In
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire particular significance until the reforms of
Cleisthenes in 508 BC. In those reforms, enrollment in the citizen-lists of a deme became the requirement for citizenship; prior to that time, citizenship had been based on membership in a
phratry
In ancient Greece, a phratry ( grc, φρᾱτρῐ́ᾱ, phrātríā, brotherhood, kinfolk, derived from grc, φρᾱ́τηρ, phrā́tēr, brother, links=no) was a group containing citizens in some city-states. Their existence is known in most I ...
, or family group. At this same time, demes were established in the main city of Athens itself, where they had not previously existed; in all, at the end of Cleisthenes' reforms,
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
was divided into 139 demes
[, ] to which one can be added Berenikidai (established in 224/223 BC), Apollonieis (201/200 BC), and Antinoeis (added in 126/127). The establishment of demes as the fundamental units of the state weakened the ''
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
'', or aristocratic family groups, that had dominated the phratries.
A deme functioned to some degree as a
polis
''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
in miniature, and indeed some demes, such as
Eleusis and
Acharnae
Acharnae or Acharnai (; grc, Ἀχαρναί) was a ''deme'' of ancient Athens. It was part of the phyle Oineis.
Acharnae, according to Thucydides, was the largest deme in Attica. In the fourth century BCE, 22 of the 500 members of the bou ...
, were in fact significant towns. Each deme had a ''
demarchos
The ''dēmarchos'' ( gr, δήμαρχος, 3=archon of the deme; plural δήμαρχοι, ''dēmarchoi''), anglicized as Demarch, is a title historically given to officials related to civic administration. In ancient Athens the title was given to ...
'' who supervised its affairs; various other civil, religious, and military functionaries existed in various demes. Demes held their own religious festivals and collected and spent revenue.
Demes were combined within the same area to make ''
trittyes
The ''trittyes'' (; grc, τριττύες ''trittúes''), singular ''trittys'' (; τριττύς ''trittús'') were part of the organizational structure the divided the population in ancient Attica, and is commonly thought to have been establish ...
'', larger population groups, which in turn were combined to form the ten tribes, or ''
phylai
''Phyle'' ( gr, φυλή, phulē, "tribe, clan"; pl. ''phylai'', φυλαί; derived from ancient Greek φύεσθαι "to descend, to originate") is an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphylet ...
'' of Athens. Each tribe contained one ''trittys'' from each of three regions: the city, the coast, and the inland area.
Cleisthenes' reforms and its modifications
First period: 508 – 307/306 BC
Cleisthenes divided the landscape in three zones—urban (''
asty
Asty ( gr, ἄστυ; ) is an ancient Greek word denoting the physical space of a city or town, especially as opposed to the political concept of a '' polis'', which encompassed the entire territory and citizen body of a city-state.
In Classic ...
''), coastal (''
paralia'') and inland (''
mesogeia
The Mesogeia or Mesogaia ( el, τα Μεσόγεια, η Μεσόγαια/Μεσογαία, "Midlands") is a geographical region of Attica in Greece.
History
The term designates since antiquity the inland portion of the Attic peninsula. The term a ...
'')—and the 139 demes were organized into 30 groups called ''trittyes'' ("thirds"), ten for each of the zones and into ten tribes, or ''
phylai
''Phyle'' ( gr, φυλή, phulē, "tribe, clan"; pl. ''phylai'', φυλαί; derived from ancient Greek φύεσθαι "to descend, to originate") is an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphylet ...
'', each composed of three ''trittyes'', one from the coast, one from the city, and one from the inland area.
Cleisthenes also reorganized the
Boule, created with 400 members under
Solon
Solon ( grc-gre, Σόλων; BC) was an Athenian statesman, constitutional lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic Athens.Aristotle ''Politics'' ...
, so that it had 500 members, 50 from each tribe, each deme having a fixed quota.
The ten tribes were named after legendary heroes and came to have an official order:
Second period: 307/306 – 224/223 BC
In 307/306 – 224/223 BC the system was reorganized with the creation of two Macedonian Phylai (XI.
Antigonis and XII.
Demetrias
Demetrias ( grc, Δημητριάς) was a Greek city in Magnesia in ancient Thessaly (east central Greece), situated at the head of the Pagasaean Gulf, near the modern city of Volos.
History
It was founded in 294 BCE by Demetrius Polior ...
