The concept of colonisation in the ancient Mediterranean has undergone fundamental reappraisal in the past 20 years. New models of colonisation have had a major impact on our understanding of both Greek and Roman colonisation, but their influence has been greatest on our understanding of early Greek settlement and the Greek diasporas of the eighth and seventh centuries. This volume (the second volume of papers given at a conference on colonisation held in 2012) focuses on precisely this early phase of colonisation, covering the processes of migration and the impact of Greek settlement in the western Mediterranean in the eighth to seventh centuries b.c. The chapters range from discussions of models and frameworks for conceptualising colonisation and related issues, to discussions of specific local and regional case studies. Many of these are drawn from Italy, a particularly appropriate balance given that the volume is dedicated to the late David Ridgway, one of the most eminent scholars of early Greek settlement in Italy.
Colonisation is now viewed by many scholars not so much as a structured, state-organised event as a fluid process of migration and settlement, which varied considerably in its causes, its progress and its impact. Even the term ‘colonisation’ has been rejected by some, as being too redolent of nineteenth-century imperialism. These reinterpretations are not universally accepted, however, and there is a need to refine models of colonisation and settlement and test them using data from different periods and locations, a point underlined by many of the contributors to this collection.
One of the less positive aspects of the debate has been its descent into increasingly polemical and entrenched positions. The depth of this division, and the difficulties of defining what (if anything) distinguishes Greek settlement of the eighth to seventh centuries from other long-term patterns of migration in the Mediterranean area, is highlighted in D.’s and N.’s introduction, which provides an excellent summary of the status quaestionis. Like many of the papers in this volume, it reflects the frustration of a new generation of researchers at the lack of progress on overcoming these divisions between different models and approaches, which have become sufficiently entrenched to be referred to by some contributors as ‘schisms’.
Two competing approaches to colonisation, and the problems which they pose, are illustrated by R. Osborne and I. Malkin. Osborne's short contribution restates his rejection of ‘colonisation’ as an appropriate term to describe and analyse the Greek settlements of the eighth to seventh centuries, arguing that it is an inappropriate use of imperialist language and concepts developed to describe nineteenth-century colonisation. Malkin's longer and more comprehensive paper argues that, on the contrary, rejection of the concepts and terminology of colonisation is unjustified. He argues that the existence of networks of metropoleis and apoikiai was widely accepted by the Greeks, presenting an analysis of the right of return to the metropolis enjoyed by many colonists to demonstrate that the Greeks themselves regarded the colonial relationship as a meaningful one. J. Hall's contribution also restates an argument which he has made at greater length elsewhere, that the development of Greek identity was fairly fluid in the eighth to seventh centuries and affected relatively little by colonisation. Both F. De Angelis's contribution and that of A. Esposito and A. Pollini also review the current state of the subject, with an emphasis on the study of colonialism in the Americas and whether these methods can be used to understand Magna Graecia. Both highlight frontier history and middle-ground theory as potentially useful frameworks and argue for a more holistic and collaborative approach to the study of Greek colonisation.
N. and G.S. Semerari address two specific problems in current colonial studies. N. discusses new radiocarbon dates for the chronologies of Iron Age Italy and central Europe and their implications for our understanding of connections between the eastern and western Mediterranean. Semerari uses advances in gender archaeology to re-evaluate intermarriage in colonised areas, arguing for a more nuanced view of marriage strategies between Greeks and non-Greeks which considers the social groups that might be attracted to marriage into a different community.
Network analysis is an area that has great potential as a tool for understanding colonisation. R. Étienne discusses concepts of connectivity and growth as drivers of colonial development, while D. and O. Morris use network theory to illuminate the early development of Pithekoussai and Cumae, suggesting that both communities were (despite the depiction of the foundation of Cumae by ancient sources as an act of violent land-grab) ethnically and culturally mixed and embedded in strong local and regional networks of contacts. Both make a persuasive case that these sites benefited from both strong local networks and weaker networks of contacts with Greece and the eastern Mediterranean.
Several papers address urban development in specific regions or groups of colonies as case studies of how colonies related to each other. H. Tréziny argues that the basic urban layout of Megara Hyblaea, established by the late eighth century, was similar to that at Naxos and Syracuse, suggesting a shared vision of urban life which was independent of the origins of settlers. E. Greco compares the organisation of urban space in four ‘Achaean’ colonies and charts their similarities and differences, while F. Frisone examines the development and identities of secondary colonial settlements in south-east Sicily and Calabria, arguing that they should be viewed as ‘sibling’ foundations sharing some characteristics rather than copies of ‘parent’ colonies.
The final group of papers address the questions of how (or even whether) we can study ethnic and cultural identities through the archaeological record, and argue that colonisation should be approached as a process rather than an event. M. Cuozzo and C. Pellegrino explore the model of cultural hybridisation in the context of the eighth-century Campanian settlement of Monte Vetrano, concluding that it was ethnically and culturally mixed and cannot be evaluated in terms of Greeks and non-Greeks, while B. and J.P. Crielaard come to similar conclusions in relation to L'Amastuola in south-east Italy. D. Yntema's contribution tackles similar issues in the context of early (ninth to seventh centuries) Greek contacts with the Salento, arguing against division into pre-colonial and colonial phases. Instead, he posits an initial phase of low-level contact with Greece and Albania, leading to more intensive contact and the development of ethnically mixed settlements, a small number of which later developed as Greek poleis.
This collection is timely, as it brings together some of the key themes in research on Greek colonisation and presents them in a critical manner. It proposes some new directions and methods – for instance, greater use of frontier history models or network analysis, an emphasis on colonisation as a process rather than an event, and a need to move beyond binary, oppositional models of Greeks and natives – as a way to make progress. It also provides a welcome call to move on from the emphasis on terminology which has characterised some areas of colonial scholarship, suggesting that reaching a coherent definition of what we mean by ‘colonisation’ is more important than further debate over the validity of the term. As Malkin notes, an appreciation of the difficulties inherent in the term is essential, but to date, there is no widely accepted alternative which permits us to analyse the phenomenon.
The scope of each paper varies considerably, with some contributions restating an established position relatively briefly or reviewing current literature and approaches to the subject, while others present much wider-ranging critiques and suggestions for new approaches to move the debate forward. Perhaps the most comprehensive of these is Malkin's outline for a programme of research to resolve some of the issues outlined above. Despite some unevenness of coverage, this volume is a very welcome addition to the literature on Greek colonisation. It acknowledges the divisions within the subject and represents a significant step towards developing strategies to address these.
