Mycenean Greeks established trade and colonies in Cyprus, southern Italy, the levant, and even traded with the eastern bronze age powers. Why didn't they go North into central Europe? They were sailors and explorers, they went into Georgia (think of Jason and the argonauts). Was the east truly seen as the only place civilization could exist in ancient times?

>>14927215 (OP)

If they did you'd be hard pressed to find good evidence of that

>>14927215 (OP)

because they were sailors. the argonauts reached modern georgia by ship.

Some Greeks, like Pytheas, later did explore north, again by ship.

>>14927215 (OP)

Compare the characteristics of the Mediterranean Sea with the characteristics of the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea, there you will find your answer.

I mean advancing on foot/chariot with armies. Why didn't they explore and conquer north?

>>14927215 (OP)

BOOBA

>>14927215 (OP)

I thought it was because Europe was still a frozen hellhole like today's Siberia.

Because it's uphill, from the coasts; and fighting uphill is hard. Seriously.

And the Greeks have (until Alexander - I'll get to him) been more interested in sharing a common Greek culture than in uniting to conquer another land in an empire. Did the Greeks ever take the whole of - say - Sicily?

Also: no money in taking the Balkans. Alexander III was able to conquer Persia but that's because Persia had money.

Because they were a seapower and everything else you listed was done by sea and not by land.

>>14927215 (OP)

Too many Thracians

>>14927215 (OP)

Myceneans were a bunch of maritime pirate city-states fucking each other and neighbors up. They couldn't just organize a giga nigger army and roll into Oogaboggaland. 

There have been Mycenean objects found in England though.

>>14927215 (OP)

>southern Italy

 No, they're local Subapennine sites with Mycenean imports and in some cases local reproduction, but not Mycenaean colonies by any means

>the levant

 Well the Philistines outright aconquered some pre-existing Canaanite cities like Ashkelon but they didn't found new colonies

> and even traded with the eastern bronze age powers.

 Yeah because the Eastern powers were extremely close to them

>Central Europe

 Because that voyage would've been much longer. To get from Crete to Egypt it's like 1 day of sailing on a good day, to get from the Aegean to Anatolia, well it's literally on the Aegean, to get from Anatolia to the Levant by coast it's just a few days



To get from Greece to say Germany you'd have to travel for weeks across the Adriatic then mountains and rivers, or probably even more if you went completely by land in the Balkans

>>14927215 (OP)

Also traveing by ship in the Mediterranean was way less expensive and time consuming than traveling 2000 miles across the Carpathians to Central Europe.



Also while of course there were dangers in traveling by ship, traveling by land across a bazillion angry mountain tribes and bandits, or getting stuck in said mountains during the winter, was probably euqally as dangerous and terrifying if not more than the danger of storms in the sea

Thanks anons. Are these your presuppositions though, or is there a resource that's looked into this?

They traded for whatever they needed in northern europe via the amber road. It's like asking why didnt the Ottomans attack China

>>14927215 (OP)

>go north

>its cold

>you have to walk everywhere

>theres no civilization

>savages throw rocks and spears at yo

>go home
