What does cleruch mean?
A cleruch was a citizen of ancient Athens who received an allotment of land, known as a kleros, in a territory conquered or controlled by Athens, most commonly during the fifth century BCE. Unlike ordinary colonists, who founded new poleis and gave up their citizenship, the cleruch retained full Athenian civic status while living abroad, making the settlement — a cleruchy — a direct extension of the Athenian state. Cleruchies served several purposes at once: they relieved population pressure and poverty at home, rewarded poorer citizens with farmland, and garrisoned strategically important regions such as Salamis, Euboea, and Chalcis, helping Athens hold its empire together. The word derives from the Greek klēros, meaning 'lot' or 'allotment', the same root that ultimately gives us 'clerk' and 'clergy'. Today 'cleruch' appears almost entirely in classical scholarship and historical writing about the Athenian empire.
nounA citizen of ancient Athens who was granted an allotment of land in a conquered or subject territory, retaining Athenian citizenship while settling abroad; such settlements were known as cleruchies.
- An Athenian citizen granted an allotment (kleros) of land in a subject or allied territory while retaining Athenian citizenship.
"As a cleruch on Salamis, he kept his Athenian citizenship while farming land once held by the island's original inhabitants."
"The assembly voted to send two thousand cleruchs to settle the fertile plains of Euboea."
"Each cleruch drew lots for his allotment, but remained liable for military service as an Athenian citizen."
Standard plural; the Latinate form 'cleruchi' occurs occasionally in older scholarly writing.
"The cleruchs of Chalcis were expelled when Athens lost the region."
Ancient Athens solved overpopulation by shipping citizens overseas to farm confiscated land — and those settlers were called cleruchs.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cleruch
From Greek klērouchos, formed from klēros ('lot, allotment of land') plus -ouchos ('holder'), so literally 'allotment-holder'. The root klēros also underlies 'cleruchy', the name for the settlement itself, and, via a different semantic path through Latin clericus, English words like 'clerk' and 'clergy'. The term entered English through Latinized scholarly usage during the early modern period as classical texts were studied and translated.
Related word forms
How cleruch is actually used
A scholarly term used almost exclusively in discussions of ancient Greek history and classical studies; rare outside academic writing.
Easily confused with cleruch
A cleric is a member of the clergy, whereas a cleruch was an Athenian citizen-farmer settled on allotted land abroad.