A Greek colony was not simply a trading post; it was a center of Greek life. The colonists continued to be Greeks in customs, language, and religion. Though quite independent of the parent state, they always regarded it with reverence and affection: they called themselves "men away from home." Mother city and daughter colony traded with each other and in time of danger helped each other. A symbol of this unity was the sacred fire carried from the public hearth of the old community to the new settlement. COLONIZATION IN THE NORTH AND EAST The Greeks planted many colonies on the coast of the northern Aegean and on both sides of the long passage between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Their most important colony was Byzantium, upon the site where Constantinople now stands. They also made settlements along the shores of the Black Sea. The cities founded here were centers from which the Greeks drew their supplies of fish, wood, wool, grain, metals, and slaves. The immense profits to be gained by trade made the Greeks willing to live in a cold country so unlike their own and among barbarous peoples. COLONIZATION IN THE WEST The western lands furnished far more attractive sites for colonization. The Greeks could feel at home in southern Italy, where the genial climate, pure air, and sparkling sea recalled their native land. At a very early date they founded Cumae, on the coast just north of the bay of Naples. Emigrants from Cumae, in turn, founded the city of Neapolis (Naples), which in Roman times formed a home of Greek culture and even to-day possesses a large Greek population. To secure the approaches from Greece to these remote colonies, two strongholds were established on the strait of Messina: Regium (modern Reggio) on the Italian shore and Messana (modern Messina) on that of Sicily. Another important colony in southern Italy was Tarentum (modern Taranto). [Illustration: "TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE," PAESTUM Paestum, the Greek Poseidonia, was a colony of Sybaris The malarial atmosphere of the place led to its desertion in the ninth century of our era. Hence the buildings there were not used as quarries for later structures. The so called "Temple of Neptune" at Paestum is one of the best preserved monuments of antiquity.] THE SICILIAN COLONIES Greek settlements in Sicily were mainly along the coast. Expansion over the entire island was checked by the Carthaginians, who had numerous possessions at its western extremity. The most celebrated colony in Sicily was Syracuse, established by emigrants from Corinth. It became the largest of Greek cities. OTHER MEDITERRANEAN COLONIES