West Side Of The Ancient Athens Agora

One approaches the site of the ancient Agora today				second day animals offered by the infants' fathers
by descending a wide stairway to the right of the				were sacrificed. The priest who performed the
temple. At the edge of the plateau, the American				sacrifice had the prerogative of taking a leg, a side
School of Classical Studies which conducted the				and an ear from the slaughtered animal together with
excavations has put up a chart assisting visitors to				half a drachma. The third day of the feast was the
find their way around the site.				most important and was called koureotis showing
Some of the first public buildings from Solon's rule				clearly that some of the child's hair was cut. One
were constructed on the west side of the Agora				cannot help thinking that some of the details from
thereby creating the nucleus of Athens' administrative				the Apatoureia are similar to our baptism today. It
centre. The Bouleuterion (Council House) was built				seems that each tribe had its own day for
first together with the adjacent Prytaniko; the first				recognising its new members, but this day was
sewage ducts were installed and the boundaries of				always in the month of Pyanepsion. These boys
the site were marked with inscribed stelae. During the				participated in the same feast when they became 18
6th century, buildings had been erected on top of				years old and were registered officially in the city
pre-historic graves, and were covered over in turn by				rolls. The formal part of the puberty feast was
subsequent structures.				exactly the same as that for infants, except that the
The first building we meet, to the left at the bottom				priest was given an additional silver drachma. Knowing
of the steps, is the raised floor of the Tholos. In the				the enormous significance attached by the Athenians
6th century a rectangular edifice with an internal				to the title of free citizen, one can understand how
colonnaded courtyard was built on this site and used				important was this sanctuary to the Phratrioi (clan)
as a refectory by the assembly members. It was				gods.
called the Prytaniko to distinguish it from the initial				Right next to the cluster of temples of Patroos
Prytaneion which must have been still in use when				Apollo and the Phratrioi gods, a large building, initially
the old agora was situated on the slope of the				almost 50 metres long, has been revealed resting on
Acropolis. The Prytaniko was destroyed during the				three steps. It was the portico of Zeus Eleuthereus,
Persian wars and replaced by the Tholos, which then				which took its name from the statue of the
became the official Prytaneion. This circular structure				protector god of that supreme value, Freedom
was absolutely dependent on the adjacent				(eleutheria).
Bouleuterion, the seat of the Assembly of the Five				And here the history of the Agora was repeated
Hundred. The annually elected members were always				with the ruins of early buildings being covered over
divided into groups of 50 representatives from each				by later ones. The Portico of Zeus was built in the
tribe and in this form they presided on a rotating				5th century as its foundation dates from then; it was
basis for a period of 36-39 days. This period was				trapezoidal in shape with wings extending out at both
called the "prytaneia", during which the members had				ends. It should be noted that this is one of the first
the right to free meals at the Prytaneion, where				applications of this architectural plan which became
they performed their duties. About one-third of them				very popular in subsequent centuries. Especially during
remained there continuously, even at night, in the				the Hellenistic years, lateral projecting wings became
event that some emergency decision had to be				a particularly popular feature of buildings, as the long
made. Every day near sunset, the prytaneis drew				facades were seen to be recessed, creating a
lots from among themselves to choose the epistatis				variety of lines pleasing to the eye. In the Stoa of
(supervisor), who was the supreme archon for 24				Zeus Eleuthereas an outer colonnade surrounded all
hours, as he held the state seal and the keys to the				the facade and the wings, giving the impression that
state archives.				the latter were little temples incorporated into the
The Prytaneion was in essence the administrative				edifice. There were pediments on the wing facades,
seat of the Republic of Athens because the				and at the corners of the roof, were statues
prytaneis had full control over military, political and				portraying Victory. One of these, found at the
financial matters. They even had the right to express				southern corner of the portico in fairly good
criticism of the newly elected officials. They received				condition, is a lively young figure flying against the
ambassadors from other cities, studied the reports				wind with her light garment billowing in harmonious
of the strategoi (military leaders), assigned contracts				folds. Pausanias saw a statue of Zeus Eleuthereus in
for public works and organised the sales of property				front of the main part of this portico. The round
seized from penalized citizens. The weights and				shape of the base of this statue caused
measures of the state were kept in the Prytaneion;				archaeologists to suppose that the archaic altar of
another duty exercised by the prytaneis was to				the god might have been used subsequently as the
keep close check on the measures of weight used in				most suitable pedestal for the cult statue.
