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Ancient Agora of Athens
The Ancient Agora of Athens is the most well-known agora, located in
Athens, Greece.
The agora in Athens had private housing, until it was reorganized by
Pisistratus in the 6th century BCE. 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 Hephaestos, 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 BCE), 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.
From: www.wikipedia.org
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