The Unification of Attica

By the fifth century, Athens controlled a huge territory of some 2,500 square kilometers, not counting her various overseas possessions (kleroukhiai). Sparta exercised control over a much larger area - some 7,500 square kilometers - but this was through the intermediary of dependent and subjugated populations (the perioikoi and helots respectively). By contrast, all inhabitants of the rural

Towns and villages of Attica enjoyed the same civic rights and were expected to fulfill the same civic duties as their counterparts who resided in the city. Furthermore, Attica is physically divided into four distinct microzones (Map II.1): (i) the pedion, or plain that surrounds the city of Athens itself, hemmed in by Mount Parnes to the north, Mount Pentelikon to the northeast, Mount Hymet-tus to the east, Mount Aigialeos to the west, and the sea to the south; (ii) the paralia, or coastal strip that runs southeast of Athens towards Cape Sunium; (iii) the mesogaia, or interior, beyond Mounts Pentelikon and Hymettus, which includes the eastern coast of Attica; and (iv) the Thriasian Plain to the northwest, around Eleusis. That Athens’ control of such a large territory was considered a somewhat anomalous situation by Greek standards is indicated by the fact that the Athenians felt the need to explain it by means of an aition, or explanatory myth. According to them, the mythical hero and Athenian king Theseus decided to unite Attica by disbanding local jurisdictions and persuading residents throughout the territory to regard Athens as their political and judicial center. Theseus’ “synoecism” (see pp. 78-9) was commemorated by a festival named the Synoikia, which was still celebrated in Thucydides’ day (Document 9.1).