Greek colonisation progressed apace with the formation of the polises , stemming from those regions of Greece where the clan aristocracy was in power . By concentrating the land in its own hands and thus dooming the masses of freemen to impoverishment , it forced them to leave the land . They were joined by the poor of the cities and the polises , by craftsmen who had become bankrupt as a result of the grow ing competition of slave labour , by small and middle land owners . Many of the colonists were aristocrats who had emigrated from their polises for political reasons . The merchants were tempted to undertake distant journeys by the lure of great riches to be gained in salt , grain , metals and slaves . In the 8th – 6th centuries B.C. Greek colonies appeared on the Mediterranean Coast of present – day France , Spain and Italy , in the Nile delta , on the Black Sea and Azov Sea coasts . These were independent polises which maintained close cul tural and economic ties with the metropolis . Greek colonisation played a tremendous role both in the history of the Greeks themselves and of the peoples with whom they came into close and prolonged contact .
Capitalism Society 