and the reason that they are a clue is because

因为有一条线索
every time we see a colony,

每当我们看到一个殖民地时
learn anything at all about it,

我们了解到
it appears to exist in the form of a polis,

它们都是以城邦的形式出现的
which powerfully suggests that that was the typical characteristic style

这也说明了这种特殊的形式
of life that had already been established for Greeks

在古希腊人建立殖民地之前
before they sent out the colonies.

就已经存在了
So, that's the chronological significance of it.

按照时间顺序事情就是这样的
I should say all of these dates that I will be giving you

所有我提供的这些时期
are some combination of Greek tradition--

有一些参考了古希腊的传统记载
and the Greeks dated these colonies very specifically.

古希腊人对这些殖民地有很明确的记录
That would be hard to believe, impossible to believe, I guess,

我想这很难甚至无法让我们相信