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"Webpage","","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.","","","","","AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Boundary Stones and House of Simon the Cobbler","http://agathe.gr/guide/boundary_stones_and_house_of_simon_the_cobbler.html","","","Agora","","Agora:Webpage:0e5b7a24ca347065aea15c6a06a7385f"
"Webpage","","Panathenaic Way Numerous roads led in and out of the Agora square. By far the most important, however, was the broad street known as the Dromos or Panathenaic Way, the principal thoroughfare of the city (Fig. 4). It led from the main city gate, the Dipylon, up to the Acropolis, a distance of just over a kilometer, and served as the processional way for the great parade that was a highlight of the Panathenaic festival. Halfway along, it enters the Agora at its northwest corner and passes through the square on a diagonal, exiting at the southeast corner. Figure 4. Model of the Agora and northwest Athens in the 2nd century A.C., looking along the entire course of the Panathenaic Way from the Dipylon Gate (bottom) to the Acropolis (top); view from the northwest. The street is unpaved except to the south, as it begins the steep ascent to the Acropolis, where it was paved with large stone slabs in the Roman period. Elsewhere it is made up of layers of packed gravel; at the north, some sixty-six superimposed layers were excavated, reflecting a thousand years of use of the thoroughfare, from the 6th century B.C. until the 6th century A.D. The line of the street was defined in the Hellenistic and Roman periods by successive open stone gutters along its south side (Fig.5). Basins in the line of the channel caught sediment and helped keep the channel clean; those off to the side presumably provided water for draft animals. Figure 5. Limestone channel with water basins along the Panathenaic Way. The street was used not only for the procession, but also for chariot races (the apobates) during the Panathenaic festival (Fig. 6). It seems also to have served as the running track for foot races before a proper stadium was built, and as the training ground for the young recruits of the Athenian cavalry. Figure 6. Sculpted base for a monument celebrating a victory in the apobates at the Panathenaic Games, 4th century B.C. As the race made its way along the Panathenaic Way, the armed passenger was expected to jump on and off the moving chariot.","","","","","AgoraPicBk 16 2003: Panathenaic Way","http://agathe.gr/guide/panathenaic_way.html","","","Agora","","Agora:Webpage:2330771d87785c33e445d0a395f03dc3"
"Webpage","","Military Service After the 18-year-old was registered in his deme as a citizen and was approved by the Council, he entered military service as a young conscript (ephebe) with other members of his tribe. “The fathers hold meetings by tribes and after taking oath elect three members of the tribe of more than 40 years of age, whom they think to be the best and most suitable to supervise the ephebes. . . . These take the ephebes and after first making a circuit of the temples then go to Piraeus and some of them garrison Munichia, others Akte” (Aristotle). When the ephebes’ military service was over, it was customary for decrees honoring them for their faithful service to be inscribed on stone, with the list of their names appended. The decrees often record in detail the activities of the group. One reads in part: “They made the voyage to Salamis for the games in honor of Aias; they sacrificed at the trophy to Zeus and while they were there also to Aias and Asklepios. They ran the torch race with dignity and grace. . . . They dedicated a cup worth 100 drachmas to the Mother of the Gods in accordance with the decree. They kept harmony and friendship among themselves throughout the year.” 9. Drawing of a lead cavalry tablet, fourth century B.C., registering a horse belonging to Konon, chestnut in color, with a centaur brand, worth 700 drachmas. After their two years of full-time military service, all Athenian citizens were on active service for 40 years. They could be called up at any time and asked to report with provisions for three or more days. Rich men served in the cavalry, providing their own horses; those who could afford armor made up the heavy-armed infantry, called hoplites; and the others served either as light-armed troops or as oarsmen in the navy. The cavalry actually trained on the broad street running through the Agora and the office of the cavalry commanders (Hipparcheion) lay nearby. Part of the cavalry archives consisting of assessment records of horses written on lead strips (9), lead tokens for the issuing of armor (10), and clay tokens serving to identify official messengers from specific officers have been found (11), all discarded down a well at the northwest corner of the square. Not even at 60 were Athenian citizens allowed to give up public service; each year the class that had entered ephebic training 42 years before was called up to arbitrate in various legal disputes. 