Acharnai was the largest and most densely populated deme in Attica. It belonged to the Oineis tribe and it was situated 60 stadia (10 km) northwest of Athens.

The area of Acharnai seems to have been a prominent one during the Late Bronze Age, as the presence of an elaborate tholos tomb indicates (ca. 1300 BCE). The tomb was the focus of a hero cult throughout the Early Iron Age, and up until the Classical period.

The nucleus of the Classical settlement was located on a hill at the foot of Mount Parnis. It was here that two very important temples stood; one dedicated to Ares and one dedicated to Athena Areia.

Acharnai was a rich deme, with its economy based on agriculture. The majority of the population were farmers, who were growing grain, grapes and olives. In addition, some of the Acharnians worked as coal burners, a fact which is put to comic use by Aristophanes in his comedy The Acharnians. Due to its huge population, the deme could deploy 3,000 hoplites in case of an emergency.

The deme faced one major catastrophe in the summer of 431 BCE, when it was burnt to the ground by the Spartan army.

Do you want to see a summary of Aristophanes' The Acharnians? Click here: http://www.theatrehistory.com/ancient/bates024.html

Did you know that 1035 personal names associated with Acharnai are known today? For more information visit the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names (LGPN): http://www.lgpn.ox.ac.uk/index.html