[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Introduction

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Middle Stoa

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Southwest Fountain House

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Tholos

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Late Roman Fortification Wall

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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.

[Agora Webpage] Birth of Democracy: Democracy

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.

[Agora Webpage] Overview: The Archaeological Site

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: South Stoa II

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Metroon

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Lawcourts

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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.

[Agora Webpage] Overview: The Old Excavation House

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Southeast Fountain House

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Stoa Poikile

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: History of the Agora

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: History of the Excavations

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Royal Stoa

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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).

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 4 2004: The Agora and Pnyx

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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.

[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Boundary Stones and House of Simon the Cobbler

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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.

[Agora Webpage] Overview: The Notebooks

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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.