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http://agathe.gr/guide/introduction.html Introduction Classical Athens saw the rise of an achievement unparalleled in history. Perikles, Aeschylus, Sophokles, Plato, Demosthenes, Thucydides, and Praxiteles represent just a few of the statesmen ... Throughout antiquity Athens was adorned with great public buildings, financed first by its citizens, and later with gifts from Hellenistic kings and Roman emperors. ... The excavated buildings, monuments, and small objects (Fig. 2) illustrate the important role it played in all aspects of civic life. The council chamber (Bouleuterion), public office buildings (Royal Stoa, South Stoa I) and archives (Metroon) have all been explored. |
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 ... 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 up of two long stoas with a third building linking them (Fig. 38). Of the Classical buildings, the Aiakeion and Southwest Fountain House were incorporated, South Stoa I was demolished, and the Southeast Fountain House and Mint were left out. ... Watercolor of the restored upper parts of the Middle Stoa, mid-2nd century B.C., showing the colors used to decorate this and most Greek buildings. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/southwest_fountain_house.html Southwest Fountain House Closer to the agora proper a row of five public buildings lined the south side of the square in the Classical period (Fig. 29, 36). They comprise several important monuments, though ... Southwest Fountain House Closer to the agora proper a row of five public buildings lined the south side of the square in the Classical period (Fig. 29, 36). ... Cutaway view of the Archaic and Classical buildings along the south side of the Agora. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/tholos.html Tholos The south half of the west side was given over to the major administrative buildings used to run the Athenian democracy (Fig. 14). The buildings are poorly preserved, but the identifications are ... Tholos The south half of the west side was given over to the major administrative buildings used to run the Athenian democracy (Fig. 14). The buildings are poorly preserved, but the identifications are secure thanks to the account of the traveler Pausanias, who visited Athens in the years around A.D. 150. ... Plan of the administrative buildings at the south end of the west side of the Agora. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/late_roman_fortification_wall.html Late Roman Fortification Wall East of the East Building and Mint we arrive once again at the Panathenaic Way, which in this area is lined along its eastern side by a massive wall built in the 3rd century ... The wall is made up almost entirely of reused architectural pieces taken from buildings and monuments destroyed by the Herulians: marble architrave blocks, Ionic and Doric columns, inscriptions, and statue bases were all used to make two solid faces, while the interior was filled with rubble. ... A.D. 280–290, with many reused architectural blocks from buildings destroyed by the Herulians in A.D. 267. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/democracy.html Introduction Classical Athens saw the rise of an achievement unparalleled in history. Perikles, Aischylos, Sophokles, Plato, Demosthenes, and Praxiteles represent just a few of the statesmen and philosophers, ... Around the sides of this great square, the Athenians built most of their civic buildings; hence the Agora became the center of the Athenian democracy. ... In 500 B.C., soon after the Kleisthenic reforms, new buildings were added. ... The buildings shown on the model served in one form or another for the next several generations. |
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 ... Here administrative, political, judicial, commercial, social, cultural, and religious activities all found a place together in the heart of Athens, and the square was surrounded by the public buildings necessary to run the Athenian government. These buildings, along with monuments and small objects, illustrate the important role it played in all aspects of public life. ... Administrative buildings and small sanctuaries were built, and water was made available at a fountainhouse fed by an early aqueduct. |
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 ... Plan of the buildings at the southeast corner of the Agora. |
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 ... The present remains date to the mid-2nd century B.C. and overlie traces of earlier public buildings, including the Old Bouleuterion. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/lawcourts.html Lawcourts Underlying the north end of the Stoa of Attalos are the slight remains of a group of buildings dating to the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. (Fig. 50). Largely open courtyards, they seem to have served ... Lawcourts Underlying the north end of the Stoa of Attalos are the slight remains of a group of buildings dating to the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. |
http://agathe.gr/overview/the_old_excavation_house.html The Old Excavation House The photograph below, taken in June of 1939, illustrates the extent of the Agora Excavations during the first eight years. The so-called Old Excavation House, located at Asteroskopeiou ... All of the antiquities that had been found to date were stored in these buildings. Planning for the construction of a museum to properly display the important pieces and to house the enormous quantity of excavated material had already begun by 1939, but all work at the excavation was suspended in the spring of 1940 due to the start of World War II. |
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 ... Plan of the buildings along the west side of the Agora as they would have appeared in ca. 100 B.C. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/southeast_fountain_house.html Southeast Fountain House The slight traces just south of the Church of the Holy Apostles have been identified as the remains of an early fountain house (Figs. 33, 34). The identification is based on a ... The fountain is one of the earliest public buildings in the Agora, and the fact that water was piped to this specific spot suggests that the area was being deliberately developed to accommodate large numbers of people. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/stoa_poikile.html Stoa Poikile Across modern Hadrian Street are the most recent excavations (2003), along the north side of the square. Here have been revealed the remains of another large stoa, identified on the basis ... The Stoa Poikile, one of the most famous buildings of Athens, took its name from a series of handsome panel paintings that adorned it. ... The stoa, unlike many of the buildings of the Agora, was a true public building, with no one official, group, or function claiming priority for its use. |
