Editing Deme (section)

==Cleisthenes' reforms and modifications==

===First period: 508 – 307/306 BC===
[[File:CarteAttiqueApresClisthene.jpg|thumb|The division of the Athenian city-state (''polis'') into urban (pink), inland (green), and coastal (blue) zones by [[Cleisthenes]]]]
[[Cleisthenes]] divided the landscape in three zones—urban (''[[asty]]''), coastal (''[[Paralia (trittys)|paralia]]'') and inland (''[[mesogeia]]'')—and the 139 demes were organized into 30 groups called ''trittyes'' ("thirds"), ten for each of the zones and into ten tribes, or ''[[phyle|phylai]]'', each composed of three ''trittyes'', one from the coast, one from the city, and one from the inland area.

Cleisthenes also reorganized the [[Boule (ancient Greece)|Boule]], created with 400 members under [[Solon]], so that it had 500 members, 50 from each tribe, each deme having a fixed quota.

The ten tribes were named after legendary heroes and came to have an official order:
{{ordered list|list-style-type=upper-roman
| [[Erechtheis]] (Ἐρεχθηΐς) named after [[Erechtheus]]
| [[Aigeis]] (Αἰγηΐς) named after [[Aegeus]]
| [[Pandionis]] (Πανδιονίς) named after [[Pandion (hero)|Pandion]]
| [[Leontis]] (Λεοντίς) named after [[Leos (mythology)|Leos]], son of [[Orpheus]]
| [[Acamantis]] (Ἀκαμαντίς) named after [[Acamas (son of Theseus)|Acamas]]
| [[Oineis]] (Οἰνηΐς) named after [[Oeneus]]
| [[Kekropis]] (Κεκροπίς) named after [[Cecrops I|Cécrops]]
| [[Hippothontis]] (or Hippothoontis) (Ἱπποθοντίς) named after [[Hippothoon]]
| [[Aiantis]] (Αἰαντίς) named after [[Ajax the Great|Ajax]]
| [[Antiochis (tribe)|Antiochis]] (Ἀντιοχίς) named after Antiochus, son of [[Heracles]]
}}

===Second period: 307/306 – 224/223 BC===
In 307/306 – 224/223 BC the system was reorganized with the creation of two Macedonian Phylai (XI. [[Antigonis (tribe)|Antigonis]] and XII. [[Demetrias (tribe)|Demetrias]]), named after [[Demetrius Poliorcetes|Demetrius I of Macedon]] and [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus]], and an increase in the membership of the Boule to 600. Each of the ten tribes, except Aiantis, provided three demes (not necessarily one for trittyes); the missing contribution of Aiantis was covered by two demes of Leontis and one from Aigeis.

===Third period: 224/223 – 201/200 BC===
The Egyptian Phyle XIII. [[Ptolemais (tribe)|Ptolemais]], named after [[Ptolemy III Euergetes]] was created in 224/223 BC and the Boule was again increased, this time to 650 members, the twelve tribes giving each a demos. A new village was created and named Berenikidai after Ptolemy's wife [[Berenice|Berenice II of Egypt]].

===Fourth period: 201/200 BC – 126/127 AD===
In 201/200 BC the Macedonian Phylae were dissolved and the villages (except the two given to Ptolemais) went back to their original tribes. In the spring of 200 BC Tribe XIV. [[Attalis]], named after [[Attalus I]], was created following the same scheme used for the creation of the Egyptian Phyle: each tribe contributed a deme and a new deme, Apollonieis, was created in honour of Apollonis, wife of Attalus I of Pergamum. As a consequence there were again 12 tribes and 600 members of the Boule. From this period onward, quotas were no longer assigned to the demes for the 50 Boule members from each tribe.

===Fifth period: 126/127 – third century===
The last modification was the creation in 126/127 of XV. [[Hadrianis]], named after the Emperor [[Hadrian]], following the same scheme: each tribe contributed a deme and a new deme, [[Antinoeis]], was created in honour of Hadrian's favourite, [[Antinous]]. Each tribe contributed 40 members to the Boule.