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http://agathe.gr/democracy/standard_weights_and_measures.html Standard Weights and Measures The Controllers of Measures (Metronomoi) have also left us many samples of their work. One set of bronze weights (34), inscribed as standard weights of the Athenians, are ... The large unit (stater), weighing nearly two pounds, is designated by a knucklebone, the quarter by a shield, and the sixth by a turtle. ... Countermarked lead weight, fourth century B.C. A lead weight (35), with an amphora symbol and a legend marking it as one-third of the stater, belongs to a somewhat later period. This weight, which may have been used in a shop, has been stamped by the Controllers of Measures with their official seal, depicting the seated statue of a god. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/theater.html Theater Western drama was an Athenian invention which developed late in the 6th century B.C. out of the festivals celebrated in honor of the god Dionysos. Originally held in the Agora, the plays were soon ... The mask is life-size but was probably not used as a mask but as a votive gift to be hung on a wall. ... The mold shows a masked woman lying on a couch, a wreath in her right hand. ... Mold for a statuette of a seated slave, about 35O B.C. |
http://agathe.gr/overview/the_card_catalog.html The Card Catalog A card catalog system has been used since the beginning of the excavations to record the important information related to inventoried objects. Lucy Talcott, one of the original members ... The Card Catalog A card catalog system has been used since the beginning of the excavations to record the important information related to inventoried objects. ... The catalog card became the most important link to all the relevant data concerning an object and has only recently been replaced by a digital database. Recent record shot of A 1, the first architectural find to be cataloged Catalog Card for A 1. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/metroon.html Metroon (Archives) The Metroon served two functions; it was both a sanctuary of the Mother of the Gods and the archive building of the city, a repository of official records (Fig. 19). The present remains ... Metroon (Archives) The Metroon served two functions; it was both a sanctuary of the Mother of the Gods and the archive building of the city, a repository of official records (Fig. 19). ... The Hellenistic building had four rooms set side-by-side, united by a facade of fourteen Ionic columns. ... Figure 20. A dedicatory relief of the Mother of the Gods, 4th century B.C.; one of several dozen copies found in the Agora. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/solon_the_lawgiver.html Solon the Lawgiver By the early 6th century B.C. social tensions in Athens had become acute, pitting the poorer citizens against rich and powerful landowners. Many citizens were reduced to the status of ... The hippeis (knights), those who could afford the expense of maintaining a horse and whose property produced 300 medimnoi a year. ... Ownership of horses required a certain degree of wealth and allowed the man who owned them to assume a role in defending the city as a member of a fighting cavalry, the knights. ... The zeugitai (teamsters), those who maintained a pair of oxen for plowing and whose land produced 200 medimnoi a year Terracotta figure of a pair of oxen driven by a man, 6th century B.C. |
http://agathe.gr/overview/photography.html Photography A photograph made using the traditional silver halide process is a visual record largely unaltered by the photographer. It is this quality of capturing a mirrored image of the scene that lends ... Photography A photograph made using the traditional silver halide process is a visual record largely unaltered by the photographer. It is this quality of capturing a mirrored image of the scene that lends itself to archaeological photography. ... Leslie Shear, director of the excavations and an accomplished photographer, was caught recording the discovery of a herm (S 33). “In 5/A at -2.50 was found a herm lying on its side; it had formed the support of a large statue of a draped woman? |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_speakers.html The Speakers Litigants spoke on their own behalf, although occasionally using speeches prepared by trained professionals; skillful rhetoric was necessary in order to sway a jury. The speeches written by ... Demosthenes' skills as a public speaker in the assembly were honed by training and considerable self-discipline: They say that when he was still a young man he withdrew into a cave and studied there, shaving half of his head to keep himself from going out; also that he slept on a narrow bed in order to get up quickly and that since he could not pronounce the sound of R he learned to do so by hard work, and since in declaiming for practice he made an awkward movement with his shoulder, he put an end to the habit by fastening a split or, as some say, a dagger from the ceiling to make him through fear keep his shoulder motionless. ... The clay fragment preserves the base and part of the wall of a deep bowl. It is identified as part of a waterclock by the clay spout fitted with a small bronze inner tube just above the base. ... Photograph of a reconstructed waterclock in action. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/east_building.html East Building Running southward from the east end of the Middle Stoa is the East Building. Its eastern half takes the form of a long hall with a marble chip floor and stone slabs designed to carry wooden ... Its eastern half takes the form of a long hall with a marble chip floor and stone slabs designed to carry wooden furniture, presumably tables (Fig. 40). The furniture supports are perhaps best interpreted as holding bankers’ or money changers’ tables and suggest that the South Square served a primarily commercial function. The western half of the building consisted of four rooms and a stairway designed to take people down to the lower (ground) level of the South Square. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/ostracism.html Ostracism In addition to the legal assassination condoned in the Law against Tyranny, a less extreme method was also available for removing powerful but dangerous men from public life. This was a formal, ... This was a formal, regular vote for exile, known as ostracism. Each year the Assembly decided whether a vote of ostracism should be held. If a majority of the quorum of 6,000 citizens voted affirmatively, the day was set and at that time a large open area of the Agora was fenced off. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_prytaneis.html The Prytaneis (Executive Committee) The senators administered their meetings themselves. Each tribal contingent in the Boule served in rotation for a period of 35 or 36 days as the Prytaneis, or Executive ... Fragment Of a marble relief showing a banquet, 4th century B.C. ... On the right, a man reclines on a couch behind a table. A woman sits on a stool nearby, with another male figure on the left. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_jury.html The Jury The jurors for each trial were chosen from a large body of citizens available for jury duty for the period of one year. At the beginning of the year, each juror was given a bronze pinakion, a ... At the beginning of the year, each juror was given a bronze pinakion, a plaque that had his name, father's name, and deme (and therefore tribe) inscribed on it. ... Along the side of the machine was a hollow bronze tube, with a funnel at the top and a crank at the bottom. ... A turn of the crank at the bottom produced a single ball. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_ekklesia.html The Ekklesia (Citizens' Assembly) All Athenian citizens had the right to attend and vote in the Ekklesia, a full popular assembly which met about every 10 days. All decrees (psephismata) were ratified ... The Ekklesia (Citizens' Assembly) All Athenian citizens had the right to attend and vote in the Ekklesia, a full popular assembly which met about every 10 days. All decrees (psephismata) were ratified by the Ekklesia before becoming law. As a rule, the Ekklesia met at its own special meeting place known as the Pnyx, a large theater-shaped area set into the long ridge west of the Acropolis. ... Decorated with various images-a bow, a cow, a dolphin, crossed torches, rosette, Nike, a ship, as well as letters (E or K) - these small tokens were turned in for pay, allowing poor citizens to participate without losing a day's wages. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/aiakeion.html Aiakeion Immediately to the east are the poor remains of a large square enclosure, open to the sky and measuring about 30 meters on a side. Built in the early 5th century, at the command of the oracle ... Aiakeion Immediately to the east are the poor remains of a large square enclosure, open to the sky and measuring about 30 meters on a side. Built in the early 5th century, at the command of the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, it was dedicated to Aiakos, a hero of the island of Aegina. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/odeion_of_agrippa.html Odeion of Agrippa Late in the 1st century B.C. the Athenians were given money for a new marketplace by Caesar and Augustus, and the northern half of the old Agora square was filled with two new structures, ... It was a huge two-storeyed structure that must have dominated the square (Fig. 52). ... It was surrounded on three sides by a cryptoporticus (subterranean colonnaded hall) at the lower level, with stoas above. ... It was rebuilt in the early 5th century A.D. as part of a sprawling complex, perhaps a palace, with numerous rooms, a bath, and several courtyards, which extended southward all the way across the old South Square (Fig. 55). |
http://agathe.gr/guide/library_of_pantainos.html Library of Pantainos Lying partially under and behind the Late Roman wall are the remains of a building identified by its inscribed marble lintel block as the Library of Pantainos, dedicated to Athena ... It consists of a large square room and a paved courtyard, surrounded by three stoas that had shops behind their colonnades. ... The dedicator, Titus Flavius Pantainos, was the son of the head of a philosophical school and refers to himself as a priest of the philosophical muses. A second inscription preserves the library rules: "No book is to be taken out because we have sworn an oath. |
http://agathe.gr/overview/the_archaeological_site.html The Athenian Agora The Agora of Athens was the center of the ancient city: a large, open square where the citizens could assemble for a wide variety of purposes. On any given day the space might be used ... The Athenian Agora The Agora of Athens was the center of the ancient city: a large, open square where the citizens could assemble for a wide variety of purposes. On any given day the space might be used as a market, or for an election, a dramatic performance, a religious procession, military drill, or athletic competition. ... Early Geometric jewelry found in a burial. Used as a burial ground and for scattered habitation in the Bronze and Iron Ages, the area was first laid out as a public space in the 6th century B.C. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/stoa_of_zeus_eleutherios.html Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios Lying just south of the railroad tracks, along the west side, are the remains of the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios (Freedom) (Figs. 8, 9). This cult of Zeus was established after the ... Though dedicated to a god, the building takes the form commonly used for a civic building: a stoa (colonnade or portico), with two projecting wings. ... According to Pausanias it was decorated with paintings done by Euphranor, a famous 4th-century artist, and the shields of those who died fighting for the freedom of Athens were displayed on the building. Rooms were added to the back of the stoa in the Early Roman period and may have housed a cult of the Roman emperors. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_athenian_army.html The Athenian Army From the very beginning, the Athenians were compelled to fight for their new democracy. Their dramatic victories over the Boiotians and Chalkidians in 506 B.C. led many to attribute Athenian ... They went into battle protected by a helmet, breastplate, and greaves (shin guards), carrying a large round shield and long thrusting spear. ... Recovered from a well in the northwest corner of the Agora, this lead strip carries an inscription recording the registration of a horse. On one side is the name of the owner, Konon; on the other a description of the horse, a chestnut, with a centaur brand, as well as its price, 700 drachmas. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/women.html The Unenfranchised I - Women Numerous people resident in Athens and Attica had little part in the political life of the state. Most glaring by modern standards was the exclusion of women, although a similar ... The fragment shows the upper part of a nude woman, probably reclining on cushions at a symposion. She holds a castanet in her left hand and wears disk earrings. She is probably a hetaira, or courtesan, a woman accomplished in the arts of music, conversation, and sex. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/south_stoa_ii.html South Stoa II South Stoa II ran westward from the south end of the East Building, parallel to the Middle Stoa (Figs. 38, 41). Dating to the second half of the 2nd century B.C., it consisted of a single ... Dating to the second half of the 2nd century B.C., it consisted of a single Doric colonnade of limestone, the superstructure reused from a building of the 4th century B.C. Its only adornment is a small fountain set into the back wall. |
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