GREEK EMIGRANTS OR COLONISTS
WHEN THE ATLANTIC WAS UNKNOWN. One of the most important things
done by the men of Ancient Times was to explore the coasts and lands of
Europe and to make settlements wherever they went. At first they knew
little of the western and northern parts of Europe. Herodotus, a Greek
whom we call the "Father of History," and who was a great traveler,
said, "Though I have taken vast pains, I have never been able to get an
assurance from any eye-witness that there is any sea on the further side
of Europe." By the "further side" he meant "western," and his remark
shows that he did not know of the Atlantic Ocean. He understood that tin
and amber came from the "Tin Islands," which he called the "ends of the
earth." As tin came from England, it is plain that he had heard a little
of that island.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE WORLD AS DESCRIBED BY THE GREEK
HISTORIAN HERODOTUS]
GREEK EMIGRANTS. Long before Athens became a great and beautiful
city the Greeks had begun to make settlements on distant shores. Those
who lived on the western coast of Asia Minor, as well as those who lived
where the kingdom of Greece is now, sent out colonists or emigrants. The
Greek colonies were very important, because by them the ancient
civilized world was made larger, just as by the settlement of America
the modern world was doubled in size. The colonists sailed away from
home for the same reasons which led our forefathers to leave England and
Europe for America. They either hoped to find it easier in a new land to
make a living and obtain property, or they did not like the way their
city was ruled, and being unable to change this, resolved to build
elsewhere a city which they could manage as they pleased.
HOW THEY LOCATED A NEW CITY. There were several different lands to
which they could go, just as the European of to-day may sail for the
United States or South America or Australia. They could attempt to
settle on the shores of the Black Sea, or cross over to northern Africa,
or try to reach Italy and the more distant coasts of what are now France
and Spain. In order to choose wisely, they generally asked the advice of
the priests of their god Apollo at his temple at Delphi. These priests
knew more about good places for settlements than most other persons,
because travelers from everywhere came to Delphi and the priests were
wise enough to inquire about all parts of the world.
[Illustration: _The territory occupied by the Greeks is
indicated by solid black_]
The story is told that one group of emigrants was advised to locate
their new colony opposite the "city of the blind." They discovered that
these words meant that an earlier band of emigrants had passed by the
wonderful harbor of the present city of Constantinople and had settled
instead on the other shore of the Bosphorus. Taught by the oracle they
chose the better place and began to build the city of Byzantium, which
later became Constantinople.
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER CITIES. Solemn ceremonies took place when
colonists departed. They carried with them fire from the hearth of the
mother city in order to light a similar fire on their new hearth, for
every city had its hearthstone and on it a fire that was never quenched.
The ties between the mother and the daughter city were close, and the
enemies of one were the enemies of the other. He who wished to visit the
colony usually went to the mother city to find a ship bound thither.
WHERE THE SETTLEMENTS WERE MADE. When the Greek sailors first
entered the Black Sea, they thought it a boundless ocean, and called it
the Pontus, a word which means "The Main." Until that time they had been
accustomed to sail only from island to island in the Aegean Sea. After a
while they made settlements all around the shores of the Black Sea, and
in later times Athens drew from this region her supply of grain. Still
more important settlements were made in Sicily and southern Italy, for
it was through these settlements that some of the things the Greeks
knew, like the art of writing, were taught to the Italian tribes and to
the Romans.
DANGERS OF THE VOYAGE. At first Greek sailors feared the dangers of the
western Mediterranean as much as those of the Black Sea. They imagined
that the huge, misshapen, and dreadful monsters Scylla and Charybdis
lurked in the Straits of Messina waiting to seize and swallow the
unlucky passer-by. On the slopes of Mount Aetna dwelt, they thought,
hideous, one-eyed giants, the Cyclops, who fed their fierce appetites
with the quivering flesh of many captives.
[Illustration: GREEK RUINS AT PAESTUM IN ITALY]
GREEKS IN THE WEST. The earliest settlement of the Greeks in Italy
was at Cumae, on a headland at the entrance of the Bay of Naples. Later
these colonists entered the bay and founded the "new city," or Neapolis,
which we call Naples. Finally there were so many Greek cities in
southern Italy that it was named "Great Greece." The Greeks also made
settlements in what is now southern France and eastern Spain. The
principal one was Massilia, or Marseilles. Through the traders of this
city the ancient world obtained a supply of tin from Britain, a country
which is now called England.
