Upvote:-2
Reading Thucydides and in VDH's lectures on the Pelopponesian War the impression I have is that the colonies were not self sufficient at the outset but rather went on to develop self sufficiency to the point of repudiating their founding city. This independence then became a source of contention. The colonies were designed to be a source of income rather than independant. It brings to mind the colonies in America and the Declaration of Independence??
Upvote:1
It seems grossly unlikely that there was a formal process for setting up colonies that was consistent across different Greek cities. That just isn't how their ideas of politics or government worked.
It seems far more plausible that whoever was planning a colony considered the place where it was going to be, the available resources and the individual purpose of that specific colony and made their plans accordingly.
Upvote:3
I suggest to provide a precise response the question requires some clarification. The question seems to imply all colonies were set up in uninhabited or unclaimed locations for the same basic purpose while colony could be inter alia a trading post, a mining operation, a military base, a penal colony vis a vis Botany Bay or a settlement set up for religious purposes. Each would require colonists with specific skill sets.
Ref: The Cambridge Ancient History 3rd Edition, volume 03 part 3 - The Expansion of the Greek World