10. Lead tokens, third century B.C., stamped with items of armor (breastplate, helmet, greaves) to be issued to the cavalry. 11. (top) Circular terracotta tokens of Pheidon of the deme of Thriasia, Athenian cavalry commander (hipparch) at Lemnos, fourth century B.C.; (bottom) rectangular terracotta tokens of Xenokles of the deme of Perithoidai, commander of the border patrol (peripolarch), fourth century B.C. For those who did not come back from war but died in battle the People raised monuments, often simple lists of names, listed by tribes in their official order (12), but sometimes with a poetic tribute to the fallen. Just as the grief was public, so was the memorial of honor and glory won, like the shields taken from the Spartans in 425/4 B.C. at Pylos and hung as trophies on the Stoa Poikile (13). One bronze shield is inscribed: “The Athenians from the Lakedaimonians at Pylos.” Thucydides, in his account of the battle, comments: “Nothing that happened in the war surprised the Hellenes so much as this. It was the opinion that no force or famine could make the Lakedaimonians give up their arms, but that they would fight on as they could, and die with them in their hands.” 12. Casualty list, fifth century B.C., with the fallen listed by tribe. 13. Bronze shield captured from the Spartans at Pylos in 425/4 B.C. Punched inscription on the shield: “The Athenians from the Lacedaimonians at Pylos.”","","","","","AgoraPicBk 4 2004: Military Service","http://agathe.gr/democracy/military_service.html","","","Agora","","Agora:Webpage:1a6257c99ef7bee5dbbc7d4d715569e4"
"Webpage","","Sokrates The philosopher Sokrates was one of many Athenians critical of the people and their control over affairs of state. His probing public debates with fellow citizens led to his trial for impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens, his approach and opinions having exceeded the limits on freedom of speech acceptable to the Athenians. The Agora, as the political center of Athens, was the scene of many of the events played out in the drama of his teaching, trial, and death. According to custom, youths were not expected to spend time in the great square; the gymnasia of the city -- the Academy and Lyceum -- were their proper haunts. Sokrates, therefore, met them in a shop near the Agora, according to Xenophon (Memorabilia 4.21), and Diogenes Laertios preserves the name of Simon as the owner of the establishment where these meetings took place: ""Simon, an Athenian, a shoemaker. When Sokrates came to his workshop and discoursed, he used to make notes of what he remembered, whence these dialogues were called 'The Shoemakers""' (2.13.122). Regrettably, the shoemaker dialogues have not survived, but in the excavations of the Agora, a small house of the 5th century B.C. was excavated east of the Tholos, just outside the Agora boundary stone. Within it were found bone eyelets and iron hobnails dearly used for shoemaking, and nearby was found the broken fragment of a drinking cup, inscribed with the name of the owner, ""Simon.' The archaeological evidence suggests that we have here the very shop, visited by Perikles, which Sokrates used as an informal classroom, meeting here those students too young to frequent the square. Photograph of the House of Simon the Shoemaker. Athens, Agora excavations. The photograph shows the foundations of a house to the left of a roadway. It has been identified as a shoemaker's establishment by the discovery in the rooms of iron hobnails and bone shoelace eyelets (below). The base of a black-glaze drinking cup found in the roadway is inscribed ""of Simon,"" so it seems likely that this was the house of Simon the Shoemaker to whom the literary texts refer. Bone shoelace eyelets, Sth century B.C. D.: 0.015-0.025 m. Athens, Agora Museum BI 738. Iron hobnails, 5th century B.C. L. of shafts: 0.015 m. Athens, Agora Museum IL 1361. Base of an Athenian (Attic) black-glaze kylix (drinking cup), 5th century B.C. D.: 0.073 m. Athens, Agora Museum P 22998. The inscription ΣΙΜΟΝΟΣ, ""of