the market to prevent profiteering. They also had				In the inner covered area an Ionic colonnade, parallel
the power to arrest dishonest tax collectors and to				to the outer Doric one, separated the portico and its
take judicial decisions to impose fines of up to 500				wings into two parts while supporting the roof at the
drachmas. But the most significant task of the				same time. Some square bases of these columns
prytaneis was to prepare the bills to be passed; first				have been preserved, within which some little trees
the bills went to the Boule for drafting and then to				have now sprouted. At the time of Pericles, the
the Assembly of the Deme for final approval.				building had a stone facing on its western wall, and a
The enormous weight attached by the Athenians to				bench was built around the interior to accommodate
the duties of the prytaneis can be seen in Socrates'				passers-by. Here Pausanias spoke of the painted
defence, in which the philosopher cited his earlier				decoration on the middle and side walls, also works
refusal to pass a death sentence, by withdrawing				by Euphranor. The ancient traveller was particularly
from the Tholos while he was serving his term as				impressed by the representation of Theseus with the
prytanis during the rule of the Thirty Tyrants. In this				Deme and Democracy. The Greeks liked the human
way, Socrates believed that he had performed an				figures representing their ideals; on this spot, the
act of resistance to oppressive power, even though				founder of Athens was depicted attesting to the
he knew that his punishment for refusing to perform				values of the City.
his duty would be exemplary. He himself proposed,				During the Roman years, the back of the Portico
with a large measure of irony, that the most				changed its appearance, as the natural rock was
appropriate sentence for the charges against him				once again hewn out to make way for two additional
would be to oblige him to eat forever in the				rooms. Nobody knows for sure what these later
Prytaneion, near the citizens who already enjoyed				extensions were used for; perhaps it was a place for
this privilege.				some contemporary cult. The modern visitor can see
The Tholos with its characteristic round shape was				only the ground plan of the portico and the south
built after 470 BC. It had a simple entrance to the				wing together with very few parts of the original
east and its ceramic tiled roof was supported by six				columns. The north side was also sacrificed for the
poros stone columns, the bases of three of which				needs of the electric railway. For this reason, the
have been found. The floor was earthen and the				visitor who reaches the fence at the tracks and
thick walls were built of stone. On the north side of				wants to continue walking on the archaeological site,
the building was a small room that served as a				must turn around and go back toward the statue of
kitchen; next to it traces have been found of a				Hadrian.
makeshift roasting pit. During the Roman years, the				When Pausanias came to the Agora, he reported
Tholos acquired an a outer gate, the floor was paved				having seen a statue of the emperor Hadrian in front
with marble slabs and the initial pyramidal roof-with a				of the Portico of Zeus. This statue, which was
shape that made the Athenians call the building				discovered by excavations to be lying on top of a
"skias", i.e. sunshade -was replaced by a flatter one.				drainage duct, where it had been placed as a
Whatever remains on this site today is from the				covering slab during the Byzantine period, was
Roman era.				reerected on a new base near where it was found,
The classification of the population of Athens into ten				even though it is headless and rather battered.
tribes from Denies drawn at random was, as pointed				Poplius Aelius Hadrian, emperor of the Roman world
out earlier, one of the more inventive measures				from 117 to 138 AD, became ruler of the vast empire
taken by the reformer Kleisthenis in the 6th century.				when it extended from the Caspian Sea to the
The members of every tribe elected fifty delegates				Atlantic Ocean. He was a clear-sighted military man
annually to the Boule or Assembly of the Five				who fortified the outposts of the empire to protect
Hundred thus weakening the power of the oligarchic				its citizens from enemies; he was also highly
families. Herodotus was the first to use the term				educated, and as such was a patron of the arts and
isonomia (equality in law), denoting the fact that all				letters. Poet and mystic, he was the preeminent
male citizens of the tribe took part in the draw with				philHellene. This is why he is always presented with a
an equal possibility of being elected. The same person				short beard like the Greek philosophers. He respected
could not be elected two years in succession. The				local customs and laws everywhere, particularly in
members of the Boule took a strict oath before				Greece where he was initiated into the Eleusinian
entering the Bouleuterion and wore myrtle wreaths				Mysteries and in fact built a bridge on the road to
as an indication of their office. During their term as				Eleusis so that the faithful would have easier access
bouleutis (member of the Assembly) they were				to the sanctuary of Demeter.
