Stoa Basileios ( Ancient Greek : στοὰ βασίλειος ), meaning Royal Stoa , was a Doric stoa in the northwestern corner of the Athenian Agora , which was built in the 6th century BC, substantially altered in the 5th century BC, and then carefully preserved until the mid-second century AD. It is among the smallest known Greek stoas, but had great symbolic significance as the seat of the Athenian King Archon , repository of Athens' laws, and site of "the stone" on which incoming magistrates swore their oath of office.
42-663: The stoa was in the northwest corner of the Athenian Agora , an area known in ancient times as "the Herms" because of the great number of herms set up there (fragments of 19 of these herms have been found). It sat just south of the point where the Panathenaic Way and another street enter the Agora and exactly one metre north of the Stoa of Zeus . The identification of the archaeological remains with
84-520: A 1974 excavation, a lead tablet was discovered. The tablet was a letter written by Lesis , a slave. It was one of the few recorded instances of slave literacy. Evidence of planting was discovered during the excavations and on 4 January 1954, the first oak and laurel trees were planted around the Altar of Zeus by Queen Frederika and King Paul as part of the efforts to restore the site with plants that would have been found there in antiquity. The museum
126-518: A colossal statue of Apollo for the Temple of Apollo Patroos on the west side of the agora. The ancient Athenian agora has been excavated by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) since 1931 under the direction of Thomas Leslie Shear , Sr. His wife, Josephine Platner Shear , supervised the digging and led the study and conservation of numismatics from the site, as well as making
168-571: A consequence of his successful attack on Timarchus, Aeschines was cleared of the charge of treason. In 343 BC the attack on Aeschines was renewed by Demosthenes in his speech On the False Embassy . Aeschines replied in a speech with the same title and was again acquitted. In 339 BC, as one of the Athenian deputies ( pylagorae ) in the Amphictyonic Council , he made a speech which brought about
210-745: A new sculpture exhibition was added to the museum which includes portraits from Athenian Agora excavations. The new exhibition revolves around portraits of idealized gods, officially honored people of the city, wealthy Roman citizens during the Roman occupation (1st and 2nd century A.D.), 3rd-century citizens and finally on works of art from private art schools of late antiquity. 37°58′30″N 23°43′21″E / 37.97500°N 23.72250°E / 37.97500; 23.72250 Aeschines Aeschines ( / ˈ ɛ s k ɪ n iː z / ; Greek : Ancient Greek : Αἰσχίνης Ἀτρομήτου Κοθωκίδης , romanized : Aischínēs Atromḗtou Kothōkídēs ; 389–314 BC)
252-471: Is housed in the Stoa of Attalos , and its exhibits are connected with Athenian democracy . The collection of the museum includes clay, bronze and glass objects, sculptures, coins and inscriptions from the 7th to the 5th century B.C., as well as pottery of the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. The exhibition within the museum contains works of art which describe the private and public life in ancient Athens. In 2012,
294-710: Is still 1.54 metres high; originally it would have been nearly three metres tall. It wears a chiton , girdle, and himation and originally held a long metal object in its left arm, probably a sceptre , spear, key, or measuring stick. Stylistic analysis suggests a date around 335-330 BC, It may depict Themis (the personification of justice and good order) or Agathe Tyche ("Good Luck"); an alternative identification as Democratia ( Democracy ) has been ruled out. Copies of this statue are known from elsewhere in Athens, Pamphylia , Roman Egypt , and Leptis Magna . The statue of Themis at Rhamnous
336-622: The Classical Agora ) is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora , located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as the Agoraios Kolonos , also called Market Hill. The Agora's initial use was for a commercial, assembly, or residential gathering place. A number of other notable monuments were added to
378-462: The Fourth Sacred War . By way of revenge, Aeschines endeavoured to fix the blame for these disasters upon Demosthenes. In 336 BC, when Ctesiphon proposed that his friend Demosthenes should be rewarded with a golden crown for his distinguished services to the state, Aeschines accused him of having violated the law in bringing forward the motion. The matter remained in abeyance till 330 BC, when
420-671: The army , and held several clerkships, amongst them the office of clerk to the Boule . Among the campaigns that Aeschines participated in were Phlius in the Peloponnese (368 BC), Battle of Mantinea (362 BC) , and Phokion's campaign in Euboea (349 BC). The fall of Olynthus (348 BC) brought Aeschines into the political arena, and he was sent on an embassy to rouse the Peloponnese against Philip II of Macedon . In spring of 347 BC, Aeschines addressed
