A great wave of renewed colonization beginning in the eighth century BCE brings Dorian settlers to the island of Corcyra (modern Corfu), to Syracuse and Gela in Sicily, to Taras (now Taranto) in Italy, and to Cyrene in North Africa, as well as to scattered sites in the Crimea and along the Black Sea.

Sparta, Corinth, and Argos are among the most important cities of Doric origin.

The Greeks of Megara begin active colonization, founding Megara Hyblaea in Sicily and Chalcedon on the Bosporus.

Expansion and accompanying colonization from about 700 BCE bring the Ionians of Euboea to eastern Sicily and Cumae near Naples, and Samians to Nagidus and Celenderis in Pamphylia.

The Phocaeans, lacking arable land, establish colonies in the Dardanelles at Lampsacus, on the Black Sea at Amisus, and in the Crimea.

The Greek colonists begin to disseminate their culture throughout the Mediterranean and even into the southern Ukraine, opening new markets for Greek oil, wine, and other wares in return for precious metals, timber, grain, and other goods.