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"","","","","Agora","","Overview: Volunteer Application","Excavations in the Athenian Agora Volunteer Program Summer 2013 The American School of Classical Studies at Athens announces a program for volunteer excavators wishing to participate in the archaeological excavations of the Athenian Agora during the summer of 2013. Approximately thirty-five volunteers are chosen on the basis of academic qualifications and previous archaeological field experience. Undergraduate applications are welcome, though priority is given to graduate students preparing for professional careers in classical archaeology and those willing to work the entire season. Work of the Volunteer Staff The Volunteer Staff will participate in all aspects of the archaeological fieldwork under the supervision of a staff of field archaeologists and technical experts, all of whom have extensive field experience and advanced academic training in classical archaeology. Volunteers will be trained in the basic techniques of excavation: working with pick, trowel, shovel, and wheelbarrow; cleaning and investigating stratigraphy; delicate cleaning of artifacts in the ground; sifting of excavated earth and techniques of flotation; washing and basic conservation of pottery and other objects; clerical work involved in the keeping of excavation records. All tasks will be assigned in rotation, and volunteers are expected to participate in them all. Room and a modest allowance for board are provided for the time volunteers are working at the excavations. Travel arrangements to and from Greece are the responsibility of each volunteer. The 2013 Season The excavations of 2013 are planned for eight weeks beginning early June and continuing until early August. Fieldwork is in progress five days a week, Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a 30-minute break at midmorning. Volunteers are expected to be on the site during these hours and to work at the excavations for a minimum of six weeks. As noted above, preference is given to those applicants who can work the full eight weeks. To request applications or additional information, contact: Agora Volunteer Program American School of Classical Studies 6-8 Charlton Street Princeton, NJ 08540-5232 Tel: 609-683-0800 Fax: 609-924-0578 E-mail: ascsa@ascsa.org Website: www.ascsa.edu.gr Or download pdf versions of this bulletin and the application form here: Download the Bulletin (PDF)Download the Application (PDF)   POSTMARK DEADLINE: DECEMBER 15, 2012. Applicants can expect to receive notification after February 15, 2013. The American School of Classical Studies at Athens does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, sexual orientation, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, or disability when considering admission to any form of membership or application.","Agora:Webpage:98c5fa5247dd12e842862cf6038c15c3","","","Webpage","","http://agathe.gr/overview/volunteer_application.html"
"","","","","Agora","","Birth of Democracy: The Athenian Aristocracy","The Athenian Aristocracy Before democracy, from the 8th to the 6th century B.C., Athens was prosperous economically but no more significant than many other city-states in Greece. Silver deposits south of Athens, quarries of fine white marble, and extensive clay beds that skilled potters used to good advantage made the city wealthy but otherwise unremarkable. As in other Greek cities, political power was in the hands of several large aristocratic families or clans (genei) which controlled large areas of Attica, the territory around Athens. Social prestige and political office were linked to property and military prowess, and most of the population had virtually no role in the political life of the city. Aristotle describes the situation in the 7th century B.C. as follows: Appointment to the supreme offices of state went by birth and wealth; and they were held at first for life, and afterwards for a term of ten years. (Athenian Constitution 3.1) At times these aristocratic families ruled in relative harmony; on occasion competition and strife between them was severe. Until the 6th century, Athens and her aristocratic political system were typical of many Greek city-states. These aristocratic families enjoyed considerable wealth and contacts with aristocrats elsewhere. Painted pottery and surviving fragments of poetry depict the aristocracy at play, usually reclining comfortably at a drinking party or symposion. Athenian (Attic) black-figure olpe Oug), 540-530 B.C. Attributed to the Amasis Painter. H.: 0.26 m. Athens, Agora Museum P 24673. This fragmentary day jug shows a symposion with banqueters reclining on a couch, a typically aristocratic