Simon;' is scratched on the upper surface of the cup base. The cup can be dated by details of its shape to about 460 B.C., a time rather earlier than would be consistent with the Simon known to Sokrates and mentioned in the literary sources. It has been suggested that by the end of the 5th century, the base had become separated from the bowl of the cup and had been reused as a door knocker. The name Simon thus indicates whose house it was, and the findspot in the roadway is logical. The preliminary indictment leading to Sokrates' trial took place in the Royal Stoa and he was tried before a jury of 501 Athenians, in one of the lawcourts of the city, not as yet excavated. The trial was fairly close: 221 to 280 votes, according to Sokrates; in the penalty phase of the trial, however, he was condemned to death. According to Athenian law, the defense could propose an alternate penalty. Plato, in the Apology, tells what Sokrates suggests: What penalty do I deserve to pay or suffer, in view of what I have done? ... I tried to persuade each one of you not to think more of practical advantages than of his mental and moral well-being, or in general to think more of advantage than of well-being in the case of the state or of anything else.... What else is appropriate for a poor man who is a public benefactor and who requires leisure for giving you moral encouragement? Nothing could be more appropriate for such a person than free maintenance at the state's expense (Apology 36B, translated by Hugh Tredennick). Sokrates' confinement and execution in the state prison of Athens are described in some detail by Plato, and his description corresponds in several respects to a large building lying southwest of the Agora square. Here were found the thirteen little clay medicine bottles that may have held the poison hemlock with which the Athenians dispatched their political prisoners, and here, too, was found the small marble statuette that closely resembles the known portraits of Sokrates. Set of thirteen clay medicine bottles, 4th century B.C. H.: 0.036-0.042 m. Athens, Agora Museum P 20858. These small bottles are of a type generally used for drugs and medicine. This set of thirteen, found in the annex to the state prison, may have been used to hold the hemlock that was measured out in the exact dose necessary to cause death. After his trial in 399 B.C., recorded in Plato's Apology, Sokrates was executed in this manner. Fragmentary marble statuette, 4th century B.C. H.: 0.105 m. Athens, Agora Museum S 1413. Only one statue of Sokrates is recorded in ancient literature. After executing him, the Athenians felt such remorse that eventually they commissioned a bronze statue of Sokrates, the work of the renowned sculptor Lysippos, which they set up in the Pompeion in Athens (Diogenes Laertios 2.43). A bust in Naples may reproduce the original by Lysippos. This small statuette found in the state prison may have been a memento recalling the Lysippan bronze.","","","","","Birth of Democracy: Sokrates","http://agathe.gr/democracy/sokrates.html","","","Agora","","Agora:Webpage:8307df62c572f791a374e632a40f4710"
"Webpage","","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).","","","","","Birth of Democracy: State Religion","http://agathe.gr/democracy/state_religion.html","","","Agora","","Agora:Webpage:9d689a60f01ed8b811cd72653dbee8f5"
"Webpage","","Ostracism In addition to the legal assassination condoned in the Law against Tyranny, a less extreme method was also available for removing powerful but dangerous men from public life. This was a formal, regular vote for exile, known as ostracism. Each year the Assembly decided whether a vote of ostracism should be held. If a majority of the quorum of 6,000 citizens voted affirmatively, the day was set and at that time a large open area of the Agora was fenced off. In the enclosure were 10 entrances, one for each of the 10 tribes. By these the citizens entered, each with a potsherd (ostrakon) on which he had scratched the name of the man who seemed to him most dangerous to the state. Officials at the entrance collected the sherds and kept the citizens inside the enclosure until all had voted. The sherds were then tabulated; if more than 6,000 votes were cast, the man whose name appeared on the greatest number was sent into exile for 10 years. Such was ostracism, introduced as a safeguard against tyranny, later used as a weapon by rival statesmen, and finally abandoned in the late fifth century when it deteriorated into a political game. 21. Ostraka cast against Aristeides, Themistokles, Kimon, and Perikles, fifth century B.C. The potsherds, or ostraka, after being counted, were treated like so much waste paper. They were shoveled up and carried out to fill potholes in the roads leading out from the Agora. The big deposits of ostraka, found on the road from the southwest corner of the Agora, belong to the early years of the fifth century. Stray sherds from the whole area represent later votes of ostracism and provide the names of most of Athens’ prominent statesmen (21, 22). 