Ancient Greece,one of the favourites of a lot of History and Science enthusiasts alike, a thriving Civilization with a lot of contributions to the later Civilizations and thinkers, which was based in the Southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula and many parts of Western Asia Minor and encompassing the countless islands inbetween.
In their hay day,they managed to expand in almost all directions except one. They expanded to the West, to the southern tip Italian peninsula, to the East, deeper into Asia Minor, Bactria and few centers in the Middle East region, to the South, to a few settlements on the Northern shore of Egypt, Alexandria being the most prominent one.
There is one prize and one direction that they had evaded from. The North. To the North,deeper up into the Balkan Peninsula, lie several fertile river valleys and mostly tribal populations to subjugate.
What if,they did fix eyes on the North and expand deeper into the Balkans? I agree,they weren't mostly unified for the most of the time, but what if in their few unified periods, they did manage to try out such an experiment? The Northernmost I know of is,Dyrracherum in what is today Albania.
They could expand in two ways. One,slowly settling smaller rural and urban settlements along the river valleys and fertile plains and Two,in a militaristic expansion to subjugate the tribes in the region and then settle there with some help from the mostly tribal or rural natives living there. I am unsure with who all they would have to face and subjugate, en route this expansion. But from my estimates, Dacians,Celtic tribes and the Germanic tribes would be the ones hardest to subjugate.
I highly doubt if the Greeks could settle there initially, all by themselves. Hence, subjugation of native population would need to play an important role to provide the resources needed in the beginning and also a settler/workforce base.
If they somehow manage to expand up to the Danube Basin and the Pannonian plains, before the Romans expanded and early enough to stabilize the dynamics of the whole region they settle in, it would be a Bounty for them.
In their hay day,they managed to expand in almost all directions except one. They expanded to the West, to the southern tip Italian peninsula, to the East, deeper into Asia Minor, Bactria and few centers in the Middle East region, to the South, to a few settlements on the Northern shore of Egypt, Alexandria being the most prominent one.
There is one prize and one direction that they had evaded from. The North. To the North,deeper up into the Balkan Peninsula, lie several fertile river valleys and mostly tribal populations to subjugate.
What if,they did fix eyes on the North and expand deeper into the Balkans? I agree,they weren't mostly unified for the most of the time, but what if in their few unified periods, they did manage to try out such an experiment? The Northernmost I know of is,Dyrracherum in what is today Albania.
They could expand in two ways. One,slowly settling smaller rural and urban settlements along the river valleys and fertile plains and Two,in a militaristic expansion to subjugate the tribes in the region and then settle there with some help from the mostly tribal or rural natives living there. I am unsure with who all they would have to face and subjugate, en route this expansion. But from my estimates, Dacians,Celtic tribes and the Germanic tribes would be the ones hardest to subjugate.
I highly doubt if the Greeks could settle there initially, all by themselves. Hence, subjugation of native population would need to play an important role to provide the resources needed in the beginning and also a settler/workforce base.
If they somehow manage to expand up to the Danube Basin and the Pannonian plains, before the Romans expanded and early enough to stabilize the dynamics of the whole region they settle in, it would be a Bounty for them.
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