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''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 A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphyletai'' ( gr, συμφυλέται), literally: ''fellow tribesmen''. They were usually ruled by a ''
basileus ''Basileus'' ( el, ) is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. In the English-speaking world it is perhaps most widely understood to mean "monarch", referring to either a "king" or an "emperor" and al ...
''. Some of them can be classified by their geographic location: the Geleontes, the Argadeis, the Hopletes, and the Agikoreis, in
Ionia Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionian ...
; the Hylleans, the Pamphyles, the Dymanes, in the
Dorian Dorian may refer to: Ancient Greece * Dorians, one of the main ethnic divisions of ancient Greeks * Doric Greek, or Dorian, the dialect spoken by the Dorians Art and entertainment Films * ''Dorian'' (film), the Canadian title of the 2004 film ' ...
region.


Attic tribes

The best-attested new system was that created by
Cleisthenes Cleisthenes ( ; grc-gre, Κλεισθένης), or Clisthenes (c. 570c. 508 BC), was an ancient Athenian lawgiver credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508 BC. For these accomplishm ...
for Attica in or just after 508 BC. The landscape was regarded as comprising three zones: urban ('' asty''), coastal (''
paralia Paralia ( el, Παραλία, ''Paralía'') is a Greek term meaning "beach" or "coastline". Towns * Paralia, Achaea * Paralia, Pieria * Paralia Distomou * Paralia Lygias * Paralia Skotinas * Paralia Avdira * Paralia Panteleimonos * Paralios Kaisar ...
'') and inland ('' mesogeia''). Each zone was split into ten sections called '' trittyes'' ('thirdings'), to each of which were assigned between one and ten of the 139 existing settlements, villages or town-quarters, which were henceforth called '' demoi''. Three sections, one each from urban, coastal and inland, were then put together to form a tribe. The 30 sections therefore yielded ten tribes, each named after a local hero and each with a geographically scattered membership roughly equal in size and hereditary in the male line thenceforward. They rapidly took on various functions. They became the brigading units for the army; constituencies for the election of magistrates, especially the ten generals ('' strategoi''), for the section of members of the Council of 500 ('' boule'') and of the 6,000 jurors, and for the selection of boards of administrative officials of every kind: and bases for the selection of competing teams of runners, singers or dancers at various festivals. They had their own corporate life, with officials and sanctuaries, and came to have an official order: 1. Erechtheis (Ἐρεχθηΐς), 2. Aigeis (Αἰγηΐς), 3. Pandionis (Πανδιονίς), 4. Leontis (Λεοντίς), 5. Acamantis (Ἀκαμαντίς), 6. Oineis (Οἰνηΐς), 7. Kekropis (Κεκροπίς), 8. Hippothontis (Ἱπποθοντίς), 9. Aiantis (Αἰαντίς) and 10. Antiochis (Ἀντιοχίς).


Ten tribes of Thurii

When the colony of Thurii on the
Gulf of Taranto The Gulf of Taranto ( it, Golfo di Taranto; Tarantino: ; la, Sinus Tarentinus) is a gulf of the Ionian Sea, in Southern Italy. The Gulf of Taranto is almost square, long and wide, making it the largest gulf in Italy, and it is delimited by the ...
was settled under the support of Pericles 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, 2.
Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. T ...
, 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 Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, wikt:Βοιωτία, Βοιωτία; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is pa ...
, 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 oracl ...
, 6. Dorians, 7. Ionians, 8. population of Euboea, 9. the islands and 10. Athenians. Fritz Schachermeyr, Perikles, Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart–Berlin–Köln–Mainz 1969


References


Sources

* {{Cite journal, last=Pritchard, first=David, title=Tribal Participation and Solidarity in Fifth-Century Athens: A Summary, journal=Ancient History, year=2000, volume=30, issue=2, pages=104–118, url=https://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/services/Download/mq:6229/DS01 * Traill, John S.
''The political organization of Attica: a study of the demes, trittyes, and phylai, and their representation in the Athenian Council''
Princeton : American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA), 1975 Society of ancient Greece