Deme
Encyclopedia
In Ancient Greece
, a deme or demos was a subdivision of Attica
, the region of Greece
surrounding Athens
. 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
, or family group. At this same time, demes were established in the city of Athens itself, where they had not previously existed; in all, at the end of Cleisthenes' reforms, Attica was divided into 139 demes. The establishment of demes as the fundamental units of the state weakened the gene
, or aristocratic family groups, that had dominated the phratries.
A deme functioned to some degree as a polis
in miniature, and indeed some demes, such as Eleusis and Acharnae
, were in fact significant towns. Each deme had a demarchos 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 with other demes from the same area to make trittyes
, larger population groups, which in turn were combined to form the ten tribes, or phyle
s of Athens. Each tribe contained one trittys
from each of three regions: the city, the coast, and the inland area.
, the term was used to refer to one of the four chariot racing
factions, the Reds, the Blues, the Greens and the Whites.
In modern Greece, the term dēmos is used to denote the municipalities.
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, a deme or demos was a subdivision of Attica
Attica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...
, the region of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
surrounding Athens
Classical Athens
The city of Athens during the classical period of Ancient Greece was a notable polis of Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Hippias...
. 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
Cleisthenes
Cleisthenes was a noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family. He is credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508/7 BC...
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
Phratry
In ancient Greece, a phratry ατρία, "brotherhood", "kinfolk", derived from φρατήρ meaning "brother") was a social division of the Greek tribe...
, or family group. At this same time, demes were established in the city of Athens itself, where they had not previously existed; in all, at the end of Cleisthenes' reforms, Attica was divided into 139 demes. The establishment of demes as the fundamental units of the state weakened the gene
Genos
Genos was the ancient Greek term for kind; race; family; birth; origin which identified themselves as a unit, referred to by a single name...
, or aristocratic family groups, that had dominated the phratries.
A deme functioned to some degree as a polis
Polis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...
in miniature, and indeed some demes, such as Eleusis and Acharnae
Acharnae
Acharnae was the largest deme of ancient Attica; it was located in the northwest part of the Attic plain, south of Mt. Parnes in the general vicinity of the modern suburbs of Acharnes and Ano Liosia, about due north of Athens. The Acharnians chiefly grew cereals, grapes, and olives, although...
, were in fact significant towns. Each deme had a demarchos 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 with other demes from the same area to make trittyes
Trittys
Trittyes were population divisions in ancient Attica, established by the reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 BC. The name means "thirtieth," and there were in fact thirty trittyes in Attica. Each tribe, or phyle of Athens was composed of three trittyes, one from the coast, one from the city, and one...
, larger population groups, which in turn were combined to form the ten tribes, or phyle
Phyle
Phyle is an ancient Greek term for clan or tribe. They were usually ruled by a basileus...
s of Athens. Each tribe contained one trittys
Trittys
Trittyes were population divisions in ancient Attica, established by the reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 BC. The name means "thirtieth," and there were in fact thirty trittyes in Attica. Each tribe, or phyle of Athens was composed of three trittyes, one from the coast, one from the city, and one...
from each of three regions: the city, the coast, and the inland area.
Erechtheïs (Ἐρεχθηΐς)
- Upper Agryle
- Lower Agryle
- AnagyrousAnagyrousAnagyrous was one of the deme in ancient Athens near modern day Vari. It belonged in the tribe Erechtheis. A sanctuary of the mother of the gods was situated here according to Pausanias.-External links:*...
- EuonymonEuonymonEuonymon was one of the deme in ancient Athens near modern day Argyroupolis and Ellinikon. It belonged in the tribe Erechtheis. Euonymon's cemetery was discovered in 2003.-External links:* *...
- Themakos
- Kedoi
- Kephisia
- Upper Lamptrai
- Lower Lamptrai
- Pambotadai
- Upper Pergase
- Lower Pergase
- Phegous
- Sybridai
Aegeïs (Αἰγηΐς)
- Upper Ankyle
- Lower Ankyle
- Araphen
- Halai Araphenides
- Bate
- Gargettos
- Diomeia
- Hestiaia
- Erikeia
- Erchia
- Ikarion
- Ionidai
- Kollytos
- KolonosColonusIn classical Greece Hippeios Colonus was a deme about to the northwest of Athens, near Plato's Academy. There is also the Agoraios Kolonos , a hillock by the Athens Agora on which the temple of Hephaestus still stands.Hippeios Colonus held a temple of Poseidon and a sacred grove to the...
- Kydantidai
- Myrrhinoutta
- Otryne
- Plotheia
- Teithras
- Phegaia
- Philaidai
Pandionis (Πανδιονίς)
- Angele
- Konthyle
- Kydathenaion
- Kytheros
- Myrrhinous
- Oa
- Prasiai
- Probalinthos
- Upper Paiania
- Lower Paiania
- Steiria
Leontis (Λεοντίς)
- Aithalidai
- HalimousAlimosAlimos is an affluent suburb in the south-southwestern part of Athens, Greece, also known as Kalamaki . Poseidonos Avenue runs in the western part of Alimos, with the Hymettus mountain to the east meeting mainly grassland, while areas to the north of Argyroupoli are forested...