relieved of all military obligations, and occupied a				Athens was Hadrian's favourite city, which is why he
position of honour at theatrical performances and				gave the order that a great library be built near the
feasts. At the daily sessions of the Boule, decisions				Agora, and that an aquaduct be constructed, the
were made by raising the hand, and the members				reservoir for which was high up on Lycabettus Hill
were remunerated with five obols for each time they				and is still used today. He also erected a triumphal
attended. The election of the ten military leaders, one				gate near the temple of Olympian Zeus, which was
from each tribe, was also held there. This was an				completed only after being in a semi-finished state
extremely important office for the running of the				for centuries. But the love of this great Roman for
city and the colonies.				Athens was shown most clearly by his founding of
Elections to annual offices were held by a draw, and				the Attic Panhellenio. This was a congress to join all
there had to be at least two candidates for each				Greeks together, both from mainland Hellas and from
office. The usual system was to use as many black				the diaspora. The condition for participation was the
and white pebbles as there were candidates. As the				proven authenticity of the delegates' descent.
name of a citizen was drawn from one container, the				Hadrian's initiative was intended to help Hellenes with
vote fell into the other. White meant election, black				alien customs to regain their cultural identity by
rejection. Among the various artefacts found in the				recognising the forgotten values of their forefathers.
region were small square clay tiles, cut in such a way				Standing humbly before the breadth of Attic
that two pieces could be put together to make one				knowledge, Hadrian wanted to be portrayed in official
complete piece; these might be evidence of another				statues dressed in an imperial cuirass upon which was
manner of election.				always the same scene: two winged Victories
Any request by a citizen for settlement of a private				flanking the goddess Athena, with her sacred animals
matter of debt to the state had to be in writing and				the snake and the owl right and left, while she
had to be checked by three secretaries elected by				herself was standing on the back of the Roman
the Boule. There were also secondary state officials				she-wolf which suckled Romulus and Remus, the
to ensure full transparency in the handling of public				founders of ancient Rome. This scene portrayed
funds.				most eloquently the definition of "the victor who was
Apart from being a legislative body, the Boule also				vanquished by the defeated", i.e. this special relation
had executive powers. It could decide to call an				created between Rome and Hellenism.
emergency meeting of Athenians to ostracise a				Behind the statue of Hadrian is a large base for an
politician who showed dictatorial tendencies. If such				altar dedicated to Zeus Agoraios. The quality of the
an action was decided upon, an open space in the				masonry and the fine decoration indicate that this
Agora was enclosed on the predetermined day,				work was done during the classical age in Athens,
leaving ten openings to be used as entrances, one				although there are marks of stone fittings
for each tribe. The citizens would present themselves				characteristic of the Roman period. These masons'
at the entrance corresponding to their tribe and				marks placed to assist the correct positioning of
would hand over the potsherd (ostrako) on which				architectural members, might possibly be evidence
they had written the name of the public person they				that the altar was initially located at some other spot
believed to be dangerous. Then they would enter the				and was brought to its present site to adorn the
fenced area where they remained until the end of				Agora during Roman times.
the voting. The used potsherds were considered to				In front of the altar of Zeus Agoraios facing the
be worthless after they had been counted, and for				Bouleuterion, the visitor can see what remains of a
this reason, many of them were found under the				very significant structure in ancient Athens. It is the
main road through the Agora where they had been				base of a monument entitled Eponymous Heroes,
dumped as an under layer for the dirt road.				mentioned by Pausanias, and about which Aristotle
The primary use of this part of the Agora can be				has given us a fair amount of information. This was
seen from the tablets found in the area, recording				the place where the announcements made by the
the written decisions of the all-powerful Boule. We				City to the citizens were posted, a site very likely
can read the names of citizens penalized by the				chosen for its proximity to the Metroon and the
confiscation and sale of their possessions, together				Boule.
