The Athenians of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, during the age of Athenian Empire, claimed with pride to be an autochthonous nation that had never changed their place of habitation.[11][12] According to Thucydides, Attica, where Athens is located, had known few migrations due to the poverty of the soil.[13] They had personified their autochthony in the form of Erechtheus or Cecrops I and wore golden tettiges,[14] or cicada-shaped ornaments in their hair as a token representing their belief that, like cicadas, Athenians were born from the soil and thus had always lived in Attica.[15][16] This also served as another link between Athena and Athens, as Erechtheus was believed to have been raised by Athena.[17]
Separate from the political ideology of autochthonism, this concept of Athenian autochthony has been linked to the rise of Athenian democracy. In contrast to the previous regime of Tyrants and Oligarchs, and their strict power hierarchies, autochthony was as an argument for democracy and egalitarianism. All Athenians were earth-brothers and thus deserved to have equal access to political power.[18]