activity. On the left a girl plays the double pipes (auloi), providing music for the occasion, and on the right stands a youth. A low table spread with fruit and meat has been placed in front of the couch. The vase is decorated in the black-figure technique in which the figures are rendered in black on the natural red clay surface of the vase; details are done by incision through the black, or with red and white colors. Material wealth was displayed in the form of costly dedications made in sanctuaries such as the Acropolis of Athens or at Brauron, Eleusis, and Sounion. Cemeteries also provide rich material from this period: lavish burials contained intricately worked gold jewelry and unusual glass objects, along with specially made funerary vases. Pair of gold earrings. L.: 0.065 m. Athens, Agora Museum J 148. The jewelry was found in the Athenian Agora in a cremation burial of the mid-9th century B.C. Gold jewelry was unusual in 9th-century Greece. Each earring consists of a shaft made of fine wires to which is attached a trapezoidal plaque decorated with filigree and granulation. Three pomegranate finials hang from the bottom of the plaque. The earrings would have been suspended from a thin gold wire or hook passed through the ears. Necklace of glass and Jaience beads. Max. L. of the largest bead: 0.047 m.; min. L.: 0.004 m. Athens, Agora Museum G 587-S91, J 149. The elements of the necklace include glass and faience beads that were found together in the burial. They have been restrung to recreate the original appearance of the necklace. Photograph of vases from the cremation burial of a wealthy woman, including the chest with model granaries shown, Athens, Agora excavations. Drawing of the cremation burial of a wealthy woman. Drawing by W B. Dinsmoor, Jr. The bones and ashes were found in the large pot along with the gold jewelry and faience necklace displayed above. The other vessels, including the chest with model granaries, were placed around the large pot as grave offerings. The drawing shows side and top views of the burial.","Agora:Webpage:37f8e43a4e3e1e8e8021c277d0cac83c","","","Webpage","","http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_athenian_aristocracy.html"
"","","","","Agora","","Overview: The Excavations","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 site was entrusted by the Greek State to the American School of Classical Studies, founded in Athens in 1881. Negotiations began in 1925, soon after the Greek parliament voted not to undertake the project itself, largely because of the huge costs of expropriation. The area in question covered some 24 acres and was occupied by 365 modern houses, all of which had to be purchased and demolished. View of the west side of the Agora at the start of excavations in Section A, June 19, 1931. View from the north toward the hill of Kolonos Agoraios and the Hephaisteion. ""After proper ceremony of sprinkling of holy water by priest of neighboring church [Panagia Vlassarou] Agora Excavations began about 7:30 a.m. Digging confined to area occupied by House 22 until it shall be levelled off. 28 men / 135 wagons"" (Notebook [Nb.] E I, p. 74; May 25, 1931). Edward Capps, chairman of the Managing Committee of the American School, was the guiding spirit behind the project, and T. L. Shear was appointed the first field director. Shear assembled a staff that includes some of the best-known names in Greek archaeology: Homer A. Thompson, Eugene Vanderpool, Benjamin Meritt, Dorothy Burr (Thompson), Virginia Grace, Lucy Talcott, Alison Frantz, Piet de Jong, and John Travlos, among others. Agora Excavations staff, 1933. Third row (left to right): Charles Spector, Piet de Jong, Arthur Parsons, Eugene Vanderpool, Mary Zelia Pease [Philippides], James Oliver. Second row: Joan Bush [Vanderpool], Elizabeth Dow, Virginia Grace, Gladys Baker, Homer Thompson. Sitting: Lucy Talcott, Benjamin Meritt, Josephine Shear, T. Leslie Shear, Dorothy Burr [Thompson]. Actual work of excavation began in May of 1931, funded largely by John D. Rockefeller. Since then, several dozen more houses have been cleared, bringing the total to more than 400. The enterprise has been a huge one, both in terms of money and time. As is often the case with American cultural projects, the funding has been provided almost exclusively from private foundations and individuals: the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Kress Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities have all participated. In recent years the work has been sustained by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Packard Humanities Institute. 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. Since 1931 hundreds of scholars, workers, specialists, and students have participated in the excavation, conservation, research, and publication of the site and its related finds. Collectively, they are responsible for one of the most productive archaeological projects in the Mediterranean basin. Over forty volumes and hundreds of scholarly articles have been published, adding much to our understanding of all aspects of ancient Greek history and society. View of the Agora and Acropolis from the northwest. Areas currently being excavated are visible in the lower half of the image. Current excavations, July 2008.","Agora:Webpage:bff2d947b8e42c1f50f638ad6d414600","","","Webpage","","http://agathe.gr/overview/the_excavations.html"
