"Id","Name","dc-date","Chronology","dc-description","Type","Icon","dc-title","Collection","dc-publisher","dc-creator","Redirect","UserLevel","dc-subject"
"Agora:Webpage:84659c26ab84ff9bcddf85c7045cdae3","AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Tholos","","","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. Figure 14. Plan of the administrative buildings at the south end of the west side of the Agora. The Tholos, recognizable by its round shape, served as the headquarters of the prytaneis (executive committee) of the boule (senate of 500), according to Aristotle (Ath. Pol. 43.3). Here the fifty senators were fed at public expense, and at least seventeen spent the night in the building, available to deal with any emergency, whatever the hour. In a sense, then, the Tholos represents the heart of the Athenian democracy, where citizens serving as senators could be found on duty twenty-four hours a day. Figure 15. Model of the Tholos, ca. 470 B.C.; dining hall and the headquarters of the prytaneis (executive committee of the senate). Built around 470 B.C., the building was an unadorned drum, with six interior columns supporting a conical roof of large diamond-shape terracotta roof tiles (Fig. 15). The round form of the building is ill-suited for its primary function as a dining-hall and it may be that the usual Greek practice of reclining on couches during meals was abandoned here in favor of sitting on a simple bench. Wine jars and cups labeled as public property were found around the building (Fig. 16). Figure 16. Public dining ware found near the Tholos, 5th century B.C . The ligature delta/epsilon stands for demosion (public).","Webpage","","","Agora","","","http://agathe.gr/guide/tholos.html","",""
"Agora:Webpage:b519e5062f065cff49c135aa614d02a0","AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Royal Stoa","","","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). It served as the headquarters of the archon basileus (king archon), second in command of the Athenian government and the official responsible for religious matters and the laws. Here, inscribed copies of the full law code of Athens were on display, the annual oath of office was administered to all those about to serve the democracy (Fig. 63), and Sokrates was indicted for impiety in 399 B.C. The identification of the building is secure, thanks to Pausanias and two inscribed herm bases dedicated by king archons and found in situ on the steps of the building. Figure 61. Actual state plan of the Royal Stoa. [Sokrates speaks]: ""I must now present myself at the Stoa Basileios to answer the indictment of Meletos, which he has brought against me."" (Plato, Theaetetos 210d) The building is small for a stoa, only 18 meters long, with eight Doric columns across the front and four down the middle (Fig. 64). It should date originally to the years around 500 B.C., but was extensively rebuilt in the 5th century. Two projecting wings were added between 410 and 400 to display new copies of the law code of the city. Figure 62. Reconstruction of the Royal Stoa, as it would have appeared in ca. 300 B.C. ""[The archons] took the oath near the Stoa Basileios, on the stone on which were the pieces of the victims, swearing that they would guard the laws."" (Pollux 8.86) Figure 63 (right). The lithos or oath-stone, set up on the steps of the Royal Stoa. Figure 64. The remains of the Royal Stoa, view from the south.","Webpage","","","Agora","","","http://agathe.gr/guide/royal_stoa.html","",""
"Agora:Webpage:d7aaf0c19ac7722e638ff25f14fc140b","AgoraPicBk 16 2003: History of the Agora","","","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 modern times has been excavated, shedding light on 5,000 years of Athenian history. The area was occupied long before it became the civic center of Athens. During the Late Bronze Age it was used as a cemetery, and some 50 graves have been found, dating from 1600 to 1100 B.C. These are mostly chamber tombs, with multiple burials. It continued in use as a cemetery throughout the Iron Age (1100–700 B.C.) and over 80 graves, both burials and cremations, have been found. 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. [King Cyrus speaks]: ""'I have never feared men who have a place set apart in the middle of their city where they lie and deceive each other. If I keep my health, the Hellenes will have their own sufferings to worry about, not those of the Ionians.' This threat he uttered against all Hellenes because they have agoras and buy and sell there; for the Persians themselves do not use agoras, nor do they have any."" (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 creation of the new democracy in 508/7 B.C. led to the construction of the Old Bouleuterion on the site of the later Metroon [8], the setting of boundary stones [10], and, perhaps, the construction of the Royal Stoa [27]. 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 Stoa Poikile [28], Tholos [6], New Bouleuterion [7], Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios [3], South Stoa I [14], Mint [16], and Lawcourts [23] were all added to the periphery of the great square, as were fountain houses, temples, and shops. The rise of Alexander of Macedon eclipsed Athens politically and the 3rd century B.C. saw Athens dominated by his successors. Recovery in the 2nd century was fueled by Athens’ reputation as the cultural and educational center of the Mediterranean, and the philosophical schools founded by Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and Epicurus flourished. Three large stoas were built in the Agora in the 2nd century (Middle Stoa [17], South Stoa II [19], and Stoa of Attalos [22]) and the archive building (Metroon [8]) was rebuilt with a colonnaded facade. The influence of Rome becomes clear in Athens in 86 B.C., when Sulla besieged the city after it sided with Mithradates of Pontus. Despite this poor choice, the city flourished, thanks again to her reputation for education and culture. Temples were built in the Agora to accommodate worship of the imperial family [25], and a great Odeion [24] or concert hall was set down in the middle of the square late in the 1st century B.C. Athens prospered through the 2nd century under the emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117–138) and is described in detail by the traveler Pausanias in the years around A.D. 150. Hard times began in the 3rd century, when the city was destroyed by northern invaders, the Herulians, in A.D. 267. When the city was rebuilt, the old Agora was not even within the new fortified circuit [20]. 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. The area was abandoned in the 7th century and only recovered with the growth of the city in the 10th century A.D.","Webpage","","","Agora","","","http://agathe.gr/guide/history_of_the_agora.html","",""
