Athenian Synoikism of the Fifth Century B. C.

, or Two Stories of Theseus

Author(s): Valerij Goušchin
Source: Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Oct., 1999), pp. 168-187
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/643196 .
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Greece & Rome, Vol. xlvi, No. 2, October 1999

ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH

CENTURY B.C., OR TWO STORIES
OF THESEUS1

By VALERIJ GOUSCHIN

On the eve of the Peloponnesian War Athens was a great urban

agglomeration. It was almost invulnerable to an enemy. So in 431
B.C. the Athenians began to migrate from the countryside into the
city on the advice of Pericles (Thuc. 2.14-16). This recalled to
Thucydides the time of Theseus (Thuc. 2.15). S. Hornblower regards
this migration as the long-postponed physical synoikism, or synoikism
in its physical aspect.2 He insists on the difference between political
and physical synoikism, the former being the political unification of
the state and the latter mainly the migration into the city. But the
Athenians did not migrate into the city for the first time in 431. At
the time of Xerxes' invasion the inhabitants of Attica were to be
moved into the city before being evacuated to Salamis and elsewhere,
and the invasion made their vulnerability clear to the Athenians. They
suffered two evacuations, the devastation of Attica and the substantial
destruction of Athens. Through driving back the Persians Athens
became the leader of the Delian League and acquired great naval
power. The change of Athens' position in the Greek world and the
damage caused by the Persians necessitated a major reconstruction of
the town. The Athenians began with the town and harbour. They
built the walls of the city and of the Piraeus first of all. Before long
the Piraeus had been built on a large scale. In these years the Athen-
ians remembered Theseus again, and he now gained honour and
esteem among all the Athenians.
These events, I believe, may be seen as an on-going physical
synoikism. It was hardly accidental that the Athenian king Theseus
was repeatedly mentioned in connection with these events.
 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 169

1. Athens after Xerxes' invasion, or the first story

of Theseus

In 476/5 in accordance with an oracle Cimon seized Scyros.3 This

was one of the Athenians' first achievements after 480-479. On
Scyros Cimon found Theseus' bones. His finds were triumphally
brought into Athens. The rejoicing Athenians, as our sources write,
welcomed the body with a magnificent procession and sacrifices (Plut.
Thes. 36, Cim. 8.7, cf. Thuc. 1.98.2). Then Theseus' bones were
buried in the great shrine founded by Cimon in a prominent part of
the city (Paus. 1.17.2-6).4 That honour was especially appropriate to
a -qpws-
Kr7rtI7 olrKGTI7S.5 Theseus was honoured by sacrificial and
Or
athletic festivals (Theseia, Synoikia, Kybernesia, etc.).6
The popularity throughout Athens of the cult of Theseus was some-
thing of an innovation. At the beginning of the sixth century his image
was almost as popular in Athenian art as that of Heracles;7 but in the
middle of that century Heracles became extremely popular in Athenian
mythology and art.8 The obvious flowering of the Theseus saga in art
can be seen from the end of the sixth century; but before the finds of
Cimon the legendary king may have been honoured mainly by aristo-
cratic gene, e.g. by the Alcmaeonids.9
Why did Cimon (and the Athenians) remember Theseus soon after
Xerxes' withdrawal? Why did they then show such enthusiasm for
finding and worshipping Theseus' bones?
Some scholars regard Cimon's action as due to his alliance with the
Alcmaeonids (in particular as an immediate result of his marriage with
Isodice).1o Others find an obvious personal interest in Cimon's attention
to Theseus. Two poems of Bacchylides dedicated to Theseus may be
inspired by Cimon (Bacchyl. 17, 18)."1The legend of Theseus was also
treated by Pherekydes (FGrHist 3 FF 148-53), who was linked in some
way to Cimon and his family.12 It may be an attempt by the Philaids to
bind themselves to Theseus genealogically.13 A third school of thought
regards Cimon's action as an attempt to be a popular politician,
undertaken in the time of the decline of Themistocles' popularity after
Salamis (Plut. Them. 22.1, Diod. 11.27.3).14 In this connection A. J.
Podlecki pays special attention to the connection of Theseus (and of
Cimon's father Miltiades) with Marathon, where he was supposed to
have appeared and helped the Athenians (Plut. Thes. 35; on Theseus
and the deme of Marathon see Paus. 1.27.8-10). It may be that Cimon
170 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

drew attention to Marathon in order to play down Salamis.'s Finally,

some scholars connect the revival of the legend of Theseus with the
emergence of the Delian League. Theseus being an Ionian hero was
then turned into an imperial one."6
Was there any connection between Cimon's finding of the bones and
Athenian synoikism, or the legend with which Theseus is directly
associated? I believe that there was such a connection.
The Persian Wars and in particularXerxes' invasion brought about a
high level of population mobility. Many of those dwelling in the
countryside had to leave their houses and found salvation in the city.
However there was no possibility of bringing all the refugees into
Athens. Other considerations apart, there was not a reliable system of
fortification. Thus the immigrants had to be evacuated. According to the
so-called decree of Themistocles many Athenians were to be evacuated
to Troezen and Salamis (Meiggs & Lewis 23; cf. Her. 8.41, Diod.
11.13.3). In its formulation the Athenians were to be taken under the
defence of 'the archegetisof the land' (7ro0Jpyxrlqyovrqr X~cpas):either
Theseus or his grandfather Pittheus.17 The others were to become
warriors and sailors in the ships (cf. the oracle about the 'wooden
walls': Her. 7.141-3, Plut. Them. 10.2, Nep. Them.2.7 f.).18 During the
evacuation and embarkation some difficulties arose.19
It took place in the latter part of May 480, during the archon-year of
Hypsichides.20 At the time of the evacuation, I believe, the Athenians
had reason to remember Theseus and his time. The Persians occupied
Athens and burned the Acropolis immediately after the Athenians left
their city (Her. 8.51-3). Before long they went to Boeotia and then to
Thessaly (Her. 8.113, 126). On returning, the Athenians found their
city seriously destroyed.21In the spring of 479 they survived a second
evacuation and the further destruction of Athens by Mardonius. The
latter, Diodorus writes, 'was so angry with them that he ravaged the
entire countryside, razed the city to the ground, and utterly destroyed
the temples that were still standing' (Diod. 11.28.5-6, Loeb trans-
lation).22
After the battle of Plataea the Athenians finally returned to Athens
from Troezen and Salamis and at once set out to fortify their city with
the walls. They had learned a lesson from Xerxes' invasion and their
vulnerabilitybefore the enemy's invasion. The evacuation had obviously
demonstrated their need for a system of fortifications. During this work
the Athenians showed, as the sources indicate, great enthusiasm (Thuc.
1.89.3, 93.2, Plut. Them. 19, Diod. 11.39.1). 'The work was being
 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 171