"","","","","Agora","","Birth of Democracy: The Athenian Army","The Athenian Army From the very beginning, the Athenians were compelled to fight for their new democracy. Their dramatic victories over the Boiotians and Chalkidians in 506 B.C. led many to attribute Athenian military success to their political system. This notion was greatly enhanced by the extraordinary victory of the Athenian army over the Persians at Marathon in 490 B.C. On numerous subsequent occasions, Athenian citizens were called upon to go into battle against other states, both Greek and foreign, most often against oligarchies and aristocracies, since the Athenians tended to ally themselves with other democracies. Fragment of an Athenian (Attic) red-figure bell-krater (mixing bowl), Stb century B.C. H.: 0.12 7 m. Athens, Agora Museum P 15837. A warrior with helmet, sword in scabbard, spear and shield (device: snake) attacks an opponent to the left (now missing). The army was managed by the polemarch, together with ten generals, one elected from each of the tribes. In their attempt to ensure equality, the Athenians by the 5th century allotted most offices, even the highest archonships. Some positions, however, such as treasurers and the water commissioner, were simply too important to be left to the luck of the draw; these remained elective and therefore became real positions of power whereby a politician demonstrated popular support and remained in office for many years. The generalships are the clearest example of this practice, and many of the leading statesmen of Athens held the position. Perikles, for instance, never served as eponymous archon-nominally the highest post in the state-but he was elected general of his tribe year after year, and from that position he guided Athenian affairs for decades. By far the largest component of the army was the infantry composed of hoplites, citizens fighting in a full set of armor. They went into battle protected by a helmet, breastplate, and greaves (shin guards), carrying a large round shield and long thrusting spear. On occasion, the state would issue such equipment to citizens who could not afford a set of their own. Athenian (Attic) red-figure lekythos (oil container), late 6th century B.C., attributed to the Roundabout Painter. H.: 0.138 m. Athens, Agora Museum P 24061. The Roundabout Painter was named for this vase, which shows three warriors and a trumpeter running around the body of the jug. The warriors wear helmets and greaves, and carry shields ornamented with various devices: an anchor, insect, or serpent. Citizens received military training during their service as ephebes from age 18 to 20: The people elect two athletic trainers and instructors for them, to teach them their drill as heavy-armed soldiers and to use the bow, javelin, and sling.... They go on in this mode of life for the first year; in the following year an assembly is held in the theater, and the ephebes give a display of drill before the people and receive a shield and spear from the state and they then serve on patrols in the country and are quartered at the guard-posts. Their service on patrol goes on for two years; the uniform is a mantle; they are exempt from all taxes.... When the two years are up, they now are members of the general body of citizens. (Aristotle, Athenian Constitution 42.2-5) Richer Athenians enrolled in the cavalry, as always, a smaller elite military force made up of those wealthy enough to own and maintain a good mount. The state carried out an inspection and registered each horse on an annual basis, so that the owner could draw a maintenance allowance. Several dozen lead strips recording the color, brand, and value of the cavalry mounts have been found in the Agora, where the cavalry trained. Inscribed lead strip from the cavalry records, 4th century B.C. L.: 0.073 m. Athens, Agora Museum IL 1563. Recovered from a well in the northwest corner of the Agora, this lead strip carries an inscription recording the registration of a horse. On one side is the name of the owner, Konon; on