Attica

Attica (ăt`ĭkə), 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.

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Attica

 Greek Attiki

Ancient district, eastern central Greece. It was bordered by the Aegean Sea on the south and east and included the island of Salamis; its chief cities were Athens, Piraeus, and Eleusis. Its coastal settlements were enriched by maritime trade. Originally inhabited by Pelasgians, it was a center of Mycenaean culture in the 2nd millennium BC; the Ionian Greeks invaded it c. 1300 BC. The territory was unified under Athens by 700 BC, traditionally through the efforts of King Theseus.

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Attica

a region and department of E central Greece: in ancient times the territory of Athens. Capital: Athens. Pop.: 3 336 700 (2001). Area: 14 157 sq. km (5466 sq. miles)

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Attica

well-known prison in Attica, New York; remembered for its riot (1971). [Am. Hist.: NCE, 182]

See : Imprisonment

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Attica

city in New York housing state prison; one of the worst prison riots in American history occurred there (1971). [Am. Hist.: NCE, 182]

See : Riot