accomplished with amazing speed both because of the many workmen

and the enthusiasm of them all' (Diod. 11.40.2). Now Athens had a
reliable system of fortifications.
The new city walls were not now, as R. E. Wycherley points out, the
primitive fortifications of the Acropolis that existed before Xerxes'
invasion.23 This time, however, as J. S. Boersma states, the north wall
of the Acropolis was rebuilt; the south one was to be constructed by
Cimon some time later, after his victory at the River Eurymedon (Plut.
Cim. 13.6).24 In addition, the living quarters and public buildings were
rebuilt (such as the Bouleuterionand Stoa PoikilM),though they were
modest in scale and material.25
The building programme, I believe, became a national one because of
its meaning and also the number of participants. This work, I imagine,
can hardly have aroused any political opposition. Aristotle wrote that
Themistocles and Aristides were jointly responsible for the rebuilding of
the walls, though they were personal opponents (Arist. Ath. Pol. 23.4; cf.
also Aristides' role in the embassy to Sparta: Thuc. 1.91.3, Plut. Them.
19.2).26 Nevertheless one can assume that there were alternative tend-
encies in Athenian political life which had been temporarily relegated to
the background.
The Spartans' reaction to the rebuilding of the city's walls is well
known (Thuc. 1.90-3, Diod. 11.39.2 ff.). Shortly before the Athenians
became the leaders of the Delian League, Athens was already acquiring
an impregnable stronghold. The building of the walls now became a
means by which the Athenians reinforced their leadership in the League
and found independence from Sparta (see Themistocles' arguments in
Thuc. 1.91.4-7).27 It is obvious, however, that relations with Sparta
would be an incentive to further building works.
It is then that the works at the Piraeus began. Athenian tradition gave
Themistocles the priority in the building of the Piraeus. He always
attached great value to the Piraeus.28 It was he, as Aristophanes said in
the Knights (813-16), who added the Piraeus to the city. Themistocles
repeatedly told the Athenians about the usefulness of the Piraeus. When
they were driven back by an enemy they could move to the Piraeus in
order to fight on the ships (Thuc. 1.93.7). This idea, i.e. defence against
a future enemy, became important after the Persian invasions.
Thucydides gives us to understand that the fortification of the Piraeus
was begun already during Themistocles' archonship in 493/2, though
some scholars doubt it (Thuc. 1.93.3, Dion. Halic. A.R. 6.34).29 This
time the work was not finished.30 In spring 478 Themistocles persuaded
172 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

the Athenians to build the walls around the Piraeus (Thuc. 1.93, Diod.
11.41.2).31 One can also assume that the Piraeus' dockyards after being
destroyed by the Persians needed restoration.32
During the reconstruction, I am sure, many of those dwelling in the
countryside found jobs and new residences in Athens and the Piraeus.
The Piraeus was occupied mainly by the metics and the nautikosochlos,
who were used in the fleet and the dockyards." One can hardly doubt,
as C. Patterson points out, that there was an increase in the opportuni-
ties for their employment in public works, especially in the Piraeus as it
grew rapidly during the fifth century.34Thus beyond doubt there was an
appreciable rise in the number of hoi Attikoi who took up their residence
in Athens (and perhaps in the Piraeus).
The Athenian politicians promptly understood the urgent necessity of
turning Athens into a populous town, as the leading city of the League.
The cooperation of Themistocles and Aristides demonstrates the
obvious coincidence of opinions on that matter. 'Themistocles', as
Diodorus informs us, 'persuaded the people to remove the tax upon
metics and artisans, in order that great crowds of people might stream
into the city from every quarter' (Diod. 11.43.3). They were needed for
the realization of Themistocles' shipbuilding programme: he persuaded
the Athenians to supplement their fleet with 20 triremes a year.35
Aristides, as Aristotle's Athenai6n Politeia informs us, made another
political appeal. 'After this, now that the city was confident and a large
amount of money had been collected, Aristides advised the Athenians to
assert their leadership, and to leave the fields and live in the city: there
would be maintenance for all, some on campaign, some on guard duty,
others attending to public affairs; and by living in this way they would
secure their leadership' (Ath. Pol. 24.1, trans. P. J. Rhodes).36 Aristotle's
passage seems doubtful to modern commentators: they often refer to
Thucydides' notes on the settlement pattern before the Peloponnesian
War (Thuc. 2.14.2, 16.1)."3 I believe, however, that Thucydides' words
do not contradict Aristotle's. Aristides' appeal (whether authentic or
not) can have been an appeal only. It hardly entails an extraordinary
population influx into the city. This time a full, or final, synoikism or
resettling into the city was not possible. It took place during Xerxes'
invasion, i.e. under the pressure of extreme circumstances; but now a
substantial proportion of the Athenian citizens would continue to live in
the country. However, Aristides' (or anyone else's) appeal seems to me
quite real because he took into account current practice. The evacua-
tions during the Persian invasion, the destructions of the city (including
 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 173

the more or less substantial devastation of Attica), and the beginning of

the rebuilding of the city led to a high level of population mobility, and
this was to influence the settlement pattern.38 Aristides wanted the
resettling to be continued. The foundation of the Naval League may
indeed require the strengthening of Athens and the resettlement into the
city of citizens (and metics also)."3 The building programme had the
same effect. We may be sure that some of the Athenians (the so-called
nautikos ochlos) were enthusiastic for it.
During the fulfilment of the building programme (478/7) Athens was
not only rebuilt, but, I would say, refounded. The Athenians had in fact
built their town anew. Besides, there was a concentration of the
population in the city (and in the Piraeus, which was becoming a part
of Athens). We do not know exactly to what extent and how the
concentration of the population influenced the settlement pattern. We
do not know also whether or not there was a substantial migration from
the rural demes to the urban agglomeration (including the Piraeus). But
we can, I believe, safely assume a high level of population mobility after
Xerxes' invasion.
If my assumption is correct this process may be regarded as analogous
to synoikism (or 'physical synoikism' according to Hornblower), though
the ancient texts do not use the word 'synoikism' in connection with
it.40 Strictly speaking, this time in Athens there took place two events
that may be labelled as synoikism. Before a physical (gradual) synoik-
ism (the concentration of the population on account of the building
programme), I imagine the Athenians survived a fast one: they moved
into the city before they were evacuated to Salamis and elsewhere.
Moreover, the term synoikism can be referred even to the building of
the city's walls.41
This had a mythological aspect as well. The flowering of Theseus'
popularity at the beginning of the fifth century was obviously connected
with Marathon, where he was honoured together with Heracles; but why
did the Athenians choose Theseus in particular?He was an Athenian,
the legendary founder of the Athenian state. His role at Marathon may
be connected with a festival of Athena, the Synoikia. The festival was
celebrated on the Acropolis, and included the sacrifice of well-nourished
oxen (IG i3 244). An aition for this sacrifice could have been the story of
Theseus and the Marathonian Bull.42Thus the victory over the Persians
was equated both with Theseus' deed and with the Synoikia.
Then as an archigetis Theseus can be the Athenians' defender and
saviour in Troezen (whether the 'decree of Themistocles' is authentic or
174 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

not, this place was connected with Theseus' family).43 Finally, the
evacuation itself, I suspect, may have forced Athenians to think of
their legendary king again.44 it is Theseus who was remembered by
Thucydides in connection with the evacuation of the Athenians on the
eve of Archidamus' invasion in 431 (Thuc. 2.15). In the same way the
Athenians may have thought of Theseus at the time of their evacuations
during Xerxes' invasion.
Some years later Cimon was to find Theseus' bones in response to the
oracle. He will have had many reasons for this; but one of them may be
an identification with synoikism of what took place during Xerxes'
invasion and of what took place after it, i.e. the refounding of Athens.45
But Cimon may have remembered Theseus not only for the afore-
mentioned reasons. King Theseus (who only later was to have a
democratic reputation: see p. 176, below) was, I suspect, a more
convenient person for a man of the upper class. Moreover, Theseus
could also be the founder of the Areopagus.46 If this was so, Cimon's
initiative in finding Theseus' bones receives an additional explanation.
Cimon (and the Areopagites as well) tried to take advantage of it for
strengthening their popularity (in defiance of Themistocles' popularity
or because of its decline).47 In this way the Areopagites may, for
example, have recalled that they were the Athenians' benefactors at
the time of the evacuation.

