Map of Ancient Ionia, Asia Minor
Ancient Greek Mythology, Religion, Art
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In ancient geography Ionia was the label applied to that portion of the western coast of Asia Minor on the Aegean Sea that was heavily colonized by Greeks. Greek legends told about how their ancestors traveled to this area to found new cities and dated around 150 years after the Trojan War. A late date of migration tends to be supported by recent archaeological scholarship.
There were twelve main cities of Geek Ionia: Miletus, Myus, Priene, Ephesus, Colophon, Lebedus, Teos, Erythrae, Clazomenae, and Phocaea. These cities were members of an Ionic League which held joint festivals and athletic competitions. They also helped one another in defence against the Lydians from the interior of Asia Minor. These colonies may have been strong economically, but they were strategically weak because the area they occupied was never more than around 90 miles long and at most 30 miles deep.
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