- Deiradiotai
- HecaleHecaleIn Greek mythology, Hecale, or Hekálē, was an old woman who offered succor to Theseus on his way to capture the Marathonian Bull.On the way to Marathon to capture the Bull, Theseus sought shelter from a storm in a shack owned by an ancient lady named Hecale. She swore to make a sacrifice to Zeus if...
- Eupyridai
- Kettos
- KolonaiKolonaiKolonai was a 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 , about equidistant between Larisa to the south and Alexandreia Troas to the north. It is 3.3 km east of the modern village of Alemşah in the Ezine district of...
- Kropidai
- Leukonion
- Oion Kerameikon
- Paionidai
- Pelekes
- Upper Potamos
- Lower Potamos
- Potamioi-Deiradiotai
- Skambonidai
- Sounion
- Hybadai
- Phrearrhioi
- Cholleidai
Akamantis (Ἀκαμαντίς)
- Hagnous
- Eiresidai
- Eitea
- Hermos
- Iphistiadai
- Thorikos
- Kerameis
- Kephale
- Kikynna
- Kyrteidai
- Poros
- Prospalta
- Sphettos
- CholargosCholargosCholargos is a suburb of Athens, Greece, located northeast of the city center and about 6 kilometers away from Syntagma square. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Papagou-Cholargos, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit.It is accessed by Messogion Avenue...
Oeneïs (Οἰνηΐς)
- AcharnaeAcharnaeAcharnae was the largest deme of ancient Attica; it was located in the northwest part of the Attic plain, south of Mt. Parnes in the general vicinity of the modern suburbs of Acharnes and Ano Liosia, about due north of Athens. The Acharnians chiefly grew cereals, grapes, and olives, although...
- Boutadai
- Epikephisia
- Thria
- Hippotomadai
- Kothokidai
- Lakiadai
- Lousia
- Oe
- Perithoidai
- Ptelea
- Tyrmeidai
- Phyle
Kekropis (Κεκροπίς)
- Athmonon
- Aixone
- Halai Aixonides
- Daidalidai
- Epieikidai
- Melite
- Xypete
- Pithos
- Sypalettos
- Trinemeia
- Phlya
Hippothontis (Ἱπποθοντίς)
- Azenia
- Hamaxanteia
- Anakaia
- Auridai
- Acherdous
- Dekeleia
- ElaiousElaiousElaious was an ancient Greek city located in Thrace, located in the region of the Thracian Chersonesos....
- Eleusis
- Eroiadai
- Thymaitadai
- Keiriadai
- Koile
- Kopros
- KorydallosKorydallosKorydallos is a municipality in the Piraeus regional unit, Greece. It is a western suburb of Piraeus. It is the home of the Korydallos prisons. It sits on a mountain in the west named Aegaleo. It is located W of Athens, N of Piraeus and S of GR-8/E55 and Athinon Avenue.Farming used to dominate...
- Oinoe (of the west)
- Oion Dekeleikon
- Peiraieus
Aiantis (Αἰαντίς)
- Aphidna
- MarathonMarathon, GreeceMarathon is a town in Greece, the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. The tumulus or burial mound for the 192 Athenian dead that was erected near the battlefield remains a feature of the coastal plain...
- Oinoe (of the east)
- RhamnousRhamnousThe site of Rhamnous , the remote northernmost deme of Attica, lies 39 km NE of Athens and 12.4 km NNE of Marathon, Greece overlooking the Euboean Strait. Rhamnous was strategically significant enough to be fortified and receive an Athenian garrison of ephebes...
- Trikorynthos
- Phaleron
Antiochis (Ἀντιοχίς)
- Aigilia
- Alopeke
- Amphitrope
- Anaphlystos
- AteneAteneĀtene is a former village located from Whanganui along the Whanganui River. It was named by the missionary Richard Taylor in the 19th century and is a Maori transliteration of Athens. A small meeting house is all that remains....
- Besa
- Eitea
- Eroidai
- Ergadeis
- Thorai
- KolonaiKolonaiKolonai was a 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 , about equidistant between Larisa to the south and Alexandreia Troas to the north. It is 3.3 km east of the modern village of Alemşah in the Ezine district of...
- Krioa
- Leukopyra
- Pallene
- Semachidai
- Phyrrhinesioi
Later usage
The term "deme" (dēmos) survived into the Hellenistic and Roman eras. By the time of the Byzantine EmpireByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, the term was used to refer to one of the four chariot racing
Chariot racing
Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine sports. Chariot racing was often dangerous to both driver and horse as they frequently suffered serious injury and even death, but generated strong spectator enthusiasm...
factions, the Reds, the Blues, the Greens and the Whites.
In modern Greece, the term dēmos is used to denote the municipalities.
Further reading
- 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 AthensAmerican School of Classical Studies at AthensThe American School of Classical Studies at Athens is one of 17 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece.-General information:...
(ASCSA), 1975