Greek Colonies In Ancient Greece

The Greek settlement started in small trading posts, but then soon grew into very successful merchant cities. The Greeks settled in southern Italy because it had good agriculture land and harbor sites. In Sicily, Greeks carved up the island, taking over its best sites. The Greeks settled on the island of Ischia, which was off the bay of Naples in Campania. They started to expand at Cumae and establish new cities, nea polis, in Naples. This gave the Greeks access to those agriculture riches of Campania.
Campania was a fertile plain, crossed by two major rivers and had soil rich in phosphorus and potash. They settled there for trade, investment of resources, and relief from population growth and drought. But during the 700 b.c Greeks established colonies in southern Italy, Egypt, Sicily, and even the Middle East. With having colonies in the Middle East and Egypt, it made trade routes to major civilizations a lot easier and quicker.
The Greeks did not settle north of Naples because the powerful Etrusicans lived there. They also did not settle north of Naples because most of the mineral wealth was found south of Naples. Mainly all the land north of Naples was covered in mountains or marshland which made it hard to start a settlement. Between Campania and Apulia the mountains flatted out to make a plateau. The land north of the Naples was not practical for the Greeks to establish a settlement because the land would or trade roots would not benefit