"Agora:Webpage:30aade2c8256412ce0f932ee13ae9b25","AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Southeast Fountain House","","","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 large terracotta pipeline that delivered water to the rear of the building from the east, and overflow channels designed to carry water away from the two side chambers (Fig. 35). The central hall is restored with a colonnaded facade. A date of ca. 530–520 B.C. is suggested by pottery found under the floor and the use of polygonal limestone masonry, with Ζ-clamps to join the blocks. 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. In the 2nd century A.D. Pausanias identified this building as the Enneakrounos (nine-spouted) fountain, built in the 6th century B.C. by the tyrant Peisistratos, but Thucydides -- who presumably knew better -- locates that famous monument south of the Acropolis, below the sanctuary of Olympian Zeus. Figure 33. Actual state and restored plans of the Southeast Fountain House, second half of the 6th century B.C. Figure 34. Model of the Southeast Fountain House, view from the north. Figure 35. Juncture of overflow pipes from the basins of the Southeast Fountain House.","Webpage","","","Agora","","","http://agathe.gr/guide/southeast_fountain_house.html","",""
"Agora:Webpage:9d689a60f01ed8b811cd72653dbee8f5","Birth of Democracy: State Religion","","","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 magistrate, the archon Basileus or king archon, was responsible for both religious matters and the laws; appointed by lot, he served for a year. Aristotle describes his varied duties as follows: The basileus is first responsible for the Mysteries, in conjunction with the overseers elected by the people ... also for the Dionysia at the Lenaion, which involves a procession and contest. . . . He also organizes all the torch races and one might say that he administers all the traditional sacrifices. Public lawsuits fall to him on charges of impiety and when a man is involved in a dispute with someone over a priesthood. He holds the adjudications for clans and for priests in all their disputes on religious matters. Also all private suits for homicide fall to him. (Athenian Constitution 57) Fragmentary Athenian (Attic) red-figure kylix (drinking cup), about 47S B.C. H.: 0.097 m. Athens, Agora Museum P 42. It was important for Athenian citizens, especially warriors departing for battle, to render the gods their due. Here, a young warrior offers a libation at an elaborate altar topped with scrolls and a palmette finial and smeared with the blood of previous sacrifices. The warrior holds a spear in one hand and a phiale (libation bowl) in the other. He wears a short tunic with a cloak over his shoulders, a helmet, and greaves. His shield, shown in a perspective, three-quarter view, is behind him. The king archon held office in the Royal Stoa, a small colonnaded building along the west side of the Agora square. It was built at about the same time as the Kleisthenic reforms, in about 500 B.C. In addition to housing the king archon, the stoa served also to display the laws of Athens. In the late 5th century B.C. the Athenians inscribed their constitution on stones and set them up inside and in front of the Royal Stoa so any Athenian could come and read the laws of the city. The Royal Stoa (Stoa Basileos) in the late 6th century B.C. Model by Fetros Demetriades and Kostas Papoulias. Athens, Agora Museum. The earliest and simplest of the stoas that bordered the Agora, the Stoa Basileos had eight Doric columns between its two end walls; the stumps of the columns can still be seen. There were four inner columns evenly spaced within the length of the building; these, too, were Doric. Continuous benches ran along the back and across the ends of the building. The 2nd-century A.D. traveler Pausanias identified the stoa clearly: ""The first (building) on the right is the stoa called Basileos, where sits the 'King' (Basileus) when he holds the annual magistery called 'Kingship'"" (Description of Greece 1.3.1). Pausanias describes several clay akroterion figures on the roof of the stoa; fragments of these have been found. They represented the Athenian hero Theseus hurling the brigand Skiron into the sea, and Eos, goddess of dawn, carrying off Kephalos (compare 5.1). In addition, several ancient texts refer to the great unworked stone (lithos) found in place in front of the building (19.3), which was used by the king archon when, as chief of the religious magistrates, he administered their oath of office: ""They took the oath near the Royal Stoa, on the stone on which were the parts of the (sacrificial) victims, swearing that they would guard the laws"" (Pollux 8.86) and ""the Council took a joint oath to ratify the laws of Solon, and each of the thesmothetes swore separately at the stone in the Agord' (Plutarch, Life of Solon 25.2). The stoa was the setting for events that led to the trial and death of Sokrates in 399 B.C. The philosopher was tried for impiety, for importing new gods into the city, and for corrupting the youth of Athens. These were religious matters and as such fell under the jurisdiction of the king archon. Preliminary arguments were held in the Royal Stoa, as we learn from Plato, quoting Sokrates: ""Now I must present myself at the Stoa of the Basileus to answer the indictment which Meletos has brought against me"" (Theatetos 201D) Photograph of the Lithos, or Oath Stone, late 6th century B.C. L.: 3.0 m. Athens, Agora excavations. Although its top is level and smooth, the stone is unworked, a condition appropriate to its sacred function. The stone lies in front of the Royal Stoa and is clearly the stone on which magistrates stood to take the oath of office. Reconstruction drawing of the northwest corner of the Agora, ca. 300 B.C. Drawing by W B. Dinsmoor, Jr. The Royal Stoa is at the upper left. At the upper right is the Painted Stoa, birthplace of Stoic philosophy, and in the foreground is a crossroads shrine. Aerial view of the northwest corner of the Agora showing the Royal Stoa (left) and the Crossroads Enclosure (right).","Webpage","","","Agora","","","http://agathe.gr/democracy/state_religion.html","",""
