Synoikismos roughly means "dwelling together" in Greek. In the history of ancient Greece, this term refers to the political process by which a group of villages and settlements united to form a polis. In the poleis, the synoikistes was the person who, according to local tradition, performed the synoikismos, either through his personal influence or by conquest, and subsequently was worshipped as a demi-god. The most notable synoikistes was the mythic or legendary Theseus, who united Attica under the leadership of Athens.
