Cydathenaeum or Kydathenaion () was one of the

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Classical Athens, Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, bu ...

s in ancient

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. It belonged in the ''

phyle ''Phyle'' (, ; pl. ''phylai'', ; derived from Greek , ''phyesthai'' ) is an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphyletai'' () meaning 'fellow tribesmen'. During the late 6th century BC, Cleist ...

'' (tribe) Pandionis.

History

When

Cleisthenes Cleisthenes ( ; ), or Clisthenes (), 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 accomplishments, historians refer to him as "the fath ...

formally established the deme system in 508/7 BC, Kydathenaion was the third largest deme after

Acharnae Acharnae or Acharnai (; ) was a ''deme'' of ancient Athens. It was part of the phyle Oineis. Acharnae, according to Thucydides, was the largest deme in Attica. In the fourth century BCE, 22 of the 500 members of the Athenian council came ...

and Aphidna. Its population is estimated to have been around 3,300–3,600 people. Kydathenaion was one of the five demes located within the walls of the city of Athens (alongside

Koile Coele or Koile ( or Κοιλή) was a deme of ancient Attica, originally of the ''phyle'' of Hippothontis, and between 307/6 BCE and 201/200 BCE of , sending three delegates to the Boule. It was located partially inside and partially ...

, Kollytos, Melite, and

Skambonidai Scambonidae or Skambonidai () was a deme of ancient Attica, located in the city of Athens. It was located within the Themistoclean Wall, north of the Acropolis. Etymology In the past it was believed that this deme was closely related to that of ...

). It was in the very heart of Athens containing the

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

, and possibly the

Areopagus The Areopagus () is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Hill of Ares" (). The name ''Areopagus'' also r ...

. Notable people from the deme include: *

Cleon Cleon (; ''Kleon'' ; died 422 BCE) was an Athenian politician and general (''strategos'') during the Peloponnesian War. The son of Cleaenetus, a wealthy tanner, Cleon was among the first prominent Athenian politicians of the 5th century BCE to ...

(died 422 BC), statesman and a general during the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

Reckford 1987, p. 524, fn. 33 * Andocides (440–390 BC), one of the ten

Attic orators The ten Attic orators were considered the greatest Greek orators and logographers of the classical era (5th–4th century BC). They are included in the "Canon of Ten", which probably originated in Alexandria. A.E. Douglas has argued, however, t ...

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

(c. 446 – c. 386 BC), comic playwright * Nicochares (died c. 345 BC), comic poet * Echedemos (''fl.'' 190 BC), statesman, ambassadorPantos 1989, p. 282 * Aristodemus of Cydathenaeum

Notes

References

* Luke Hendriks (2012).
Athens and the Attic Demes
'. MA thesis,

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

. * * * * * Populated places in ancient Attica Former populated places in Greece Demoi {{AncientAttica-geo-stub