DĒMUS

( δῆμος ), originally indicated a district or tract of land; and in this meaning of a country district, inhabited and under cultivation, it is contrasted with πόλις . When Cleisthenes, at Athens, broke up the four tribes of the old constitution, he substituted in their place ten local tribes ( φυλαὶ τοπικαί ), each of which he subdivided into ten dem i or country parishes, po e ing each its principal town; and in some one of these dem i were enrolled all the A then i an citizens resident in Attica, with the exception, perhaps, of those who were natives of Athens itself. These subdivisions corresponded in some degree to the naucrariae ( ναυκραρίαι ) of the old tribes, and were originally one hundred in number. These dem i formed independent corporations, and had each their several magistrates, landed and other property, with a common treasury. They had likewise their respective convocations or “parish meetings,” convened by the demarchi , in which was transacted the public busine of the dem us, such as the leasing of its estates, the elections of officers, the revision of the registers or lists of δημόται , and the admi ion of new members. Independent of these bonds of union, each dem us seems to have had its peculiar temples and religious worship. There were likewise judges, called δικασταὶ κατα δημους , who decided cases where the matter in dispute was of le value than ten drachmae. Admi ion into a dem us was nece ary before any individual could enter upon his full rights and privileges as an Attic citizen. The register of enrolment was called ληξιαρχικὸν γραμματεῖον .