Listen to this articleDid Greek city-states create colonies in the ancient world in order to expand their sphere of influence? If the answer is yes, then why did one of these colonies break away from its mother-city in order to better itself? The answer is a complicated one and is subject to analysis on both a macro and micro level. The primary example of a colony that found itself at odds with its mother-city is that of Methone. Eretria had originally sent out a group of colonists, before 750 BCE, with the intention of founding Corcyra due to its advantageous trading location between Greece and Magna Grecia; however, some of the colonists fled when there was internal instability, as well as threats from exposed sides of the area. The colonists from Corcyra attempted to return to the mother-city of Eretria but they were “driven off by a hail of sling-bullets” and forced to travel towards Thrace, where they founded the new colony of Methone on the Thermaic Gulf.
Constructing the Past, Volume 13: Issue. 1, Article 5 (2012)
