Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/106

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ATTICA ATTICUS (but removed on account of his quarrelsome temper), and in 1713, on the recommendation of Lord Oxford, bishop of Rochester. It has been asserted, though never proved, that on the death of Queen Anne Atterbury proposed an immediate attempt in favor of the preten- der, James ; at all events be soon showed him- self on the side of the Stuarts, and vigorously opposed the measures of the government. He was finally convicted of participation in a treasonable plot for the forcible restoration of the fallen dynasty, and after making an elo- quent defence before the lords, he was sen- tenced in May, 1723, to expulsion from all his offices and to perpetual exile. In June he left England for France, with his daughter Mrs. Morrice, and resided in Paris during the re- mainder of his life. For several years of his exile he continued to work secretly in the in- terest of James ; but he lost favor with that prince on account of certain differences of opinion, and, though afterward reconciled to him, he was never his active partisan after 1727, when he wrote to him a letter of with- drawal. He was buried in Westminster ab- bey, though without public ceremony; and the government afterward caused bis coffin to be opened, in search for treasonable papers sup- posed to be hidden in it. ATTICA (Gr. 'Amnf/, probably a corruption of 'AKTIKJ/, from <JKT#, shore or coast), one of the political divisions of ancient Greece, occu- pying a triangular peninsula, bounded N. by Boeotia, E. by the ^Egean sea, S. W. and W. by the Saronic gulf and Megaris ; area, about 840 sq. m. It is intersected by several moun- tain ranges, having their centre and highest point in the great group called by the ancient Greeks Cithaaron (the modern Elatea, the moun- tain of firs), which rises at the N. W. extrem- ity of the country, and a little E. of the Corin- thian gulf, to the height of 4,630 feet. From this extend to the eastward the Parnes moun- tains, forming part of the boundary and an almost impassable barrier between Attica and Boeotia ; and to the southward several smaller ranges, the westernmost separating Attica from Megaris, while the others divide the country into districts anciently known by the following names (mentioned in their order from west to east) : the Eleusinian plain, N. E. of the bay of Eleusis ; the Athenian plain, having its centre near Athens ; the Mesogaaa or midland district, an undulating plain, enclosed by Mt. Hymettus, Mt. Pentelicus, the sea, and a range of hills running across Attica from the promontory of Zoster ; the Paralia or coast district, including all the southern part of the peninsula, below the promontory of Zoster on the W. and Brau- ron on the E. ; and finally, the Diacria or high- lands, bounded by the Parnes range, Pentelicus, and the sea, in which district lies the plain of Marathon. The rivers of Attica are insignifi- cant, and in summer nearly dry. The Cephis- sus and Ilissus, the two watering the Athe- nian plain, are those most frequently mentioned in history. The soil is light ; in ancient times it appears, by careful culture, to have produced a large amount of grain, and figs and olives, the excellence of which was famous in Greece ; but in modern days agriculture is neglected, and the products are inconsiderable. The ancient inhabitants of Attica belonged to the Ionic race; of their origin even tradition conveys n<> information. They claimed that their ances- tors had sprung directly from the soil of the country. At the beginning of authentic Attic chronology, placed by Grote at the archonship of Creon, 683 B. C., they were divided into four tribes or classes (0t>/ia/), Geleontes, Hop- letes, ^Egikores, and Argades. The origin of these is uncertain, some traditions attributing the quadruple division to Cecrops, others to Pandion, and one to an ancient king, Ion. Grote does not share the belief of many writers that the names of the tribes were derived from their occupations, like those of the Egyptian castes, as Hopletes, the warriors, ^Egikores, the goatherds, &c. ; and he says of both tribes and titles, " Neither the time of their introduc- tion nor their primitive import are ascertain- able matters." In historic times each tribe was, divided into three phratries (<f>paTplcu or <t>fi6Tpat), and each phratry generally into 30 gentes; later another division seems to have been made purely for political and military convenience and without destroying the former of each tribe into three trittys (Tpirrvef), and of each trittys into four naukraries (vampdpiai). This classification of the people continued till the revolution of Clisthenes, in 509 B. C. ; but Solon (about 594), without destroying it. made another division into four classes, on the basis of property. Clisthenes entirely abol- ished both methods of classification, and divid- ed the people anew into ten tribes (ijw'Xa.i) Erechtheis, ^Egeis, Pandionis, Leontis, Aca- mantis, (Eneis, Cekropis, Hippothoontis, Man- tis, and Antiochis named from old Attic he- roes. Each of these was subdivided into a certain number of demes (HHi^oi) or cantons, every considerable place constituting a deme, and the larger towns including several. The whole number of demes in Attica appears to have been 174, of 160 of which the names arc known. To the ten tribes of Clisthenes two more were afterward added for political pur- poses. For the account of the system of gen- eral government of Attica under the archons and other rulers, and for the history of the country, see ATHENS, and GREECE. Works es- pecially devoted to Attica are Leake's "Demi of Attica" (2d ed., London, 1841), and Ross's Demen ton Attika (Halle, 1846). Joined with Bo3otia, Megaris, and the adjoining islands, Attica as an eparchy now helps to form one of the nomarchies of the kingdom of Greece, called Attica and Boeotia ; area, 2,481 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 136,804. Capital, Athens. ATTICIS, Titns Pomponins, a Roman knight, born in 109 B. C., died in 32. During the civil wars between Sylla and Marius he re-