Map 6 Some Greek settlements in Italy and Sicily.

“Zancle was originally  settled by  marauders   who arrived from    the Chalcidian  city    of  Cyme    in  Oscan

territory,  but later   large   numbers of  people  came    from    Chalcis and the rest    of  Euboea  and joined  in

the settlement. The leaders were    Perieres    of  Cyme    and Crataemenes of  Chalcis.    The original    name

was Zancle, given   to  it  by  the native  Sicilians,  because the place   resembles   a   sickle  in  shape,  the

Sicilian    word    for which   is  zanklon.    Later,  however,    the Sicilians   were    driven  off by  Samians and

some    other   Ionian  Greeks  who put in  at  Sicily  as  they    were    trying  to  escape  from    the Persians.   But

before  long    the Samians were    driven  off by  Anaxilas,   the ruler   of  Rhegium,    who settled into    the city

himself with    a   population  of  men drawn   from    various places  and he  changed the name    to  Messana

after   his own original    homeland.”  (Thucydides,    The Peloponnesian   War 6.4.5–6)

The Polis

We saw earlier that, during the Submycenaean Period as well, the Greeks extended their territory, by
migrating eastward across the Aegean Sea to settle on the west coast of Asia Minor. But there is a very
great difference between these two periods of migration. That earlier period was an especially unsettled
time, and Greece was beset by destitution and a precipitous decline in population. The period that begins
with the eighth century, by contrast, is characterized by rapidly increasing prosperity and expanding