Were the ancient Greek colonists immigrants?

Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher, once said, "We live around the sea, just like frogs live around the pond". Looking at the map of ancient Greece, we find that ancient Greece really surrounded the whole Aegean Sea. If you count the colonies of ancient Greece, then ancient Greece almost surrounded the entire Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Through the colonial movement, the sphere of influence of the Greeks was greatly expanded. Greek colonies had a great influence on the ancient Mediterranean world, which was a harbinger of the "Hellenistic" era.

I. Geographical, social and colonial conditions in Greece. Colonial activities in ancient Greece began in the 8th century BC. Before that, Mycenae civilization was destroyed by Dorian invasion, and ancient Greece experienced a dark age of 300 years. After the end of the dark ages, the social economy of ancient Greece developed again, the polis reappeared and everything was recovering. From the 8th century to the 6th century, it was a period of transition from clan tribe to state system in Greece. Because its prosperity was similar to Crete era and Mycenae era, it was called "archaic era".

Social and economic recovery will inevitably bring about population growth. But ancient Greece is a country with fewer mountains and more land, and the rapid population growth will inevitably bring great social pressure to Greek States. The contradiction between population and land runs through the whole ancient society. In China, peasant wars often break out because of the contradiction between man and land. In order to solve this problem, the ancient Greeks adopted immigration measures. For example, in the 7th century, there was a severe drought in Tiela Island, and the residents on the island had to draw lots to choose some of them to colonize Platia Island in Libyan Africa. In addition, the ancient Greeks were good at doing business, and often set up commercial stations overseas, which gradually evolved into commercial strongholds and eventually became colonies.

repel

The class differentiation in the "archaic era" accelerated this colonial activity. With the division of classes, nobles can control more land, while civilians' land keeps losing until they go bankrupt and even become debt slaves. Many civilians choose to emigrate overseas in order to avoid being enslaved by nobles. Within the nobility, the party who failed in the political struggle may also be exiled overseas and join the colonial team. For example, 706 years ago, the illegitimate son of a citizen of Sparta sought a reactionary coup because he could not obtain equal citizenship. After the failure, he and his followers were forced to emigrate to other religions. In addition, in order to transport slaves to China, some nobles also set up overseas agencies to sell and plunder people, which also promoted the colonial expansion movement.

The route colonized by the ancient Greeks was the sea route they chose, which had a lot to do with the development of ancient Greek navigation technology. In ancient times, Greece made great progress in shipbuilding and navigation technology. There are 30-paddle boats and 50-paddle boats, as well as three-row boats. However, the navigation technology at that time could not cross the Mediterranean, which made the Greeks sail only along the coastline. But the vast Mediterranean is enough to provide a big stage for the Greeks.

Second, the Mediterranean world in ancient Greece. The ancient Greek colonies were all built on the Mediterranean coast. They were built in coastal areas to guard against attacks by local residents. In case of crisis, they can easily escape by boat. The best place to live is the coastal plain backed by mountains. The Greeks first occupied the land of the aborigines, and then engaged in slave trade, plundering resources, commercial trade and other activities. Therefore, the colonial activities in ancient Greece have already had a very obvious aggressive nature. The local residents were either driven away or enslaved, and only a few were integrated into the Greeks.

ancient Greece

At the beginning of the establishment of the colony, it was only a vassal of the state, and the colony relied on its home country in all aspects. The colonial system and customs were basically the same as those of the home country. If there are important festivals, the colonies will send representatives to their home countries to participate in sports and other activities. The early colonies were basically dominated by agriculture. They import weapons, textiles, pottery and other handicrafts from their home countries, and import surplus grains from their home countries. Other colonies occupied an important traffic position and developed into commercial colonies. They may have developed from early commercial strongholds. These commercial colonies obtained a lot of materials by doing business with neighboring nationalities, and then transported the rest to their home countries. But after the colony grows, it will also become independent from the mother country and become a separate city-state. The colonial city-state and the home country are likely to be allied or hostile.

There are three main directions of Greek colonization, namely, Northeast China, Western Mediterranean and North Africa. In the northeast, mainly the Turkish Strait and the Black Sea. Miletus colonized the Northeast in the early days, and they established a series of colonies at the mouth of the Black Sea, such as Istrus at the mouth of the Danube, Indianapolis Tynys at the mouth of the Dnieper River, Olbia at the mouth of the Bouguer River, and Tiilas at the mouth of the Dniester River. The Miletus Sea first established some colonies in Marmarahi in the Turkish Strait, which controlled the traffic between Asia and Europe. Soon, the Dorians began to compete with the Miletus in the Black Sea and the Turkish Strait, and they established strongholds such as Byzantium, Garci and Selinbria. In addition, Ionians, Samos and others established colonies in this generation. By the 5th century, the Greeks had established 90 colonies along the Black Sea coast, most of which were founded by Miletus.

Population distribution in the Black Sea and the Turkish Strait

The colonies in the western Mediterranean are mainly distributed in the coastal areas such as the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Corsica, Spain and France. Southern Italy has fertile land, relatively flat terrain, rich resources and very warm climate, so it has become a paradise for the Greeks to colonize. The first two city-states to colonize the western Mediterranean were Hevia's Hakis and Errett Rhea, and later Corinth and Sparta joined in. Greeks immigrated to southern Italy on a large scale and later became known as "Greater Greece". Sicily is also a beautiful and rich place. In 734 BC, Cargos established the earliest colony in Sicily-Naxos, and then the colony in Sicily was established rapidly. In the 6th century, the Faucille people of Ionia established the Massilia (Marseille) on the southern French coast, and gradually became the commercial center of the western Mediterranean. Later, Foxi people continued to the west and established arana and other colonies on the east coast of Spain.

sicily

The Greeks' colonization of the western Mediterranean was met with competition from Phoenicians, so it was basically concentrated on the southern coast of Europe. Colonies along the coast of Sicily and Spain were often attacked by Phoenicians. In 535 BC, Carthage and Etruscan jointly destroyed the Pocaya fleet, and since then, the influence of the Greeks in the western Mediterranean has gradually declined. Due to the resistance of Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Egyptians, Greek colonization in North Africa was very limited. 650 years ago, ancient Egypt was in decline, so the Miletus established a colony at the mouth of the Nile-Noklati, which gradually became the colonial center of North Africa. Later, it developed into Alexandria. 630 years ago, Dorians established the colony Planus on the African coast in western Egypt, which became the Greek agricultural base in North Africa.

Colonial distribution in the western Mediterranean

According to statistics, Greece established about 400 colonies in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. There are so many colonies that the northern Mediterranean has almost become the "Greek world". From the perspective of Greece itself, Greece is only a small country with 654.38+10,000 square kilometers, while from the whole perspective, Greece is a big world including the Mediterranean.

Third, the influence of colonial expansion The colonial expansion of the Greeks greatly expanded the scope of Greek activities and the influence of Greek civilization, and also brought great influence to Greece's economy and culture. First of all, colonial expansion accelerated the development of navigation and promoted the prosperity of Greek industry and commerce. Colonial activities provided Greece with raw materials such as grain, wood, minerals and fur, which not only provided the Greeks with basic living resources, but also provided accumulation for the development of industry and commerce. In the 7th century BC, due to the promotion of commercial development, Greece began to introduce minted currency.

Colonial expansion closely linked ancient Greece with the Mediterranean world, and accelerated the introduction of advanced achievements of ancient Egypt and the two rivers civilization into Greece. For example, Noklati, a colony established by Greece in Egypt, became a window of communication between ancient Greeks and Egyptian civilization, which made medicine, architecture, geometry, astronomy and religion from Egypt spread to Greece continuously and accelerated the revival of Greek civilization.

Cultural exchanges have broadened the horizons of the Greeks. The History of Persian War written by Herodotus, the first Greek historian, is one of the greatest historical masterpieces in Greek history. This work covers not only Greece, but also the whole Mediterranean world, showing the national life of 20 countries and regions, and is known as "the first worldwide social and cultural history". The geography of ancient Greece was very developed, which was related to its colonial activities. Eratosthenes, the father of geography, first proposed to draw the world and countries with latitude and longitude grids, and another great Sipakush proposed to divide the earth into five zones.

While Greece absorbed the advanced achievements of ancient civilization, ancient Greek civilization also spread to other parts of the Mediterranean. For example, in the Italian Peninsula, influenced by the ancient Greek civilization, the "Greater Greece" region appeared, and Pythagoras founded the "Pythagorean School" here, which promoted the progress of Greek mathematics. Elijah School, which appeared in southern Italy in the 6th century, became one of the main Greek philosophies. Sicily became the main area of Greek activities, and many famous Greek cultural figures were born in Sicily, such as empedocles. The spread of Greek civilization in Italy is one of the reasons for the rise of Rome. The communication between Greeks and neighboring nationalities brought advanced culture to backward nationalities, accelerated the disintegration of their clans and promoted the progress of civilization.