2. The Long Walls and the Piraeus: the continuation

of synoikism

The building programme was not finished after the north wall of the
Acropolis and the Piraeus walls had been constructed. Athens still was
not ready to face an enemy's invasion of Attica: there was still not
enough room in Athens for future refugees, and it was not too hard
for an enemy to cut the Athenians off from the Piraeus.
However, until 469/8 a lack of funds may have reduced works only to
the minimum necessary level. About this year the Athenians gained a
victory over the Persians at the River Eurymedon. This time a new type
of trireme had been built, designed to carry more hoplites (Plut. Cim.
12.2).48 This means, I imagine, that the Piraeus dockyards had already
been put into effect.49 After this victory a cult of the hero Eurymedon,
the deified essence of the river, was established in the Piraeus.so The
victory brought the Athenians rich spoils which gave them the possibility
 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 175

of building on a large scale. This time, as Plutarch writes, the south wall
of the Acropolis was erected by Cimon (Plut. Cim. 13.5).51 He also built
the Academy and the Hephaisteion.52
The next step was the Long Walls and the continuation of the works
in the Piraeus. Late in the 460's the Athenians entered into an alliance
with the Megarians. As a result the Long Walls joining the city of
Megara with Nisaea were built by the Athenians in 461/0 (Thuc.
1.103.4).53 Soon after an Athenian naval victory over Aegina and
incursion into the Megarid, as Thucydides states (in 458/7), the Long
Walls in Athens were built (Thuc. 1.107.1).54 The northern wall
extended to the north-west shore of the harbour, the Phaleric wall to
the east coast of Phaleron Bay. Later Pericles would build the third wall
running parallel to the northern wall at a distance of 167 m.55 Now
Athens was joined to the harbour.
The building of the Athenian Long Walls may be connected with the
serious falling-off in Athens' relationship with Sparta. Plutarch linked
the beginning of these with Cimon (Plut. Cim. 13.7). This raises many
questions among scholars, who are not inclined to accept Plutarch's
information owing to Cimon's political orientation (misodimos and
philolak6n) (see Plut. Cim. 9.5).56 Athens' being joined to the Piraeus
may be what Themistocles was longing for; but he hardly put it into
practice.57As for Cimon, he could only lay a wall's foundations after the
battle of the Eurymedon (before his exile) or after his return in 457
(Cimon's philolakonism did not prevent him from offering the Athen-
ians his help at Tanagra).58
The continuation of the building programme-waslinked with Pericles.
After Cimon's exile the democratic elements in Athens were strength-
ened. Now the building programme became (thanks to Pericles above
all) a partisan matter. The building of the Long Walls was continuing in
democratic Athens.
I have already mentioned that the middle of the Long Walls was built
by Pericles.59The young Socrates heard a speech of Pericles in which he
persuaded the Athenians to build this wall (Plato, Gorg. 455e, cf. Plut.
Per. 13.5). Andocides (3.7) and Aeschines (2.174) stated that the work
began after the conclusion of the Thirty Years' Peace with Sparta (i.e.
after 446/5). If previous constructions had enclosed the fertile area to the
north of Phaleron, as R. Garland writes, the new arrangement accepted
the possibility that Athens under siege might become wholly dependent
on imports.60 The architect of this wall was Callicrates, the partner of
Ictinos in the building of the Parthenon. It indicates that the project was
176 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

regarded as one of first-rateimportance.61We may suppose that Pericles

had learned all the lessons of the Persian wars, in particular that of the
evacuations of Athens.
The Long Walls added to the city a new district (the Piraeus), settled
by the nautikosochlosand metics. That is why (and because of Pericles'
leadership, of course) the Long Walls became the symbol of the
democracy when their construction was completed.62 We hear from
Thucydides about certain dissidents (whether real or not) who tried to
establish an oligarchy in Athens and destroy the Long Walls (Thuc.
1.107.4).63
At the same time the Piraeus was built on a large scale. Isocrates
informs us that Athenians' expenditure on the Piraeus amounted to
6,000 talents (Isocr. 7.66). This work was linked with Hippodamus of
Miletus (Arist. Pol. 2.1267b22-1268a14) .64 It is quite possible, how-
ever, that he got down to work in the Piraeus only towards the 450's.65
From these years the Piraeus developed into a densely populated place
(as a district of Athens). It is very interesting that we hear of the
popularity of Theseus in the Piraeus.66
After the peace with Persia had been made Pericles' building pro-
gramme developed on a grand scale. This programme stirred up heated
disputes in Athens. Pericles was accused by his political opponents of
spending the money from the treasury of the allies (Plut. Per. 13). From
this money was built such a grandiose monument as the Parthenon. Its
construction, which began in 447, had to symbolize Athens' power and
grandeur." It is known that some of the Parthenon's metopes represent
the Athenians' battle with the Amazons. There Pericles was portrayed
on Athena's shield - in fact in the likeness of Theseus (Plut. Per. 31.4):
the struggle with the Amazons was a subject from the legendary
biography of Theseus. This was hardly accidental, but we known
nothing about Pericles' sympathy for Theseus (apart from possible
Alcmaeonid ties with his cult).68 We can say only that from Pericles'
time Theseus gradually lost his aristocratic image.69
When the Thirty Years' Peace with Sparta was concluded, in 446/5,
new shipsheds were built in the Piraeus (Andoc. 3.7).70 In 434/3 Callias
passed a decree according to which surplus money after the debts owed
to the gods had been paid was to be used for the dockyards and walls.71
It is obvious that before the Peloponnesian War Athens had turned
into a great urban agglomeration. The extension of the city through its
being joined to the Piraeus means nothing other, I believe, than the
continuation of its physical synoikism.72 Its features seem to me to be
 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 177

evident: the enlargement of the city and the increase in its population.
The walls now embraced a large territorywhich included Athens and the
Piraeus. The extension of the city's territory presupposes also appreci-
able growth of its population.73
In the fifth century Athens showed a steady growth in population.
According to A. W. Gomme the citizen population of Athens living in the
urban agglomeration may have been enlarged between Cleisthenes' time
and 431 by anything from /7 or 1/6 to ?. Together with that a substantial
part of the population continued to live beyond the Acropolis.74Although
we have no quantifiable evidence, and Thucydides (2.14.2) states that
most of the Athenians continued to live in the country until the
Peloponnesian War, the importance of Athens as the centre of the
Delian League will surely have attracted increasing numbers of non-
citizens to the area of Athens and the Piraeus.75 Also it will not have been
surprisingif the growing opportunities for involvement in public business
encouraged a certain number of citizens to migrate to that area too. One
may safely assume an increase in the number of people living in Athens in
the middle of the fifth century.76Adding the Piraeus to Athens means an
extension of the city's population (on account of those living in the
Piraeus). On the other hand, at that time Athens undoubtedly became an
attractive political and cultural centre for Attica and for Greece, the
school of Hellas, as Pericles would say in his Funeral Oration (Thuc.
2.41.1). Athens (and Piraeus, of course) were open to many foreigners.
Athens provided them with education and living-places. They did not
encounter any obstacles to marrying Athenian women. In the same way
Athenian citizens could have a wife from abroad. As to mixed marriages,
the Piraeus was the place where marriages between citizens and metics
may have been especially frequent.77
It is this process, I suspect, that forced Pericles to propose his
citizenship law of 451/0. Aristotle informs us in A.P. that 'under
Antidotus (451/0), on account of the large number of citizens (&atd
br
nrAij0o0T65v 7roALTav),it was decided on the proposal of Pericles that a
man should not be a member of the citizen body unless both his parents
were Athenians' (A.P. 26.4, trans. P. J. Rhodes). Scholars offer different
explanations of the law;7" but no one links the citizenship law to what is
labelled here as synoikism.
It may seem strange that the law was introduced after the Egyptian
disaster of 454, which entailed a significant loss of citizens (about eight
thousand)." In spite of that, an increase in the number of citizens after
Xerxes' invasion, for different reasons (e.g. through mixed marriages or
178 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

the entry of non-Athenians into the demes and phratries) seems quite
possible.8o That was not simply a growth of civilian population but an
uncontrolled one: the process which began as a growth in the population
of the town, originally encouraged by the state (see pp. 172-3, above),
obviously went out of control.
Perhaps this law owes much to Hippodamus, who may strongly have
influenced Pericles.81 In the Politics Aristotle discusses Hippodamus'
best form of constitution, which referred to a city with a fixed size of
population - ten thousand (Arist. Pol. 1.276b 1-2). Perhaps he was the
first to speak of controlling the size of the population (or citizen body).82
Hippodamus may have come to that conclusion while he worked in the
Piraeus, where he may have observed an increasing number of mixed
marriages.