"Agora:Webpage:f313ffa33826f5f0560d8336765515a4","Overview: The Museum","","","The Museum On display in the public galleries of the stoa is a selection of the thousands of objects recovered in the past 75 years, reflecting the use of the area from 3000 B.C. to A.D. 1500. The public galleries in the Stoa of Attalos. Most significant perhaps, is the material—unique to the site—illustrating the mechanics of the world’s first attested democracy. This material includes ostraka (inscribed potsherds used as ballots to exile over-ambitious politicians), allotment machines and bronze identification tags (used in selecting an Athenian jury), and clay tokens and inscribed lead strips (used in the administration of the Athenian cavalry). Ostraka of the Athenian generals Alkibiades and Nikias, both candidates for ostracism in 417–415 B.C. (P 29373, P 31179, Agora Museum). Fragment of an allotment machine (kleroterion), probably used in the Council House (in the period when there were 12 tribes) for the selection of committees representing all the tribes except that holding the presidency. Bronze tickets similar to that below would have been inserted in the slots, which are clearly visible in the photograph. On the left side of the stone can be seen the holes for an attachment, a mechanical device that would have made the selection by chance (I 3967, Agora Museum). Clay tokens or passports of a border commander, 4th century B.C. (SS 8080, MC 1245, Agora Museum) Bronze juror’s ticket (pinakion), 4th century B.C. This identification ticket carries the juror’s name, Demophanes, the first letters of his father’s name, Phi[- - -], and his deme, Kephesia (B822, Agora Museum). Context is essential in understanding archaeological material. The great museums of Europe and the United States often display magnificent objects with little or no information as to where they were found and what else was found with them. What sets the Agora project and museum apart from most collections is that this context information is known for almost every single object. Because the excavation began comparatively late, a generation or more after other large-scale digs in the Mediterranean (Pompeii, Ostia, Knossos, Dephi, Olympia, Pergamon, Ephesos, and Priene, to name a few), the same record-keeping system adopted at the beginning has been used to the present day. This means that every object found in the Agora excavations is stored in the Stoa of Attalos, together with the record of its recovery. The inventory is large: 35,000 pieces of pottery, 7,600 inscriptions, 3,500 pieces of sculpture, 5,000 architectural fragments, 6,000 lamps, 15,000 stamped amphora handles, and over 70,000 coins. This vast collection has all been entered into a unified database, part of a collaborative project with the Packard Humanities Institute. Because of this correlation of objects and archives, the museum collection serves as a center for archaeological research, used every year by hundreds of scholars from all over the world.","Webpage","","","Agora","","","http://agathe.gr/overview/the_museum.html","",""
"Agora:Webpage:0e5b7a24ca347065aea15c6a06a7385f","AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Boundary Stones and House of Simon the Cobbler","","","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 simple text ""I am the boundary of the Agora,"" in letters that should date somewhere around 500 B.C. (Figs. 23, 24). The limits of the square had to be well marked for two reasons. First, people who were underage or who had been convicted of certain crimes (e.g., mistreatment of parents, failure to show up for military duty, impiety) were not allowed into the Agora. Second, markers were needed to define what was public land, to prevent encroachment by private buildings. Figure 23. Agora boundary stone found east of the Tholos, ca. 500 B.C. Figure 24. Agora boundary stone found deep under the Middle Stoa. Text, letter-forms, and tooling all indicate it is part of the same series as that in Figure 23, except all the letters and words run backward (retrograde), from right to left. One such building, found just behind the northern boundary stone (horos, in Greek), produced bone eyelets and iron hobnails, suggesting that a cobbler worked here in the 5th century B.C., while a fragmentary drinking cup found nearby preserved the incised name of Simon (Figs. 25, 26). Diogenes Laertius records that Sokrates, when he wished to meet with those pupils too young to enter the Agora, would meet them at the shop of Simon the cobbler, which lay near the square. The evidence is circumstantial, but we may well have here the remains of one of Sokrates’ informal classrooms. Figure 25. The remains of the house of Simon the cobbler, 5th century B.C., built against the Agora boundary stone (bottom left). Figure 26. Material found at the house of Simon the cobbler: bone eyelets, iron hobnails, and the base of a cup inscribed with Simon’s name.","Webpage","","","Agora","","","http://agathe.gr/guide/boundary_stones_and_house_of_simon_the_cobbler.html","",""
"Agora:Webpage:3d47492a7d4cca98fbe7153655364ed8","Publications: Monographs","","","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 results of excavations appeared in 1953 and, as scholars complete their research, further titles continue to be published. Each volume covers a particular chronological period, set of buildings, or class of material culture. The series includes studies of lamps, sculpture, coins, inscriptions, and pottery. Because most of these ancient finds can be dated stratigraphically, these typological catalogues are invaluable reference works for archaeologists around the Mediterranean. All monographs are published by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. You can order monographs online through Oxbow Books. Portrait Sculpture Author: Harrison, E. B.Publication Date: 1953ISBN: 978-0-87661-201-9Volume: 1 Presented in catalogue form are 64 portrait heads, headless torsos, and fragments (of both categories) ranging in date from the first half of the 1st century B.C. to the 5th century A.D. The catalogue is preceded by an introduction dealing with “finding-places,” “material,” “forms of portraits,” and “subjects.” Special emphasis is placed on stylistic criteria for dating each work, and the more interesting examples are discussed in some detail. There are not many great works of art illustrated, but many interesting types. As the author says in her introduction, “the Agora portraits interest us, not because they are unique, but because they are representative.” JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Coins: From the Roman through the Venetian Period Author: Thompson, M.Publication Date: 1954ISBN: 978-0-87661-202-6Volume: 2 Of the 55,492 coins that were recovered from the Athenian Agora during excavations from 1931 to 1949, this catalogue presents 37,000. These range in date from the last century of the Roman Republic to the declining years of the Republic of Venice. As the short historical survey that introduces the book indicates, this volume is intended to be a tabulation rather than study. It was written to provide prompt publication of the material excavated, and the catalogue is clear, fully documented, and easy to refer to. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Literary and Epigraphical Testimonia Author: Wycherley, R. E.Publication Date: 1957ISBN: 978-0-87661-203-3Volume: 3 Here are presented all the ancient written references, both literary and epigraphical, to the Agora (including its environs) and its monuments. The introduction summarizes chronologically the authors cited, evaluating the contributions of each. The texts are given in the original Greek or Latin, followed by a translation and a commentary. They are grouped in parts: the Stoas, Shrines, Public Buildings and Offices, Market, Honorary Statues, Miscellaneous including Boundaries, Trees, Kerameikos, Panathenaic Street, Old Agora. Within each part the monuments are arranged alphabetically and under each monument the texts are listed alphabetically by author with inscriptions at the end. Many texts not given numbers in this order are included in the archaeological and topographical commentaries. Each section on a monument opens with a brief synopsis of the evidence contained in the texts which follow. The index of authors gives dates and editions as well as passages and inscriptions cited, and is followed by an index of subjects. The plates show plans of the Agora and its environs and of the route of Pausanias. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Greek Lamps and Their Survivals Author: Howland, R. H.Publication Date: 1973ISBN: 978-0-87661-204-0Volume: 4 The author has used the trustworthy chronological data supplied by the scientific excavation of “closed deposits” at the Athenian Agora to build a continuous series of lamp types from the 7th century B.C. to the 1st century A.D. Many photographs and profiles of sections permit ready identification, and a handy graphical chart of lamp types facilitates quick checking of the chronological range of each. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Pottery of the Roman Period: Chronology Author: Robinson, H. S.Publication Date: 1959ISBN: 978-0-87661-205-7Volume: 5 A group of closed deposits, ranging in date from the 1st century B.C. to the early 7th century A.D., provide evidence for the relative and absolute chronology of pottery used during many centuries of Roman domination—from the sack of Athens by Sulla in 86 B.C. to the Byzantine period. A descriptive catalogue divides the pottery into eight groups, arranged into chronologically differentiated layers. Prefacing the catalogue of each group, a brief general description gives the location, chronological limitations, basis for dating, etc., and then the individual items are described in considerable detail. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Terracottas and Plastic Lamps of the Roman Period Author: Grandjouan, C.Publication Date: 1971ISBN: 978-0-87661-206-4Volume: 6 The volume contains a short introduction, a classification by types, a critical catalogue, a register of the dated contexts, concordances and indexes, and an excursus by T. B. L. Webster on the theatrical figurines. Nearly half of the 1,100 items are illustrated with photographs. The subjects of the (mostly fragmentary) figurines are revealing. To the Greek deities of earlier times are added Oriental figures like Serapis, Isis, Harpokrates, Attis, as well as Egyptian priests and Asiatic dancers. The molded “plastic” lamps that are included in this volume were probably made in the same workshops as the figurines. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Lamps of the Roman Period, First to Seventh Century after Christ Author: Perlzweig, J.Publication Date: 1961ISBN: 978-0-87661-207-1Volume: 7 Nearly 3,000 specimens of lamps of “Roman” character are catalogued in this volume that covers the period from the 1st century B.C. to the 8th century A.D. The lamps are not easy to classify because the appearance of the clay used is not an infallible guide to the place of manufacture and the molds used to create the shapes were used widely around the Mediterranean. Terracotta lamps were probably made for local consumption in most cities of Greece; only a few centers, notably Athens and Corinth, developed an export trade capable of competing with local manufacturers. Since lamps from Athens do appear at other sites, the presentation of a well-dated sample of these finds provides useful reference material for scholars working at other sites. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Late Geometric and Protoattic Pottery, Mid 8th to Late 7th Century B.C. Author: Brann, E. T. H.Publication Date: 1961ISBN: 978-0-87661-208-8Volume: 8 This volume reports on Athenian pottery found in the Athenian Agora up to 1960 that can dated from about the middle of the 8th century, when “the appearance of a painter of sufficient personal distinction to enliven the whole craft” marks a real break from the earlier Geometric style, through the third quarter of the 7th century when Protoattic gives way to black-figure and black wares. A sampling of contemporary imported ware is included. The material is treated first by shape and then, more extensively, by painting styles. Some 650 characteristic pieces are selected for cataloguing. The introduction discusses the development of the various shapes and styles, characterizing the special techniques and innovations of the period. The topographical features of the Agora that are indicated by the places of discovery of deposits of late Geometric and Protoattic pottery are summarized under wells, houses, workshops, sanctuaries, cemeteries, and roads. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside The Islamic Coins Author: Miles, G. C.Publication Date: 1962ISBN: 978-0-87661-209-5Volume: 9 All but 9 of the 6,449 Islamic coins found at Athenian Agora up to the date when this book was written belong to the Ottoman period. The earliest datable Ottoman coin is from the reign of Mehmed I (1413-21). Most of the coins come from overseas mints such as those of Istanbul, Cairo, Macedonia, Serbia, and Bosnia. Although the name of Athens cannot be read on any coin, the author thinks that many of the crude coppers of the 15th to 16th centuries A.D. were locally struck. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Weights, Measures and Tokens Authors: Lang, M., Crosby, M.Publication Date: 1964ISBN: 978-0-87661-210-1Volume: 10 The first part of this book deals with weights (14 bronze, 109-111 lead, 28 stone) and measures (75 dry, 28-31 liquid). Although humble objects, the detailed study of these everyday items provides archaeological evidence for substantial changes in weight standards at different times in Athenian history. This reinforces literary evidence for a highly centralized bureaucracy controlling trade and commerce. In the second part of the book, Crosby catalogues and discusses some 900 lead and 46 clay tokens uncovered during the Agora excavations. The bulk of the lead material dates from the Roman period, while all the clay pieces belong to the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries B.C. These tokens served diverse functions. Some were used as admission tickets for festivals and theater performances while others can be related to attendance at lawcourts or receipt of tax payments. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Archaic and Archaistic Sculpture Author: Harrison, E. B.Publication Date: 1965ISBN: 978-0-87661-211-7Volume: 11 Over 170 catalogued pieces of sculpture from the Athenian Agora are divided into four sections: the genuinely Archaic in date and form, the “archaistic” imitating Archaic originals (late 5th century to early 4th century B.C.), and two restricted groups of sculpture common in Athens. The latter are the Hekataia (a triple Hekate figure) and the herms. The chronological range is thus from the earliest Archaic kouros (ca. 600 B.C.) through the herms and Hekataia of the Roman period. Among other questions, the author explores the nature of the archaizing movement and the different types of herms and how they were used in the Agora. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Black and Plain Pottery of the 6th, 5th and 4th Centuries B.C. Authors: Sparkes, B. A., Tallcott, L.Publication Date: 1970ISBN: 978-0-87661-212-5Volume: 12 This massive (two-part) volume focuses on pottery produced between 600 and 300 B.C. with Sparkes discussing the black glaze and Talcott the domestic (household and kitchen) wares of the period. Over 2,040 pieces of black-glaze pottery are catalogued and described, with many drawings and photographs. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside The Neolithic and Bronze Ages Author: Immerwahr, S. A.Publication Date: 1971ISBN: 978-0-87661-213-2Volume: 13 The finds in the Athenian Agora from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages have added important chronological context to the earliest eras of Athenian history. The bulk of the items are pottery, but stone, bone, and metal objects also occur. Selected material from the Neolithic and from the Early and Middle Helladic periods is catalogued by fabric and then shape and forms the basis of detailed discussions of the wares (by technique, shapes, and decoration), the stone and bone objects, and their relative and absolute chronology. The major part of the volume is devoted to the Mycenaean period, the bulk of it to the cemetery of forty-odd tombs and graves with detailed discussions of architectural forms; of funeral rites; of offerings of pottery, bronze, ivory, and jewelry; and of chronology. Pottery from wells, roads, and other deposits as well as individual vases without significant context, augment the pottery from tombs as the basis of a detailed analysis of Mycenaean pottery. A chapter on historical conclusions deals with all areas of Mycenaean Athens. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside The Agora of Athens. The History, Shape and Uses of an Ancient City Center Authors: Thompson, H. A., Wycherley, R. E.Publication Date: 1972ISBN: 978-0-87661-214-9Volume: 14 The subtitle, The History, Shape and Uses of an Ancient City Center, suggests the general character of this volume, which provides an overview of the area that served as the civic center of Athens from about 600 B.C. to A.D. 267. After a general resumé of the historical development of the Agora, the monuments are treated in detail, grouped by their use and purpose. Each monument is discussed in the light of both the literary and the archaeological evidence for its identification and its restoration. In the light of the topographical conclusions the route of Pausanias is traced. A chapter “After the Heruli” follows the fortunes of the area from A.D. 267 till the 19th century; the last century is treated in the detailed report of “The Excavations” up to 1971. This is a definitive survey of the historical and topographical results of 40 years of American excavations. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Inscriptions: The Athenian Councillors Authors: Merrit, B. D., Traill, J.Publication Date: 1974ISBN: 978-0-87661-215-6Volume: 15 This book presents 494 dedications made by, and honoring, members of the Athenian administrative assembly (prytaneis) between 408/7 B.C. and A.D. 231/2. The inscriptions are important because they enable scholars to reconstruct a more precise chronological framework for Hellenistic and later Athenian history while also increasing understanding of the political organization of Attica. With thousands of names from 700 years of administration listed, the dedications also provide a rich source for prosopographers. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Inscriptions: The Decrees Author: Woodhead, A. G.Publication Date: 1997ISBN: 978-0-87661-216-3Volume: 16 Edited texts, with extensive commentary, of some 344 fragments of Attic decrees dating from the mid-5th century B.C. to A.D. 203, found in excavations of the Athenian Agora before 1967, with brief notes on additional material found up to 1975. Well-documented discussions of individual archon years are supplied at the appropriate points in the chronological arrangement. In a field known for controversy, the author reviews the principal readings, restorations, and interpretations, achieving a balance between extreme positions. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Inscriptions: The Funerary Monuments Author: Bradeen, D. W.Publication Date: 1972ISBN: 978-0-87661-217-0Volume: 17 This volume presents the funerary inscriptions found in the Athenian Agora between 1931 and 1968. In addition, all Agora fragments of the public casualty lists known in 1971 have been included, together with fragments associated with them but found elsewhere, although the latter are not discussed in full. Of the 1,099 inscriptions catalogued here, 238 are published for the first time. With the exception of 6 (previously published), all contain a sure name, ethnic, or demotic. In accordance with the established policy of the Excavations of the Athenian Agora, a photograph is included of every stone for which none has appeared previously. The catalogue is arranged alphabetically by demotics and ethnics; the indexes include names, tribes, geographical names, significant Greek words, and Latin words. The author’s unparalleled familiarity with Attic funerary scripts enabled him to offer valuable chronological suggestions for otherwise undatable private monuments and his historical understanding gave new meaning to the public funerary monuments. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Inscriptions: The Dedicatory Monuments Author: Geagan, D.Publication Date: 2009ISBN: 978-0-87661-218-7Volume: 18 This is the last of five volumes presenting inscriptions discovered in the Athenian Agora between 1931 and 1967. Published here are inscriptions on monuments commemorating events or victories, on statues or other representations erected to honor individuals and deities, and on votive offerings to divinities. Most are dated to between the 4th century B.C. and the 2nd century A.D., but a few survive from the Archaic and Late Roman periods. A final section contains monuments that are potentially, but not certainly, dedicatory in character, and a small number of grave markers omitted from Agora XVII. Each of the 773 catalogue entries includes a description of the object inscribed, bibliography, a transcription of the Greek text, and commentary. There are photographs of each piece of which no adequate illustration has yet been published, including newly joined fragments. The volume concludes with concordances, bibliography, and an index of persons named in the inscriptions. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Inscriptions: Horoi, Poletai Records, and Leases of Public Lands Authors: Lalonde, G.V., Langdon, M. K., Walbank, M. B.Publication Date: 1991ISBN: 978-0-87661-219-4Volume: 19 The three types of inscription from the Athenian Agora presented in this volume are all concerned with important civic matters. Part I, by Gerald V. Lalonde, includes all the horoi found in the excavations; most of them had been brought into the area for reuse at a later period. An introductory essay discusses the various purposes the horoi served, whether as markers of actual boundaries or private records of security for debt. The various types are illustrated in photographs. In Part II Merle K. Langdon publishes all the known records of the Athenian poletai, a board of magistrates charged with letting contracts for public works, leasing the state-owned silver mines and the privilege of collecting taxes, and leasing or selling confiscated property. The catalogue is preceded by an account of the nature of these transactions and the history of the poletai. Part III, by Michael B. Walbank, presents the records of leases for public and sacred lands, which once stood in the Agora; the documents are now in both the Agora and the Epigraphical Museums in Athens. The discussion considers the history and the terms of the leases. The three sections are followed by combined concordances and indices, with photographs of all stones not previously published. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside The Church of the Holy Apostles Author: Frantz, A.Publication Date: 1971ISBN: 978-0-87661-220-0Volume: 20 The Church of the Holy Apostles stands at an important crossroads in the southeast corner of the area of the ancient Agora. The earliest church on the site, built over a wall of the 5th-century B.C. Mint and the foundations of the Roman Nymphaeum, is here dated to the last quarter of the 10th century on the basis of its plan and details. The original plan was revealed as a tetraconch cross-in-square with dome on pendentives carried on arches supported by four freestanding columns, the west of the four apses penetrating into the narthex. Fifteen tombs of this first period were excavated under the floor of the church proper and the narthex. In a second period, probably in the late 17th or early 18th century, repairs after damage from the 1687 fighting made changes in the narthex and dome and the interior was covered with paintings. War in 1826 again caused damage which was repaired in Period III with further changes and additions. Finally in 1876-1882 (Period IV) the west end was again rebuilt and the last vestiges of the west apse removed. The architectural type is studied in relation to other churches in Greece, and the restoration is described. The plates give the author’s photos of the structure before, during, and after restoration and drawings of elevations, sections, and plans. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Graffiti and Dipinti Author: Lang, M.Publication Date: 1976ISBN: 978-0-87661-221-7Volume: 21 Over 3,000 informal inscriptions scratched or painted on pottery, lamps, or other clay fragments have been found in the excavations of the Athenian Agora. In this volume, 859 of these graffiti and dipinti (representing those with sufficient content to be meaningful) are presented in catalogue and drawings. The texts consist of messages and lists, love names and curses, rough calculations, dedications, commercial and tax notations—in short, all manner of fascinating, all-too-human trivia. An introduction to each category defines the type, indicates special characteristics and suggests parallels, purpose, etc. Each example is illustrated in a line drawing with the exception of the tax notations (dipinti); in this case photographs seemed preferable owing to the fugitive medium and the run-on cursive forms. This skillful presentation of an important body of material contributes significantly to the study of informal Greek, especially in regard to letter forms and spelling, as well as to an understanding of the varying commercial practices in ancient Athens. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Hellenistic Pottery: Athenian and Imported Mouldmade Bowls Author: Rotroff, SPublication Date: 1982ISBN: 978-0-87661-222-4Volume: 22 This volume is the first of two to present the Hellenistic fine ware from the excavations in the Athenian Agora. Its scope is restricted to the moldmade hemispherical bowls manufactured from the late 3rd century to the early 1st century B.C. in Athens. The material studied, consisting of some 1,400 fragments of which about 800 were inventoried by the excavators, was unearthed between 1931 and 1973. Of the inventoried pieces, 364 fragments of bowls and molds are catalogued and discussed here, with 40 additional imported pieces, 6 related moldmade examples of other shapes, and 5 pieces used in the manufacturing process. The author first discusses the origins and dating of the bowls and then takes up the various types, in order of appearance on the historical scene: pine-cone, imbricate, floral, and figured bowls and their workshops and chronology, long-petal bowls, and other special types such as concentric-semicircle and daisy bowls. The discussion is followed by a detailed catalogue including references to comparanda. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Attic Black-Figured Pottery Authors: Moore, M. B., Philippides, M. Z. P.Publication Date: 1986ISBN: 978-0-87661-223-1Volume: 23 This volume is the first of the Athenian Agora reports to deal specifically with figured wares; it is concerned with the black-figured pottery found in the excavations in the Athenian Agora between 1931 and 1967, most of it in dumped fill especially in wells and cisterns. These deposits have been published separately in previous reports; by presenting them as a body, the authors are able to show how it complements and supplements the existing chronological and stylistic framework of shapes and artists. All the important pieces are shown in photographs, as well as all complete vases and those with particular problems. Profile drawings and reconstructions of the composition are supplied in a few special cases. Summary descriptions of references and a site plan are given for the deposits, which are also identified in the concordance of catalogue and inventory numbers. There are indexes of potters, painters, groups, and classes; subjects; shape and ornament; collections and provenances; and a general index. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Late Antiquity, A.D. 267-700 Author: Frantz, A.Publication Date: 1988ISBN: 978-0-87661-224-8Volume: 24 This book collects for the first time the archaeological and historical evidence for the area of the Athenian Agora in late antiquity, a period which spans the last flourishing of the great philosophical schools, the defeat of classical paganism by Christianity, and the collapse of the late Roman Empire. Although the primary focus of this volume is the material uncovered by the Agora excavations, the study also takes into account past and current discoveries elsewhere in the city. The author draws on archaeological, epigraphical, and literary evidence to present a comprehensive account of the history and topography of the city in the years before A.D. 700. The course of Athenian construction and destruction is traced from the mid-3rd century, through the Herulian invasion, to the period of recovery in the 3rd and 4th centuries (ending with the invasion of the Visigoth, Alaric, in A.D. 396). The 5th century is described, which saw the closing of the schools of philosophy by Justinian and the first Christian churches, and the gradual decline of the city until the Slavic invasion of the 580s, when Athens began an accelerated slide into oblivion. Special attention is paid to questions surrounding the history of the philosophical and rhetorical schools, the establishment of Christianity, and the removal of works of art from Athens to Constantinople. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Ostraka Author: Lang, L.Publication Date: 1990ISBN: 978-0-87661-225-5Volume: 25 The scraps of pottery on which were written the names of candidates for ostracism are one of the most intriguing pieces of evidence for ancient democracy found in the Athenian Agora. This book is a complete catalogue and discussion of these sherds. Chapter One discusses the history of ostracism in Athens with brief remarks about the “candidates.” Chapter Two concentrates on the physical evidence of the ostraka, their identification, appearance, and content. Chapter Three presents the groups in which most of them were found; their distribution is indicated on a plan of the excavation area. Chapter Four is the catalogue of 1,145 ostraka, arranged by candidates. To these pieces are appended the 191 ostraka, almost all nominating Themistokles, found by Oscar Broneer in a well on the North Slope of the Acropolis. A large number of the Agora ostraka are illustrated with line drawings, a representative selection with photographs. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside The Greek Coins Authors: Kroll, J. H., Walker, A. S.Publication Date: 1993ISBN: 978-0-87661-226-2Volume: 26 This volume catalogues over 16,577 identifiable Greek coins produced by the excavations of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens between 1931 and 1990. The majority of the coins found and catalogued are Athenian bronze, from the 4th century B.C. through the 3rd century A.D. Included as well are the Athenian silver and the hundreds of non-Athenian gold, silver, and bronze coins that made their way into the Agora in antiquity Considerable attention is paid to the archaeological context of the coins and to presenting a pictorial record of the Greek coinage from the Agora, with more than 1,035 coins illustrated. Substantial introductory discussions place all the coins in clear historical and numismatic contexts and give a sense of the range of international commercial activity in the ancient city. This comprehensive reference work is indispensable for students and scholars of Greek coinage and history. Presenting a reliable chronology of Athens’ bronze coinage for the first time, it will be the standard reference for this important coinage in particular for years to come. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside The East Side of the Agora: The Remains beneath the Stoa of Attalos Author: Townsend, R. F.Publication Date: 1995ISBN: 978-0-87661-227-9Volume: 27 The Stoa of Attalos now covers the remains several centuries of previous occupation. Mycenaean and Protogeometric burials represent the early use of the area. By the Late Geometric period, the presence of a few wells indicates a shift to domestic occupation; others containing 6th-century material suggest the presence of workshops and commercial activity as well as houses. The earliest physical remains are those of an Archaic altar; some rubble structures may have been hastily built by refugees during the Peloponnesian War. At the end of the 5th century, a group of public buildings was constructed, perhaps to house some of the lawcourts. About 300 B.C., these were replaced by an imposing structure, the Square Peristyle, which could have housed four lawcourts simultaneously, each with a jury of 500. Still unfinished when it was dismantled in the first quarter of the second century B.C., its materials were carefully reused in other projects, especially in South Stoa II. The evidence for these centuries is now limited to the meticulous records of the excavators and the finds now stored in the Stoa of Attalos, where some few remains still in situ are visible in the basement. The author’s success in making a coherent and orderly presentation rests on the care and diligence of the excavators as well as his own painstaking search through the records. The physical reconstruction is accompanied by a catalogue of archtitectural blocks; the discussion of the chronology is supported by the stratigraphic evidence and a catalogue of pottery. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside The Lawcourts at Athens: Sites, Buildings, Equipment, Procedure, and Testimonia Authors: Alan L. Boegehold, John McK. Camp, II, Margaret Crosby, Mabel Lang, David R. Jordan, Rhys F. TownsendPublication Date: 1995ISBN: 978-0-87661-228-6Volume: 28 A comprehensive, three-part study of the sites and procedures of Athenian lawcourts in the 5th, 4th, and 3rd centuries B.C. Part I discusses various courts, their names and possible sites, and reconstructs their history and daily workings, synthesizing literary, documentary, and physical evidence. Part II discusses the buildings which could have served as courts and the objects found in them. Such court paraphernalia included ballots, receptacles for documents, water clocks (used to time speeches), allotments machines and their accessories (for assigning jurors to the courts), seating tokens, and a curse tablet. Part III collects 355 testimonia on Athenian lawcourts, with Greek text, translation, and commentary. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Hellenistic Pottery: Athenian and Imported Wheelmade Table Ware and Related Material Author: Rotroff, S.Publication Date: 1997ISBN: 978-0-87661-229-3Volume: 29 The second of two volumes on the Hellenistic fine ware unearthed in excavations in the Athenian Agora, this book presents the Hellenistic wheelmade table ware and votive vessels found between 1931 and 1982, some 1,500 Attic and 300 imported pieces. An introductory section includes chapters devoted to fixed points in the chronology of the pottery, to a general discussion of the decoration of Hellenistic pots, both stamped and painted, or “West Slope,” and to the question of workshops. The author dedicates much of the text to a typology of Attic Hellenistic fine ware, carefully examining the origins, development, chronology, forms, and decoration of each shape. The ordering of the material by function rather than by the form of vessels provides insight into life in Hellenistic Athens. Especially important is the development of a chronological framework that builds upon and refines the author’s earlier work in this area. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Attic Red-Figured and White-Ground Pottery Author: Moore, M. B.Publication Date: 1997ISBN: 978-0-87661-230-9Volume: 30 This volume presents the inventoried red-figure and white-ground pottery found in the Agora Excavations between 1931 and 1967. Although many of these vases have already been published in various reports and special studies, this is the first time that all have appeared together, and this study gives a full accounting of them. Because almost all the shapes known in Attic red figure have been found in the Agora, these pieces provide a unique opportunity for study. The two introductory sections serve as a useful overview for the entire state of knowledge of Attic red-figure painting. The first gives a brief description of each vase shape and its development, and then shows how the Agora pieces fit into this sequence; the second follows this same format for groups of painters. In the catalogue, measurements and descriptions are given for 1,684 pieces, with relevant comparanda and up-to-date references. Inscriptions, graffiti, and dipinti are included, as well as reconstruction drawings of some of the more important or unusual scenes. The volume concludes with deposit summaries, concordance, and six indexes. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside The City Eleusinion Author: Miles, M.Publication Date: 1998ISBN: 978-0-87661-231-6Volume: 31 An archaeological study of the City Eleusinion in Athens, the sanctuary of Eleusinian Demeter and the city terminus for the annual Eleusinian Mysteries. The book presents the stratigraphical evidence from excavations of a part of the sanctuary (conducted in the 1930s and 1959-1960), the remains of the Temple of Triptolemos, a Hellenistic stoa, and a propylon, and contains extensive descriptions of the context pottery, a discussion of the ritual vessel plemochoe, and catalogues of inscriptions, sculpture, and architectural pieces from the sanctuary. There is a survey of the topography of the sanctuary and its environs on the North Slope of the Acropolis, and a discussion of its relationship to Eleusis and its position as a landmark within the city of Athens. Since a significant portion of the sanctuary still lies unexcavated under the modern city, the book includes a detailed assessment of the only evidence known so far for the various phases of use of the sanctuary, from the earliest evidence of the 7th century B.C. to the late antique period. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Roman Pottery: Fine-Ware Imports Author: Hayes, J.Publication Date: 2008ISBN: 978-0-87661-232-3Volume: 32 Examples of Roman period red-gloss and red-slip pottery generally termed terra sigillata found during excavations in the Athenian Agora form the focus of this volume. These fine wares, like the other table wares of the first seven centuries A.D. discussed here, were all imported—a very different situation to earlier periods where Athens was known as a great ceramic-making center, and perhaps the result of mass destruction of potters’ workshops during the Sullan sack of 86 B.C. While the image of a demolished pottery industry is tragic, the consequent conglomeration of finewares from many parts of the Roman empire in one city makes the Athenian Agora a tremendous source of comparanda for archaeologists working all round the Mediterranean. Written by the world’s leading expert on Roman pottery, this huge catalogue illustrating and identifying multiple shapes and types of decoration will therefore be an essential reference book. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Hellenistic Pottery: The Plain Wares Author: Rotroff, S.Publication Date: 2008ISBN: 978-0-87661-233-0Volume: 33 This manuscript represents the third and final volume in the publication of the Hellenistic pottery unearthed by the American excavations in the Athenian Agora. The first installment (Agora XXII) was devoted to the moldmade bowls and the second (Agora XXIX) to the remainder of the fine ware. The third presents the plain wares, including household pottery, oil containers, and cooking pottery. In all, about 1,400 Hellenistic vessels in these categories have been entered into the excavation record, which are represented here in a catalogue of 847 objects. The study constructs a typology, based on both form and fabric, and a chronology for these ceramics, using the fact that many of the pieces were found in “closed contexts” like wells. Finally, the author discusses the possible functions of the ceramic shapes found, and uses them to reconstruct some of the domestic and industrial activities of Hellenistic Athenians. While it documents the pottery assemblage of one site, this book will be an essential reference tool for archaeologists around the Mediterranean. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside Vessel Glass Authors: Weinberg, G., Stern, M. E.Publication Date: 2008ISBN: 978-0-87661-234-7Volume: 34 Greek and Roman glass from vessels of all sizes and shapes is discussed in this volume which presents 402 fragments of glass vessels excavated in the Athenian Agora. Only 36 pieces date to the Classical and Hellenistic periods, when the Agora was at the height of its importance, and just 15 are assigned to the 9th to 19th centuries. The remaining 350 are subdivided into four periods covering the Roman and Late Antique history of Athens: 86 B.C.-ca . A.D. 100, A.D. 100-267, A.D. 267-395, and A.D. 395-ca. 700. The fragments all have a findspot which allows the author to make some comments about the possible uses of the original vessels. The volume is divided into the following sections: history of the project, historical overview, important contexts, discussion of the catalogue by period and by shape, catalogue, deposit summaries, concordance. Most catalogues of ancient glass present pieces out of context, where function and date can only be guessed at. This volume, by publishing the main types of glass from a single site, provides richer contextual information and will thus be an essential reference work for archaeologists and specialists in ancient art. JSTOR | Search for Items Inside","Webpage","","","Agora","","","http://agathe.gr/publications/monographs.html","",""