Greek Colonies: Map & History
The Greek colonisation was the expansion of Archaic Greeks across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, particularly during the 8th–6th centuries BCE.
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Historiographical synthesis & structured realm registry
The Greek colonisation was the expansion of Archaic Greeks across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, particularly during the 8th–6th centuries BCE.
Modern Countries Once Part of Greek Colonies
At its mapped extent, Greek Colonies covered territory in 4 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
- Albania247–231 BCE · a small part
- Greece271–226 BCE · a small part
- France271–226 BCE · a small part
- Turkey271–226 BCE · a small part
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Greek Colonies's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Greek Colonies in Depth
History
The Greeks started colonising around the beginning of the 8th century BC when the Euboeans founded Pithecusae in Southern Italy and Olynthus in Chalcidice, Greece. Subsequently, they founded the colonies of Cumae, Zancle, Rhegium and Naxos.
At the end of the 8th century, Euboea fell into decline with the outbreak of the Lelantine War but other Greeks—such as the Ionians and Corinthians—continued to found colonies. The Ionians started their first colonies around the 7th century in Southern Italy, Thrace and on the Black Sea. Thera founded Cyrene and Andros, and Samos founded multiple colonies in the Northern Aegean.
To use the term 'colonization" for this expansion is problematic, since it invites false associations.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Greek colonisation (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Greek Colonies Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 82,558 km² in 244 BCE.
Greek Colonies: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Greek Colonies exist?
Greek Colonies is dated to 271 BCE – 226 BCE, in the Classical Antiquity era.
How large was Greek Colonies at its peak?
At its peak in 244 BC Greek Colonies covered about 82,558 km².