462-637: The 460s BC, perhaps on the low platforms on the inside walls. When the laws were revised at the end of the fifth century BC, inscribed copies of them were erected in the porches at the ends of the Stoa. The limestone block located on the steps of the Stoa is probably to be identified with "the stone" ( ho lithos ) mentioned by Aristotle , Plutarch , and Julius Pollux , who explain that Athens' nine annual archons (the eponymous archon , King Archon, Polemarch , and Thesmothetai ) swore their oaths of office on it, as did official arbitrators, and witnesses in trials. After
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#1732852447024504-455: The 5th century BC, the Areopagos council (in charge of religious affairs and murder trials) sometimes met in the Stoa as well and a rope would be set up to keep people from interrupting its proceedings. The building was closely associated with law and justice. The laws of Draco and Solon written on wooden pillars called axones and kyrbeis were probably moved to the Stoa by Ephialtes in
546-477: The Athenian Agora had marble decoration and housed dedications in the form of marble statues. Finds from the agora excavations identified that generations of marble-workers made the agora of Athens an important center for the production of marble sculptures. Marble-workers made sculptures, marble weights, sundials , furniture parts, and an assortment of kitchen utensils. Excavations of the Athenian agora revealed
588-439: The Athenian agora. These famous marble-workers of the Agora include, the 5th-century master Phidias and his associate Alkamenes , and the 4th-century sculptors Praxiteles , Bryaxis , and Euphranor . Phidias was the most well known marble-worker to have worked in the agora. He was famous for his gold and ivory cult statue of Zeus at Olympia , and for his three lost sculptures of Athena . A well-known associate of Phidias
630-476: The Athenian agora. These festivals were significant as they provided Ancient Athenian women with the opportunity to socialize outside of the home. Additionally, some of these festivals were performed by women; these duties included officiating the worship of goddess Athena , patron goddess of the city. Performing these rituals for goddesses was a prerequisite for the daughters of aristocratic families . Women of all ranks and classes could be seen making offerings at
672-537: The King Archon was responsible for trials on religious matters, it was at the Stoa Basileios that Socrates was formally charged with impiety by Meletus . Plato 's Euthyphro , a dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro about the nature of piety , is set in front of the Stoa. According to Philostratus , an overturned statue near the Stoa was knocked over by an evil spirit in the late first century AD, when it
714-507: The Stoa Basileios known from literary sources is clear from descriptions of it in literary sources, especially the 2nd-century AD travel-writer Pausanias . The Stoa was built in the Doric order , with solid walls on the north, west, and east sides and a colonnade of eight columns along the eastern side, facing towards the open space of the Agora. It measures 17.72 metres long from north to south and 7.18 metres wide from east to west, making it one of
756-429: The agora. Some of these included: In the 4th and 5th centuries, there was significant evidence of women being innkeepers and merchants selling their products in the market of the Athenian agora. Some of the products they sold included fruits, clothes, pottery , religious and luxury goods, perfume, incense , purple dye , wreaths, and ribbons. The Athenian calendar boasted several religious festivals that were held in
798-532: The assembly of Ten Thousand in Megalopolis , Arcadia urging them to unite and defend their independence against Philip. In the summer 347 BC, he was a member of the peace embassy to Philip, where he found it necessary, in order to counteract the prejudice vigorously fomented by his opponents, to defend Philip and describe him at a meeting of the Athenian popular assembly as being entirely Greek. His dilatoriness during
840-487: The colonnade. The north wall was made of ashlar blocks and is preserved to a height of 1.20 metres. The west (back) wall was made of polygonal masonry and survives only as foundations. The south wall was inadvertently destroyed during the construction of the Athens-Piraeus railroad in the 19th century. The walls and colonnade stood on a two-step crepidoma , but the internal floor was just packed clay. Several features of