the other a description of the horse, a chestnut, with a centaur brand, as well as its price, 700 drachmas. Such strips were clearly used for the annual assessment of the cavalry and would then form the basis of a reimbursement by the state should the horse be lost in battle. At the end of the year these records would become obsolete and could be reused or discarded, as in the case of this example found in a well. From the series of similar strips recovered in Athens we learn that the maximum assessment of a horse was 1,200 drachmas, well below the value of many horses and representing the maximum limit of the state's responsibility; the minimum amount was 500 drachmas. Lead armor tokens, 3rd century B.C. D.: 0.018-0.021 m. Athens, Agora Museum IL 1575 (helmet), 1573-1574 (breastplate), 1579 (shield), and 1572, 1576-1577 (greave). Each token is stamped on both sides. On one side a piece of armor is shown: a helmet, breastplate, shield, or greave, and on the other side, the letter Α (alpha), Γ (gamma), or Δ (delta). These tokens might have been used as exchanges for state-owned armor. The letters may have designated sizes for the armor pictured on the other side. Public armor was most likely kept on hand for the arming of irregulars, thetes, and perhaps even slaves, at the time of mobilization, whereas Athenians on the official hoplite register were legally responsible for procuring their own military equipment. By the 3rd century B.C. there was only a small standing army, so the number of irregulars must have grown to include much of the city's middle-class population. Here, too, were found the clay disks stamped with the name of the hipparch (cavalry commander) Pheidon. The 4th-century B.C. historian Xenophon describes the duties of a cavalry commander: First, he must sacrifice to propitiate the gods on behalf of the cavalry; second, he must make the processions during the festivals worth seeing; further, he must conduct all the other obligatory displays before the people with as much splendor as possible (The Cavalry Commander 3.11 translated by E.C. Marchand). Clay tokens of a cavalry commander, 4th century B.C. D.: 0. 02 9-0.034 m. Athens, Agora Museum MC 1164-1165, 1169-1170, 1179, 1183, 1189, 1190. The tokens are stamped with the title, hipparch, cavalry commander; his assignment: ""at Lemnos;"" and the man's name and deme: Pheidon of Thria. The eight examples reproduced here are part of a group of thirty similar tokens found in the same well, at a level dating to the second half of the 4th century B.C., as the inscribed lead strip describing Konon's horse. During the 4th century, the cavalry commander at Lemnos was not only one of the principal officers of the cavalry but also the ranking Athenian official on the island. In a remarkable example of correlation between archaeological and literary evidence, Pheidon may be the same individual mentioned in a fragment of the 4th-century B.C. comic poet Mnesimachos, who wrote: ""Go forth, Manes, to the Agora, to the Herms, the place frequented by the phylarchs (other cavalry commanders), and to their handsome pupils whom Pheidon trains in mounting and dismounting"" (Athenaios, Deipnosophistai 9.402). Clay tokens or passports of a border commander, 4th century B.C. D.: 0.039-0.04 m. Athens, Agora Museum SS 8080, MC 1245. The tokens were inscribed with the name of Xenokles, his deme, Perithoidai, and his title, Peripolarch. The peripolarch was the military officer responsible for the frontier garrisons and the border patrols. These tokens were probably used as passports and for messengers reporting to and from military headquarters.","Agora:Webpage:e3cd4e64e661a81dab752038cbf174ae","","","Webpage","","http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_athenian_army.html"
"","","","","Agora","","Birth of Democracy: The Verdict","The Verdict After the speeches and other evidence had been presented, the members of the jury voted by casting ballots. A series of vase paintings of the early 5th century B.C. show a mythological story, the vote for the arms of Achilles. In these scenes the Greek heroes vote using pebbles, observed by many bystanders, suggesting that the concept of a secret ballot did not yet exist. Whether or not the voting scenes that appear on vases depicting this story show an actual method of voting in early 5th-century Athens, their appearance at this time may have been prompted by the enhanced importance of voting that resulted from the reforms of Kleisthenes. The voting scene in Aeschylos' play Eumenides, produced in 458 B.C., suggests that by this time a means of voting secretly existed. We are told that in voting on whether Orestes should live or die, the contesting parties placed their ballots (pebbles or mussel shells) into one of two urns, one for the prosecutor, the other for the defendant. Although it is hard to see how this procedure could be secret, since the choice of urn might be observed by anyone present, it seems that the Athenians had devised a way to maintain secrecy, for in the vote over Orestes' fate, the outcome is in doubt until the votes are counted. Athena, casting her vote in Orestes' favor, says: If the other votes are even, then Orestes wins. You of the jurymen who have this duty assigned, Shake out the ballots from the vessels, with all speed. (Aeschylos, Eumenides 740-743, translated by Richard Lattimore) By the mid-4th century B.C. the system had changed to that described by Aristotle: There are bronze ballots, with an axle through the middle, half of them hollow and half solid. When the speeches have been made, the men appointed by lot to take charge of the ballots give each juror two ballots, one hollow and one solid, in full view of the litigants so that no one shall take two solid or two hollow... There are two jars in the court, one of bronze and one of wood.... The jurors cast their votes in these: the bronze jar counts and wooden does not; the bronze one has a pierced attachment through which only one ballot can pass, so that one man cannot cast two votes. When the jurors are ready to vote, the herald first makes a proclamation, to ask whether the litigants object to the testimonies: objections are not allowed once the voting has begun. Then he makes another proclamation: 'The hollow ballot is for the litigant who spoke first (prosecutor), the solid for the one who spoke afterwards (defendant)' The juror takes his ballots together from the stand, gripping the axle of the ballot and not showing the contestants which is the hollow and which is the solid, and drops the one that is to count into the bronze jar and the one that is not into the wooden. (Athenian Constitution 68, translated by P.J. Rhodes) Bronze ballots, 4th century B.C. D.: 0.06 m. Athnes, Agora Museum B 728, 1056. One ballot has a solid axle, the other a hollow axle. The ballot with the solid axle bears the letter epsilon, E, which might designate a jury section, or, more likely, a tribe. The ballot with the pierced axle is inscribed: ""psephos demosia,"" public ballot. Most of the ballots uncovered in the Agora are of bronze, but a few are of lead. The majority are datable to the 4th century B.C., but the latest, and especially those of lead, may run into the 2nd century B.C. If the vote was for guilty, then there was a second phase of the trial to set the penalty. After additional speeches, the jury then decided between two punishments, one proposed by the prosecution, the other by the defense. If the prosecutor failed to get a sufficient number of guilty votesat least one fifth-his case was deemed unworthy, and he himself was fined. Some forty-eight ballots fitting Aristotle's description have been found in the Agora, some actually inscribed ""official ballot."" A ballot box has also been identified. Photograph of a ballot box. L.: .70 m. Athens, Agora excavations. This container, in which six bronze ballots were found including those described above, is made of two terracotta drain tiles set on end.","Agora:Webpage:7463120e9044ccd5f3836b8287a2dafd","","","Webpage","","http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_verdict.html"
"","","","","Agora","","Birth of Democracy: The Jury","The Jury The jurors for each trial were chosen from a large body of citizens available for jury duty for the period of one year. At the beginning of the year, each juror was given a bronze pinakion, a plaque that had his name, father's name, and deme (and therefore tribe) inscribed on it. Bronze juror's ticket (pinakion), 4th century B.C. L.: 0.102 m. Athens, Agora Museum B 822. This identification ticket carries the juror's name: Demophanes; the first letters of his father's name: Phil .... ; and his deme: Kephisia. Allotment machine (kleroterion), third century B.C. The pinakia were used in kleroteria, allotment machines that assigned jurors to the courts. The procedure worked as follows: On the day a trial was to be held, the potential juror would appear before the magistrate in charge of the allotment who was stationed at one of these machines. At the base of the kleroterion were ten baskets, one for each of the ten tribes. The pinakion would go into the appropriate tribal basket, which was labeled with the name of the juror's tribe. When it was time to allot jurors to courts, the magistrate would take the pinakia from the first tribal basket and put them into the first vertical row of slots in the machine, the pinakia from the second basket into the