Asty ( Greek: ἄστυ; Ancient Greek: [ásty]) is an ancient Greek word denoting the physical space of a city or town, especially as opposed to the political concept of a polis, which encompassed the entire territory and citizen body of a city-state. [1] A similar distinction exists in Latin between urbs and civitas.
In Classical Athens, the term was used specifically for the urban demoi of Attica, as opposed to the inland ( mesogeia) and coastal ( paralia) demoi that comprised each of the ten Attic tribes. [1] Despite their name, most of the demoi of the asty were rural in character. [1] Comprising about 42 of the 139 demoi of the Athenian state, they provided about 130 bouleutai in the 500-strong boule. [1] However, due to their proximity to the city of Athens, they were over-represented in the institutions of the Athenian democracy; in surviving records, the names of the bouleutai from the asty are mentioned 1.5 to 2 times as often as those from the rest of Attica. [1]