CHAPTER IX.

THE GRECIAN PHRATRY, TRIBE AND NATION.

The Athenian Phratry.—How Formed.—Definition of Dikæarchus.—Objects chiefly Religious.—The Phratriarch.—The Tribe.—Composed of Three Phratries.—The Phylo Basileus.—The Nation.—Composed of Four Tribes.—Boulê, or Council of Chiefs.—Agora, or Assembly of the People.—The Basileus.—Tenure of the Office.—Military and Priestly Functions.—Civil Functions not shown.—Governments of the Heroic Age, Military Democracies.—Aristotle’s Definition of a Basileus.—Later Athenian Democracy.—Inherited from the Gentes.—Its Powerful Influence upon Athenian Development. 235