Ancient Greek <br> colonization

Around 670 BC, people from Corinth took over Corfu Island and from there colonized the Dalmatian coasts; others traveled towards the South of the Italian peninsula and settled there. They found natural harbors and fertile lands and took over the area with their weapons by throwing out the preceding residents or keeping them as slaves. In Tarantο, one of the most important Greek colonies, the Greeks grew olive trees, developed stock raising and manufactured ships. In the same way Sybaris and Croton were colonized by the Athenians. Sybaris became famous for its wealth and the pleasant life of its residents, who left all works to their slaves. A characteristic example was the existence of tents on their main streets to protect them from the sun and their excessive celebrations that last for days. Life was magnificent until an attack from Croton destroyed everything; the city was burned down and all the survivors were enslaved.

Croton lasted more than Sybaris. His residents were hard-working, active and ready for war at any time. In Croton lots of famous athletes grow up and the greatest medicine school of Italy was established. The city’s fame attracted Pythagoras who established his school, where the youth practiced the catharsis of the body with abstinence and self-control and the catharsis of the mind with scientific research. West of Croton was Lokroi that had been established from the residents of Lokrida in Greece. In 664 BC they acquired the first written laws code of Greece after the advice of Delphi oracle. These laws had a great success and in order to keep them unchanged, if someone wanted to propose a change, he was obliged to wear a rope around his neck at the time of his proposals and had to be hanged if the majority disagreed with him. For many years the laws were unchanged. The Romans gave the name Magna Greece to the coastal areas of Southern Italy that were extensively populated by Greek settlers. The Greeks brought their Hellenic civilization which was to leave a lasting imprint on Italy, such as in the culture of ancient Rome.


In Sicily Greeks dominated the East side while the west was taken by the Carthaginian; for many years the two forces fought for the domination on the island. Each one of the Greek colonies of Sicily had a different main characteristic, as: Catania was known for its law order, Imera for its poets, Selinunte and Akragas for their temples, Syracuse for its power, its wealth and its scientific achievements. Eventually the Greeks cities will became part of the Roman Empire.

The Greeks did not restrict themselves to the Italian peninsula; they also made colonies in south Gales where they established among other Nikaia and Monaco and they reached Spain where their civilization flourished due to the silver mines that were found there. In North Africa they created commercials stations like Naucratis and Kirini that became commercial centers of the whole North Africa. In 535 BC the Carthaginians and Etruscans joined their forces and destroyed the Greek fleet. That was the beginning of the decline of Greek influence in the Mediterranean.

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