The Geomori or Geomoroi ( grc, γεωμόροι) were one of the three classes into which

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...

is said to have divided the inhabitants of

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...

. The exact divisions between the three classes is uncertain, but the geomori ranked between the wealthy

eupatrid Eupatridae (literally "good fathered", i.e. "offspring of noble fathers" or "the well-born") refers to the ancient nobility of the Greek region of Attica. Origin Tradition ascribes to Theseus, whom it also regards as the author of the union (''sy ...

s, the only class who were permitted to hold the highest civil and religious offices, and the poorer

demiourgoi The ''Republic'' ( grc-gre, Πολῑτείᾱ, Politeia; ) is a Socratic dialogue, authored by Plato around 375 BCE, concerning justice (), the order and character of the just city-state, and the just man. It is Plato's best-known work, and ...

Class distinctions

Some scholars have noted that the precise meaning of these classes, as well as the nature of the division, are obscure. Even though one can say that nobles, husbandmen, and artisans belong to the eupatrids, geomori, and demiourgoi classes, respectively, there are no methods to ascertain any particulars respecting the relation in which the geomoroi stood to the two other classes. It is also not known whether an individual can transcend or be demoted to another class such as the case of the poorer nobles who might have fallen into the ranks of the geomori. One, however, could turn to Grecian historians for insight, particularly in the way they described geomori and two other social classes in the Athenian society as "quasi equal" with the eupatrids exceeding the others in dignity; the geomori exceeded in usefulness; and, the demiourgi exceeded in number.

Geomori concept

The term ''geomori'' may either signify independent land-owners, or peasants who cultivated the lands of others as tenants. The geomoroi have, accordingly, by some writers been thought to be free land-owners, while others have conceived them to have been a class of tenants. It seems, however, inconsistent with the state of affairs in Attica, as well as with the manner in which the name geomoroi was used in other Greek states, to suppose that the whole class consisted of the latter only; there were undoubtedly among them a considerable number of freemen who cultivated their own lands, but had by their birth no claims to the rights and privileges of the nobles. What is certain for some historians is that geomori and the social stratification in Attica is similar to the social distinctions adopted by other societies that have emerged from

nomadism A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, Nomadic pastoralism, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and Merchant, trader nomads. In t ...

. There are no recorded political distinctions between the geomoroi and the demiourgoi; and it may either be that there existed none at all or if there were any originally, that they gradually vanished. This would account for the fact that Dionysius (ii. 8) only mentions two classes of Atticans; one corresponding to the Roman

patricians The patricians (from la, Wikt:patricius, patricius, Greek language, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Roman Rep ...

, the other to the

plebeians In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

. There are sources, however, such as Aristotle whose works indicated that the class divisions by Theseus marked the modification to the constitution in the direction of popular government. Some authors also consider the social divisions as a mechanism to unite the separate communities into a united country by describing the function and privileges of the people who came from these within the new society. In

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

, the name geomoroi was applied to the oligarchical party, consisting of the wealthy and powerful. In

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, the aristocratic party was likewise called ''gamoroi'', in opposition to the

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

.Herod, vii. 155; Hesych. s. v. Tdjjiopoi; Miiller, Dor. iii. 4. § 4 ; Gbller, de Situ et Orig. Syrac.

References

{{reflist Social classes of ancient Athens Ancient Greek titles