), named after
Demetrius I of Macedon
Demetrius I (; grc, Δημήτριος; 337–283 BC), also called Poliorcetes (; el, Πολιορκητής, "The Besieger"), was a Macedonian nobleman, military leader, and king of Macedon (294–288 BC). He belonged to the Antigonid dynas ...
and
Antigonus I Monophthalmus, and an increase in the membership of the Boule to 600. Each of the ten tribes, except Aiantis, provided three demes (not necessarily one for trittyes); the missing contribution of Aiantis was covered by two demes of Leontis and one from Aigeis.
Third period: 224/223 – 201/200 BC
The Egyptian Phyle XIII.
Ptolemais, named after
Ptolemy III Euergetes
, predecessor = Ptolemy II
, successor = Ptolemy IV
, nebty = ''ḳn nḏtj-nṯrw jnb-mnḫ-n-tꜢmrj'Qen nedjtinetjeru inebmenekhentamery''The brave one who has protected the gods, a potent wall for The Beloved Land
, nebty_hiero ...
was created in 224/223 BC and the Boule was again increased to 600 members, the twelve tribes giving each a demos. A new village was created and named Berenikidai after Ptolemy's wife
Berenice II of Egypt
Berenice II Euergetis (267 or 266 BC – 221 BC; , '' Berenikē Euergetis'', "Berenice the Benefactress") was queen regnant of Cyrenaica from 258 BC to 246 BC and co-regent queen of Ptolemaic Egypt from 246 BC to 222 BC as the wife of Ptolemy III ...
.
Fourth period: 201/200 BC – 126/127 AD
In 201/200 BC the Macedonian Phylae were dissolved and the villages (except the two given to Ptolemais) went back to their original tribes. In the spring of 200 BC Tribe XIV.
Attalis, named after
Attalus I
Attalus I ( grc, Ἄτταλος Α΄), surnamed ''Soter'' ( el, , "Savior"; 269–197 BC) ruled Pergamon, an Ionian Greek polis (what is now Bergama, Turkey), first as dynast, later as king, from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the fi ...
, was created following the same scheme used for the creation of the Egyptian Phyle: each tribe contributed a deme and a new deme, Apollonieis, was created in honour of Apollonis, wife of Attalus I of Pergamum. As a consequence there were again 12 tribes and 600 members of the Boule. From this period onward, quotas were no longer assigned to the demes for the 50 Boule members from each tribe
Fifth period: 126/127 – third century
The last modification was the creation in 126/127 of XV.
Hadrianis, named after the Emperor
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
, following the same scheme: each tribe contributed a deme and a new deme,
Antinoeis Antinoeis ( grc, Ἀντινοείς) was a deme of ancient Attica, in the part of the city founded by the emperor Hadrian. The deme was established only in 126 or 127, after the death of Antinous
Antinous, also called Antinoös, (; grc-gre, ...
, was created in honour of Hadrian's favourite,
Antinous. Each tribe contributed 40 members to the Boule.
Representation in the Boule
In the first three periods there it a more detailed system of fixed quotas which essentially remained unchanged. There is no evidence for a single general reapportionment of quotas within each of the first three periods, while there are evident small quota-variations between the first and the second periods.
More precisely in:
:307/306 BC, 24 demes increased of 1 bouleutes, 13 of 2, 5 or 3, 6 of 4 and 1 (Lower Paiania) of 11 and there is not a single example of a decreased quota.
:224/223 BC 4 demes increased of 1 ddwoulets
As regards the last two periods, the material illustrates the complete collapse of the quota-system from 201/200 BC.
Spurious and Late Roman demes
Some deme lists suggest extensions to the list of 139+3 Demes by adding 43 additional names, some of which have been considered by scholars as Attic demes. The criticism performed by John S. Traill
shows that 24 are the result of error, ancient or modern, or of misinterpretation and 19 are well known chiefly from inscriptions of the second and third centuries AD, i.e. in the fifth period, and thus for political purposes they were originally dependent on legitimate Cleisthenic demes.
Homonymous and divided demes
There were six pairs of homonymous demes:
*
Halai Araphenides (VII.Kekropis) and
Halai Aixonides Halae Aexonides or Halai Aixonides ( grc, Ἁλαὶ Αἰξωνίδες), also known as Aexonides Halae or Aixonides Halai (Αἰξωνίδες Ἁλαί), was a deme of ancient Attica, a little south of Aexone. It derived its name from its salt-wo ...
