Internal Borders: Administrative Divisions within the Polis

This paper examines the question of internal borders within the Greek polis with particular attention to the case of Attica and the boundaries of its demes. It explores how these internal boundaries were recognised, marked, and invested with meaning through social and administrative practices. This perspective is closely intertwined with the interpretation of the nature of the Cleisthenic deme itself, a subject of longstanding scholarly debate between those who regard the deme primarily as a community of citizens and those who understand it as a territorially defined administrative unit.