The Greek diaspora stretched north and south as well as east and west.
Greeks settled along the rim of the Black Sea, where there was good agri-
cultural land, particularly on the northern shore and Crimean Peninsula.
Soon copious amounts of grain wereflowing back to the homeland along
with timber, pickled and smokedfish, slaves, horses, hides, furs, honey, wax,
amber, gold, and iron. Northern shore cities such as Olbia (“Wealthy”),
reputed to be the richest of all Greek colonies, had access to the river system
that penetrated far into the Russian interior, and Greek pottery and other
products have been found hundreds of miles from the last Greek settlements.
On the western shore the Danube River opened the hinterland of eastern and
Central Europe, where mountains contained gold and silver, and southern
shore cities served as the terminus for land routes running to Iran. Black Sea
trade was so crucial for Athens that the Athenians kept careful tabs over the
various states that lay along the way, using a combination of diplomacy and
threats to keep the grain lifeline open.
Across the Mediterranean to the south in Egypt, the XXVI Dynasty reversed
traditional policy and opened Egyptian trade to Greeks and Phoenicians.
When Colaeus was blown off course and made his famous detour to
Tartessia, he was on his way to Egypt, a trip that apparently was by that time
commonplace. Under the XXVI Dynasty Greek ships were required to trade
specifically at the delta town of Naucratis, where the government collected
rich customs duties. A similar site was assigned to Phoenician merchants, and
in both places Egyptians lived side-by-side with the foreigners. Naucratis
had four large warehouses and a factory for mass producing faience products,
including vases, statuettes, and scarab seals as good luck charms for the Greek
market. The main commodities that the Greeks sought from the Egyptians
were grain, papyrus, linen, ivory, magic amulets, alabaster, cosmetics, drugs,
and semi-precious stones. In return, the Greeks in Naucratis imported from
their homeland olive oil and wine and most importantly silver carried as
coinage since the Egyptians did not mint their own coins. The merchants of
12 Greek cities were represented at Naucratis, and the relationship they
maintained with each other did not involve their home governments.
During thefirst millenniumBCE, the carrying business in the eastern
Mediterranean gradually shifted from the Phoenicians to the Greeks, and
within the Greek community commercial initiative passed from the
Euboeans to Corinth. The Corinthians made much in demand painted pot-
tery vessels that held perfumes and unguents and also assumed a middleman
role in re-exporting Egyptian products. Nevertheless, in the mid-sixth cen-
tury BCE, Corinth’s time also passed when the Athenians developed new
techniques in pottery-making that allowed them to produce the ultimate in
Greek ceramics, known as Athenian black and redfigure pottery, a smooth-
textured product with brilliant sheen and glossy pigment. Vases in this style
were considered so beautiful that they were in demand from Etruria to Syria
and Egypt with one found as far as Meroe in Kush (Republic of Sudan).
Of purple men and oil merchants 71