phrātriai

phrātriai (‘brotherhoods’, phratries), at Athens and other Greek cities, groups of related families (or at least in theory related), in existence from earliest times. In historical times each phratry consisted of a noble family and its dependants who all shared in the family cult and claimed descent from a common ancestor, often calling themselves by a name formed from his. The phratries were a major political force until the end of the sixth century BC, when their power in that sphere was broken by the reforms of Cleisthenēs (2). After this the phratries seem to have covered the whole citizen body, chiefly as religious and social organizations.