Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

TRIBUS.

390

TRIBUS.

was derived from some hero or mythic an-
cestor. These divisions, though the names
seem to import family connection, -were in
fact artificial; which shows that some ad-
vance had now heen made towards the esta-
blishment of a closer political union. The
members of the phratriae and gene had their
respective religious rites and festivals, which
were preserved long after these communities
had lost their political importance, and per-
haps prevented them from being altogether
dissolved.—After the age of Theseus, the
monarchy having been first limited and after-
wards abolished, the whole power of the
state fell into the hands of the Evpalridae or
nobles, who held all civil offices, and had be-
sides the management of religious affairs, and
the interpretation of the laws. Attica became
agitated by feuds, and we find the people,
shortly before the legislation of Solon, divided
into three parties, Pediaei (ITeSiaioi) or low-
landers, DiacrH (AiaKpioi) or highlanders,
and Parali (IldpaAot) or people of the sea-
coast. The first two remind us of the an-
cient division of tribes, Jlesogaea and Dia-
cris; and the three parties appear iu some
measure to represent the classes established
by Theseus, the first being the nobles, whose
property lay in the champaign and most
fertile part of the country ; the second, the
smaller landowners and shepherds ; the
third, the trading and mining class, who
had by this time risen in wealth and im-
portance. To appease their discords, Solon
was applied to; and thereupon framed his
celebrated constitution and code of laws.
Here we have only to notice that he retained
the four tribes as he found them, hut abo-
lished the existing distinctions of rank, or at
all events greatly diminished their import-
ance, by introducing his property qualifica-
tion, or division of the people into Pentaco-
siomedimni (Ilen-aiccxri.o/j.eSi/oiixH), Hippcis
C^n-eis), Zeugitae (Zeuytrai), and Tildes
(0>jTe;). [Census, Greek.] The enactments
of Solon continued to be the laic at Athens,
though in great measure suspended by the
tyranny, until the democratic reform effected
by Ciisthenes. He abolished the old tribes,
and created ten new ones, according to a
geographical division of Attica, and named
after ten of the ancient heroes : Erechthcis,
Aegeis, Pandiunis, Leontis, Acamantis, Oencis,
Cecrapis, Jlippothoontis, Aeantis, Antiue/iis.
These tribes were divided each into ten
demi (Sij.'-ioi), the number of which was after-
wards increased by subdivision ; but the
arrangement was so made that several demi
not contiguous or near to one another were
joined to make up a tribe. [Dkmus.] The
object of this arrangement was, that by the

breaking of old associations a perfect and
lasting revolution might be effected, in the
habits and feelings, as well as the political
organisation of the people. Solon allowed
the ancient phratriae to exist, but they were
deprived of all political importance. All
foreigners admitted to the citizenship were
registered in a phyle and demus, but not in
a phratria or genos. The functions which
had been discharged by the old tribes were
now mostly transferred to the demi. Among
others, we may notice that of the forty-eight
naucrariae into which the old tribes had
been divided for the purpose of taxation, but
which now became useless, the taxes being
collected on a different system. The reforms
of Ciisthenes were destined to be perma-
nent. They continued to be in force (with
some few interruptions) until the downfall of
Athenian independence. The ten tribes were
blended with the whole machinery of the
constitution. Of the senate of five hundred,
fifty were chosen from each tribe. The
allotment of dicasts was according to tribes ;
and the same system of election may be
observed in most of the principal offices of
state, judicial and magisterial, civil and mili-
tary, &c. In b. c. 307, Demetrius Polior-
cetes increased the number of tribes to twelve
by creating two new ones, namely, Antigo-
nias and Demetrias, which afterwards re-
ceived the names of Ptolemais and Attalis;
and a thirteenth was subsequently added by
Hadrian, bearing his own name.—(2) Ro-
man. The three ancient Romulian tribes,
the Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres, or the
Ramnenses, Titienses, and Lucerenscs, to
which the patricians alone belonged, must
be distinguished from the thirty plebeian
tribes of Servius Tullius, which were entirely
local, four for the city, and twenty-six for
the country around Rome. The history and
organisation of the three ancient tribes are
spoken of under Patricii. They continued
of political importance almost down to the
period of the deeemviral legislation ; but
after this time they no longer occur in the
history of Rome, except as an obsolete in-
stitution. The institution and organisation
of the thirty plebeian tribes, and their sub-
sequent reduction to twenty by the conquests
of Porsena, are spoken of under Plebes.
The four city tribes were called by the same
names as the regions which they occupied,
viz. Suburana, Esquilina, Collina, and Pala-
tina. The names of the sixteen country
tribes which continued to belong to Rome
after the conquest of Porsena, are in their
alphabetical order as follows : Aemilia, Ca-
milia, Cornelia, Fabia, Galeria, Soratia,
Lemonia, Menemia, Papiria, Pallia, Popillia,