3. Athens on the eve of Archidamus' invasion, or the last

story of Theseus

At the beginning of the Peloponnesian War the Athenians were ready

for the war with Sparta. They enjoyed an imperial hegemony and had
sufficient financial resources. Besides, they were ready to bring a
substantial part of those dwelling in the countryside into the city in
case of an invasion of Attica. Not less than two thirds of the popula-
tion still continued to live in the countryside (p. 177, above). The
as Thucydides wrote, had
majority of the Athenians (robs TrroAAobs),
the habit of living in the countryside (Thuc. 2.4.2).83 This seemed
dangerous to Pericles because a Spartan invasion was quite possible.
Until the Spartans carried out their invasion of Attica Pericles insis-
tently advised those dwelling in Attica to bring themselves and their
families from their country houses into the city. He said this twice. In
his first speech Pericles persuaded the Athenians to rest their hopes
on the Athenian navy and to be ready to resettle in the city (Thuc.
1.143.5). The Athenians accepted much of what had been said by
Pericles, as Thucydides writes (Thuc. 1.145), but they did not hasten
to bring themselves into Athens. The time of enthusiastic synoikism
was over. Full (or final) synoikism contradicted the natural balance
between the town and the country. It could be an extreme (and
temporary) measure only.
Pericles appealed to the Athenians again. They were not, he says, to
go out to battle with the enemy but were to come into the city and
 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 179

defend it; they were to make ready the fleet, in which their strength lay,
and they were to keep a firm hold on their allies (Thuc. 2.13.2). The
male population of Athens and Attica (who were to live in the city)
would be sailors on the ships or hoplites who would defend their city (for
example, on the Phaleric Wall), and were to hold sway over the allies
(Thuc. 2.13.6-7).84 Now the Athenians were persuaded and began the
evacuation from the countryside to Athens.85
The evacuation proved hard to the Athenians because of their
reluctance to leave their living-places (e.g. Thuc. 2.14.1, 16). Besides,
the evacuation created many other difficulties. 'There was not enough
room in the city for the people when they came together', as Thucydides
says, 'but later they divided up the long walls and most of the Piraeus,
and settled there' (Thuc. 2.17.3, trans. P. J. Rhodes).86 The town was
overcrowded.
Now we hear of Theseus again. In Book 2 Thucydides mentions
Theseus in a situation which, as it may have seemed to him, closely
resembled synoikism.87 Thucydides makes us understand that in fact
(whether voluntarily or not) the synoikism was connected with the
resettling of the rural population into the urban centre.88 He writes of
Theseus' synoikism in connection with the evacuation (Thuc. 2.15).
Theseus is presented here, as H. J. Walker points out, as a forerunner of
Pericles (or, I should say, Pericles was presented as Theseus' successor).
In Thucydides' work, Walker continues, Pericles became a second (after
Theseus himself, of course) and more radical synoikist.89
Thucydides' narration of Theseus' synoikism seems to be influenced
by current practice. We may find in Thucydides' history examples of the
synoikism of contemporary Greek cities. We hear of Olynthos' synoik-
ism on the eve of the Peloponnesian War, caused by Athenian imperial
expansion. This was done on the advice of the Macedonian king
Perdiccas. He persuaded the Chalcidians in 433 to leave their coastal
towns and bring themselves into Olynthos (Thuc.
(J'voLKt'•aOaL)
1.58.2).90 Listening to Perdiccas' words, the Chalcidians began to
destroy the coastal towns and resettle into Olynthos. We may assume
that this was both a political unification (i.e. the foundation of the
Chalcidic League) and the strengthening of the town of Olynthos.91
That event, as S. Hornblower writes, gave a lead to other communities
in similar situations.92 The same happened in the case of Mytilene.
Preparing for revolt against Athens, those dwelling in the city tried to
move the Lesbians into Mytilene by force (evvo(tK1'ovUa(t 7T7V AE'afov
-)v MvrTLA4vrIv E•
P ') (Thuc. 3.2.3).93 It was just what Ps.-Xenophon wrote
180 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

about islanders: 'They can more easily gather in the single town in order
to defend themselves' ([Xen.] Ath. Pol. 2.2).94 It was a resettling (more
or less prolonged) of the citizens into the capital town. Now synoikism
(whether voluntary or not) became an inalienable part of Greek military
practice.
Pericles' strategy on the eve of the Archidamian War was the same.
He relied on Athens' system of fortification and on the population that
was concentrated in the city. Naval power and holding sway over the
allies were the Athenians' trump cards.
However it is still questionable, I believe, whether Pericles' strategy
was effective or not. Archidamus' invasions of 431 and 430 strongly
influenced the Athenians. Unlike Pericles they were eager to come
forward against the Peloponnesians.95 But that was not Pericles' aim.
His avoidance of battle led Archidamus to the devastation of Attica (on
the devastation of 431 see Thuc. 2.20.2, 23.1; that of 430 was on a larger
scale: 2.47.3, 55.1).96 This surely forced a substantial part of Attica's
population to be city-dwellers for a long time (perhaps in spite of their
intentions, as with Aristophanes' Dicaeopolis).97 Together with this
there appeared the first signs of the plague.98All that deeply depressed
the Athenians and prompted their dissatisfaction with the newcomers
(Thuc. 2.52.2).99 This was not to Pericles' advantage.100

4. Athenian synoikism of the fifth century and Theseus

The fifth century displayed the popularity amongst all the Athenians
of the cult of Theseus. This, I suspect, was an innovation. Before the
finds of Cimon Theseus was honoured mainly by aristocratic gene,
e.g. the clan of the Alcmaeonids. That is perhaps why his name is
missing from among the names of the ten heroes of Cleisthenes'
phylai.101Theseus became the Athenians' saviour during the invasion
of Datis and Artaphernes. Theseus' name was first linked with Mara-
thon. According to mythology he killed the Marathonian Bull. That
may have served as the aition of the festival of Athena, the Synoikia.102
In this way the popularity of Theseus' cult was linked with the
synoikism of Athens.
Then the reconstruction of the city was sanctified by Theseus' name.
The Athenians remembered Theseus at times of evacuation rather than
during the realization of the building programme. Xerxes' invasion and
in particular the movement from the countryside followed by the
 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 181

evacuation to Salamis and Troezen may have led to a conspicuous

growth in Theseus' popularity. The Athenians may have thought of the
evacuation as a synoikism in a literal sense: it is strikingthat Thucydides
remembered Theseus when he narratedthe resettling in Athens of those
dwelling in the countryside.
He became the founder of Athens again. This time the cult of
Theseus gained wide popularity. Cimon's find was the result of
Theseus' popularity in Athens. Apart from his connection with synoik-
ism, king Theseus may have been an attractivefigure for Cimon and the
Athenian aristocrats. However, from Pericles' time Theseus may have
obtained a democratic reputation.103 Later he would stand in the Hall of
the Twelve Gods flanked by the personifications of Demos and Demo-
kratia (Paus. 1.3.3, Pliny, N.H. 35.129).

