. Discovery. Science. DISCOVERY 57 increased or the number of mouths decreased. Sparta, like Rome, solved the problem in part by the conquest of more land, but it is obvious that this solution is not universally possible, for the area of land belonging to â one community can only be increased at the expense of another. The second alternative was therefore widely adopted, and overpopulation made the Greeks into sailors and colonisers. Some, like the mountaineers of Arcidia, went off to serve abroad as mercenaries- As early as the seventh century Ionian and Carian mercenaries were the decid
. Discovery. Science. DISCOVERY 57 increased or the number of mouths decreased. Sparta, like Rome, solved the problem in part by the conquest of more land, but it is obvious that this solution is not universally possible, for the area of land belonging to â one community can only be increased at the expense of another. The second alternative was therefore widely adopted, and overpopulation made the Greeks into sailors and colonisers. Some, like the mountaineers of Arcidia, went off to serve abroad as mercenaries- As early as the seventh century Ionian and Carian mercenaries were the deciding factor in the EgA-ptian re%'olution, which threw oil the Assyrian yoke and put Psammetichus I on the throne. Greek merchants went wherever there was hope of gain, and Psammeti- chus' soldiers were followed by the merchants of Naucratis, the Shanghai of Egypt. When Cambvscs invaded Eg3,-pt in 525 , Greek merchants were among his camp followers. In Herodotus' day the Greek was ubiquitous, and throughout the Oriental lands in which the historian so widely travelled, he was clearly never at a loss for an interpreter. And besides this dispersion by the emigration of individuals, there were the organised settlements sent out by the Greek States of Asia and the Balkan Peninsula. Greek colonies spread all round the Mediterranean from the Black Sea to Marseilles until, as Cicero expressed it. the world had a Greek fringe. But even with a diminished number of mouths there was not enough corn to feed the Greeks who stayed at home; and of course the development of commerce implies the growth of a non-farming popu- lation for which provision must be made. It was inevitable, therefore, that the Greeks should become dependent upon imported corn. For this they made the necessary pa\Tnent partly by the profits of the carrying trade, and partly by the export of manu- factures or commodities for the production of which their country was economically suitable. The most valuable of agricul
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