A traveller visiting southern Italy can still find people speaking Griko and Calabrian Greek
and see ancient Greek temples and cities, echoes of a distant past when Greeks left
their homeland to found colonies not only in Magna Graecia, as the Roman writers called it
but all over their known world. In this video, we are going to take a look at how the ancient Greeks
set off to establish colonies in new lands. If becoming more knowledgeable was on your
new year’s resolution, the sponsor of this video MagellanTV is a perfect place to start!
Magellan TV’s historical documentaries work as a great tandem for the Kings and Generals videos
and if you are interested in learning more about the history of Ancient Greece, check out the 3
video series called Ancient Greece: The Greatest Show on Earth. Written and presented by classicist
Dr Michael Scott examines the extraordinary career of Athens in the ancient world,
from the 6th century BC to the 2nd century AD through the prism of one of its most important
and culturally crucial spaces: the theater. You can join us and watch this documentary by using
our link in the description! Don’t forget to check out other documentaries in MagellanTV’s Ancient
History section to learn more about Greece, Rome, China, Egypt and other ancient centers
of civilization. The good news is MagellanTV has much more than that – there are more than
3000 documentaries waiting for you, and hundreds of them are on the history of various eras. We
particularly love the travel documentaries on MagellanTV, as they are a perfect way to visit
various countries in stunning 4k from the comfort of one’s home. New documentaries are added weekly
and all of them are in 4k and available on most devices, including phones and pcs. MagellanTV
has a kind and exclusive offer for our viewers – click the link in the description to get a
one-month free trial and watch hundreds of history documentaries anytime, anywhere!
If one were to look at a map of Greece the reasons behind the ancient colonization waves
would be easily identifiable. Greece is and was a land of limited resources
and its mountainous terrain meant that there was precious little farmable land.
While many Greeks turned to the seas for fishing and trading,
agriculture was still the main means of food production and the average Joe was still a farmer.
As the population of the city-states grew and land had to be divided amongst more and more families
it became evident that the small fiefs could no longer economically support their poor owners.
Chalkis and Eretria on the island of Euboea as well as Corinth and Megara due to their geography
were among the first places where the situation escalated and consequently became the first cities
to send colonists to other parts of Greece and the Mediterranean world to seek their fortunes there.
Another reason that possibly forced part of the population of a city to relocate was political
differences. The mostly oligarchic and tyrannical regimes that ruled over most archaic Greek
city-states excluded many from the governance of the city regardless of their economic status. The
resentment these people held towards the ruling class because of their exclusion from political
privileges combined with the discontent born from the growing economic distress created a dangerous
environment that could lead to war. To defuse the situation, the ruling elites of the cities opted
for the classical solution of sending them away as colonists, killing two birds with one stone:
solving the problem of overpopulation, and getting rid of their political opponents.
But for whatever reason the colonists had to abandon their homeland and head into the unknown,
the procedure was almost the same; for the colonization was in most cases a public
endeavor of the city not acts of individual migrations, though there are examples of
private ventures, such as the expedition of Miltiades the Elder to Chersonese.
One of the preliminary and most important steps in the establishment of the new colony
was the selection of the oikistes or the founder of the new settlement. These men could come from
any social background, however, it’s probable that in most cases they were of noble birth.
Regardless of the class they originated from, the oikistes had to be accomplished men with
a knack for leadership as their main task was guiding a group of people to a new home.
Most colonies had one founder, though there are cases of cities founded by multiple oikistes,
like Rhegion in modern day Calabria. Furthermore, from the writings of Thucydides we learn that
when a colony itself wanted to establish another colony, it was customary to ask for an oikistes
from the mother city. Once selected, the oikistes would have to seek the approval of the gods,
especially Apollo, and to do so he would have to consult the Pythia at the Oracle of Delphi.