GREEK COLONIES AS CENTERS OF CIVILIZATION. The Greeks in these
colonies traded with the natives whose villages were near by, and many
of the natives learned to live like the Greeks. In this way the Greeks
became teachers of civilization, and the Greek world, which at first was
made up of cities on the shores of the Aegean Sea, was spread from place
to place along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.
[Illustration: A GREEK TRIREME]
GREEK SHIPS. The ships of the Greeks were very different from
modern vessels. Of course they were not driven by steam, nor did they
rely as much on sails as modern sailing ships do. They had sails, but
were driven forward mostly by their oars. The trireme, or ordinary
war-ship, had its oars arranged in three banks, fifty men rowing at
once. After these had rowed several hours, or a "watch," another fifty
took their places, and finally a third fifty, so that the ships could be
rowed at high speed all the time. With the aid of its two sails a
trireme is said to have gone one hundred and fifty miles in a day and a
night. These boats were about one hundred and twenty feet long and
fifteen feet wide. They could be rowed in shallow water, but were not
high enough to ride heavy seas safely. They had a sharp beak, which,
driven against an enemy's ship, would break in its sides. The Greek
grain ships and freight boats were heavier and more capable of enduring
rough weather.
[Illustration: ALEXANDER THE GREAT After the bust in the
Capitoline Museum, Rome]
ALEXANDER THE GREAT, KING OF MACEDON FROM 336 TO 323 B.C. Greek
ways of living were also carried eastward as well as westward. The
enlargement of the Greek world in this direction was due to Alexander
the Great, the most skilful soldier and the ablest leader of men among
all the Greeks. Alexander was king of Macedon, and like the earlier
Greeks he regarded the Persians as his enemies, and made war upon them.
After conquering the Persians he marched across western Asia until he
had reached the Indus River in India. He was a builder of cities as well
as a conqueror. He founded seventy cities, and sixteen of them were
named for him. The most important was the Alexandria which is still the
chief seaport of Egypt. Greek became the language commonly spoken
throughout the lands near the eastern Mediterranean. This is the reason
why in later times the New Testament was written in Greek.
ALEXANDRIA. Of this Greek world Athens ceased to be the center and
Alexandria took its place. At Alexandria there was a great library which
contained over five hundred thousand volumes or rolls. There also was
the museum or university, in which many learned men were at work. The
best known of these men was Euclid, who perfected the mathematics which
we call geometry, and Ptolemy, whose ideas about geography and the shape
and size of the globe Columbus carefully studied before he set out on
his great voyage. Alexandria was also a center of trade and commerce.
From Alexandria, because its ships were the first foreign ships to be
admitted to a Roman port, the Romans gained their liking for many of the
beautiful things which the Greeks made.
QUESTIONS
1. Why were the Greek colonies important? Why did the Greeks
emigrate to the colonies?
2. Point out on the map, the lands to which they might go.
Name several cities which they built.
3. What were the ties between the daughter and the mother city?
4. Why was a part of southern Italy called Great Greece?
5. Describe a Greek trireme and the way it was managed.
6. Of what country was Alexander the Great king? When did he reign?
How far east did he march? What did he do besides winning victories?
7. Why was the city of Alexandria famous in Ancient Times?
8. Of what help was Ptolemy to Columbus?
EXERCISES
1. Find out the colonies we have. For what purpose do Americans go
to these colonies? Is it as hard to reach them as it was for the
Greeks to reach their colonies?
2. What country now has the most colonies?
3. Learn and tell the story of Ulysses and the Cyclops.
4. Find out what is meant at Constantinople by "the Golden Horn?"
Who now live at Constantinople, at Naples, at Marseilles?
5. Collect pictures of these cities.
REVIEW
(Chapters II, III, and IV)
_Ten things we owe to the Greeks_:
1. Many useful words.
2. Many interesting tales.
3. Many examples of heroism.
4. Knowledge of how to construct beautiful buildings.
5. How to carve beautiful statues, reliefs, and friezes.
6. How to write great plays.
7. How to speak before large audiences.
8. Wise sayings of men like Socrates and Plato.
9. Knowledge of geography and mathematics.
10. Their work as colonists in teaching other peoples to live, and
think and act as they did.
_Two important dates_:
Battle of Marathon, 490 B.C. Death of Alexander the Great, 323 B.C.