with tablets containing a detailed inventory of each				The monument of the Eponymous Heroes had a long
of these men's assets. Mention was made of the				narrow pedestal on top of which stood ten bronze
fact that these assets were sold off by responsible				statues of honoured heroes who were especially
clerks and the sales tax was paid, about 1% of the				associated with local myths. At each end of this base
total value of the goods seized. In the Agora				there were believed to have been bronze cauldrons,
Museum one can see such charts of state buying and				an indication of worship because each hero
selling. But votes were also found containing				represented the tribe which had taken its name from
favourable mention of Assembly members who				him. Around the pedestal was a stone fence
honoured their tribe during their prytaneia, as well as				consisting of vertical stakes with a hole at the top to
friendship treaties with neighbouring cities. From				support horizontal wooden boards. Under each
ancient texts we know that in the Bouleuterion there				statue, officials would hang wooden slates with the
was a column bearing an inscription to the effect that				announcements of concern to the members of the
any citizen who killed a traitor would not be punished.				corresponding tribe. Thus the Athenian citizen could
We still have the incised vote against the tyranny of				stand in front of the statue of his tribe's hero . and
the Archon Phrynichos in the 4th century. A clay				read the information which interested him. Here was
water clock was found nearby in which the flow of				recorded: the names of citizens who had to present
water from one container to the other determined				themselves for some service, the names of young
the time permitted for speeches. Some letters can				people whose turn had come for military service and
still be discerned from the inscription telling us that				announcements of court rulings. Also posted there
this utensil was the property of the tribe of				were the drafts of laws, so that the citizens would
Antiochis, to which Socrates belonged. Another				learn about them in good time and be able to vote
indication of its use was the marking of two XXs				dispassionately at the meetings of the Assembly of
which means a period of about six minutes. That was				the Deme. Even though the administrators obliged
all the time the speakers had.				the citizens to participate in public affairs, it was the
The ruins of the Athenian Bouleuterion rest on top of				latter who had the responsibility of informing the
other, older buildings. One of them was the				interested parties. Aristotle tells us that on this
prehistoric sanctuary of Gaia, the Mother of the				monument were also written the names of citizens
Gods, together with the traces of a structure from				who had distinguished themselves for the public
the early 6th century which was probably the first				benefit either in battle or in the performance of their
rudimentary council chamber under Solon. A little later,				duties; they were models to be emulated.
the Old Bouleuterion was constructed, a square				Right behind the statue of Hadrian and all along the
building with graduated wooden seats on three sides				length of the buildings on the west side of the
and a large entrance on the side facing the Prytaniko.				Agora, passed the drainage duct, an important and
The Persians destroyed this building when they				highly functional work. This arrangement for rainwater
invaded Attica, but it was later restored and				runoff proved to be vital in Attica, with its seasons
continued to function until the end of the 5th				of sudden rain, which in no time fills the dry river
century. This can be concluded from Xenophon's				beds. Just how important it was became clear after
Hellenica in which he described a dramatic meeting				the gradual abandonment of the area in the post
during the grim years of the Thirty Tyrants. In about				Byzantine years. When the city became smaller and
400 the New Bouleuterion began being built, right				its Agora declined, nobody looked after clearing the
behind the old one, which very likely became the				drainage ducts which gradually filled with soil and mud,
archives, taking the name Metroon, temple of the				spilling out over the site and covering the abandoned
Mother of the Gods. There the votes of the Boule				buildings and sanctuaries. The slope of the ground
were kept, written on papyrus and ready for the				shows that, as early as prehistoric times, there was a
first discussion.				natural ditch between the Acropolis and the Pnyx
In building the New Bouleuterion, part of the rock of				which gathered the rainwater and channeled it into
the Agoraios Kolonos had to be cut. The edifice was				the Eridanos stream north of the site on which the
smaller than its predecessor, with its back to the side				Agora was subsequently built. In the early 6th
of the hill and its seats turned eastwards. The early				century BC stones were laid on the floor of this
wooden benches may have been replaced later by				water-carved ditch.
stone ones. It was then that the roofed courtyard				But it wasn't until a century later, i.e. early in the 5th
was built to the south of the building, creating an				century, that the Agora acquired an effective
impressive entrance to the chamber. A two-tier				drainage system. The old duct on the south side met
marble gate, with two Ionic columns on the top part				up with another which descended from the inhabited
and four on the bottom, was part of the plan for the				area, the hill on which the observatory is now
site. This gate rested on the southeastern corner of				located, and together the waters flowed into the
the Old Bouleuterion on which were found the				central channel running in a straight line along all the
remains of a fountain and the bases of votive				western side until it joined up with the Eridanos. The
statues. The problem of supplying water to the site				duct was built on three sides, and was covered on
obliged the masons to hew two cisterns out of the				top with large slabs; it was also used for the wastes
rock for rainwater; they were connected				from the public buildings. The careful construction with
underground to a similar structure near the Tholos.				the polygonal rocks explains how it was kept in such
In the second century BC, the Old Bouleuterion was				excellent condition. Its functionality has been proved
rebuilt. The old building was torn down and covered				over time as the central duct in the Agora is still used
over by four rooms in a row, incorporating the				to drain the area on rainy days.