Herodotus informs us that by his time the consultation with the Pythia was somewhat
obligatory, but it is likely that the Oracle was influential in the colonization movement from its
earliest days even if the evidence is not securely historical. Later authors like Cicero mention
other oracles such as Ammon’s in Siwa and Zeus’ in Dodonna, as well as other sanctuaries dedicated to
Apollo, especially the ones established in Asia Minor were consulted. However, Delphi seems to be
the ultimate religious authority in matters of colonization. But why did the oikistes have to
consult Pythia? Again from Herodotus we learn that Dorieus, the brother of the famous king Leonidas,
did not ask for the Oracle’s advice on which land he should colonize
nor did he follow any other customs before he set off for his first endeavor to establish a colony.
With his first attempt ending in failure, as the Carthaginians attacked the colony,
Dorieus decided to try a second time, now visiting the oracle and asking if he will take the land
to which he is setting forth, with the oracle replying that he will. Another account, this time
from Thucydides informs us that the Spartans who wanted to colonize the area of Heraclea
in Trachis had already made all decisions and merely asked the Pythia for the god’s approval.
From these accounts, it seems that the bestowment of divine authority on the person of oikistes
and consent for his endeavor was the primary goal of consulting the prophetess, although
there might be some basis about the oracle giving geographical directions to the colonists. It’s not
hard to imagine that since people from all over the ancient world visited the Oracle of Delphi,
the people of the sanctuary had some insight as to which lands were fertile, close to important trade
nodes, or if the locals were friendly towards strangers. Many foundation legends include the
oikistes asking which land they should settle, though these accounts are somewhat dubious. One
such example comes to us from Strabo and Tacitus who report that Pythia told the Megarian colonists
who founded Byzantion to build their city opposite the blind people. The ones derided as blind were
earlier Megarian colonists who had founded the city of Chalcedon nearby, completely ignoring the
site of Byzantion and the numerous advantages it offered. However, Herodotus attributes the
same words to a Persian named Megabazas who upon visiting the area commented that
the settlers of Chalcedon must have been blind. As we have already mentioned, for the oikistes
himself the most important aspect of his visit to Delphi was his appointment as Apollo’s chosen and
the investment of religious authority on him by the god’s prophetess. His relation to the settlers
was similar to the one he had with Apollo. He guided the colonists to a new home and he himself
was guided by the god and in a way reassured the colonists of a safe journey and success when they
finally reached the promised land and as their leader the oikistes would be responsible for
setting up the social and religious order of the newfound city. Due to this authority a worshipping
cult was formed around him after his death which also signaled the end of the “foundation era”
of the colony. Finally, besides receiving divine authority from the Oracle, the oikistes and the
colonists were also given some moral justification for the establishment of their settlement,
as the land was described as a gift from Apollo to the oikist. It was therefore
important that their new home that would house the humans as well as their gods that they
would bring from their old city be approved by the gods and not be seen as stolen land.
Besides the consultation with the Oracle a similar practice of divination also took place.
A professional seer or even the oikistes himself would perform a ritual to find out if the omens
were favourable and the gods approved of their endeavor. It also served as further reassurance
for the colonists. The establishment of a colony and even the journey itself was a great risk and
the settlers put their lives on the line so they needed as much divine help as they could get.
The colonists, at least in later times, most often volunteered for the task and it was easy
for the city to find many who were willing to leave immediately. This might have been the case
in the early archaic period as well, however the only reliable evidence we have about recruitment
is about Cyrene and in that case the settlers were conscripted on the pain of death.
The number of the colonists varied as well in most cases ranging from just a couple hundred
to a thousand. Once the settlement was established and seemed to prosper then others could come
either from the mother city or as it was called metropolis or from the wider area of Greece.
As the first expedition to establish the new settlement was essentially a military undertaking
we can assume that it was mostly men who went and women would follow in later expeditions when it
would be safer, if at all. From Herodotus we learn that the colonists of Miletus
married local Carian women after killing their fathers, but because of the killing, the women
took an oath to never dine with their husbands and to never call them by their name. A similar
case might have been Cyrene as Herodotus only mentions men participating in the colonization
and there is evidence of intermarriage between Greek men and Libyan women. Though intermarriage
between Greek men and local women was quite common there is no evidence suggesting that all colonists
acted like those of Miletus and would be extreme to hypothesise that none of them took Greek wives.
