "Hill 133" north of
Amphipolis in
Serres. Numerous other colonies were founded in the region of Thrace by the Ionians from the coast of
Asia Minor. Important colonies were
Maroneia, and
Abdera. The
Milesians also founded
Abydos and
Cardia on the
Hellespont and
Rhaedestus in
Propontis. The
Samians colonised the island of
Samothrace, becoming the source of its name. Finally, the
Parians colonised
Thasos under the leadership of the
oecist and father of the poet
Archilochus, Telesicles. In 340 BC, while
Alexander the Great was regent of Macedon, he founded the city of
Alexandropolis Maedica after defeating a local Thracian tribe.
Magna Graecia: mainland Italy and Sicily and in
Sicily ,
Valle dei Templi, in present-day
Italy '' exhibited in the
National Museum of Magna Graecia in
Reggio Calabria exhibited in the
Archaeological Museum of Milan, 380-370 BC
Magna Graecia was the name given by the
Romans to the coastal areas of
Southern Italy in the present-day
Italian regions of
Calabria,
Apulia,
Basilicata,
Campania and
Sicily which were extensively settled by Greeks. Greeks began to settle in southern Italy in the 8th century BC. The first great migratory wave directed towards the western Mediterranean was that of the
Euboeans aimed at the Gulf of Naples who, after
Pithecusae (on the isle of
Ischia), the oldest Greek settlement in Italy, founded
Cumae nearby, their first colony on the mainland, and then in the Strait of Messina,
Zancle in Sicily, and nearby on the opposite coast,
Rhegium. The second wave was of the
Achaeans who concentrated initially on the Ionian coast (
Metapontion,
Poseidonia,
Sybaris,
Kroton), shortly before 720BC. At an unknown date between the 8th and 6th centuries BC the Athenians, of Ionian lineage, founded
Scylletium (near today's
Catanzaro). In Sicily the Euboeans later founded
Naxos, which became the base for the founding of the cities of
Leontini,
Tauromenion and
Catania. They were accompanied by small numbers of
Dorians and Ionians; the Athenians had notably refused to take part in the colonisation. The strongest of the Sicilian colonies was
Syracuse, an 8th-century BC colony of the Corinthians. Refugees from
Sparta founded
Taranto which evolved into one of the most powerful cities in the area.
Megara founded
Megara Hyblaea and
Selinous;
Phocaea founded
Elea;
Rhodes founded
Gela together with the
Cretans and
Lipari together with
Cnidus; the
Locrians founded
Epizephyrian Locris. Many cities in the region became in turn
metropoleis for new colonies such as the Syracusans, who founded the city of
Camarina in the south of Sicily; or the Zancleans, who led the founding of the colony of
Himera. Likewise, Naxos, which founded many colonies while
Sybaris founded the colony of
Poseidonia.
Gela founded its own colony,
Acragas. With colonisation,
Greek culture was exported to Italy with its dialects of the
Ancient Greek language, its religious rites, and its traditions of the independent
polis. An original
Hellenic civilisation soon developed, and later interacted with the native
Italic civilisations. One of the most important cultural transplants was the
Chalcidean/
Cumaean variety of the
Greek alphabet which was adopted by the
Etruscans; the
Old Italic alphabet subsequently evolved into the
Latin alphabet, which became the most widely used alphabet in the world.
Colonies of Corinth in Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea The region of the
Ionian Sea and that of
Illyria were colonised strictly by
Corinth. The Corinthians founded important overseas colonies on the sea lanes to Southern Italy and the west which succeeded in making them the foremost emporia of the western side of the Mediterranean. Important colonies of Corinth included
Leucada,
Astacus,
Anactoreum,
Actium,
Ambracia, and
Corcyra - all in modern-day western Greece. The Corinthians also founded important colonies in
Illyria, which evolved into important cities,
Apollonia and
Epidamnus, in present-day Albania. The fact that about the 6th century BC the citizens of Epidamnus constructed a Doric-style treasury at
Olympia confirms that the city was among the richest of the
Ancient Greek world. An ancient account describes Epidamnos as 'a great power and very populated' city.
Nymphaeum was another Greek colony in Illyria. The
Abantes of
Euboea founded the city of
Thronion at the Illyria.
Colonies of Syracuse in Adriatic Sea In the early 4th century BC the Greek tyrant of Syracuse
Dionysius I founded a series of new colonies in the Adriatic: in Italy
Ankón (now
Ancona, a colony populated in 387 BC by political exiles), and Adrìa (in 385 BC, now
Adria); in Dalmatia
Issa (now
Vis) and in Albania
Lissos (in 385 BC, now
Lezhë). In 385 Syracuse also collaborated with
Paros in the foundation of
Pharos (in 384 BC, now
Stari Grad With this colonization program, Dionysius effectively managed to secure total control over the Adriatic routes that carried
Po Valley grain to Greece, thus allowing Syracuse and the whole of Sicily to compete with the
Etruscans in this trade. In 1877 a Greek inscription was discovered in
Lumbarda on the eastern tip of the island of
Korčula in modern-day
Croatia which talks about the founding of another Greek settlement there in the 3rd or 4th century BC, by colonists from Issa. The artifact is known as
Lumbarda Psephisma. Evidence of coinage on the Illyrian coast used for trade between the Illyrians and the Greeks can be dated to around the 4th century BC and minted in Adriatic colonies such as
Issa and Pharos.
