[Agora Webpage] Birth of Democracy: The Popular Courts

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 ... For since parties to a controversy could not get satisfaction from the laws, the result was that they always wanted jurors to decide it, and every dispute was laid before them, so that they were in a manner masters of the laws. ... (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. ... We can infer that the evidence in this pot was used not only at public arbitration but at the trial as well.

[Agora Webpage] Overview: The Site before Excavation

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 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. ... Marble Giants, (c.) Stoa of Attalos, (d.) railroad, (e.) ... The Stoa of Attalos (c) was cleared of debris by the Greek Archaeological Society in 1859/1862 and 1898/1902, the extension of the Athens/Piraeus railroad (d) cut through the northern part of the site in 1890/1, and other areas (e.g., e) were opened up by German and Greek archaeologists in 1896/7 and 1907/8.

[Agora Webpage] Overview: The Excavations

http://agathe.gr/overview/the_excavations.html

The Excavations Excavations in the Athenian Agora by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens commenced in 1931 under the supervision of T. Leslie Shear. The systematic excavation of this important ... Negotiations began in 1925, soon after the Greek parliament voted not to undertake the project itself, largely because of the huge costs of expropriation. ... A drawing of the house lots in the area to be excavated: (a) Section ΟΕ, excavated by the German Archaeological Institute; (b) Athens/Piraeus railroad; (c) Giants and Tritons; (d) Section ΣΑ, Stoa of Attalos; (e) Section Ε, demolition of houses begun April 20, 1931, excavations begun May 25, 1931; (f ) Section Α, demolition of houses begun May 28, 1931; (g) Section ΣΤ, demolition of houses begun August 17, 1931; (h) Church of the Holy Apostles.

[Agora Webpage] Publications: Picture Books

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 ... Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside The Middle Ages in the Athenian Agora Author: Frantz, A.Publication Date: 1961ISBN: 0876616074Picture Book: 7 The story of the Agora did not end in A.D. 267, when the Herulians invaded the city. ... The author not only sheds new light on the great philosopher’s life, but also provides a vivid reconstruction, through following the career of one of its most famous citizens, of daily life at the center of classical Athens. ... The highlight of the city’s festival calendar, with its musical, athletic, and equestrian contests, tribal events, processions, sacrifices, and other activities, the Greater Panathenaia involved all the residents of Athens—not just adult males but women, children, metics (resident aliens), foreigners, and even slaves.