882-482: The discovery of a new 2nd-century C.E. Athenian coin. The excavation was negotiated and directed by the ASCSA's chair of the agora excavation committee, Edward Capps , whom the school would honor with a memorial overlooking the project. John McK Camp served as Director of the excavations since 1994, until his retirement in 2022. John K. Papadopoulos is now in the position of Director following Camp's retirement. After
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#1732852447024924-436: The foundation indicate a date after 575-550 BC. In the 440s BC, the stoa was renovated. The roof was retiled and the two internal columns were replaced with a row of four Doric columns, located 3.2 metres apart, each with a diameter of 0.42 metres. A set of terracotta acroteria were added at this time, fragments of which have been found (inv. T 1261 and T 3987). Pausanias says that they depicted Theseus throwing Sciron into
966-803: The initial phase of excavation, in the 1950s the Hellenistic Stoa of Attalos was reconstructed on the east side of the agora, and today it serves as a museum and as storage and office space for the excavation team. A virtual reconstruction of the Ancient Agora of Athens has been produced through a collaboration of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the Foundation of the Hellenic World , which had various output (3d video, VR real-time dom performance, and Google Earth 3d models). During
1008-425: The remains of many marble-working establishments, various unfinished statues, reliefs, and utilitarian objects. Excavations of the Athenian agora have proved that marble-workers were very active, the earliest workshops being established in the early 5th century . The earliest areas used by marble workers were the residential and industrial districts southwest of the agora. Another area where marble-workers set up shop
1050-451: The sea and Hemera (Day) abducting Cephalus . At the end of the fifth century, two small porches were added to the front side at either end, each supported by five unfluted columns (three in front and one on each side). The two porches were not symmetrical, the roof of the southern porch was higher than the northern and it may have had Ionic columns rather than the Doric ones used in the rest of
1092-520: The second and fourth columns from the northern end of the Stoa is a large block of tan limestone , which is probably "the Stone" ( ho lithos ) used for oaths. It seems to be a repurposed lintel block from a Mycenaean tholos tomb . Inside, there were initially two columns on the building's internal axis, which supported the ridge pole of the roof. A low stone platform ran along the interior north, west, and south walls. There may have been further benches inside
1134-451: The second embassy (346 BC) sent to ratify the terms of peace led to him being accused by Demosthenes and Timarchus on a charge of high treason . Aeschines counterattacked by claiming that Timarchus had forfeited the right to speak before the people as a consequence of youthful debauches which had left him with the reputation of being a whore and prostituting himself to many men in the port city of Piraeus . The suit succeeded and Timarchus
1176-416: The small shrines in the agora. Some women also set up substantial memorials to their piety within the agora. Religious festivals were a significant opportunity for the women of Athens to participate in their social culture. As of the early 5th century , the Ancient Agora of Athens was known as glorious and richly decorated, set with famous works of art, many of them sculpted from marble . The buildings of
1218-399: The smallest known Greek stoas. The roof was tiled with terracotta . The façade carried a plain Doric frieze with poros triglyphs and metopes which were probably made of marble . The columns were made of soft yellow poros covered in stucco . The drums had a diameter of 0.58 metres and the distance from the centre of one column to the next was 1.9205 metres. On top of the steps, between
1260-511: The stoa indicate that it was originally built in the Archaic period : its small scale, the use of poros instead of marble, the presence of a Z-shaped metal clamp in the walls, and the polygonal masonry. The style of the column capitals is similar to those of the Hekatompedon temple on the Acropolis and the Temple of Apollo at Corinth , suggesting a date in the mid-6th century BC. Ceramic finds in
1302-526: The structure. Broad stelae were set up between the columns of the south porch and in parallel inside the north porch. Fragments of these stelae survive; they bear a copy of the Athenian law on homicide ( OR 183A) and two versions of a calendar of Athens' public sacrifices ( AIO 1185 and 1189). Statue bases and decrees continued to be erected around the stoa in the fourth century BC, beginning with statues of Conon , Timotheus , and King Euagoras of Cyprus . A letter attributed to Aeschines reports that there