(II.Aigeis)
*
Oion Dekeleikon (VIII.Hippothontis; later XIII.Ptolemais, XIV.Attalis) and
Oion Kerameikon Oeum Cerameicum or Oion Kerameikon ( grc, Οἶον Κεραμεικὸν) was a deme of ancient Attica. It was surnamed to distinguish it from Oeum Deceleicum near Deceleia. Its name shows that it was near the outer Kerameikos.
Its site is unlocat ...
(IV.Leontis; affiliated with XII.Demetrias in the Macedonian period)
*
Eitea: there were two demes of that name, but no modifier is known. One is associated to V.Acamantis, later XI.Antigonis and XV.Hadrianis; the other is associated to X.Antiochis
*
Oinoe and
Oinoe: again no modifier is known; one deme was associated to VIII.Hippothontis, later XII.Demetrias and XIII.Ptolemais; the other was associated to IX.Aiantis, later XIV.Attalis and XV.Hadrianis.
*
Kolonai
Kolonai ( grc, αἱ Κολωναί, hai Kolōnai; la, Colonae) was an ancient Greek city in the south-west of the Troad region of Anatolia. It has been located on a hill by the coast known as Beşiktepe ('cradle hill'), about equidistant betw ...
: again no modifier is known; one deme was associated to IV.Leontis; the other to X.Antiochis, later XI.Antigonis and XIII.Ptolemais.
*
Eroiadai: again no modifier is known for these two demes associated to VIII.Hippothontis and X.Antiochis.
There were six divided demes, one composed of three parts:
*
Agryle
Agryle ( grc, Ἀγρυλή, Ἀραυλή, or Ἀγροιλή) was the name of two demoi of ancient Attica, a Lower Agryle (Agryle Hypenerthen) and an Upper Agryle (Agryle Kathyperthen). They lay immediately south of the stadium in the city of ...
,
Upper Agryle Upper Agryle, or Agryle Kathyperthen ( grc, Ἀγρυλὴ καθύπερθεν), was a deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simp ...
and
Lower Agryle Lower Agryle, or Agryle Hypenerthen ( grc, Ἀγρυλὴ ὑπένερθεν), was a deme of ancient Attica, one of two demoi of Agryle
Agryle ( grc, Ἀγρυλή, Ἀραυλή, or Ἀγροιλή) was the name of two demoi of ancient Attica, ...
(I.Erechtheis); one of them, but there is no prosopographical information for identifying which, was transferred to XI.Antigonis and went back at the end of the Macedonian period; later one of them (again it is uncertain which) was transferred to XIV.Attalis.
*
Lamptrai Lamptrai ( grc, Λαμπτραὶ), or Lamptra (Λάμπτρα, in inscriptions; Λάμπρα, in writers), was the name of two ''demoi'' or ancient Attica, Upper Lamptrai ( Lamptrai Kathyperthen), and Lower or Maritime Lamptrai ( Lamptrai Paraloi) ...
,
Upper Lamptrai Upper Lamptrai, or Lamptrai Kathyperthen ( grc, Λαμπτραὶ καθύπερθεν) or Lamptra Kathyperthen (Λάμπτρα καθύπερθεν), was a ''deme'' of ancient Attica. Lamptrai Kathyperthen and nearby Coastal Lamptrai (Lamptrai Par ...
and
Coastal/Lower Lamptrai (I.Erechtheis); Upper Lamptrai was transferred to XI.Antigonis and went back at the end of the Macedonian period.
*
Pergase, Upper and Lower (I.Erechtheis); one of them (no prosopographical information allows to decide which) was transferred to XI.Antigonis and went back at the end of the Macedonian period.
*
Ankyle: no special designations of either section are preserved, although they are presumed to have the regular ''Upper and Lower'' forms. One section, perhaps Upper Ankale, was transferred to XI.Antigonis and went back at the end of the Macedonian period.
*
Paiania
Paiania (or ''Paeanea'' or ''Peania'' el, Παιανία, , before 1915: Λιόπεσι - ''Liopesi'', ; Arvanitika: Λοπε̱σ romanized: Lopës) is a town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. It is an eastern suburb of Athens, located ...