NOTES
1. This article owes much to the help and comments of Professor P. J. Rhodes. He is not
responsible, of course, for any mistakes there may be in it. The first draft was written while I
was visiting the University of Durham as the holder of a British Academy Visiting Fellowship: I
thank all those who made that visit possible.
2. S. Hornblower, A Commentaryon Thucydides,i (Oxford, 1991), 268 cf. 259; id., Mausolus
(Oxford, 1982), 78-9, 83-4.
3. J. D. Smart prefers 469/8 (JHS 87 [1967], 13-8). 'Smart's arguments', W. den Boer
writes, 'deserve to be considered seriously' (G&R n.s. 16 [1969], 3). Contra see C. Sourvinou-
Inwood, JHS 91 (1971), 100; R. Develin, Athenian Officials, 684-321 B.C. (Cambridge, 1989),
68. Thucydides says nothing of Theseus' bones: for commentary see S. Hornblower, Commen-
tary, i (n. 2), 149. We may find in Cimon's action a touch of philolaconism: he was perhaps
imitating the Spartans who found the bones of Orestes in Tegea (Her. 1.67-8: see, e.g.,
G. Huxley, GRBS 20 [1979], 145-8; D. Boedeker, in C. Dougherty and L. Kurke (edd.),
Cultural Poetics in Archaic Greece[Cambridge, 1994], 164-77).
4. Theseus' bones were located at the Theseion (R. E. Wycherley, The Stones of Athens
[Princeton, 1978], 64; R. Parker, Athenian Religion: A History [Oxford, 1996], 169). The
paintings of the Theseion included an Amazonomachy, a Centauromachy, and other deeds of
Theseus (Paus. 1.17.2: see J. Barron, JHS 92 [1972], 20-45). Theseus had three other shrines
in addition to that founded by Cimon (e.g. E. Kearns, The Heroes of Attica [London, 1989],
168-9).
5. See J. P. Barron, BICS 27 (1980), 6 n. 21; A. J. Graham, Colony and Mother City in
Ancient Greece (Manchester, 1964), 29; A. Blamire (ed.), Plutarch: Life of Kimon (London,
1989), 121.
6. To finance the Theseia a special tax was levied - 'the five drachmas for Theseus' (R. Parker
(n. 4), 169; the pentedrachmiais mentioned in the document referred to the 340's: The Athenian
Agora, xix [Princeton, 1991], 26). The Kybernesia was probably the oldest Athenian naval
festival: it was celebrated in the Piraeus (R. Garland, The Piraeus [Ithaca, 1987], 12). 'The five
drachmas for Theseus' may be levied on metics (on the Piraeus' metics in particular). We hear
of the Piraeus' dues to Theseus for the rent of a quarry in the fourth century (IG ii2 2498 and
R. Osborne, Demos: The Discoveryof ClassicalAttika [Cambridge, 1985], 1, 3, 103).
7. J. Boardman, JHS 95 (1975), 2-3.
8. See J. Boardman (n. 7), 1-12; id., RA (1972), 57-72; C. Sourvinou-Inwood (n. 3), 99;
S. Woodford, in D. Mitten (ed.), Studies Presentedto G. M. A. Hanfmann (Cambridge, Mass.,
1971), 211-25; H. A. Shapiro, CA 9 (1990), 122-6, 137.
182 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

9. T. B. L. Webster, Potter and Patron in Classical Athens (London, 1972), 82-90, 252-3;
C. Sourvinou-Inwood (n. 3), 99. J. N. Davie sees in the sudden proliferation of Theseus'
adventures in vase paintings from the sixth century onwards a connection with the rising
democracy (G&R n.s. 29 [1982], 26). See also H. J. Walker, Theseusand Athens (New York &
Oxford, 1995), 35-50; and for further bibliography B. Strauss, Fathers and Sons in Athens:
Ideology and Society in the Era of the Peloponnesian War [London, 1993], 237 n. 17). Theseus
with Heracles was portrayed on the Athenian Treasury metopes at Delphi (G. Richter, The
Sculpture and Sculptorsof the Greeks [Oxford, 1950], 126 f.). However, Theseus was not among
the ten heroes of the new Attic phylai which were chosen by the Pythia (Ath. Pol. 21.6, Paus.
10.10.2; see also A. Blamire [n. 4], 119 f.; R. Garland, ABSA 79 [1984], 8).
10. e.g. C. Sourvinou-Inwood (n. 3), 109. W. den Boer writes of reconciliation with his
opponents: (n. 3), 7.
11. A. Severyns, Bacchylide (Liege, 1933), 36-9; J. P. Barron (n. 5), 1-8; H. J. Walker (n. 9),
83-111; B. S. Strauss (n. 9), 107.
12. G. Huxley, GRBS 14 (1972), 137-43; A. Blamire (n. 5), 87; B. S. Strauss (n. 9), 107,
237 n. 18.
13. J. K. Davies, Athenian PropertiedFamilies (Oxford, 1971), 293 ff.
14. W. G. Forrest, CQ n.s. 10 (1960), 221-41; G. E. M. de Ste Croix, The Origins of the
Peloponnesian War (London, 1972), 173-8. For commentary see A. J. Podlecki, The Life of
Themistocles(Montreal & London, 1975), 34; F. J. Frost, Plutarch's Themistocles:A Historical
Commentary (Princeton, 1980), 184; A. Blamire (n. 5), 104. H. J. Walker, on the contrary,
writes that it was an answer to the rise of Themistocles' popularity: (n. 9), 55-6.
15. A. J. Podlecki, JHS 91 (1971), 141-3; see also C. Sourvinou-Inwood (n. 3), 109. In
Polygnotus' painting The Battle of Marathon in the Stoa Poikile Theseus appeared from the earth
(Paus. 1.15.3: on Theseus and the deme of Marathon see Paus. 1.27.8-10). Theseus seems to
be Heracles' rival in Marathon: here Heracles was first honoured, as the Marathonians them-
selves believed (Paus. 1.15.3, 32.4); in Marathon the Heracleia were established in honour of
Heracles (S. Woodford [n. 8], 217-18); and Heracles together with Theseus was among the
deities who helped the Athenians in the battle against the Persians. So the Athenians could well
honour Heracles also. Marathon was within the area of the Hyperakrioi or Diakrioi which was
the region of Pisistratus' party (e.g. D. M. Lewis, Historia 12 [1963], 23-4 = his SelectedPapers
in Greek and Near Eastern History [Cambridge, 1997], 79-80; on Pisistratus' connection with
Marathon see also R. J. Hopper, ABSA 56 [1961], 198).
16. K. Tausend, RM 132 (1989), 225-35; S. Hornblower, Commentary,i (n. 2), 150; H. A.
Shapiro, Medit. Hist. Rev. 7 (1992), 29-49. In that case it would perhaps be more appropriate to
expect a change in the cult of Apollo Patroos, but there are no signs of it (see C. W. Hedrick,
Jr., AJA 92 (1988), 185-210, esp. 207-8).
17. It is unclear which land (Attica or Troezen) and which archigetes (Theseus of Attica or
his grandfather Pittheus of Troezen). See on this R. Meiggs and D. Lewis, A Selection of Greek
Historical Inscriptionsto the End of the Fifth Century B.C. (Oxford, 1969), p. 49; H. J. Walker
(n. 6), 55.
18. R. Develin refers it to 481/0: (n. 3), 59. For the text of and bibliography on Themistocles'
decree see R. Meiggs and D. Lewis (n. 17), no. 23. F. J. Frost (n. 14, 102), regards the text as a
mid-third-century copy of the actual decree. 'Even if the decree is not authentic', J. F. Lazenby
wrote, 'it seems probable that the Athenians would have taken steps to evacuate as many non-
combatants as possible' (The Defence of Greece, 490-479 B.C. [Warminster, 1993], 154; see
also 112).
19. The evacuation (though perhaps not of all the Athenians: Her. 8.51.2) was not thoroughly
prepared and was accompanied by turmoil and bustle. In that situation, as Aristotle writes, the
Areopagus proved to be the sole organizing force: 'When the generals were unable to handle the
crisis, and proclaimed that each man should save himself, the Areopagus provided money, gave
the men eight drachmae each, and enabled them to embark on the ships' (Arist. Ath. Pol. 23.2,
trans. P. J. Rhodes, cf. Her. 8.41, Plut. Them. 6). According to Cleidemus it is a stratagem of
Themistocles concerning the payment of state money (FGrHist 323 F 21, and commentary in
F. J. Frost (n. 14), 120-1). Aristotle may have accepted information from sources giving a
biased account: see P. J. Rhodes, A Commentaryon the AristotelianAthenaion Politeia (Oxford,
 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 183

