greek colonial migration

Following the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, Greece went through a period of Dark Ages in which literacy had been lost and the Mycenaean script forgotten. Adopting the Phoenician alphabet, and modifying it to create the Greek alphabet,written records begin to appear from about 800 BC -- it was in this period that Homer wrote the Illiad and the Odyssey -- but the most dramatic effect of Greek resurgence was population growth and a long period of colonial migration and expansion guaranteeing that Greek blood flows through many of us today.

Because every island, valley and plain was cut off from its neighbors by the sea or mountain ranges, Greece was geographically divided into many small self-governing communities which had limited arable land.

Soon, populations in Greek cities grew beyond their capacity to feed and house everybody, so from about 750 BC the Greeks began settling colonies in all directions and would continue doing so for another 250 years.

To the east, the Aegean coast of Asia Minor was colonized first, followed by Cyprus and the coasts of Thrace, the Sea of Marmara and the south coast of the Black Sea. Eventually Greek colonization reached as far north-east as present day Ukraine.

To the west the coasts of Illyria, Sicily and southern Italy were settled, followed by the south coast of France, Corsica, and even northeastern Spain.

Greek colonies were also founded in Egypt and Libya.

Syracuse, Naples, Marseilles and Istanbul all had their beginnings as colonies as did Syracuse, Neapolis, Massalia and Byzantion.

Greek colonies were not politically controlled by their founding cities, although they often retained religious and commercial links with them. The Greeks both at home and abroad organized themselves into independent communities, and the city (polis) became the basic unit of Greek government. By 776 BC, the first Olympic Games were held at Olympia, and many colonial Greeks would have attended.

Because the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus -- the first of Rome's seven kings who ruled from 753-715 BC -- there is speculation about it being a Greek colony.

Rome itself was situated in an area inhabited by Greek migrants -- the Latin tribe, the most organized and cohesive in terms of pride in their Greek heritage -- but it's name is of Etruscan (Turkish) origin and so is its siting and building.

Not only was Rome founded on a hill in accordance with the Etruscan custom of building settlements on a hill -- the steeper the better -- but it was also built according to the Etruscan ritual of beginning with a sacred ditch before proceeding to the walls.

Actually, Romulus was the leader of established migrant tribes from Asia Minor called the Etrusci, Tusci, Tyrrheni, or Tyrseni by the other populations of Italy. The original home of the Etruscans was in Lydia (Turkey), and it was continuing famine that caused them to migrate.

Legend has it that the king divided all the Lydians into two groups and drew lots to decide which should stay and which should emigrate. His son, Tyrrhenus -- after whom the sea was named -- led those who left. Taking all their possessions , including cattle, they sailed away to seek a new life elsewhere. They saw many lands before they came to Umbria in Italy -- found it either uninhabited or inhabited with friendly natives -- and decided to settle there.

Etruscan cattle are not indigenous to Italy -- or Europe as a whole -- and their similarity to cattle typically found in Turkey means that the Etruscans, too, originally came from that part of the world.

Actually, only the Ligurians (of Genoa, Corsica and Sardinia) and the Sicilians of Sicily appear to be native to Italy. Most others were migrants from Illyria (Yugoslavia), Greece or Syria who had migrated to Italy before the Greek resurgence and the state initiated settlement of colonies from 750 BC onwards.

Going back further in history, however, even the Ligurians, Sicilians, Illyrians, Syrians and Etruscans may have originally came from Greece; and going back even further, we all came from Africa!

(This article first appeared as greek resurgence from 800 BC and is reprinted with permission.)

the colonies and their motherlands

Initially, the colonists attempted to transplant the culture of their motherlands to the new world colonies, but different conditions ultimately gave way to new lifestyles.

One of the major differences in the colonies was related to racial issues that the motherlands never had to contend with at home.

Initially, the colonists had to deal with problems related to indigenous populations - in which brutality was the norm; but later, when gold and other precious minerals were found in the new word, the colonists had to deal with invasions of prospectors from foreign nations, particularly the Chinese - in which toleration was the norm.

During the early colonization period, the so-called inferior indigenous populations were either killed, enslaved or subjugated; and later on, when moral indignation took place in the motherlands, a system of indentured servitude replaced slavery.

All of the early American colonies were founded upon slavery - most of the slaves being shipped from Africa for this purpose; but the later Australian colonies were remarkable in that they were founded as penal settlements. England transported its felons - its poverty stricken bread stealers as well as its brutal murderers - to Australia as punishment. Providing that the convicts survived the horrendous and long voyage south, the punishment of transportation from dirty, gloomy London to clean, sunny Botany Bay was actually a reward!