Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/343

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 ATTICA.
namely the demus Ceraneicus belonged to the tribe Acamantis; Melite to the Cecropis; Collytus to the Aegeis; Cydathenaeum to the Pandionis; Scambonidae to the Leontis. Moreover, Peiraeeus belonged to the Hippothoontis, and Phalerum to the Aeantis.

For further information respecting the Athenian tribes in general, and the organization of the demus, the reader is referred to the Dict. of Antiq. arts. Tribus and Demus.

It is certain that the descendants of a man always remained in the demus in which their ancestor was originally enrolled in the time of Cleisthenes. Consequently, if a person transferred his abode to another demus, he was not enrolled in the new demus in which he settled, even if he was highly esteemed by the inhabitants of the latter, and had conferred great obligations upon them. This is clear from an inscription in Bockh's collection (n. 101). (Sauppe, De Demis Urbanis Athenarum, p. 13.) It is important to bear this fact in mind, because modern writers hare sometimes fixed the site of a demus, simply in consequence of finding upon the spot the name of this demus attached to the name of a man; but this is not conclusive, since the demus in which a man was enrolled, and the demus in which he resided, might be, and frequently were, different.

Each of the lager demi contained a town or village; but several of the smaller demi possessed apparently only a common temple or place of assembly, the houses of the community being scattered over the district, as in many of our country parishes. The names of most of the demi are preserved. It was the practice in all public documents to add to the name of a person the name of the district to which he belonged; and hence we find in inscriptions the names of a great number of demi. Many others are met with in Harpocration, Hesychius, Stephanus, and Suidas, as well as in the earlier writers. But though the names of most of the demi are thus preserved, it is impossible to fix the site of a large number of them, as they were not of sufficient importance to be mentioned in history. We shall endeavour, however, to ascertain their position as far as is practicable, arranging the demi under: 1. The Demi of the Athenian Plain. 2. The Demi of the Eleusinian Plain. 3. The Demi of Diacria and Mount Parnes. 4. The Demi of Paralia and Mesogaea.

A. The Demi of the Athenian Plain.

1 — 10. The demi in the city of Athens and its suburbs are spoken of elsewhere. [Athenae, p. 301, seq.] They were Cerameicus, Melite, Scambonidae, Collytus, Cydathenaeum, Diomeia, Coele, and perhaps Ceriadae. To these must be added Peiraeeus and Phalerum. [See p. 304, seq.]

(a.) West of the Cephissus in the direction from N. to S. were:

11. Xtpete (Ευπέτη, also Ευπετεών, Strab. xiii.. p. 604), said to have been likewise called Troja (Τροία), because Teucrus led from hence an Attic colony into Phrygia. (Dionys. i. 61; Strab. l. c. Steph. B.) It was apparently near Peiraeeus or Phalerum, since Xypete, Peiraeeus, Phalerum, and Thymoetadae formed the τετράκωμοι (Pollux, iv. 105), who had a temple of Hercules in common (τετράκωμοι Ήρακλεών, Steph. B. s. v. Έχελίδαι; Bockh, Inscrip. vol. i. p. 123). Leake places Xypete at a remarkable insulated height, a mile from the head of the harbour of Pei-
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raeeus, where' are still seen some Hellenic foundations; but Ross remarks that this cannot be correct, since Xenophon (Hell. ii. 4. § 34) mentions this hill without giving its name, which he certainly would not have done if it had been Xypete.

12. Thymoetadae (Θυμοιτάδαι), deriving its name from Thymoetas, a kmg of Attica, possessed a port, from which Theseus secretly set sail on his expedition to Crete. (Plut, Thes. 19.) This retired port seems to have been the same as the Phoron Limen (Φώρων λιμήν), or "Thieves' port," so called from its being frequented by smugglers. (Dem. c. Lacrit. p. 932; Strab. ix. p. 395.) It is a small circular harbour at the entrance to the bay of Salamis, and according to Dodwell is still called Klephtho-limani. Leake noticed the foundations of a temple upon a height near the beach, and other remains at a quarter of a mile on the road to Athens. This temple was probably the Heracleium mentioned above. It was situated on the Attic side of the Strait of Salamis (Ctesias, Pers. c. 26, ed. Lion; Diod. xi. 18); and it was from the heights of Aegaleos, above this temple, that Xerxes witnessed the battle of Salamis. (Phanodemus, ap. Plut. Them. 13; comp. Herod, viii. 90.) It is true that this temple was not situated at the narrowest part of the strait, as some writers represent; but Leake justly remarks, that the harbour was probably the point from whence the passage-boats to Salamis departed, as it is at the present day, and consequently the Heracleium became the most noted place on this part of the Attic shore. At the foot of Mt. Aegaleos are still seen vestiges of an ancient causeway, probably the road leading from Athens to the ferry. The σισύραι, or garments of goatskins of Thymoetadae, appear to have been celebrated. (Aristoph. Vesp. 1138.)

13. Echelidae (Έχελίδαι), so called from the hero Echelus, lay between Peiraeeus and the Heracleium, in or near a marshy district, and possessed a Hippodrome, in which horse-races took place. (Steph. B. s v.; Etym. M. s v. Έχελος; Hesych. and Etym. M. s. v. έν Έχελίδών.) It is probable that this Hippodrome is the place to which the narrative in Demosthenes refers (c. Everg. p. 1155, seq. in which case it was near the city. (Ibid. p. 1162; comp. Xen. de Mag. Eq. 3. §§ 1, 10.)

14. Corydallus (Κορυδαλλός), at the foot of the mountain oi the same name, is placed by Strabo (ix. p. 395) between Thria and Peiraeeus, near the straits of Salamis, opposite the islands of Pharmacussae. This position is in accordance with the account of Diodorus (iv. 59), who, after relating the contest of Theseus with Cercyon, which, according to Pausanias (1. 39. § 3), took place to the west of Eleusis, says that Thesens next killed Procrustes, whose abode was in Corydallus. Against the express testimony of Strabo, we cannot accept the authority of other writers, who make Corydallus a mountain on the frontiers of Boeotia and Attica. (Athen. ix. p. 390 ; Plin. x. 41; Antig. Caryst. 6; Aelian, H. An. iii. 35.)

15. Hermus (Έρμος), lay on the sacred road to Eleusis, between the Cephissus and the Pythium, a temple of Apollo on Mt. Poecilum, upon a rivulet of the same name. Here was the splendid monument of Pythonice, the wife of Harpalus. (Plut. Phoc. 22; Harpocrat. s. v. Έρμος; Paus. i. 37. § 4; Athen. xiii. p. 594; Diod. xvii. 108.)

16. Oea or Oe (Οία or Οη), was situated above the Pythium, to the west of Mt. Aegaleos, to the north