Among the different products that were imported in the Greek mainland, metals held an important position. They were vital for the Greek mainland, since silver, iron and copper reserves were scant. Metals were used now in larger quantities to produce works of art and jewellery, tools and weapons. The Greek tribes obtained copper from Cyprus, iron from the coasts of Pontus, gold from Thasos and various metals from Spain, Syria, Cilicia, Palestine and Mesopotamia. The region of the Black Sea in particular constituted a rich source of metals, either precious or not. Greek colonies played a significant role in the trading exploitation of these metals.

The inhabitants of Phocaea, in Asia Minor, were the most daring among the Ionians in sea voyages. Since the end of the 7th century BC, they had contacts in Spain with king Arganthonius of Tartessus -a region known for its silver mines- with whom they traded silver and tin from the north-west and bars of copper (Herodotus, Historia 1.163, 4.152).

They transported timber from the region of the southern Black Sea and Thrace, mainly for shipbuilding. From the same region they brought leather and wax. The main buyers of luxury articles, which constituted an equally profitable market, were members of the upper class. Fabrics and luxury garments came from Asia's kingdoms, Egypt and Africa. The significance of this article is shown through the example of Miletus, which had a developed fabrics trade with Sybaris in South Italy. According to Herodotus, it was so important, that the Milesians went into mourning, when Sybaris was destroyed in 510 BC by the city of Croton.


The Greeks had developed trade relations with Egypt since the foundation of Naucratis, a trade station with privileges determined by the Egyptian authorities. They traded wine and olive oil in exchange for wheat, flax and papyrus.

As far as grain import from the regions of the Black Sea is concerned, although opinions in the scientific community are at variance, archaeology as well as written sources reveal that grain started to be exported towards the end of the 6th- beginning of the 5th century BC. Herodotus, when referring to that subject, does not confirm the existence of grain sea transports, during the Archaic period, from the colony Olbia in the northern Black Sea to Greece. Nor does he state clearly, if Olbia re-exported the wheat it got from Scythian cultivators, who inhabited the region (Herodotus, Historia 7.147).

So, in the end of the 6th century BC, colonists started to trade wheat initially, in order to satisfy their own needs and later, to export it to Greek cities. One can say with certainty that Greek colonies -at least those of the Black Sea- were acting as intermediaries between the Greek mainland and their local neighbours who cultivated and traded grain.

| introduction | agriculture | trade | state organization | Archaic Period

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