Clérouquie

A clérouquie (in old Greek κληρουχία/ klêrouchía ) indicates the assignment by drawing lot of batches of civic ground ( klêros ) to soldier-citizens, the “clérouques ones”, and by extension this type of colony military itself. One finds the clérouques ones with Athens with, and in the kingdom Lagide in Egypt starting from the end of.

Athens

With, Athens is only large the quoted Greek to proceed in a massive and regular way to the sending of populations to found new establishments: the colonies in general are distinguished, when the foundation takes place on a new territory, resulting from a conquest, and the clérouquies, when the foundation is done on the part confiscated of the territory of an ally after the repression of a revolt. The distinction between the two is not however always clear in the sources. Some clérouquies are founded with the request even allies which secure the Athenian military aid thus when they feel threatened.

The territory of a clérouquie always belongs to the city of Athens, which concedes usufruct of it only with some of its citizens, who although sent, thus preserve their Athenian citizenship. The allowance, by drawing lot, of a batch of clerouchic ground ( klèros ) thus allows part of the stripped citizens, members of the last class Cens itaire, the Thètes, to reach the property: they at the same time come to enlarge the rows of the Hoplites.

The function of the clérouquies is thus triple:

It makes it possible to reduce the demographic pressure in Attique by exporting part of the civic population poorest;
the new owners constitute as many new hoplites, which thus increases significantly the military capacity of the city;
These new military colonies constitute as many garrisons of crucial importance in the maintenance of the Athenian empire.

These three objectives are clearly established in the policy of Périclès, such as it is brought back by Plutarque ( Périclès , 11,5-6):

“It also sent 1000 clérouques in Chersonèse, 500 with Naxos, half of this number with Andros, 1000 in Thrace to live among the Bisaltes, and others in Italy, when Sybaris was recolonisée, and that it was named Thourioi. Of this way, it reduced the city of its idle crowd, which was made up troublemakers because they had the leisure of it, and it relieved poverty of the people; and by sending colonists food to the sides of the allies, it founded at the same time the fear and the garrison suitable to prevent their rebellion. ”

The military role of the clérouquies was not limited to the control of the main allies of Athens, but also included/understood the monitoring of the transportation routes, and in particular of the minor road of corn of Scythie whose importance was vital for the supply of the city: the clérouquies of Skyros, Lemnos, Imbros, and of Chersonèse constitute as many stages on this road. But of others were installed with Naxos, Andros, Hestiaia, Chalcis, Mytilène, in Thrace with Éion, Potidée, Sinope, Amisos, Milo, Brea.

The installation of a clérouquie on the territory of an ally often involved the reduction of the tribute which was due: Chersonèse sees his thus passing it from 18 talent S in 453 to less than 3 talents in 446, while Andros pays 12 more talents in 450, but only 6 in 449, whereas the creation of the clérouquies would respectively date there 447 and 450.

For as much, the clérouques ones were far from being popular near the allies, since these garrisons constituted the permanent demonstration of the restriction of their freedom. After the final defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War, the clérouques ones return in Attic and the clérouquies are logically dismantled, except Imbros, Skyros and Lemnos, which lose any bond with Athens temporarily. But the Athenians learn lesson from the unpopularity of this institution: also, when in 378 they set up the Second confederation Athenian, the decree founder of alliance (IG II 43) prohibited implicitly the creation of military colonies on the territory of the allies. Consequently, apart from the three clérouquies of the road of the straits, recognized again in Athens since 386, the new Athenian maritime empire does not rest on this type of garrison. The situation somewhat changes into 366 with the favor of a hardening of the Athenian foreign politics which involves the re-creation of a clérouquie with Samos, and of another in Potidée. In 353, it is with the turn of Sestos in Chersonèse to receive an establishment of this type. The defeat of Chéronée in 338 against Philippe II of Macedonia puts an end again to these attempts.

Egypt lagide

The Ptolémée S adapted in their kingdom the system of the clérouquie to solve the problem of the maintenance with a standing army. The clerouchic ground ( Ge klèrouchikè ) thus constitutes the part of the grounds of the kingdom alienated in the form of tenure conceded with the soldiers in exchange of their services. The size of the conceded batches ( klèroi ) varies considerably according to the rank of the soldier but also according to the unit in which it is useful. The clérouques ones are distributed between indigenous villages and place at the inhabitant, but do not cultivate therefore their batch, with which they are satisfied to perceive the income. In theory, tenure is not hereditary and the batch must turn over to the royal field with dead of its holder. But actually, it is well a hereditary system, for the military service as for the clerouchic tenure, which is set up.

In the beginning, the clérouques ones are initially the Greek Macedonians and mercenaries, but this limitation falls at the end from because of the difficulty of recruitment.

Random links: