Paroikoi

Paroikoi (plural of Greek πάροικος, paroikos, the etymological origin of parish and parochial) is the term that replaced 'metic' in the Hellenistic and Roman period to designate foreign residents. In Asia Minor they were named katoikoi. In the Byzantine Empire, paroikoi were non-proprietary peasants, hereditary holders of their land, irremovable as long as they paid their rent. They appeared in the Justinian code, which prohibited this status; so it remained provisionally clandestine. Paroikoi (plural of Greek πάροικος, paroikos, the etymological origin of parish and parochial) is the term that replaced 'metic' in the Hellenistic and Roman period to designate foreign residents. In Asia Minor they were named katoikoi. In the Byzantine Empire, paroikoi were non-proprietary peasants, hereditary holders of their land, irremovable as long as they paid their rent. They appeared in the Justinian code, which prohibited this status; so it remained provisionally clandestine.