That's not strictly true, unless you redefine "cathedrals" to include pre-christian temples.
From [0]:
apoikia - 'a settlement far from home, a colony'
[..] a Greek community regarded as distinct from the kind of trading‐post conventionally known as an emporion. In effect, an apoikia may be defined as a polis established abroad by a polis [..] at home: the official processes required the appointment of a leader/founder [..] The colonizing movement was in progress between c.734 and 580 BCE
The ancient Greeks already had different words for trading posts (ἐμποριον, empire), cities (πολις, polity), and colonies. The term ἀποικια seems to refer exclusively to settlements that were subservient to the polis back home. It stands to reason that the Greek colonization was based more on mutually beneficial trade than military oppression, but the concept of overseas territorial control is arguably older than Christianity.