sanctuary of the Mother of the Gods. This area was				The place at which the three central drainage ducts
then exclusively turned over to the Athenian's				meet, still covered at quite a few spots by large
registry office. The largest of these rooms had two				slabs, is near the Tholos, at the point where the
stories and an inner colonnaded courtyard with an				western and southern sides of the site come
altar; an upper room looked out onto it. Perhaps				together. The careful visitor can see one of the
these were the reading rooms of the archives. An				official boundaries of the Agora in a nearby ditch
elegant Ionian portico of which only the foundation				lower than the present ground height. It is a square
remains, adorned the entire facade of this grouping				rock with a rough surface and smooth edges with an
which is generally called the Metroon.				inscription telling us of its use, according to the
The civic buildings ended here, leaving a space vacant				custom of the times. In the angular script of 500 BC,
to permit an unhindered view of the temple of				this boundary stone informs the passer-by: "I am the
Hephaistos. Almost no trace remains of the stairs				limit of the agora".
leading up to the temple entrance, but we can still				How simple was this declaration and how significant!
see a group of semi- circular poros stone seats				For this was not just the demarcation line of an area,
carved in the 5th century. These benches were				but at the same time it was a barrier to entry by
carefully built, but we do not know what their				those who did not meet the conditions for access to
function was. It might have been a meeting place for				a sacred place. We know that entrance to the Agora
the citizens alongside the central stairway leading to				was prohibited to any citizens who had been
the sanctuaries of the Agoraios Kolonos.				convicted or who owed fines and, of course, to
During the early years when the Agora was taking				those who had been ostracised. The fact that the
shape, and the buildings were still few and scattered,				base of a water basin was found very close to this
another sanctuary had been built some distance from				boundary point, may indicate that people entering this
the old temple of the Mother of the Gods, and				venerable area of the city went through some sort
dedicated to Patrons Apollo. The god was				of simulated cleansing.
worshipped here in his attribute as father of Ion; his				Right in front of this stone boundary, at the ground
mother was the local princess Kreousa, and as a				level of the Roman years, there is a small grouping of
consequence, Apollo was considered to be father of				three rooms identified by the archaeologists as civic
all Athenians. Initially put up in the 6th century, the				offices. The officials in these offices supervised the
little temple was rebuilt in the 4th, with four Ionic				unhindered move t ment of goods in the market, as
columns on its facade and an additional small room on				confirmed by the sculptured examples of the ceramic
its north side, entrance to which was through the				tiles which were found there. Any citizen who
cella. Pausanias mentioned the cult statue in this				doubted the quality and size of a tile he had bought,
temple, a work by the sculptor Euphranor; it was				could compare his with the official samples showing
found nearby and can be seen today in the restored				the correct dimensions. This was the city's market
stoa of Attalos. The god was portrayed in a standing				control service.
position wearing women's clothes, as was the				Access to the civic offices was from the north side
practice of musicians in antiquity, and possibly holding				of the largest room where there were steps and the
his lyre.				bases of columns, testifying to the existence of a
Incorporated into the temple of Patroos Apollo was				gate. The room at the entrance was connected by
most of a 4th century building identified as the				an interior door to the adjoining room, which in turn
sanctuary of Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria.				opened onto the third one. The latter, although it
Archaeologists drew this conclusion because of an				was the smallest of all, had a minimal toilet with
inscription on an altar which, although found some				underground drainage linked to the central drain. The
distance away, fits perfectly in the temple's altar				strange layout of these rooms, which decreased in
space. The protectors of the clans were worshipped				size from east to west, was interpreted as the need
together with their forefather Apollo, perhaps this				to leave more free space at the entrance to the
was where the feasts of the Apatoureia in the				Agora. Moreover, the civic offices were added in the
month of Pyanepsion, i.e. our October, were held.				second century AD when the Agora was full of
This significant Athenian feast was a distant memory				buildings, thus giving it its final form.
from the time when the clans were still very				This may have been the last time the city's
important because the strength of the group lay in				architects observed the original order in positioning
the bonds of kinship. The Apatoureia was initially the				buildings according to their use. Observing the diagram
official recognition of newborn boys by their relatives,				of the entire site, we note that the west side was
and for this reason, the feast was held nine months				dedicated to religion with its various sanctuaries, the
after Gamelion, the traditional month of weddings.				south to justice with the courthouse of Heliaia and at
On the first day, all the members of the clan would				the point of access to these significant functions, the
gather together from the various demes in which				administrative buildings were constructed.
they were living, to enjoy a meal together. On the

Candles Galore

West Side Of The Ancient Athens Agora