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 ... (Herodotos 1.153) A gradual change from private to public land seems to have occurred during the middle of the 6th century, and the first certain public buildings or monuments (Southeast Fountain House [15], Altar of the Twelve Gods [2]) were erected in the 520s, during the tyranny of the Peisistratids. ... The Persian destruction of 480/79 left the city a shambles, but the buildings in the Agora were repaired and many more were added in the 5th and 4th centuries to accommodate the Athenian democracy at its height. ... The area was given over to a variety of large villas in the 4th and 5th centuries A.D. The buildings show the effects of further barbarian incursions: Visigoths under Alaric in A.D. 395, the Vandals in the 470s, and the Slavs in 582/3. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/history_of_the_excavations.html History of the Excavations Some of the Agora monuments have never been fully buried and were explored by the Archaeological Society starting in the 19th century: the Stoa of Attalos (1859–1862, 1874, and ... The trench for the extension of the Athens–Piraeus railway in 1890–1891 also exposed remains of buildings and sculptures. |
http://agathe.gr/guide/royal_stoa.html Royal Stoa On the west side, lying just south of the Panathenaic Way, are the remains of the Royal Stoa (Stoa Basileios), one of the earliest and most important of the public buildings of Athens (Figs ... Royal Stoa On the west side, lying just south of the Panathenaic Way, are the remains of the Royal Stoa (Stoa Basileios), one of the earliest and most important of the public buildings of Athens (Figs. 61, 62). |
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 ... Around its edges stood the buildings needed to run the democracy: the Council House (Bouleuterion), magistrates’ headquarters, archives, mint, lawcourts, and civic offices. |
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 ... Second, markers were needed to define what was public land, to prevent encroachment by private buildings. Figure 23. |
http://agathe.gr/overview/the_notebooks.html The Notebooks The process of excavating an archaeological site is essentially destructive but the irrevocable features are preserved in a notebook. The excavator records his thoughts and observations, ... Fragments of many sculptures and architectural pieces were found in the walls of the buildings that were being demolished. |
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 ... (Athenaeus, Deipnosophistai 14.640 b-c) The court buildings themselves seem to have been large colonnaded structures where the hundreds of jurors could be accommodated on wooden benches. ... Other public buildings are also known to have been used for court sessions. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/athenian_citizenship.html Athenian Citizenship The government of ancient Athens concerned itself with many aspects of the lives of its citizens. In the pure democracy of Athens the government was not only of the people and for ... These material remains, as illustrated here, fall into several classes: records inscribed on marble or lead, currency, standard weights and measures, paraphernalia of the lawcourts, tokens, ostraka, and buildings. Most important of these, perhaps, are the laws and other records published on stone for the ancient Athenians themselves. |
http://agathe.gr/publications/guide_books.html Guide Books In a newly revised version of this popular site guide, the current director of excavations in the Athenian Agora gives a brief account of the history of the ancient center of Athens. The text ... Famous buildings like the Tholos or Stoa of Attalos are discussed in detail, but also lesser-known areas, passed over by other books, are revealed. |
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 ... Civic buildings on the west side of the Agora, from the southeast. 15. Model of the public buildings on the west side of the Agora. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_boule.html The Boule (The Senate) The Athenian legislature also included a deliberative body known as the Boule. It was made up of 500 members -- 50 from each of the 10 tribes -- who were chosen by lot and served ... Like most Athenian public buildings, the Bouleuterion was under the protection of the gods. |
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 ... The image was taken on the afternoon of May 25, 1931, and illustrates the work accomplished during the first day of excavations in Section Ε. The buildings on the west side of the Agora had been demolished in preparation for excavation, resulting in an unobstructed view from the Church of Panagia Vlassarou toward the Hephaisteion. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/sources_and_documents.html Sources and Documents Our understanding of the workings and history of Athenian democracy comes from a variety of sources. Most useful, perhaps, are the ancient literary texts that survive, many of which ... It stood in a central location among the public buildings of the city, next to the Bouleuterion. |
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 ... The circular shape of the Tholos is unusual among public buildings in the Agora. |
http://agathe.gr/democracy/state_religion.html State Religion: The Archon Basileus There was no attempt in Classical Athens to separate church and state. Altars and shrines were intermingled with the public areas and buildings of the city. A single ... Altars and shrines were intermingled with the public areas and buildings of the city. |
http://agathe.gr/overview/contact.html Staff and Contact Information The Agora Excavations offices are located within the ancient Agora archaeological site, on the upper floor of the Stoa of Attalos. The offices in the Stoa of Attalos are open ... The superimposition of many generations of buildings, ancient to modern in as much as eight meters of archaeological context inevitably requires the dismantling of later structures to reveal earlier ones, consequently the drawn architectural record assumes a unique importance as a record of the evolving human built environment of Athens. |
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 texts illustrated include diplomatic agreements, commemorative plaques for athletic victories, records of court judgements, boundary stones identifying different buildings, and fragmentary inscriptions featuring names (over 30,000 individual Athenians are now recorded). ... The different parts of monumental buildings, from the foundations to the tile roofs, are all discussed with clear drawings to indicate how the whole was constructed. ... Every kind of case, from assault and battery to murder, and from small debts to contested fortunes, were heard in various buildings and spaces around the civic center, and the speeches given in defence and prosecution remain some of the masterpieces of Greek literature. |
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 ... Each volume covers a particular chronological period, set of buildings, or class of material culture. ... At the end of the 5th century, a group of public buildings was constructed, perhaps to house some of the lawcourts. ... Part II discusses the buildings which could have served as courts and the objects found in them. |
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