22. Ostraka: “Kallixenos the traitor” and “Out with Themistokles” Themistokles son of Neokles of Phrearrioi, who was soon to become the hero of the Persian War and later to be exiled for pro-Persian sympathies, was a strong candidate for ostracism in 483/2 B.C. It was his chief opponent, Aristeides son of Lysimachos of Alopeke (nicknamed “the just”), who received the greatest number of votes that year and so was ostracized. Kimon son of Miltiades of Lakiadai was voted into exile in the late 460s probably because of his opposition to the radical democrats whom the young Perikles had recently joined. Perikles himself, about whom Thucydides says “by report it was a democracy, in fact a rule of the first citizen,” was never ostracized, but there were votes against him nonetheless. For some citizens, casting a vote was not enough. A few ostraka preserve some rather more violent sentiments. One of the votes against Themistokles adds “Out with him!” Another ostrakon, with the name of Kallixenos, who is not known to us from literary sources, designates him as a “traitor” (22).","","","","","AgoraPicBk 4 2004: Ostracism","http://agathe.gr/democracy/ostracism.html","","","Agora","","Agora:Webpage:716df938b7d7477103017ce7676d0f82"
"Webpage","","The Speakers Litigants spoke on their own behalf, although occasionally using speeches prepared by trained professionals; skillful rhetoric was necessary in order to sway a jury. The speeches written by several noted orators survive today, those of Lysias, Lykourgos, Hypereides, Antiphon, Demosthenes, Aeschines, and Isokrates. Of these, perhaps the best known for his ability in forensic speaking was Demosthenes, a statesman who led Athenian opposition to the rising power of Philip of Macedon in the 4th century B.C. Demosthenes' skills as a public speaker in the assembly were honed by training and considerable self-discipline: They say that when he was still a young man he withdrew into a cave and studied there, shaving half of his head to keep himself from going out; also that he slept on a narrow bed in order to get up quickly and that since he could not pronounce the sound of R he learned to do so by hard work, and since in declaiming for practice he made an awkward movement with his shoulder, he put an end to the habit by fastening a split or, as some say, a dagger from the ceiling to make him through fear keep his shoulder motionless. They say, too, that as he progressed in his ability to speak he had a mirror made as large as himself and kept his eyes on it while practicing, that he might correct his faults; and that he used to go down to the shore at Phaleron and address his remarks to the roar of the waves, that he might not be disconcerted if the people should ever make a disturbance; and that because he was short of breath he paid Neoptolemos the actor ten thousand drachmas to teach him to speak whole paragraphs without taking breath. (Plutarch, Moralia 844) No trial took more than a single day. Time was therefore allotted to the speakers according to a set schedule and measured carefully by means of klepsydrai (waterclocks): ""There are klepsydrai that have small tubes for the overflow; into these they pour the water by which the lawsuits must be conducted"" (Aristotle, Athenian Constitution 672). Fragmentary waterclock (klepsydra), late 5th century B.C. H.: 0.172 m. Athens, Agora Museum P 2084. The clay fragment preserves the base and part of the wall of a deep bowl. It is identified as part of a waterclock by the clay spout fitted with a small bronze inner tube just above the base. Centered above the spout, just below the rim, is a hole that would permit the pot to be filled to the same level each time. The pot bears two inscriptions. Near the bottom, ΧΧ, the letter chi, which must stand for Χους (choes), which was a measure of about 3.2 liters. Since the pot held two choes, its total capacity was about 6.4 liters, which takes about six minutes to run out. The other inscription, ΑΝΤΙΟ... indicates that the waterclock belonged to