second row, and so on until he had placed all the pinakia into slots. Reconstruction drawing of the jury-allotment device (kleroterion). Agora Museum Archives. Ten rows of narrow slots were used to hold the juror's tickets. The hollow tube held black and white balls. When cranked, a black or white ball issued forth, determining who would serve that day. The machine assured random selection of the jury and equal tribal representation. According to Aristotle, a pair of such kleroteria stood at the entrance to each court (Athenian Constitution 63). Along the side of the machine was a hollow bronze tube, with a funnel at the top and a crank at the bottom. Into the funnel the magistrate poured a mixture of white and black marbles, which would line up in the tube in random order. A turn of the crank at the bottom produced a single ball. If it was white, the ten citizens (one from each tribe) whose pinakia were set into the first horizontal row would be assigned to the jury for that day and would proceed at once to the court. If it was a black ball, all citizens whose pinakia were in that row were dismissed for the day. The procedure was repeated until a court was filled, selecting ten jurors with every white ball. The machine assured absolutely random selection, both in the order in which the pinakia were placed in the kleroterion and in the order in which the balls appeared. There was no easy way to bribe an Athenian jury, made up of at least 201 men chosen immediately before the court sat. At the same time, the kleroterion chose one juror from each of the ten tribes with each white ball, so that there was equal tribal representation on every court. The machine could also be used to appoint a board of ten magistrates, in this case only one of the balls would be white. As much as any object left to us from antiquity, the kleroterion indicates the lengths to which the Athenians went in trying both to ensure equality and to forestall corruption in their governmental affairs. Lead tokens, 4th century B.C. D.: 0.015-0.023 m. Athens, Agora Museum IL 656, 819, 893, 944, 1146, 1173, 1233. According to Aristotle, the juror on entering the court received a token, or symbolon (Athenian Constitution 65, 68, 69). After voting he turned in the token and was thus entitled to receive his fee of three obols (one-half a drachma). Some fifty such tokens have come to light in the Agora, most dating to the 4th and early 3rd century B.C. Decorated with various images-a bow, a cow, a dolphin, crossed torches, rosette, Nike, a ship, as well as letters (E or K), indicating the court to which the juror was assigned or a particular seating area within the court. Athenian jurors were paid, another democratic procedure designed to ensure that all could afford to serve. Small round lead tokens or symbola were issued to jurors who had been allotted to assure proper payment to the right individuals. Payment was made only at the end of the trial and only upon presentation of the symbolon. Numerous symbola have been found scattered over the Agora; they carry different devices and letters to indicate the court to which the juror was assigned.","Agora:Webpage:bfdf9fd93064a87093199ba07e334f0d","","","Webpage","","http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_jury.html"
"","","","","Agora","","Birth of Democracy: The Ekklesia","The Ekklesia (Citizens' Assembly) All Athenian citizens had the right to attend and vote in the Ekklesia, a full popular assembly which met about every 10 days. All decrees (psephismata) were ratified by the Ekklesia before becoming law. As a rule, the Ekklesia met at its own special meeting place known as the Pnyx, a large theater-shaped area set into the long ridge west of the Acropolis. In theory every assembly represented the collective will of all the male citizens of Athens, although the actual capacity of the Pnyx never seems to have exceeded 13,500, and for much of the Classical period it held only about 6,000. The Pnyx, about SOO B.C. Model by C. Mammelis. Athens, Agora Museum. The model shows the Pnyx in its first phase, generally associated with the Kleisthenic reforms. The natural hill slope was used to form an auditorium, and there was a retaining wall at the bottom which supported the terrace where speakers stood. In this early form the seating capacity was about 5,000. Three phases of the Pnyx. Drawing by John Travlos. In phase I (about 500 B.C.) the Pnyx utilized the natural slope of the hillside, but either political concerns or the exposure of the seating area to northeast winds made a reversal of the structure necessary. In phase II (about 404/3 B.C.) an embankment with a retaining wall at the bottom created an auditorium with a slope contrary to that of