The Athenian Agora

Posted by Robin Fowler May 16, 2006

Athens, in its heyday, was the major polis (city-state) in the Greek world. It was the standard most other Greek cities strove to be. Alongside Rome, it stands head and shoulders above the rest as one of the most culturally, architecturally, and politically influential cities in ancient history. Its public areas to this day tell the story of its history and influence on the world, past and present. And few other places display such a story as that of the Athenian Agora.

The agora was not an area exclusive to Athens. It was a common area in Greek cities, and it often served several purposes. It was a marketplace, as well as the political and social gathering center of the polis. But it is the Athenian Agora that archaeologists and scholars have used through the years to demonstrate and explain how Athenian society worked in its many components, and it is the Agora's evolution that gives the greatest historical insight into the once dominant city-state of Athens.

With this we will begin a series of articles looking at the evolution of the Athenian Agora. Through its architecture and physical development, we can trace the cultural development of Athenian political society, and its influence on subsequent civilizations, and even the political structure of our own modern society.