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Soldiers are unlikely to have too different diet from the regular population. First, soldiers in greek cities were drawn from the population itself. Second, the

Soldiers are unlikely to have too different diet from the regular population. First, soldiers in greek cities were drawn from the population itself. Second, the enamel is formed during childhood and shows where the person has grown up, not where they've lived. The possibility of a local coalition is not negligible, but you should also consider that the amount of different origins of the bodies implies that this coalition is really wide in geographic terms and is hard to form on diplomacy only. It would be illogical for an italian city to reach out to a Black Sea one for help and for the latter to respond in time and in force. It is more likely that the soldiers were already on the area and they were acting in their own interests, not in the interests of their origin city.

Amezarak 5y ago
It might be illogical, but it's extensively documented - check out Thucydides. Indeed colonies were almost expected to be militarily supportive of the mother city, and when they weren't, it was sometimes a cause of war.
- gostsamo 5y ago
  You might be right, but this can be checked by listing the colonies of the city in question. If the origin cities of the bodies and the list of colonies differ, it will be telling. Also, Black Sea was colonized from mainland Greece and Malaysia, not Sicily as far as I know. The greek diaspora was moving east to west in the Mediterranean Sea and east to west in Black Sea.
  - w0de0 5y ago
    Malaysia is a typo for Ionia in Asia Minor, where most Black Sea colonists come from, I assume? Ie, Miletus. In any case, an important point missed here in this thread that’s made in Thucydides is that Syracuse was a cosmopolitan melting pot of the Greek Mediterranean, large, rich, and attracting both Dorian and Ionian immigrants. An army raised there probably had Massalians and Athenians and Greeks from the Euxine and a dozen other tribes/cities.
    - gostsamo 5y ago
      Thanks for the correction. In my language Malaysia and Asia Minor are pronounced pretty much the same and I've transfered that.

Amezarak 5y ago

It might be illogical, but it's extensively documented - check out Thucydides. Indeed colonies were almost expected to be militarily supportive of the mother city, and when they weren't, it was sometimes a cause of war.

gostsamo 5y ago
You might be right, but this can be checked by listing the colonies of the city in question. If the origin cities of the bodies and the list of colonies differ, it will be telling. Also, Black Sea was colonized from mainland Greece and Malaysia, not Sicily as far as I know. The greek diaspora was moving east to west in the Mediterranean Sea and east to west in Black Sea.
- w0de0 5y ago
  Malaysia is a typo for Ionia in Asia Minor, where most Black Sea colonists come from, I assume? Ie, Miletus. In any case, an important point missed here in this thread that’s made in Thucydides is that Syracuse was a cosmopolitan melting pot of the Greek Mediterranean, large, rich, and attracting both Dorian and Ionian immigrants. An army raised there probably had Massalians and Athenians and Greeks from the Euxine and a dozen other tribes/cities.
  - gostsamo 5y ago
    Thanks for the correction. In my language Malaysia and Asia Minor are pronounced pretty much the same and I've transfered that.