Synoecism

Synoecism or synœcism (Ancient Greek: συνοικισμóς) is the amalgamation of villages and small towns in Ancient Hellas into larger political units such as a single city. It is the process by which democracy in the Ancient Greek world originated and developed. The word itself means "dwelling together" or to "to unite together under one capital city". Synœcism is opposed to the Greek word διοικισμóς (dioikismós). ²

In modern political science, synœcism is similar to centralization and would be opposed to federalism and decentralization.

Interplay between "demos" and "polis"

In early Greece, ancient society was split between the "demos", (δημοι, κωμαι); meaning the "country people" or the "country villages" and the "asty" or "polis" (πολις); the seat of the princely (noblity, the gentry, the aristocracy), the sacerdotal and military families. The distinction between the πολις and the δημοι was of great political importance in the ancient states. There was much antagonism between these two bodies; the country and city and where commerce and trade became the dominant cultural and ideological force, it collected many men together promoting larger towns and democracy. In the city states of Classical Greece, synœcism occurred when the "demos" combined, usually by force, with and submerged the "politiea" to form one political union. 1

For Athens, the villages of Attica combined with the asty of Athens proper. The πολις and the δημοι became identical in Athens and the later word was used by preference to signify the whole community. It was the wealthy and populous cities of the Greeks in the Ionian territory that popular government was first established. ⁷ This is how the word "democracy" was formed and its form of government. This synœcism was one of the primary causes of the