Arrangement Classical Greek cities – either result of continuous growth, or created at a single moment. Former – had streets –lines of communication, curving, bending- ease gradients. Later- had grid plans – straight streets crossing at right angles- ignoring obstacles became stairways where gradients were too steep. Despite these differences, certain features and principles of arrangement are common to both. Greek towns Towns had fixed boundaries. In 6th century BC some were surrounded by fortifications, later became more frequent., but even where there were no walls - demarcation of interior and exterior was clear. In most Greek towns availability of area- devoted to public use rather than private use. Agora- important gathering place – conveniently placed for communication and easily accessible from all directions. The Agora Of Athens • Agora originally meant "gathering place" but came to mean the market place and public square in an ancient Greek city. It was the political, civic, and commercial center of the city, near which were stoas, temples, administrative & public buildings, market places, monuments, shrines etc. • The agora in Athens had private housing, until it was reorganized by Peisistratus in the 6th century BC. • Although he may have lived on the agora himself, he removed the other houses, closed wells, and made it the centre of Athenian government. • He also built a drainage system, fountains and a temple to the Olympian gods. • Cimon later improved the agora by constructing new buildings and planting trees. • In the 5th century BC there were temples constructed to Hephaestus, Zeus and Apollo. • The Areopagus and the assembly of all citizens met elsewhere in Athens, but some public meetings, such as those to discuss ostracism, were held in the agora. • Beginning in the period of the radical democracy (after 509 BC), the Boule, or city council, the Prytaneis, or presidents of the council, and the Archons, or magistrates, all met in the agora. • The law courts were located there, and any citizen who happened to be in the agora when a case was being heard, could be forced to serve as a juror. • The Scythian archers, a kind of mercenary police force, often wandered the agora specifically looking for jurors. The agora in Athens again became a residential area during Roman and Byzantine times. Socrates spent most of his time at the agora in Athens discussing the serious issues of the day with anyone who was willing. Stoa of attalos Court house To the Kerameikos and Dipylon Gate This is the Sacred Way leading first to the Kerameikos (Potters' Quarter)and then through the Dipylon Gate to the holy city of Eleusis. The "Sacred Way" is now the main route out of Athens to the west. The Panathenaic Way This is where the Panathenaic Way left the Agora to begin its ascent to the Acropolis. This road got its name because the great procession of t he Panathenaea took this route on its way to the Acropolis. The Panathenaic Way cut diagonally across the Agora from its northwest corner to its southeast corner. To the Piraeus • The way to the Piraeus Gate, leading to the port. To the PNYX • To the Pnyx : a six-minute walk up the hill to the hillside where the EKKLESIA met. • In earlier days, the people would have assembled in the Agora - but from about 460 B.C. the meetings of the assembly were in the Pnyx. • Officials ensured attendance by means of the "Red Rope" - a rope dipped in red powder. If you were caught with the red on you, you could be fined. The Altar of Aphrodite Urania • Found in 1981: restored view of an elegant altar of c.500 B.C. - it uses marble from the islands (Paros or Naxos), rather than local Pentelic, which only started to be used in 490 BC. There may be a temple somewhere nearby - a statue of Aphrodite by Pheidias is mentioned by Pausanias. The Painted Stoa • The "Painted Stoa" (Stoa Poikile) Built about 475-450 BC. • A south facing stoa about 36m long decorated with painted wooden panels by outstanding 5th century painters. • The stoa was a general place for shelter and meeting - the written sources mention sword-swallowers, jugglers, beggars and fishmongers – • And it was the birthplace of Stoicism around 300 BC, when Zeno used it as a base for his lectures on philosophy. The Painted Stoa or Stoa Poikile was located at a crossroads just across the Panathenaic Way from the Royal Stoa (Stoa Basileios) on the northern boundary of the Agora. It received its name from the paintings depicting great Athenian military victories (like the Battle of Marathon) attached to its wall. These paintings were the work of famous Athenian artists. Battle trophies were also displayed on the wall of the Painted Stoa, like the Spartan shields taken as spoils by the Athenians at Pylos in 425 and 424 BC. The Stoa Basileios (Royal Stoa) • Built towards