A cleruchy (Greek: κληρουχία, klēroukhia) in Classical Greece, was a specialized type of colony established by Athens.
The settlers or cleruchs would retain their Athenian citizenship, and the community remained a political dependency of Athens – a position reinforced by installing institutions of local government based on Athenian models, such as the council on Samos.
[1] However, epigraphical evidence suggests that Athenian cleruchs were more commonly wealthy, and continued to live in Athens while slaves worked on their overseas estates.
[1] Cleruchies thereby became a significant source of private wealth in Athens – the 3,000 kleroi on Lesbos provided 100 talents a year, according to Thucydides.
Athens' system of cleruchies reached its height in the late fifth century, at which point it stretched as far east as Amisos on the Black Sea.