Another practice attributed to the Greek colonists was the taking of the sacred fire from the hearth
that burned perpetually in the prytaneion - the government center of the mother city,
to kindle the hearth of the colony. This practice is mostly found in later sources
while Herodotus only seems to imply this and it is well attested at least for the case of Athens,
though it is a possibility that it was a universal Greek religious custom.
The symbolism of the transfer is somewhat open to interpretation, but since the fire in Hestia’s
altar symbolized life then its transference to the hearth of the colony possibly symbolized the
continuation of the community’s life from the old city to the new. The origins of this custom can
be traced to two other ancient practices. The first was marriage ceremonies when the mother
accompanied her daughter, the bride, with a torch that was lit on her father’s hearth.
Considering the analogous mother-daughter relation the metropolis had with its colony
it could be possible that this familial ceremony might have been the origin of the transfer of fire
on state level. However, a more probable explanation is the practice of military
fire-bearing and the rituals in which the pyrphoroi - the fire-bearers participated. By
analogy the oikistes who was also military leader might have been responsible for carrying the fire.
Once the necessary preparations and rituals had been completed the colonists would travel to the
area they wished to settle in their warships and the oikistes would undertake his first
task after the completion of the journey; picking the right site to build the new city. The typical
sites the Greek settlers picked were easily defended positions like headlands and peninsulas
or sometimes between two rivers and always with easy access to the water supply.
Once the right site had been picked the colonists would erect walls, build houses and temples and
divide the land between them. All of these tasks were of course supervised by the oikistes who
was also responsible for naming the colony. With the exemption of some colonies Corinth and Athens
founded in the imperialistic style of colonialism, the newly found city was an independent entity
with mostly sentimental ties to its metropolis. It wasn’t an extension of the mother-city but a new
city that governed itself. On the other hand, the colony did resemble the old city in many ways as
the settlers brought with them the same religious cults, calendar, dialect, and state offices.
Many colonies naturally had cordial relations with the metropolis, traded and sometimes forged
alliances and assisted each other, however, there are also cases of rivalry. A great
example of a rival relationship between colony and metropolis is that of Corcyra and Corinth
and their conflict over Epidamnus which became the prelude to the devastating Peloponnesian war.
Earlier on we mentioned that the death of the oikistes marked the end of the foundation era
and a universal practice among Greek colonies was the official commemoration of the founder and the
worship of the oikistes like a hero through a cult devoted to him. So important was the founder for
the colonists it is of little surprise that his name as well as other facts about the foundation
like the date and the name of the metropolis were well documented and remembered centuries later.
His funeral would be attended by all of the settlers and his memory would be celebrated
by an annual state festival open to all citizens of the city. From Herodotus we learn that when
Miltiades the Elder, the oikistes and ruler of Chersonese, died, the people offered sacrifices
and held athletic and equestrian games in his honor; Herodotus sums it up “as it is the norm for
a founder” - os nomos oikiste. Even the oikistes’ final resting place was different from that of the
common people. Generally the Greeks preferred to bury their dead outside the habitated areas
with notable exceptions being the cities of Sparta, her colony Taras and Megara. However,
from Pindar we are informed that the oikistes were buried in the center of the polis in a tomb
in the agora. This wasn’t a random decision. The settlers of the city needed to have something in
common to bind them and also a tradition that was independent of those of the metropolis so
as for the colony to have a sense of religious independence. The cult of the oikistes served
that purpose which is why his tomb and the cult site were located in the center of the new polis.
With the death of the oikistes and the establishment of his cult
ended the first chapter in a colony’s history. Some of those colonies would thrive to the
point of surpassing their metropolis, like Syracuse, while others wouldn’t be so lucky
and were abandoned or conquered. Regardless of their fate though, they all serve as a testimony
of a time when Greece sent her children off to settle distant lands and Greek civilization
reached all over the then known world. More videos on the history of ancient Greece are on the way,
so make sure you are subscribed and have pressed the bell button to see it. Please,
consider liking, commenting, and sharing - it helps immensely. Our videos would be impossible
without our kind patrons and youtube channel members, whose ranks you can join via the links
in the description to know our schedule, get early access to our videos, access our discord,
and much more. This is the Kings and Generals channel, and we will catch you on the next one.