Ep. 029 – Trade with Egypt, Conflict with Carthage

In this installment, we continue to follow the Greeks as they expand yet further. Our first destination is Egypt, where the Greek emporion at Naukratis was set up by a diverse group of mercenaries and traders. The recently discovered port of Thonis-Heraklion also makes an appearance, and we see that mercenary sailors worked for the pharaoh at various times. Greece also liked Egyptian prostitutes, apparently. The second part of the episode focuses on the extent of Greek meddling in the far western Mediterranean. There the Phocaeans founded Massalia, and tried to get on friendly terms with the locals. But, Cyrus the Great sacked Phocaea in 546 BCE and the Greeks fled to the colony of Alalia on the island of Corsica. Feeling hard done, the Greeks turned to piracy and thereby united Carthage and the Etruscans against them, which resulted in the Battle of the Sardinian Sea. We cover a lot of ground in today's episode!

greek_phoenician_colonies
The major Greek and Phoenician colonies as they existed after the final phases of colonization into the 6th century BCE.
eastern_mediterranean
The major population centers of the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea after the major Greek colonization.
naucratis_nile
The location of Naucratis on the Canopic branch of the Nile in Egypt.
thonis_heraclion
The red granite statue of a pharaoh found close to the great temple of sunken Heracleion.
aristonothos_vase
The 'Aristonothos Krater', discovered at Caere and dated to 675 BCE. The Greek penteconter on the left is the first depiction of a penteconter with raised deck, while the ram and eye on the ship's prow are early examples of conventions that later became typical. The ship on the right is assumed to be an Etruscan vessel.
aristonothos_krater
The 'Aristonothos Krater', discovered at Caere and dated to 675 BCE. The Greek penteconter on the left is the first depiction of a penteconter with raised deck, while the ram and eye on the ship's prow are early examples of conventions that later became typical. The ship on the right is assumed to be an Etruscan vessel.
aristonothos_ships
A rendering of the ships depicted in the battle scene on the 'Aristonothos krater'.
sparta_fibula_ships
The sea battle depicted on an 8th century BCE fibula from Sparta is remarkably similar to that of the 'Aristonothos vase'.
battle_of_alalia
The site of the Battle of Alalia (Sardinian Sea) off the eastern coast of Corsica in 535 BCE. Note the centrality of Alalia between the territories controlled largely by the Carthaginians and the Etruscans.

Sources

  • Abulafia, David, The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean (2013).
  • Braudel, Fernand, Memory and the Mediterranean (1998).
  • Casson, Lionel, The Ancient Mariners: Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the Mediterranean in Ancient Times (1959).
  • Copeland, Mel, The Fascinating Etruscan 'Aristonothos' Krater.
  • Dougherty, Carol, The Aristonothos Krater: Competing Stories of Conflict and Collaboration, pp. 35–56, in The Cultures Within Ancient Greek Culture: Contact, Conflict, Collaboration (2003).
  • Durant, Will, The Story of Civilization, Vol II: The Life of Greece (1939).
  • Fox, Robin Lane, The Classical World: An Epic History of Greece and Rome (2006).
  • Goddio, Franck, Thonis-Heracleion: From Legend to Reality. [link]
  • Grant, Michael, The Rise of the Greeks (1987).
  • Hall, Edith, Introducing the Ancient Greeks: From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind (2014).
  • Herodotus, The Histories (Robert Strassler, Ed., Andrea Purvis, Transl., 2007).
  • Martin, Thomas R., Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times (2000).
  • McGrail, Seán, Boats of the World: From the Stone Age to Medieval Times (2009).
  • Miles, Richard, Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization (2010).
  • Morrison, J.S., et al, The Athenian Trireme: The History and Reconstruction of an Ancient Greek Warship (2nd edition, 2000).
  • Paine, Lincoln, The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World (2013).
  • Strabo, Geography, Book XVII, 18. [link]
  • Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War.
  • Villing, Alexandra, et al, Naukratis: Greeks in Egypt, The British Museum.

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