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1344-610: The supervision of Stella Grobel Miller , with funding from the Ford Foundation . The results were published by the overall head of excavations, T. Leslie Shear, Jr [ de ] . During a 1974 excavation, a lead tablet was discovered. The tablet was a letter written by Lesis , a slave. It was one of the few recorded instances of slave literacy. 37°58′34″N 23°43′20″E / 37.9761°N 23.7223°E / 37.9761; 23.7223 Ancient Agora of Athens The ancient Agora of Athens (also called
1386-672: The suppression of a revolt in Chalcis in 446 BC, the Athenians confiscated the Chalcideans' land and leased it out. The contracts were inscribed on stelae in the Stoa. In the Classical and Hellenistic periods, the King Archons often dedicated herms in and around the Stoa. Several bases have survived, three of which are inscribed with the names of their dedicators ( IG II 4 41, 95, and 113). Since
1428-450: The two rivals delivered their speeches Against Ctesiphon and On the Crown . The result was a complete and overwhelming victory for Demosthenes. Aeschines went into voluntary exile at Rhodes (to avoid the judgement of the jury, which was likely a large sum of money), where he opened a school of rhetoric . He afterwards removed to Samos , where he died aged 75. His three speeches, called by
1470-557: The walls were covered with stucco to hide the fire damage. It probably remained in use until the Herulian Sack in 267 AD. Much of the stone was subsequently spoliated for use in other construction. The Stoa Basileios was the headquarters of the King Archon ( basileus ), who was responsible for organising various festivals, conducting some sacrifices on behalf of the city, and hearing the initial indictments for some types of lawsuit. In
1512-491: Was Alcamenes , whose most important works in the agora were the bronze cult statues of Hephaestus and Athena in the Temple of Hephaestus . These famous sculptors are attested in the agora by the discovery of signed pieces of work that could no longer be preserved. A marble statue signed and possibly carved by Bryaxis was found in the agora behind the Royal Stoa. The 4th century marble-worker known for his sculptures, made
1554-576: Was exorcised by the holy man Apollonius of Tyana . The stoa was outside the area of the original excavations of the Athenian Agora by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens , being north of the Athens-Piraeus Electric Railway . In 1969, the Greek government expropriated the houses in the area and added them to the American concession. The Americans uncovered the stoa in 1970, under
1596-577: Was a Greek statesman and one of the ten Attic orators . Although it is known he was born in Athens , the records regarding his parentage and early life are conflicting; but it seems probable that his parents, though poor, were respectable. Aeschines' father was Atrometus, an elementary school teacher of letters. His mother Glaukothea assisted in the religious rites of initiation for the poor. After assisting his father in his school, he tried his hand at acting with indifferent success, served with distinction in
1638-415: Was a statue of Pindar as well. A conglomerate base for a very large statue is located directly in front of the Stoa and aligned with it. It measures 2.75 x 2.03 metres and ceramic evidence indicates a fourth century BC date. This may have been for a colossal female statue (S 2370) of Pentelic marble that was found nearby, built into a Byzantine house. This statue is missing its head, legs, and arms, but
1680-523: Was in the South Square, after the sack of Athens by the Roman general Sulla in 86 BC. As the South Square was in ruins, marble-workers were attracted to the remains of the marble temples. A workshop from the southern corner of the agora was also important, the Library of Pantainos rented out rooms to marble-workers. Literacy and evidence from excavations give a sense of statues and famous marble sculptors in
1722-521: Was probably based in part on this statue. In the Hellenistic period , the ground level in the Agora slowly rose, so the area in front of the stoa was enclosed by a low wall, creating a small precinct around the building where the original ground level was preserved. The Stoa was severely burnt by Roman soldiers during the Sullan Sack of Athens in 86 BC. After this, the building was carefully repaired and
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1764-458: Was sentenced to atimia and politically destroyed, according to Demosthenes. This comment was later interpreted by Pseudo-Plutarch in his Lives of the Ten Orators as meaning that Timarchos hanged himself upon leaving the assembly, a suggestion contested by some modern historians. This oration, Against Timarchus , is considered important because of the bulk of Athenian laws it cites. As
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