1981; repr. with addenda 1993), 283, 290; also M. Ostwald, in M. Pierart (ed.), Aristote et
Athknes(Paris, 1993), 139-53.
20. See F. J. Frost (n. 14), 101.
21. W. W. How and J. Wells regarded the scale of the Persian destruction as an exaggeration
(A Commentaryon Herodotus[Oxford, 1912], ii. 291).
22. On the limits of wartime devastation see L. Foxhall, in J. Rich & G. Shipley (edd.), War
and Society in the Greek World (London, 1993), 134-45.
23. R. E. Wycherley (n. 4), 10; I. T. Hill, TheAncient City of Athens (London, 1953), 32.
24. J. S. Boersma, Athenian Building Policy from 561/0 to 405/4 (Groningen, 1970), 46. He
was inclined to date the north wall of the Acropolis to 465 rather than 479: in material and by
architectural features the wall strongly resembles the Cimonian south wall. On Cimon and the
south wall see below.
25. The Stoa Poikile originally bore the name of Peisianax, the brother of Cimon's wife
Isodice (Plut. Cim. 4.5). It was thus connected with Cimon's circle. In the Stoa Poikile was
Polygnotus' painting The Battle of Marathon (see n. 15, above, and R. Meiggs, The Athenian
Empire [Oxford, 1972], 96, 276, 289). Themistocles is associated with an early Odeion (A. J.
Podlecki [n. 14], 173-4 and n. 6). The building of temples in Athens will begin on a large scale
in the time of Pericles. From Lycurgus, an Athenian orator of the fourth century, we hear of an
oath taken by the Greeks before the battle at Plataea (Against Leocrates81). His version of it
contains the following words: 'And I will not rebuild any of the temples that have been burnt or
thrown down by the barbarians, but I will allow them to remain as a memorial to future
generations of the sacrilege of the barbarians' - but this clause is absent from the inscribed
version, M. N. Tod, A Selectionof GreekHistorical Inscriptions,ii, From 403 to 323 B.C. (Oxford,
1948), no. 204, lines 21-51, and it is increasingly believed that there was a significant amount of
building in Athens between 478 and c.450 (see e.g., M. M. Miles, Hesperia 58 [1989], 131-249
at 22 1-35).
26. Christos Th. Panagos writes of Aristeides' opposition to Themistocles' project of fortifying
the Piraeus (Le Pir&e[Athens, 1968], 92); but P. J. Rhodes believes that after the Persian Wars
Themistocles and Aristeides were on the same side, in opposition to Cimon: (n. 19), 292-3. I
would share the opinion of C. W. Fornara who writes that no evidence indicates that the
fortification of Athens had become a partisan issue (JHS 86 [1966], 54).
27. P. Stadter writes only about the gaining of independence from Sparta (GRBS 34
[1993], 44).
28. e.g. Christos Th. Panagos (n. 26), 94, 97; R. E. Wycherley (n. 4), 261 f.; F. J. Frost
(n. 14), 175-6.
29. Some scholars but not all believe that Thuc. 1.93.3 refers to Themistocles' archonship of
493/2 (see, e.g., D. M. Lewis, Historia 22 [1973], 757-8; W. W. Dickie, Historia 22 [1973],
758-9; contra C. W. Fornata, Historia 20 [1971], 534-40). For doubts on this dating of the
Piraeus work see, e.g., M. Chambers, Studies presentedto S. Dow on his 80th Birthday (GRBS
Monographs 10 [1984]), 43-50. J. S. Boersma refers to 493/2 some stretches of a wall on
Eetioneia and Akte: (n. 24), 37. For bibliography and commentary see F. J. Frost (n. 14), 75-6,
176-7; R. Garland (n. 6), 14-22; R. Develin (n. 3), 55; S. Hornblower, Commentary,i (n. 2),
138. The impulse for this may derive from the destruction of Miletus in 494: as choregos
Themistocles had contact with Phrynichus, the author of the Captureof Miletus (Plut. Them. 5.3,
cf. Her. 6.21.2 and A. J. Podlecki [n. 14], 7). The other reason may be the tension with Aegina
(for Aeginetan raids on Phaleron see Her. 5.81.3). But all that should not be exaggerated.
30. R. Garland explains the work's being left incomplete by the return of Miltiades and the
changing emphasis in war strategy (n. 6, 19); on Miltiades' opposition to Themistocles see also
Plut. Them. 4.3.
31. A J. Podlecki (n. 14, 33-4). R. J. Lenardon accepted Diodorus' remark (11.41 f.) that the
building of the walls of Athens was in the archonship of Timosthenes (478/7), the works in
Piraeus in the archonship of Adeimantus (477/6) (The Saga of Themistocles[London, 1978], 90,
96). Themistocles can have made his proposal concerning the Piraeus, R. Garland points out, as
an ordinary citizen: (n. 6), 21. See also R. Develin (n. 3), 68.
32. See also J. S. Boersma (n. 24), 45 f.
33. See R. Garland (n. 6), 58f.
34. C. Patterson, Pericles' Citizenship Law of 451-50 B.C. (New York, 1981), 69. The
184 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

