Ancient Greek traders and sea-farers traveled and then moved beyond mainland Greece. They settled in generally fertile locations, with good harbors, friendly neighbors, and commercial opportunities, that they established as self-governing colonies. Later, some of these daughter colonies sent out their own colonists.
the colonies spoke the same language and worshiped the same gods as the mother city. The founders carried with them a sacred fire taken from the mother city's public hearth (from the Prytaneum) so they could use the same fire when they set up shop. Before setting out to establish a new colony, they often consulted the Delphic Oracle.
Literature and archaeology teach us much about the Greek colonies. Beyond what we know from these two sources there are many details to argue over, such as whether women were part of the colonizing groups or whether Greek men set out alone with the intention of mating with natives, why certain areas were settled, but not others, and what motivated the colonialists. Dates for the establishment of colonies vary with the source, but new archaeological finds in the Greek colonies may iron out such conflicts, while at the same time they provide missing bits of Greek history. Accepting that there are many unknowns, here is an introductory look at the colonizing enterprises of the ancient Greeks.