the natural hillside, so that the audience now faced southwest and was sheltered from the winds. In phase III (4th century B.C.) the structure was enlarged but retained the same general configuration. Two large stoas were begun but never finished on the south side of the Pnyx adjacent to the city wall. Visible today are the foundation of the curved retaining wall of the auditorium of phase III and the rock-cut bema (stand for speakers), which projects from the scarp. Throughout its long history the Pnyx had three major building phases. The earliest is generally associated with the Kleisthenic reforms. The second phase is dated to about 404/3 B.C., a time after the Peloponnesian War, when the democracy was abolished and Athens was under the control of the Thirty Tyrants, installed by Sparta. According to Plutarch, the Thirty had a specific political reason for shifting the orientation of the seating: The Thirty afterwards turned the bema [stand for speakers] in the Pnyx, which was made to look at the sea, toward the land, because they thought that naval supremacy had been the origin of democracy but that tillers of the soil were less ill disposed toward oligarchy (Life of Themistokles 4). View of the Pnyx from the Observatory with the Speaker’s platform (bema) visible right of center. The excavators associated this passage with a large stepped retaining wall designed to support a seating area that no longer followed the natural slope and that had the bema to the south, facing inland. In a third and final phase dated to the late 4th century B.C., the seating capacity was greatly increased, to accommodate as many as 13,500 people. Lead tokens, 4th century B.C. D.: 0.015-0.023 m. Athens, Agora Museum IL 656, 819, 893, 944, 1146, 1173, 1233. Decorated with various images-a bow, a cow, a dolphin, crossed torches, rosette, Nike, a ship, as well as letters (E or K) - these small tokens were turned in for pay, allowing poor citizens to participate without losing a day's wages. In an important democratic innovation, pay for attending the Ekklesia was instituted in about 400 B.C., thereby ensuring that everyone, including citizens of the working classes, could afford to participate in the political life of the city. Bronze or lead tokens were issued to those attending the meeting, and these could later be redeemed for the assemblyman's pay of two obols (one-third of a drachma) per session.","Agora:Webpage:b7cf821ed29ed78e4b8e3b6443c66270","","","Webpage","","http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_ekklesia.html"
"","","","","Agora","","Birth of Democracy: Tyranny","Tyranny As happened in many other Greek states, a tyrant arose in Athens in the 6th century B.C. His name was Peisistratos, and after several unsuccessful attempts he seized power in 546 B.C. and ruled until his death in 527, after which he was succeeded by his two sons, Hippias and Hipparchos. Such tyrannies were a common feature of Greek political life as states made the transition from an aristocracy to either a democracy or an oligarchy. The Greek word τύραννος indicates that the individual seized or held power unconstitutionally but does not necessarily carry the negative force the word has today. Often the tyrant arose as the champion of the common people against the aristocracy. Peisistratos, head of one of the large aristocratic families, seized power by force during a period of factional strife. Though many Athenians fled or were forced into exile (Herodotus 1.64), Aristotle's assessment of his tenure is positive: Peisistratos' administration of the state was, as has been said, moderate, and more constitutional than tyrannic; he was kindly and mild in everything, and in particular he was merciful to offenders and moreover he advanced loans of money to the poor for their industries. (Athenian Constitution 16.1-2) Aristotle has further praise for the tyrants, at least in their early days: And in all other matters too he gave the multitude no trouble during his rule but always worked for peace and safeguarded tranquility; so that men were often to be heard saying that the tyranny of Peisistratos was the Golden Age of Kronos; for it came about later when his son succeeded him that the government became much harsher. And the greatest of all the things said of him was that he was popular and kindly in temper. For he was willing to administer everything according to the laws in all matters, never giving himself any advantage. ... Both the notables and the men of the people were most of them willing for him to govern, since he won over the former by his hospitality and the latter by his assistance in their private affairs and was good-natured to both. (Athenian Constitution 16.7-9) That Peisistratid