increase in Athens' population forces us to doubt that the reason for the removal of Theseus'
bones was famine and epidemic {Schol. Aristeid. 688; see also K. Tausend (n. 16), 227).
35. It should be placed, as R. Garland states, (if it is authentic) in the late 480's so as to
coincide with Themistocles' naval bill: (n. 60), 60-1. R. Develin refers it to 477/6: (n. 3), 68.
However, the passage in Diodorus raises many problems, in particular of the nature of ateleia,
the identity of the technitai and the measure's duration (see D. Whitehead, The Ideology of the
Athenian Metic [Cambridge, 1977], 148 f.). That concession may have been made, I suspect,
because of the metics' involvement in the struggle with Xerxes. Whitehead writes of the
possibility of their fighting against Xerxes (op. cit., 149); contra M. Amit, Athens and the Sea
(Brussels, 1965), 39.
36. For commentary see P. J. Rhodes (n. 19) ad loc. See also M. H. Hansen, GRBS 21
(1980), 151-73; M. Ostwald (n. 19), 141.
37. R. Osborne supposes that there was no radical change in the settlement pattern from the
Persian Wars to the late fourth century: (n. 6), 16-17. He thinks the deme structure was
restrictive of population mobility (id., OJA 10 [1991], 231-52, esp.239-46; cf. n. 76 below). See
also S. Hornblower's commentary on the passages cited from Thucydides (Commentary,i [n. 2],
268-9).
38. A. B. Cooper evaluates the effect of the devastation during Xerxes' invasion as short-
lived, without long-term damage to productivity (CJ 73 [1977/8], 168). This contradicts what
was said by Thucydides. He explains the difficulties of resettling into the city on the eve of
Archidamus' invasion as follows: 'So they did not find it easy to migrate with their whole
households, especially as they had only recently restored their furnishings after the Persian Wars'
(Thuc. 2.16.1, trans. P. J. Rhodes). In any case those dwelling in the countryside were to find
(whether temporarily or not) homes in Athens. On the effects of the devastation in the time of
the Peloponnesian War cf. L. Foxhall (n. 22, above), and V. Hanson, War and Agriculturein
Classical Greece(Pisa, 1983), 111-26.
39. Elsewhere R. Osborne assumes the pressure of external forces on the settlement pattern.
The Athenian Empire may, for example, stimulate synoikism on the islands (Classical Landscape
with Figures: The Ancient Greek City and its Countryside [London, 1987], 132f.). In the same
way the Empire may stimulate the population's movement from Attica to Athens. See also p. 177
and n. 76, below.
40. Page 1 and n. 2, above.
41. In Thucydides' understanding of it the noun synoikism may refer to the building of the
city's walls. See his characterization of the Spartans: (&7-ELXal-rwv•ta v-rwv- as in Thuc. 1.2.2)
their polis ourE ~vVOLKLtaOEGla?,
K-aqg ~ %-
Ka a~ r 7raAalt . ... 7pd o
O0KLaOELa?7-s (Thuc. 1.10.2; see
also 1.5.1, 7.1, 8.3). S. Hornblower, Commentary,i (n. 2), 167. See also R. Osborne (n. 39), 58.
42. See H. A. Shapiro (n. 16), 47; id., AJA 92 (1988), 373-82. On a krater that was
dedicated on the Acropolis Theseus is accompanied by Pallas, Nisus, and Lycus, and Orneus
son of Erechtheus as well: (n. 16), 42-3. The appearance of the first three figures perhaps
hinted at the unification of Attica. The appearance of Orneus is not quite clear, but we know
that Aegeus drove his son Peteos from Athens (Paus. 10.35.8).
43. See p. 170 and n. 17, above.
44. The Athenians' gathering in the city may have reminded them of the time of Theseus, if
the unification (or political synoikism) attributed to him was connected with a population
movement to the city (see, e.g., G. Alf61ldy,RBPh 47 [1969], 5-36). Thucydides himself may
have hinted at a physical aspect to Theseus' synoikism: S. Hornblower takes note of Thucydides'
words in 2.16.1, where he stresses that many Athenians continued to live in the countryside
despite Theseus' synoikism (Commentary,i [n. 2], 268). Plutarch in his life of Theseus wrote of
the Metoikia, i.e. 'migration' (Thes. 24.4).
45. Another reason, as in the case of Sparta and the bones of Orestes and of Teisamenus,
may be Athens' sense of herself as a power (see R. Osborne, Greecein the Making, 1200-479
B.C. [London, 1996], 290; D. Boedeker [n. 3]).
46. H. T. Wade-Gery, in his Essays in GreekHistory (Oxford, 1958), 86-115, esp. 92-3; P. J.
Rhodes (n. 19), 95, 97, 107.
47. On Themistocles see p. 169 and n. 14, above. On Cimon's attitude to the Areopagus see
Plut. Cim. 15.3, 17.3, Per. 9.5; see also P. J. Rhodes (n. 19), 311-12. For J. N. Davie it seems
astonishing to find a king as a hero in democratic Athens: he therefore stresses Theseus'
 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 185

democratic bias: (n. 9), 24, 29. If what was said above is correct, Theseus' cult first made itself
felt with an oligarchic rather than a democratic tendency.
48. R. Meiggs (n. 25), 76. On the chronology see R. Sealey, A History of the Greek City
States, 700-338 B.C. (Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1976), 247-8, 250-1. For another view on the
chronology see J. H. Schreiner, SO 51 (1976), 19-63.
49. The rebuilding of the Piraeus dockyards began in 477/6 (J. S. Boersma [n. 24], 43). It
was perhaps the result of Themistocles' policy (ateleia) towards metics (Diod. 11.43.3; see also
p. 173 and n. 35, above).
50. R. Garland (n. 6), 22, 126.
51. See also J. S. Boersma (n. 24), 52; R. Meiggs (n. 25), 86.
52. See J. S. Boersma (n. 24), 59-60.
53. J. S. Boersma (n. 24), 58; R. Sealey (n. 48), 268; A. Blamire (n. 5), 156.
54. According to J. R. Ellis the completion of the construction of these walls (nearly thirteen
kilometres in length) in 458/7 would seem to have been too speedy (in I. Worthington [ed.],
Venturesinto GreekHistory [Oxford, 1994], 11).
55. See, e.g., J. S. Boersma (n. 24), 65, 74; R. E. Wycherley (n. 4), 16; R. Garland (n. 6), 25.
56. R. J. Lenardon accepted Plutarch's information (n. 31, 97); contra R. Garland (n. 6, 23-
4). J. S. Boersma regards Cimon's participation in its building as astonishing owing to his
aristocratic attitude and sympathy to Sparta. If Cimon indeed took part in the construction of
the Long Walls he must have returned to Athens after the battle of Tanagra, when the serious
tensions with Sparta were revealed (n. 24, 58). His participation in that project may have been a
way of regaining popular support after returning from exile (R. Garland [n. 6], 24). J. R. Ellis
doubts the Thucydidean chronology altogether (n. 54, 3-14; contra W. K. Pritchett, Thucydides'
Pentekontaetiaand OtherEssays (Amsterdam, 1995), 122-31.
57. He must have been in exile. However, P. J. Rhodes believes that the date of Themistocles'
exile is uncertain: he could have gone into exile between 478 and 465 (P. J. Rhodes, Historia 19
[1970], 395-9). If he was exiled after the battle of the Eurymedon, he may well have taken part
in the construction of the Long Walls.
58. It is still controversial whether Cimon did return in 457 or stayed away from Athens for
the full ten years (see, e.g., P. J. Rhodes, CAH2, v. 75).
59. See p. 175 and n. 55, above.
60. R. Garland (n. 6), 25.
61. Ibid.
62. The destruction of the Long Walls was thought of as equivalent to the destruction of the
democracy (Xen. Hell. 2.2.20 and S. Hornblower, Commentary,i [n. 2], 167).
63. C. Patterson {n. 34, 118-19 n. 34) and E. Badian (EMC 23 = n.s. 7 [1988], 318 n. 43 =
his From Plataea to Potidaea [Baltimore, 1993], 213 n. 50) doubts the reality of this.
S. Hornblower, on the contrary, regards this passage as one of the very few pieces of solid
evidence for anti-democratic feelings and activity at Athens between Cleisthenes and 411:
Commentary,i (n. 2), 170-1.
64. A scholiast on Aristophanes' Knights (327) states that Hippodamus took part in the works
at the Piraeus kata ta M&dika(during the Persian Wars). J. S. Boersma accepts this possibility
because Aristides was able to see Hippodamus during the rebuilding of Miletus in 477 and to
invite him to Athens: (n. 24), 47; see also 44-5, 48. It is unclear how old Hippodamus was at
this time.
65. J. S. Boersma (n. 24), 47, 49. R. Garland states that Hippodamus arrived in Athens in the
early 440's at the invitation of Pericles (n. 6, 27; on Hippodamus' contribution to the Piraeus see
140 f.).
66. In the Piraeus, as already stated (n. 4, above), the cult of Theseus was honoured: the
Kybernesia, one of the oldest Athenian naval festivals, was celebrated there (R. Garland [n. 6],
12). This may be an echo of Theseus' popularity in Athens after his bones were brought into
the city, or may be linked to the legend of Theseus. It was from Piraeus that he set sail for Crete
(Paus. 1.1.2).
67. On Pericles' building programme in general see J. S. Boersma (n. 24), 66-8, 73, 81;
R. Meiggs (n. 25), 289; on the construction of the Parthenon, e.g., D. Kagan, Pericles of Athens
and the Birth of Democracy(New York, 1991), 157-67.
68. On the Alcmaeonids and Theseus see n. 9, above. Phidias portrayed Theseus (or Pericles
186 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

