Attica

Attica (ăt'iku) [key], region of ancient Greece, a triangular area at the eastern end of central Greece, around Athens. According to Greek legend, the four Attic tribes were founded by Ion; in later legend Theseus combined 12 townships into a single state. This process of unification, which probably occurred over a period of time, was in all likelihood completed c.700 B.C. Cleisthenes (fl. 510 B.C.) reclassified the people into 10 tribes. By the 5th cent. B.C. Athens was dominant, and thereafter the history of Attica was that of its chief city.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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