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http://agathe.gr/overview/the_site_before_excavation.html The Site before Excavation The Agora lies on sloping ground northwest of the Acropolis, below and east of the extraordinarily well-preserved Doric temple of Hephaistos, popularly known as the “Theseion” ... The Site before Excavation The Agora lies on sloping ground northwest of the Acropolis, below and east of the extraordinarily well-preserved Doric temple of Hephaistos, popularly known as the “Theseion” (a). ... The other ancient remains were not so well preserved, however, and their ruins lay as much as 8 meters below the modern surface, covered from the 10th century by an extensive neighborhood of private houses. ... In addition, as well as sharing all the logistical problems inherent in any large-scale urban excavation, the Agora site must be one of the few where a street and a railway divides the area of the excavations. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/boundary_stones_and_house_of_simon_the_cobbler.html Boundary Stones and House of Simon the Cobbler Inscribed marble posts were used to mark the entrances to the Agora wherever a street led into the open square. Two have been found in situ, inscribed with ... The limits of the square had to be well marked for two reasons. ... The evidence is circumstantial, but we may well have here the remains of one of Sokrates’ informal classrooms. |
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 ... 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. ... At the end of the year these records would become obsolete and could be reused or discarded, as in the case of this example found in a well. From the series of similar strips recovered in Athens we learn that the maximum assessment of a horse was 1,200 drachmas, well below the value of many horses and representing the maximum limit of the state's responsibility; the minimum amount was 500 drachmas. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/southwest_area.html Southwest Area - Industry and Houses Leaving the area of the boundary stone, one can head southwest up a valley leading toward the Pnyx, meeting place of the Athenian assembly. Here are the complex remains ... The date, location, and plan are all appropriate, though the building may equally well have served some commercial function. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/middle_stoa.html Middle Stoa The appearance of the south side of the Agora was radically changed during the 2nd century B.C. with the construction of several new buildings. This South Square, as it is called, was made ... At just under 150 meters long, it is the largest building in the Agora, with colonnades at both north and south as well as down the middle. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_agora_and_pnyx.html The Agora and Pnyx Center of public activity, the Agora was a large open square where all the citizens could assemble (2, 3). It was used for a variety of functions: markets, religious processions, athletic ... Boundary stones, such as the one shown below (4), indicate that the Agora had well-recognized geographical limits. 2. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/administration_and_bureaucracy.html Administration and Bureaucracy The economy of Athens was supervised by numerous boards of officials in charge of the mint, the marketplace, weights and measures, and the grain and water supplies. Most ... According to ancient sources, sets of official weights and measures were kept in Athens as well as at Piraeus and Eleusis. ... The cylindrical shape is well adapted both for emptying and leveling off. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/slaves_and_resident_aliens.html The Unenfranchised II - Slaves and Resident Aliens Also excluded from political participation were two other large segments of the population: slaves and metics (resident aliens). Slavery was common in ... With foreigners as with slaves, the Athenians were said to be more open than elsewhere: This, then, is why in the matter of free speech we have put slaves and free men on equal terms; we have also done the same for metics and citizens because the city needs metics because of the multiplicity of her industries and her fleet; that is why we were right to establish freedom of speech for metics as well. ("Xenophon," Constitution Of the Athenians 1.12). ... Exact figures are hard to come by; however, on any reckoning well under half the total adult population of the city participated in the Athenian democracy. |
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 ... Before large audiences comic poets such as Aristophanes filled their plays with stinging criticism of all the leading politicians of 5th-century Athens, as well as the assemblymen and jurors: They encourage personal attacks if anyone wished, knowing that the butts of comedy are not for the most part of the common people nor from the masses, but rich or noble or powerful; only a few of the poor, ordinary citizens are attacked in comedy, and they only because they meddle in everything or try to become too influential; therefore the people do not object even to the ridiculing of such men. ... Women were unknown on the Greek stage, where female roles were always taken by male actors, but by the time this mold was made, there is evidence that women performed publicly and may well have acted on the stage. |
http://agathe.gr/publications/picture_books.html Picture Books The Athenian Agora Picture Book series, started in 1951, aims to make information about life in the ancient commercial and political center of Athens available to a wide audience. Each booklet ... The booklet illustrates many different forms of amphora, all set into context by the well-written text. ... From financing to tools, and from mason’s marks to the clamps that held blocks together, no detail is ommitted in this well-illustrated text. ... I.Publication Date: 1985ISBN: 0876616279Picture Book: 22 As well as the Little Owl, or glaux, so often seen accompanying the goddess Athena, many other birds played an important role in Greek art and symbolism. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/monument_of_the_eponymous_heroes.html Monument of the Eponymous Heroes Across the street from the Metroon lie the remains of the Monument of the Eponymous Heroes (Fig. 21). When Kleisthenes created the democracy in 508/7 B.C., he assigned ... Cuttings in the sill show that the monument was refurbished on several occasions thereafter and these adjustments may well match changes in the tribal system itself. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/factional_politics.html Factional Politics: The Ostracism of Themistokles A group of ostraka found together in a pit on the North Slope of the Acropolis is of special interest. There were 190 ostraka, mostly the round feet of ... Three samples from each of four hands are represented in the 12 ostraka here; letter forms and sizes as well as incised lines show the characteristics of individual handwriting. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_athenian_navy.html The Athenian Navy With thousands of kilometers of coastline and hundreds of islands, the Greek world was likely to be dominated only by a naval power. A generation after the establishment of democracy ... Since, however, they have made this choice, I will demonstrate how well they preserve their constitution and handle the other affairs for which the rest of the Greeks criticize them. |