,
Upper Paiania Upper Paeania or Paiania Kathyperthen ( grc, Παιανία καθύπερθεν) was a deme of ancient Attica; it was located on the eastern side of Hymettus. One of two demoi named Paeania.
The site of Upper Paeania is located north of modern Li ...
and
Lower Paiania Lower Paeania or Paiania Hypenerthen ( grc, Παιανία ὑπένερθεν) was a deme of ancient Attica; it was located on the eastern side of Hymettus. One of two demoi named Paeania
Paeania or Paiania ( grc, Παιανία) were two demoi o ...
(III.Pandionis); Upper Paiania, was transferred to XI.Antigonis and went back at the end of the Macedonian period.
*
Potamos has three sections,
Upper Potamos Upper Potamus, or Potamus Kathyperthen or Potamos Kathyperthen ( grc, Ποταμός καθύπερθεν), was a deme of ancient Attica. It lay on the east coast north of Thoricus, and was once a populous place: it was celebrated as containing th ...
,
Lower Potamos Lower Potamus, Potamus Hypenerthen or Potamos Hypenerthen ( grc, Ποταμός ὑπένερθεν), was a deme of ancient Attica. It lay on the east coast north of Thoricus, and was once a populous place: it was celebrated as containing the sepulc ...
and
Potamos Deiradiotes Potamus Deiradiotes or Potamos Deiradiotes ( grc, Ποταμός Δειραδιῶτης), was a deme of ancient Attica. It lay on the east coast north of Thoricus, and was once a populous place: it was celebrated as containing the sepulchre of Io ...
(IV.Leontes); during the Macedonian period, Potamos Deiradiotes belonged to XI.Antigonis and Lower Potamos to XII.Demetrias
List of Athenian demes according to tribes/phylai (φυλαί)
The ten Cleisthenic tribes
The Macedonian tribes
The later tribes
The ten tribes of
Thurii
Thurii (; grc-gre, Θούριοι, Thoúrioi), called also by some Latin writers Thurium (compare grc-gre, Θούριον in Ptolemy), for a time also Copia and Copiae, was a city of Magna Graecia, situated on the Tarentine gulf, within a sho ...
When the city was settled under the support of
Pericles
Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelo ...
and the command of
Lampon and
Xenocritus the population was organized in ten tribes, following the Athenian organization: there were tribes for the population of 1.
Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
, 2.
Achaea, 3.
Elis
Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...
, 4.
Boeotia
Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...
, 5.
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...
, 6.
Dorians
The Dorians (; el, Δωριεῖς, ''Dōrieîs'', singular , ''Dōrieús'') were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans, and Ionian ...
, 7.
Ionians
The Ionians (; el, Ἴωνες, ''Íōnes'', singular , ''Íōn'') were one of the four major tribes that the Greeks considered themselves to be divided into during the ancient period; the other three being the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaea ...
, 8. population of
Euboea
Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...
, 9. the islands and 10. Athenians.
Fritz Schachermeyr
Fritz Schachermeyr (1895 – 1987, also ''Schachermeyer'') was an Austrian historian, professor at the University of Vienna from 1952 until retirement.
Schachermeyr was born in Linz, and studied in Graz, Berlin and Innsbruck. At Innsbruck, he wa ...
, Perikles, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart–Berlin–Köln–Mainz 1969
Later usage
The term "deme" () survived into the Hellenistic and Roman eras. By the time of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, the term was used to refer to one of the four
chariot racing
Chariot racing ( grc-gre, ἁρματοδρομία, harmatodromia, la, ludi circenses) was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games f ...
factions, the Reds, the Blues, the Greens and the Whites.
In modern Greece, the term is used to denote one of the
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
.
Footnotes
References
*
*Fine, John V. A. ''The Ancient Greeks: A critical history'' (
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
, 1983). .
*Hornblower, Simon, and Anthony Spawforth, ed., ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (Oxford University Press, 2003). .
*Meritt, B. D. ''The Athenian Year''. Berkeley, 1961.
*Suzanne, Bernard (1998). ''plato-dialogues.org''
"Attic Tribes and Demes" Retrieved August 1, 2006.
*Whitehead, David. ''The Demes of Attica 508/7–ca. 250 BC: A Political and Social Study'' (Princeton University Press, 1986).
{{Types of administrative country subdivision, state=collapsed
Ancient Athens
Ancient Greek government