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15.
From very early times this had been more the
case with the Athenians than with others.
Under Cecrops and the first kings, down to the reign of Theseus, Attica had
always consisted of a number of independent townships, each with its own
town-hall and magistrates.
Except in times of danger the king at Athens was not consulted; in ordinary seasons they carried on their government and settled their
affairs without his interference; sometimes even they waged war against him, as in the case of the
Eleusinians with Eumolpus against Erechtheus.
[2]
In Theseus, however, they had a king of equal intelligence and power; and one of the chief features in his organization of the country was to
abolish the council chambers and magistrates of the petty cities, and to
merge them in the single council-chamber and town-hall of the present
capital.
Individuals might still enjoy their private property just as before, but
they were henceforth compelled to have only one political center, viz.
Athens; which thus counted all the inhabitants of Attica among her citizens, so
that when Theseus died he left a great state behind him.
Indeed, from him dates the Synoecia, or Feast of Union; which is paid for by the state, and which the Athenians still keep in honor
of the goddess.
[3]
Before this the city consisted of the present citadel and the district
beneath it looking rather towards the south.
[4]
This is shown by the fact that the temples the other deities, besides that
of Athena, are in the citadel; and even those that are outside it are mostly situated in this quarter of
the city, as that of the Olympian Zeus, of the Pythian Apollo, of Earth, and
of Dionysus in the Marshes, the same in whose honor the older Dionysia are
to this day celebrated in the month of Anthesterion not only by the
Athenians but also by their Ionian descendants.
[5]
There are also other ancient temples in this quarter.
The fountain too, which, since the alteration made by the tyrants, has been
called Enneacrounos, or Nine Pipes, but which, when the spring was open,
went by the name of Callirhoe, or Fairwater, was in those days, from being
so near, used for the most important offices.
Indeed, the old fashion of using the water before marriage and for other
sacred purposes is still kept up.
[6]
Again, from their old residence in that quarter, the citadel is still known
among Athenians as the “city”.
Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton. 1910.
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References (70 total)
- Commentary references to this page
(13):
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus, 297
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus, 68
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus, 69
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Ajax, 1376
- W. W. How, J. Wells, A Commentary on Herodotus, 8.44
- Thomas W. Allen, E. E. Sikes, Commentary on the Homeric Hymns, HYMN TO DEMETER
- E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 2, 2.7
- T. G. Tucker, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 8, 8.36
- T. G. Tucker, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 8, 8.38
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5, 5.13
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5, 5.18
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5, 5.44
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5, 5.53
- Cross-references to this page
(25):
- Herbert Weir Smyth, A Greek Grammar for Colleges, THE ARTICLE—ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT
- Herbert Weir Smyth, A Greek Grammar for Colleges, PREPOSITIONS
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 1.3.1
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 1.3.2
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 1.4.2
- Harper's, Matrimonium
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), AQUAEDUCTUS
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), BA´LNEAE
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), CI´VITAS
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), DEMUS
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), DIONY´SIA
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), MATRIMO´NIUM
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), PRYTANE´UM
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), SYNOI´KIA
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ATHE´NAE
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ELEUSIS
- William Watson Goodwin, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb, Chapter II
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Selections from the Attic Orators, 15.287
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Selections from the Attic Orators, 5.44
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Selections from the Attic Orators, 7.46
- Smith's Bio, Eumolpus
- Smith's Bio, Gaea
- Smith's Bio, LIMNAEA, LIMNE'TES, LIMNE'GENES
- Smith's Bio, Peisi'stratus
- Smith's Bio, Theseus
- Cross-references in notes to this page
(3):
- Isocrates, Helen, Isoc. 10 35
- Isocrates, Antidosis, Isoc. 15 287
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus, 13
- Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page
(29):
- LSJ, Ἀνθεσ-τηριών
- LSJ, Ὀλύμπιος
- LSJ, Πύθιον
- LSJ, δημο-τελής
- LSJ, ἀπό
- LSJ, ἀποδείκ-νυ_μι
- LSJ, ἑορτ-ή
- LSJ, ἐκ
- LSJ, ἐννεά-κρουνος
- LSJ, φα^νερός
- LSJ, γα^μ-ικός
- LSJ, καλλί-ρροος
- LSJ, κατα-λύω
- LSJ, κατοίκ-ησις
- LSJ, λίμν-η
- LSJ, μετά
- LSJ, νομ-ίζω
- LSJ, ὁπότε
- LSJ, πόλις
- LSJ, ποιέω
- LSJ, πολι_τεύω
- LSJ, πρυ^τα^ν-εῖον
- LSJ, συμβαίνω
- LSJ, συνετός
- LSJ, συνοίκ-ια
- LSJ, συνοικ-ίζω
- LSJ, συντελ-έω
- LSJ, τρέπω
- LSJ, χράω
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