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Royal Stoa The ancient times it is a really times of mystery, strangeness and unknown. Now well try to look up to such times from nowadays. 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.
Socrates spent most of his time at the agora in Athens discussing the serious issues of the day with anyone who was willing. Sited between 3 hills and a creek, along Panathenic Way, on former site of Kerameikos/Potters I Quarter. Note: Bouleuterion/Council House; Royal Stoa (mid 6 C BCE), Painted Stoa (mid 5 C BCE), Stoa of Zeus (late 5 C BCE); Hephaistion, law court, Tholos/Stoas, miscellaneous religious and civic monuments. Essential elements rather than site, arrangement, or specific buildings define it. Athenian state founded 8 C BCE. Southern View The Mint was an important part of any Greek city since each city-state had its own coinage.
Athenians, primarily women, would walk to the Fountain House to gather water for their homes. Water came to the city from a distant spring through an aqueduct constructed of clay pipes. The South Stoa was a long, roofed gallery with a wall on one side. Inside, one could walk down the long corridor and see merchants in their stalls selling their wares. The jail was behind the Law Court. The Strategies was the headquarters for military officers.
Inside the Tholos, the circular building, the presiding governmental officials (as well as victorious Olympic athletes) would eat. Citizen senators conducted official civic business in the Bouleuterion. It also housed the official city records. Northern View More merchants could be found at the Stoa of Zeus just past the Bouleuterion. The small building attached to the stoa is the Royal Stoa where the Archon, the chief religious officer of Athens, had his office. Athenians could view paintings depicting the Victory at Marathon in the Painted Stoa.
At the Altar of the 12 Gods, animals were sacrificed at the beginning of each day to seek divine blessing upon the state. Archon's were ancient Athenian magistrates who oversaw various civil and religious matters. The constitution of the city-state provided for nine archon's of which the King was the second. Though chosen by lot, he was "King" by inheritance. Historically, Kings interceded to the gods on behalf of the people, a role they continued to play in democratic Athens. The King's day would begin by sacrificing an animal.
He had jurisdiction over charges of homicide and impiety. The King Archon had his office in the Royal Stoa (Stoa Basileios) of the Agora. The Royal Stoa (Stoa Basileios) was built towards end of 6 th century and rebuilt after damage in Persian sack of 480 BC. Office of Archon Basileios (King Archon), who was responsible for administering the laws on religious matters, including homicide as well as impiety and religious disputes.
He was 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 official version of the constitution. The dimensions of this Stoa are 17. 72 m x 7. 18 m; Doric outer colonnade column diameter: 0. 58 m; intercolumniation: 1. 92 m; Doric inner colonnade column diameter: 0. 42 m; intercolumniation: 5. 76 m (in rebuilding decreased to 3. 2 m).
The Stoa was a common building type found throughout ancient Athens. It consisted of two rows of columns supporting a roof with a wall on one side Stoa's were both ornamental and practical. They served as promenades sheltered from the heat of summer and the cold winds of winter, as judicial and shopping centers, and as boundary markers. For example, the Agora was bounded by the Stoa's of the King Archon (Stoa Basileios) and Zeus Eleutherios on the west, the South Stoa on the south, and in the second century BC, the Stoa of Attalus (see below) on the east. We can see the ancient plan of Royal Stoa and compare them according to the next picture This is a reconstruction of the Royal Stoa or Stoa Basileios, the headquarters of the King Archon, who was in charge of religious affairs including homicide.
The statue in front is that of Themis (Justice). It was located in the northwest corner of the Agora. It was in front of this building that Socrates met Euthyphro and had the conversation that Plato recreated in his Euthyphro. Socrates came to this building to be formally charged with impiety by Meets in the presence of the King Archon. Copies of the laws of the city were kept in this Stoa. The northwest corner of the Agora, in which the Royal Stoa was located, was known as "the Herms" because of the great number of Herms set up there.
Herms, which consisted of a bust of Hermes on top of a bronze or marble pillar with male genitals attached, were a familiar sight in public areas and in front of houses. They were believed to be protectors of houses and the city. In 415 BC a scandal arose when vandals violated Herms in Athens, perhaps the ones in northwest corner of the Agora. This incident was one of the factors that led to the exile of Alcibiades. At the next photos we can see the modern place of Royal Stoa and besides that, the view in the second picture is of the area between the Royal Stoa on the left and the Some (the small white fence) on the right.
Sources: web web web web web Biers, William R. , Archaeology of Greece: an introduction, Ithaca, N. Y. : Cornell University Press, 1987 p. 153 (BOOK)
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