end of 6th century and rebuilt after damage in Persian sack of 480 BC. • Office of Archon Basileus (King Archon), who was responsible for administering the laws on religious matters, including homicide as well as impiety and religious disputes. He also organized the Mysteries and the dramatic festival of Dionysus at the Lenaia. • King Archon set up a stone to commemorate his term of office, which records winners in Comedy and Tragedy. In front of the stoa was a large block of unworked limestone, on which officials of the democracy took their oath before taking up office. Socrates stood on it to hear the charges against him in 399 BC. Inside the building, lining the walls, were inscribed the laws of Athens. Thus any citizen could come here to consult the offical version of the constitution. "The Herms" Crossroads • This cross-roads was known as "the Herms" because of the large number of herms dedicated here. • Herms were square pillars topped with a head of Hermes with a phallus halfway up. • As Hermes was god of travel, luck (and thieves!) the entrance to the Agora was an appropriate place for them. • In 415 BC nearly all the herms in Athens were damaged or mutilated on one night - before the fleet was due to sail to Sicily. • The small shrine here may be the very ancient Leokoreion - set up to commemorate three girls who were sacrificed to save the city from plague. • This was the spot where the tyrant Hipparchus was murdered in 514 BC by Harmodius and Aristogeiton. They became heroes of the democracy, although the killing was probably the result of a lover's quarrel. herm painter sculpting a herm a herm The Altar of the Twelve Gods An altar surrounded by a low stone wall. All distances to Athens were measured from here, and it was obviously thought of as the actual centre of Athens. The place was sacred to the twelve gods (presumably the twelve Olympians), and was famous as a place of asylum. Altar of the twelve gods, maybe used -the brink of a well or an Zodiac altar. The object represents the twelve gods of the Roman pantheon, each identified by an attribute: Venus and Mars linked by Cupid, Jupiter and a lightning bolt, Minerva wearing a helmet, Apollo, Juno and her sceptre, Neptune and his trident, Vulcan and his sceptre, Mercury and his caduceus, Vesta, Diana and her quiver and Ceres. Marble, found in Gabii (Italy), 1st century CE. The Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios. • Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios (Freedom) - dedicated to a god, but not a temple. • The stoa was erected at the end of the 5th century B.C. in honor of those who fought for the freedom and security of the city. • The cult of Freedom began in 479 BC after the defeat of the Persians at the battle of Plataea, when Greece was freed from the threat of Persian dominance. • The Stoa dates from about 430-420 BC: it is a handsome building in Pentelic marble in the Doric order. • It was decorated with shields of men who'd died in battle, and paintings of battles. It was an informal meeting place. • Socrates met his friends and pupils here. • The roof, like those of temples, was decorated with statues (acroteria), at least one of which was a statue of Winged Nikê • In the fourth century a number of paintings depicting Athenian victories were displayed. • Plato mentions this stoa as a favorite resting place where one could sit and talk with friends. The Temple of Hephaistos • The temple, known as the "Theseion", is Doric, peripteral, with a pronaos and opisthodomos. It crowns the hill of Kolonos Agoraios and is the most prominent and better preserved monument of the Agora. • Dedicated to two gods, Hephaistos and Athena, whose bronze cult statues stood in the interior. • Built 460 - 420 BC (delays- because of building programme on the Acropolis, and the Peloponnesian War) of Pentelic marble, and is the best-preserved Greek temple. The sculptural decoration showed labours of Heracles, labours of Theseus, and battle of Lapiths and Centaurs, and inside were statues of Athena and Hephaistos. The sanctuary was landscaped to provide shelter from the sun. The Temple of Hephaistos (Hephaestus) is a Doric peripteral temple that has 6 columns along the front and 13 along the side. It measures 3.71m x 38.24m and was built around 449 BCE. The Synhedrion A set of wide steps on the slope of the low hill. They were used as a meeting place, and possibly also an open-air court. The Old Bouleuterion or Metroön Replaced as meeting place for the boule (reasons unknown) about 410, but remained the official "public records office" where archives were kept, and became known as Metroön Laws, accounts, records of lawsuits, lists of ephebes etc were kept here: none have been preserved as they would have been on papyrus - copies on stone were often set up in a public place.