The ancient Greeks had extensive trade routes throughout their empire. They traded with people from other parts of Europe as well as Africa and Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey).
The earliest evidence of trade can be found in the Greek islands, where there are signs of trade with Egypt as early as 3000 BC. The Phoenicians also had an influence on Greek trade. They were a seafaring people who settled the coast of Lebanon and founded Carthage (in what is now Tunisia). As Greece developed its own colonies, it became involved in trading with other empires. They had many different trading partners, including the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Persians, and other peoples of the Mediterranean.
The Greeks traded a wide variety of goods with these civilizations including metals, pottery, wine, olive oil, cloth and foodstuffs such as corn (maize), and also traded slaves as they were one of their most popular exports.
The Greeks traded with these countries because they had something they wanted or needed. For example, they traded metals like copper and tin with Egypt because Egypt had no metal mines of its own so they needed a source of metal. Also they traded pottery with Egypt because they didn’t have any clay deposits in their country but Egypt did have clay deposits so it made sense for them to trade this way with each other.