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, ... Philagros shouted and screamed that they were treating him badly in preventing him from using his own material; but he was not acquitted on a charge which was now well established. All this took place in the Agrippeion." |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_council_and_magistrates.html The Council and the Magistrates Like selection for military service, allotment to the Council was organized according to the division by tribes; 50 members from each tribe acted as a unit in the Council ... An inscription found nearby honors a committee appointed to renew bedding for having done its job well. Shopping lists of provisions and utensils scratched on potsherds were found in the neighborhood. ... Many decrees honor persons or groups for work well done. In this way the groups of 50 from each tribe who took their turn in the presidency (prytany) of the Council are often honored: “It seemed best to the Boule to praise the prytaneis of the tribe Pandionis for their piety to the gods and to praise their treasurer Philon son of Hegelochos of Paiania . . . and to crown him.” |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/sokrates.html Sokrates The philosopher Sokrates was one of many Athenians critical of the people and their control over affairs of state. His probing public debates with fellow citizens led to his trial for impiety ... I tried to persuade each one of you not to think more of practical advantages than of his mental and moral well-being, or in general to think more of advantage than of well-being in the case of the state or of anything else ... |
http://agathe.gr/publications/monographs.html Monographs Excavations in the civic and cultural center of classical Athens began in 1931 and have continued almost without interruption to the present day. The first Athenian Agora volumes presenting ... The index of authors gives dates and editions as well as passages and inscriptions cited, and is followed by an index of subjects. ... To the Greek deities of earlier times are added Oriental figures like Serapis, Isis, Harpokrates, Attis, as well as Egyptian priests and Asiatic dancers. ... All the important pieces are shown in photographs, as well as all complete vases and those with particular problems. |
http://agathe.gr/overview/the_stoa_of_attalos.html The Stoa of Attalos The Stoa of Attalos was originally built by King Attalos II of Pergamon (159–138 B.C.), as a gift to the Athenians in appreciation of the time he spent in Athens studying under the ... The first floor is used for the excavation offices, workrooms, and archives as well as for additional storage. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/practice_of_ostracism.html Ostracism Soon after their victory over the Persians at the battle of Marathon in 490 B.C., the Athenians began the practice of ostracism, a form of election designed to curb the power of any rising tyrant ... They preserve the names of all the well-known statesmen as well as several unknown aspirants to political power. |
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 dry measures are cylindrical vessels well adapted both for emptying and leveling off; one (37) holds about 1½ quarts; the other (38) about ¼ pint. 36. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/military_service.html Military Service After the 18-year-old was registered in his deme as a citizen and was approved by the Council, he entered military service as a young conscript (ephebe) with other members of his tribe ... Part of the cavalry archives consisting of assessment records of horses written on lead strips (9), lead tokens for the issuing of armor (10), and clay tokens serving to identify official messengers from specific officers have been found (11), all discarded down a well at the northwest corner of the square. |
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 ... 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/democracy/the_ten_new_tribes.html The Ten New Tribes Kleisthenes instituted a crucial reform, the reorganization of the citizenry into new administrative units called phylai (tribes). In his attempt to break up the aristocratic power structure, ... Privileges included access to common grazing land reserved for members of a tribe, as well as access to sacrifices and feasts held in honor of tribal heroes. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/history_of_the_agora.html History of the Agora The excavations of the Athenian Agora have uncovered about thirty acres on the sloping ground northwest of the Acropolis (Fig. 3). Material of all periods from the Late Neolithic to ... Several dozen wells reflect the position of houses and indicate that the area was given over to habitation as well. Figure 3. Panorama of the Agora viewed from the south, with the Hephaisteion (Theseion) at left and the restored Stoa of Attalos (museum) at right. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_popular_courts.html The Popular Courts The popular courts, with juries of no fewer than 201 jurors and as many as 2,500, heard a variety of cases. The courts also had an important constitutional role in wielding ultimate ... We can infer that the evidence in this pot was used not only at public arbitration but at the trial as well. Pot. Athens, Agora Museum P 14655. |
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 ... Decorated with various images-a bow, a cow, a dolphin, crossed torches, rosette, Nike, a ship, as well as letters (E or K), indicating the court to which the juror was assigned or a particular seating area within the court. |
http://agathe.gr/overview/the_staff.html The Archaeologists The First Generation The Agora Excavations staff and work force, 1933. Archaeologists, staff, foremen, and workmen gathered under the Hephaisteion for a group photograph. The staff of ... Young was posed sitting amidst stacks of pottery removed from a well (Deposit A 17:2) that were ready for sorting. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/tyranny.html Tyranny As happened in many other Greek states, a tyrant arose in Athens in the 6th century B.C. His name was Peisistratos, and after several unsuccessful attempts he seized power in 546 B.C. and ruled ... The inscription also records the names of two other well-known politicians active in the late 6th century B.C.: Miltiades, future hero of the battle of Marathon against the Persians, and Kleisthenes, later to be the initiator of democratic reforms. |
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