Ancient colonialism and the economic geography of the Mediterranean
利用古代殖民地历史数据和当前人口密度、夜间灯光数据，发现腓尼基、希腊和伊特鲁里亚的古代殖民活动对地中海地区当前的人口密度和经济活动仍有正面影响，并塑造了该地区的城市体系。
Abstract This article investigates the legacy of ancient Phoenician, Greek and Etruscan colonialism in shaping the economic geography of the Mediterranean region. Utilising historical data on ancient colonies and current data on population density and night light emissions (as a proxy for economic activity), we find that geographical areas colonised by these ancient civilisations have higher population density and economic activity in the present day. We also find that ancient colonialism affected the origin and evolution of the urban system of cities and settlements prevalent in the Mediterranean region.