in the likeness of Theseus?) also in Heracles' battle with the Amazons on the throne of Zeus in
the temple at Olympia (c.435) (Paus. 5.11.4 and J. N. Davie [n. 9], 27). See also K. Kolobova,
Drevnij gorod Afini i ego pamjatniki (The Ancient City of Athens and Its Monuments) (Leningrad,
1961), 220 (in Russian).
69. In Euripides' plays, for example, king Theseus is already turned into a democratic ruler
and even the founder of Athenian democracy (Eur. Suppl. 353, 403-8, 433-41; also Soph. OC
551 f., 631 f., 911 f.). Later Aristotle will write that Theseus' constitution deviated slightly from
monarchy (Arist. Ath. Pol. 41.2). In the time of Pausanias he is described as a man who gave
political equality to the Athenians (J. N. Davie [n. 9]; W. den Boer [n. 3], 4f.). But
E. Ruschenbusch regarded Theseus' democratic politeia as the invention of fourth-century
historians and orators (Historia 7 [1958], 408-18).
70. J. S. Boersma (n. 24), 66; R. Garland (n. 6), 27.
71. R. Meiggs & D. Lewis (n. 17), no. 58, A, lines 31-2.
72. See p. 168 and n. 2, and cf. n. 40, above.
73. The Piraeus, R. Garland claims, may have been a populous deme even at the time of
Cleisthenes' reforms (n. 6, 59, cf. 14); but that seems to me to be doubtful.
74. A. W. Gomme, The Population of Athens in the Fifth and Fourth CenturiesB.C. (Glasgow,
1933), 37-48. For commentary on the Athenians' settlement-pattern before the Peloponnesian
War see S. Hornblower, Commentary,i (n. 2), 268-9.
75. On the movement of slaves to the town see R. Osborne's article (n. 37, 244-6).
76. The movement of population from the country to the city is displayed by Attic funeral
inscriptions: many members of non-urban demes were buried in the city. 'Classical Athens', as
A. Damsgaard-Madsen argues, 'witnessed a considerable migration into the city area from the
rest of Attica' (in Studies in Ancient History and Numismatics Presented to R. Thomsen [Copen-
hagen, 1988], 55 f.). Contr. R. Osborne (n. 37): however, the figures that he mentions demon-
strate a rather high level of population mobility in Kerameis and Kephale. See also
S. Hornblower, Commentary,i [n. 2], 268).
77. R. Garland (n. 6), 61.
78. C. Patterson (n. 34, 68 f., 100 f.) is inclined to see the ground for that law in an increase
in the number of citizens; contra P. J. Rhodes (n. 19), 331 f. Others regard it as the self-
identification, both inside the community and beyond, of 'the Athenians'. See on this A. L.
Boegehold, in A. L. Boegehold and A. C. Scafuro (edd.), Athenian Identity and Civic Ideology
(Baltimore, 1994), 57-66; D. Whitehead, in A. Molho, K. Raaflaub, J. Emlen (edd.), City States
in ClassicalAntiquity and Medieval Italy (Stuttgart, 1991), 135-54.
79. See, e.g., E. Ruschenbusch, AthenischeInnenpolitikim 5 Jh. v. Chr. (Bamberg, 1979), 83-
7; R. Sealey, The Athenian Republic:Democracyor the Rule of Law? (University Park & London,
1987), 24.
80. C. Patterson assumes the entry (undocumented, however) of non-Athenians into the
citizen body: (n. 34), 69.
81. e.g. V. Strogetskij, Polis i imperia v klassicheskoi Gretsii (Polis and Empire in Classical
Greece) (Nizhnij Novgorod, 1991), 59 (in Russian). State education for the children of those
who died in war was perhaps Hippodamus' idea (see Arist. Pol. 2.1268a9-10; cf. Pericles'
Funeral Oration, Thuc. 2.46.1).
82. According to ancient philosophers the constitution depends heavily on the size of the
population (and the citizen body as well) (e.g. Arist. Pol. 7.1326a5f.). Its extension must
inevitably influence the political constitution. Therefore birth-control within the citizen body was
needed (ibid. 2.1265a13, 38, 1270b4; 7.1320a5, b20, etc.).
83. He referred, I imagine, mainly to those dwelling in Attica and those Athenians who had
houses in the country.
84. On Pericles' military strategy see, e.g., G. Cawkwell, YCS 24 (1975), 53-69; A. J. Holla-
day, Historia 27 (1978), 399-427; J. Ober, in J. W. Eadie, J. Ober (edd.), The Craft of the Ancient
Historian: Essays in Honor of C. G. Starr (New York, 1985), 171-89 = his The Athenian
Revolution: Essays on Ancient Greek Democracy and Political Theory (Princeton, 1997), 72-85;
I. G. Spence, JHS 110 (1990), 91-109.
85. Thucydides labels the evacuation as avcaraats or tidcrarats (see Thuc. 2.14.2, 16.1).
These words, as H. J. Walker states, are normally used of mass deportations and migration:
(n. 9), 203 n. 17.
 ATHENIAN SYNOIKISM OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 187

86. Certainly, it is unclear whether the resettling into the city was of the whole mass or not.
See on this S. Hornblower, The Greek World, 479-323 B.C. (London, 1985), 128; id., Comment-
ary, i (n. 2), 238; P. J. Rhodes, Thucydides:History, II (Warminster, 1988), 199.
87. I here leave aside the problem of Theseus' synoikism (whether it was real or not).
However, most scholars are inclined to regard it as a political unification rather than a concentra-
tion of population in the city: see, e.g., P. J. Rhodes (n.19), 74-7 with addenda; S. Hornblower,
Commentary, i (n. 2), 259-69. J. S. Rusten believes that Thucydides' information was ana-
chronistically modelled on contemporary forms of confederation (Thucydides: The Peloponnesian
War, Book II [Cambridge, 1989], 121).
88. See also p. 168 and n. 2.
89. H. J. Walker (n. 9), 195.
90. On the political context see J. W. Cole, Phoenix 28 (1974), 56-7; R. J. Hoffman, GRBS
16 (1975), 359-77; N. G. L. Hammond, The Macedonian State: Origins, Institutions,and History
(Oxford, 1989), 79 f., 83.
91. S. Hornblower, Commentary, i (n. 2), 102-3. On the new quarter of the town of
Olynthos in the last quarter of the fifth century see J. S. Boersma (n. 24), 49.
92. S. Hornblower, Commentary,i (n. 2), 102.
93. There was a conspicuous similarity with what was done by the Chalcidians (and for a
similar reason). S. Hornblower (Commentary, i [n. 2], 384) argues that it did not involve,
whatever may have been intended, the abandonment of the other cities of Lesbos, for example,
Antissa, Pyrrha, and Eresos (see Thuc. 3.18.1), which were coastal towns or harbours (see
Thuc. 3.25.1, 28.3). We hear from Thucydides' narrative that a city fortification was built in
Mytilene. This work was to attract to the city additional workmen and warriors, and it may
imply not only the physical strengthening of the city but also synoikism. In any case that was
Thucydides' term.
94. See in general R. Osborne (n. 39), 132 f.
95. I am preparing a special article on that topic.
96. V. D. Hanson evaluates the effects of the devastation caused by the Peloponnesian War
as short-lived (n. 38, 111-26). See also V. J. Rosivach, GRBS 34 (1993), 396.
97. Some of the dwellers in the countryside may have been resettled at Eleusis (see IG i3 58
and H. T. Wade-Gery, ABSA 33 [1932/3], 127-31).
98. See, e.g., R. Sallares, The Ecology of the Ancient Greek World (London, 1991), 252-3.
99. Then, as J. S. Rusten points out, the antipathy between the population of town and
country was exacerbated and rural opposition to the war made itself felt: (n. 87), 120.
100. He was criticized in 431 and 430 (see, e.g., Thuc. 2.21.3, Plut. Per. 33.6-8, and W. R.
Connor, Thucydides(Princeton, 1984), 57 n. 15, 64; J. S. Rusten (n. 87), 196.
101. n. 9, above. The absence of Theseus' name from among the Athenian tribal heroes
seems strange to me. Cleisthenes the Alcmaeonid was entitled to hope (if he wished, of course)
that one of the Attic phylai would go under Theseus' name.
102. See p. 173 and n. 41, above.
103. See n. 69, above.