the tribe Antiochis. Photograph of a reconstructed waterclock in action. Athens, Agora excavations. This replica shows how the waterclock worked. The pot at the higher level would be filled with water, and the speaker spoke until all the water had run into the Pot at the lower level. A single example has survived, dating to about 400 B.C. It runs for only six minutes and thus represents a short speech. The preserved speeches of Demosthenes and other orators, whether on public or private matters, run much longer, and there must have been larger vessels to time them. Testimony of witnesses and citation of legal documents did not count against one's speaking time, and there are repeated requests in the preserved speeches for the water to be stopped. Experienced orators would keep an eye on the jet of water at the outlet, and as the pressure fell they would bring their speech to an end just as the last drops ran out.","","","","","Birth of Democracy: The Speakers","http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_speakers.html","","","Agora","","Agora:Webpage:d232ccb896abb6edd380eeba5e71cd4b"
"Webpage","","The Unenfranchised I - Women Numerous people resident in Athens and Attica had little part in the political life of the state. Most glaring by modern standards was the exclusion of women, although a similar exclusion persisted into the 20th century in Western society: Women only received the vote in all states of the United States in 1920, in France in 1945, and in Switzerland in 1971. Though protected by numerous laws regarding her property and rights, Athenian women had no vote and were not allowed to participate actively in political life. Women were not expected in the Agora, and it is not entirely clear that they were allowed to attend the theater. The proper Athenian lady was expected to spend almost all her time at home, and her primary function was to bear and raise the children. Perikles' comment on women in his great funeral oration is illuminating: If I am to speak also of womanly virtues, referring to those of you who will henceforth be in widowhood, I will sum up all in a brief admonition: Great is your glory if you fall not below the standard which nature has set for your sex, and great also is hers of whom there is least talk among men whether in praise or in blame. (Thucydides 2.45) Athenian (Attic) red-figure fragment of a kylix (drinking cup), late 6th century B.C. H.: 0.055 m. Athens, Agora Museum P 23133. The fragment shows the upper part of a nude woman, probably reclining on cushions at a symposion. She holds a castanet in her left hand and wears disk earrings. She is probably a hetaira, or courtesan, a woman accomplished in the arts of music, conversation, and sex. In addition to her duties as mother, the average Athenian woman was expected to run the household, an extraordinarily time-consuming operation. In addition to cleaning and preparing, food, this meant making most of the family clothing on the loom and fetching drinking water from one of the local fountain houses. Only in the area of religion did women have a direct role in public life. They were active participants in most of the cults and their associated festivals. Several of the significant cults had priestesses rather than priests as the chief religious functionaries. Athenian (Attic) red-figure fragment of a vase, about 460 B.C. H.: O.O57 m. Athens, Agora Museum P 29766. In contrast to the hetaira, this woman appears to be a properly dressed Athenian lady. The fragment preserves the upper part of her body and shows us that she wears a tunic, cloak, and headband. Needless to say, there were exceptions to the rule, and the famous women of Athens about whom anything was written were infamous, including -- ironically -- Perikles' own companion Aspasia: Sources claim that Aspasia was highly valued by Perikles because she was clever and politically astute. After all, Sokrates sometimes visited her, bringing along his pupils, and his cose friends took their wives to listen to her -- although she ran an establishment which was neither orderly nor respectable, seeing that she educated a group of young female companions to become courtesans. Aeschines says that Lysikles the sheep-dealer, a man lowly born and humble of nature, became the most important man of Athens by living with Aspasia after the death of Perikles. (Plutarch, Life of Perikles 34.3-4),","","","","","Birth of Democracy: Women","http://agathe.gr/democracy/women.html","","","Agora","","Agora:Webpage:8215b26d0ead85c21d46314d7c1ef95e"