Black Sea and Propontis , marked by their corresponding centuries Although the Greeks had at one point called the Black Sea shore "inhospitable", according to ancient sources they eventually created 70 to 90 colonies. The colonisation of the Black Sea was led by the Megarans and some of the Ionian cities such as
Miletus,
Phocaea and
Teos. The majority of colonies in the region of the Black Sea and
Propontis were founded in the 7th century BC.
Ammianus Marcellinus in the 4th century AD wrote that on the left shore of the Maeotis (modern
Sea of Azov) lay the Cherronesus (modern
Crimea), which was densely settled with Greek colonies. He emphasized that, as a result, the inhabitants were calm and peaceful, farming the land and living off its produce. In contrast, he described the nearby
Tauri tribes as exceptionally cruel and ruthless.
The first phase (2nd half of the 7th century BC) In the area of Propontis, the Megarans founded the cities of
Astacus in Bithynia,
Chalcedonia and
Byzantium which occupied a privileged position. Miletus founded
Cyzicus and the Phocaeans
Lampsacus. On the western shore of the Black Sea the Megarans founded the cities of
Selymbria and a little later,
Nesebar. A little farther north in today's
Romania the Milesians founded the cities of
Histria,
Argame and
Apollonia. In the south of the Black Sea the most important colony was
Sinope which according to prevailing opinion was founded by Miletus some time around the middle of the 7th century BC. On the north shore of the Black Sea Miletus was the first to start with
Pontic Olbia and
Panticapaeum (modern
Kerch). In about 560 BC the Milesians founded
Odessa in the region of modern
Ukraine.
Later colonies Only a few colonies were founded during the Greek Classical period which included
Mesembria (modern Nessebar) by the Megareans in 493 BC. Heraclea Pontica founded
Chersonesus Taurica in Crimea at the end of the 5th or early 4th century BC. The ancient Greek settlement called
Manitra of the 4th-3rd centuries BC near the town of Baherove in Crimea was discovered in 2018.
Wider Mediterranean on the island of
sirens; the
Odyssey typifies the particulars of the age. The Greek colonies expanded as far as the
Iberian Peninsula and
North Africa.
Africa In North Africa, on the peninsula of
Kyrenaika, colonists from Thera founded
Kyrene, which evolved into a very powerful city in the region. The
pharaoh Psammitecus I gave a trade concession to Milesian merchants for one establishment on the banks of the
Nile, founding a trading post which evolved into a prosperous city by the time of the
Persian expedition to Egypt in 525 B.C. Strabo also mentions a Milesian fortress near the
Bolbitine mouth, close to a place known as the Watchtower of Perseus. This watchtower is also mentioned by Herodotus. 2023 archaeological findings in
Thonis-Heracleion at Egypt, suggested that Greeks, who were already allowed to trade in the city, "had started to take root" there as early as during the
Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt and that likely Greek mercenaries were employed to defend the city.
Diodorus Siculus mentions
Meschela (Μεσχέλα), a city on the northern coast of Africa, founded by the Greeks after the
Trojan War. In
Cirta, King
Micipsa of
Numidia established a Greek colony within the city.
Asia At the mouth of the
Orontes River at the site of
Al-Mina along the Syrian coast, a Greek trading colony, of unknown name, was established by the
Euboeans around 825 B.C. Nearby,
Cape Basit had also Greek presence from the similar period and is almost certainly the location of the colony of
Posideion. Additionally, archaeological evidence suggests that the Greeks established a settlement at
Tell Sukas around the same time they arrived at Al Mina. Archaeological discoveries of Greek findings as early as the ninth century BC across the Near East indicate a Greek presence in the region. Finds at sites such as
Hamath,
Samaria,
Nineveh,
Tell Abu Hawam and others suggest active trade, cultural exchange, and possibly Greek settlement.
Rest of the Mediterranean On the north side of the Mediterranean, the Phokaians founded
Massalia on the coast of
Gaul. Massalia became the base for a series of further foundations farther away in the region of Spain. Phokaia also founded
Alalia in
Corsica and
Olbia in
Sardinia. The Phokaians arrived next on the coast of the Iberian peninsula. As related by Herodotus, a local king summoned the Phokaians to found a colony in the region and rendered meaningful aid in the fortification of the city. The Phokaians founded
Empuries in this region and later the even more distant
Hemeroskopeion. ==Index of Greek colonies before Alexander the Great (pre-336 BC)==