For centuries in the Mediterranean, to be educated meant being able to speak Greek and to have some understanding of Greek philosophy. Christianity's development from a fringe Jewish cult to a world religion was assisted by its dissemination among educated Greek speakers in the Mediterranean and beyond. Indeed, the very nature of Christianity as we know it today would be unthinkable without an infusion of Greek ideas, most notably the concept of logos, or divine reason, which was incorporated into the Christian worldview. ("In the beginning was the Word/logos.")

Greek colonization throughout the Mediterranean represented a very new type of progress. No other ancient European civilization expanded its culture in new areas the way that the Mycenaeans, Minoans, and the later Greeks did.

Since Greece is a nation of islands and coastlines, virtually all of their ancient cities and nations relied on sea trade for wealth and prosperity. Greek ships and sailors were arguably the most advanced and most skilled in the ancient world, capable of sailing throughout the Mediterranean to trade with new peoples. Sea trade was the engine of their colonization: whenever they found a new area in southern Europe or northern Africa that was rich in resources, they built colonies to exploit it. This is why you can see the ruins of ancient Greek buildings and towns in Spain, Italy, Algeria, Libya, and Turkey.

Greek became a lingua franca for trade and politics in the Mediterranean, while currencies like the Athenian obol and drachm were used throughout the sea. Many major sea powers, like Syracuse and Carthage, were originally Greek settlements that grew into independent nations, although they kept some or even all of their original Greek culture, religion, and language.

The influence of Greek colonization can clearly be seen in the rise of the next powerful nation, Rome. The Romans looked to the Greeks as a sort of forefathers, borrowing many of their gods (the Roman god Jupiter is a direct interpretation of the Greek god Zeus) as well as their history: Romans would have grown up memorizing Homer's Iliad, just as Athenians or Spartans or Corinthians would have done in Greece.

In terms of global significance, one of the most important consequences of Greek colonization in the Mediterranean was the escalation of trade, which led to the movement of people and the spread of Greek culture throughout the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Black Sea areas of the world. Unlike the British colonizers, the Greeks were more intent on spreading culture and ideas than they were on dominating people and gaining political power. They were also intent on relieving famine on the Greek mainland due to a lack of land and agricultural resources. Therefore, from the eighth century B.C. to the sixth century B.C. the Greeks created about 500 colonies across the Mediterranean, which were selected for colonization largely based on the availability of land for farming. Establishing colonies throughout the area enabled them to trade pottery and textiles, oil, tools, and weapons, for lumber, metals, and food. The development of maritime trade routes brought people to the Greek mainland as well as resources, and it led to the spread of Greek art and culture throughout the world.