Page:The City-State of the Greeks and Romans.djvu/62

38 these subdivisions of the city to be the same in origin with the village community; for he speaks of the inhabitants of a as being, a word which we know was later applied to the members proper of an Athenian ; and in another passage he uses the words in almost the same sense, or with a distinction which is not obvious to us. "A city," he says, "is a union of and  for a perfect and sufficient life."

What was the nature of these gentes and as subdivisions of the population of a city? How far do they show any of those characteristics which we find in the village community? Let us notice to begin with that they were not political divisions, either at Athens or Rome; and if we knew anything of them as they existed in other States, we should probably find the same to hold good everywhere. And this means, that they were not associations which had been created after the City-State came into existence, with the object of helping it to perform its work as a political corporation, in matters of taxation or administration; they were strictly private associations within the State, and we can conceive of no reason why they should have grown up after the beginning of the State, nor have we any historical trace of such an origin for them. With