Greeks on the southern coast of the Adriatic

Greeks on the southern coast of the Adriatic

The connections of the former Greek world with the coast of the Adriatic Sea reach back to the oldest pre-historic periods. The traces of the mutual contacts can be recognized all along the Croatian coast through numerous discovered archaeological sites, moreover, various mythological stories remind us of these connections like the legend about Anthenor and Diomedes.

In the Greek written sources it is mentioned that the Phocaeans were the first to sail on the Adriatic. According to Herodotus, this took place in the 7th century B.C., when the first Greek colonies on the Illyrian coast were established in the present-day Albania. The first data about the Croatian part of the coast were recorded by Hecataeus from Miletus at the end of the 6th century B.C.