Asty (; ) was the physical space of a city or town in

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, especially as opposed to the political concept of a ''

polis Polis (: poleis) means 'city' in Ancient Greek. The ancient word ''polis'' had socio-political connotations not possessed by modern usage. For example, Modern Greek πόλη (polē) is located within a (''khôra''), "country", which is a πατ ...

'', which encompassed the entire territory and citizen body of a city-state. In

Classical Athens The city of Athens (, ''Athênai'' ; Modern Greek: Αθήναι, ''Athine'' ) during the classical period of ancient Greece (480–323 BC) was the major urban centre of the notable '' polis'' ( city-state) of the same name, located in Attica, ...

, the ''asty'' was specifically the urban ''

demoi In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire ...

'' of

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

, as opposed to the inland (''

mesogeia The Mesogeia or Mesogaia (, "Midlands") is a geographical region of Attica in Greece. History The term designates since antiquity the inland portion of the Attic peninsula. The term acquired a technical meaning with the reforms of Cleisthenes in ...

'') and coastal ('' paralia'') ''demoi'' that comprised each of the ten

Attic tribes ''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, Cleisthe ...

. Despite their name, most of the ''demoi'' of the ''asty'' were rural in character. Comprising about 42 of the 139 ''demoi'' of the Athenian state, they provided about 130 ''bouleutai'' in the 500-strong '' boule''. However, due to their proximity to the city of Athens, they were over-represented in the institutions of the

Athenian democracy Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Ancient Greece, Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Classical Athens, Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, and focusing on supporting lib ...

; in surviving records, the names of the ''bouleutai'' from the ''asty'' are mentioned 1.5 to 2 times as often as those from the rest of Attica.

Asty Demoi

Asty demoi located within Athens inside the

Themistoclean Wall The Themistoclean Wall (), named after the Athenian statesman Themistocles, was built in Athens, Greece during the 5th century BC as a result of the Persian Wars and in the hopes of defending against further invasion. History The Persian Wars we ...

: * Coele *

Collytus Collytus or Kollytos () was a deme of ancient Attica, located in the city of Athens. It was located within the walls of Themistocles, south of the Areopagus and southwest of Acropolis. It was famed due to its association with Plato, whose family w ...

Cydathenaeum Cydathenaeum or Kydathenaion () was one of the demes in ancient Athens. It belonged in the ''phyle'' (tribe) Pandionis. History When Cleisthenes formally established the deme system in 508/7 BC, Kydathenaion was the third largest deme after Acharna ...

* Melite * Scambonidae Asty demoi located Within Athens outside the Themistoclean Wall: *

Ankyle Ancyle or Ankyle () was the name of two demoi of ancient Attica: Upper Ancyle and Lower Ancyle. They were located east of Athens and bordering Agryle to the south. Upper Ancyle passed from the ''phyle'' Aigeis to Antigonis in 307/306 BCE; ...

(Upper & Lower) *

Agryle Agryle (, Ἀραυλή, or Ἀγροιλή) was the name of two demoi of ancient Attica, a Lower Agryle (Agryle Hypenerthen) and an Upper Agryle (Agryle Kathyperthen). They lay immediately south of the stadium in the city of Athens. It is prob ...

(Upper & Lower) *

Alopece Alopece (), also spelt as Alopecae, was an asty-deme of the city of Athens, but located exterior to the city wall of Athens. Alopece belonged to the tribal group (''phyle'') of Antiochis. It was situated only eleven or twelve stadia from the c ...

* Butadae *

Cerameis Cerameis or Kerameis () was a deme of ancient Attica, located in the center of Athens, northeast of the Dipylon Gate, which extended both inside and outside the city walls. In its territory lay an important necropolis. Etymology According to P ...

Ceriadae Ceriadae or Keiriadai () was a deme of ancient Attica, of the ''phyle'' of Hippothontis, sending two delegates to the Boule. It was located outside of the walls of Themistocles Themistocles (; ; ) was an Athenian politician and general. He wa ...

Daedalidae Daedalidae or Daidalidai () was a deme of ancient Attica, located north of Alopece, southeast of Athens. The name "Daedalidae" was often used to refer to the most skilled sculptors an allusion to Daedalus, the labyrinth builder of Knossos. Socrates, ...

* Diomea * Laciadae *

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

* Xypete Asty demoi located outside Athens: *

Cholargos Cholargos (, also: ''Holargos'') is a town and a suburb in the Athens urban area, Greece, located northeast of the Athens city proper and about away from Syntagma Square. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality ...

Colonae Kolonai (; ) was an ancient 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 ('cradle hill'), about equidistant between Larisa to the south and Alexandreia Troas to th ...

* Ikarion * Probalinthos *

Rhamnous Rhamnous (; ), also Ramnous or Rhamnus, was an ancient Greek city in Attica situated on the coast, overlooking the Euboean Strait. Its ruins lie northwest of the modern town of Agia Marina in the municipality of Marathon. The site was best kno ...

Semachidae Semachidae or Semachidai () was a deme of ancient Athens, in the district of Epacria Epacria or Epakria () was one of the twelve districts of ancient Attica, and subsequently, as appears from an inscription, a deme near Plotheia and Halae Araphenid ...

Unlocated asty demoi: *

Cholleidai Cholleidae or Cholleidai (), or Chollidae or Chollidai (Χολλίδαι), was a deme of ancient Attica. It is supposed to have been near the Nymphaeum, or Grotto of the Nymphs, situated at the southern end of Mount Hymettus, and about three miles ( ...

* Eitea * Hippotomadai * Otryne

References

{{reflist Ancient Attica Ancient Greek government