Between 800 and 750 B.C. a major colonisation movement began that for 200 years carried Greek settlers to new homes along the Mediterranean and into the Black sea region. Colonisation began as Greece emerged into the Dark Ages period following the disintegration of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations, and was the product of a broad range of political and social disputes, an increase in population and land shortage and commercial interest. Greek colonies were not interested in conquering and living among native populations, they wanted the new settlement for themselves. The colonisation movement had many positive and negative results, as the Greek political system changed from monarchy to aristocracy, the hereditary system of land ownership was broken down, also trade created great wealth and a new middle class. Colonisation also had many cultural effects as the Greeks learned techniques from the Egyptians as well as the Phoenicians and from the people of Lydia.…
