THE BEECHMONT CREST GUIDE TO ANCIENT GREECE
Greek colonies
Between 750 and 550 B.C. the Greek city-states funded a large number of expeditions to colonize points throughout the Mediterranean. The colonies were created to cope with excess population, and to secure additional resources and trade for the city-states on the Greek mainland. Some of the colonies originally established by the ancient Greeks still exist today, although their names (and ownership) are now different. For example, Marseilles, France began as a Greek overseas colony. Italian cities with Greek origins include Naples (originally Neapolis) and Taranto (from the Greek Tarentum).