Agora

Agora, a Greek word meaning, in early times, “a gathering place” (Homer), later “marketplace,” is used in English particularly to denote the commercial and civic center of an ancient Greek city. [Page 8]The Latin equivalent of agora is forum. The functions of the agora were much more varied than the English translations of the term might suggest. Typically located in the geographical heart of a city, on low-lying ground below the acropolis (“high city”), the agora was a place where people came together for a great range of activities: not only commercial, but also political, religious, and social. The overall layout of an agora followed no specific design. In cities of remote origins and long history, such as Athens, the agora developed gradually over centuries, its buildings and monuments placed according to the needs of a particular time. By the later Hellenistic and Roman periods, such city centers must have seemed like architectural jumbles. In newly founded cities, such as Priene (from the fourth century BC), the agora could be neatly planned, typically a rectangular plaza lined with stoas (porticoed buildings).

The ancient Greeks developed specific building types to house functions routine in the agora, such as the stoa and the bouleuterion (council chamber). One would also see such structures as fountain houses (where people obtained fresh water) and temples. In addition, certain activities might take place in buildings or areas that seem generic; that is, their features do not reveal any specific purpose. Identifying what uses such buildings or spaces were put to thus becomes an archaeological puzzle.

The best known of the ancient Greek agoras is that of Athens. The reasons for this are two. First, the great majority of Greek texts known to us were written by Athenians. Books, essays, speeches, poems, plays (tragedies, comedies), and inscriptions (documents carved on stone, for the attention of the public) contain a wealth of information about the life of Athens, including its agora. Second, the Athenian Agora has been explored continuously since 1931 (except for the years of World War II and immediately after), through archaeological excavations conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. These excavations have uncovered an enormous richness of buildings, monuments, inscriptions, and objects. In addition, the findings have been well published, both for a scholarly audience and for the interested public. So important is the Athenian Agora for understanding the ancient Greek city center that the rest of this entry is devoted to it.

Agora in Athens

Source: Vasilis Gavrilis.