Stoa of the ancient agora of Thessaloniki

Agora of Tyre

The Agora (Greek: Ἀγορά, Agorá) was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history (900s–700s BCE), free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the agora also served as a marketplace where merchants kept stalls or shops to sell their goods amid colonnades. From this twin function of the agora as a political and commercial space came the two Greek verbs αγοράζω, agorázō, "I shop", and αγορεύω, agoreýō, "I speak in public". The word agoraphobia, the fear of critical public situations, derives from agora in its meaning as a gathering place.

The Forum was the Roman equivalent of the Agora.

[edit] See also

• Ideagoras

[edit] External links

• Official Athenian Agora Excavations