rule was surprisingly open is borne out by a fragment of a list of archons which shows that in 524 B.C. the future founder of democracy, Kleisthenes himself, held the chief magistracy while the tyrants were still in power, as did another rival aristocrat, Miltiades. For 599/1 B.C. we can read the name of the younger Peisistratos, grandson of the founder of the tyranny. Fragment Of an inscription, about 425 B.C. H.: 0.15 m. W.: 0.195 m. Athens, Agora Museum I 4120. Broken from a large marble block inscribed with a list of archons of Athens, this piece preserves parts of the names of six archons of the 520's B.C.; two of them are members of the family of Peisistratos: In the second line we read Hippias, his son, and in the last line, Peisistratos the younger, his grandson. The inscription also records the names of two other well-known politicians active in the late 6th century B.C.: Miltiades, future hero of the battle of Marathon against the Persians, and Kleisthenes, later to be the initiator of democratic reforms. The letter forms date the inscription to the later part of the 5th century B.C., which means the piece shown here recorded the names of individuals who held office a century earlier. His reign, like that of so many tyrants, was characterized by large public works projects, the first in Athens for centuries. Large temples and altars were constructed for Zeus Olympios, Apollo Pythios, and the Twelve Gods. In addition, an extensive system of aqueducts and fountainhouses brought a reliable supply of good clean water into the city. The impact of this fine new water system is reflected in the fountainhouse scenes painted on dozens of black-figure hydrias (water jars) and other pots in the late 6th century. Model of the Altar of the Twelve Gods. Model by Petros Demetriades and Kostas Papoulias, Athens, Agora Museum. Literary sources tell us that the younger Peisistratos, grandson of the founder of the tyranny, dedicated the Altar of the Twelve Gods when he was archon in 522/1 B.C. This monument was near the middle of the Agora square, the actual center of Athens, and was the point from which distances from Athens were measured. The altar was famous in antiquity as a place of asylum and refuge. No traces remain of the altar itself, but excavation has revealed a foundation of squared blocks supporting a low sill of limestone blocks with the marks of a stone fence on the upper surface which formed the altar enclosure. Nearby is a statue base with a inscription that identifies the structure as the Altar of the Twelve Gods: ""Leagros the son of Glaukon dedicated this to the Twelve Gods."" Athenian (Attic) white-ground, black-figure lekythos (oil container), about SOO B.C. Attributed to the Gela Painter. H.: 0.265 m. Athens, Agora Museum P 24106. Building fountainhouses and thus improving the water supply of the city was one of several civic works initiated under the Peisistratid tyranny. In the picture on this vase, water gushes from a spout shaped like the head of a panther into the water jar (hydria) below. A woman waits for it to fill while another woman goes off with her jar full. The fountainhouse shown here is small, but we know of one fountainhouse built at this time that had nine waterspouts, the Enneakrounos, a building that has not so far been located by archaeologists. As this picture suggests, fountainhouses became meeting places for women whose otherwise circumscribed lives allowed them few such opportunities. Matters changed with the death of Peisistratos when his two sons Hippias and Hipparchos took over in 527 B.C. Aristotle describes the characters of the two brothers: Affairs were now under the authority of Hipparchos and Hippias, owing to their station and their ages, but the government was controlled by Hippias, who was the elder and was statesmanlike and wise by nature; whereas Hipparchos was fond of amusement and lovemaking and had literary tastes; it was he who brought to Athens the poets such as Anakreon and Simonides, and the others. (Athenian Constitution 18.1) Drawing of an inscribed molding from the Altar of Apollo Pytbios. Drawing by William B. Dinsmoor, Jr. Literary sources tell us that the Altar of Apollo Pythios, like the Altar of the Twelve Gods, was built when Peisistratos the Younger was archon, in 522/1 B.C. Inscribed bases from the shrine survive and have been found near the Olympieion, so it is assumed that the altar was in that area. The inscription on the section of molding from the altar illustrated here reads: ""This memorial of his office Peisistratos son of Hippias set up in the precinct of Pythian Apollo.""","Agora:Webpage:cfc7e83cc722831a91df2e42e27c41d2","","","Webpage","","http://agathe.gr/democracy/tyranny.html"