The Agora

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the Athenian Agora, the civic center and marketplace of the polis. At the heart of this chapter is the issue of when the government buildings and functions shifted from the older Archaic Agora to this new area, and how the new buildings articulated the changed political landscape of the polis. This chapter progresses monument by monument. Three buildings in particular are highlighted—the Old Bouleuterion (Council House), the Stoa Basileios (magistrate’s office), and the Southeast Fountain House—due to their unique forms and decoration, their important functions for the polis as a whole, and their siting within the Agora. This chapter also considers the role of movement and sight lines within and around the Agora.