The angora can be considered the foundational space of the Greek pols: a communal space set aside as a podium for civic life. It developed in the center of the urban fabric, lined with germs, sanctuaries, altars and temples. Beside operating partly or on specific moments as a market place, it was first of all a civic space, the heart of the pols as a social, religious and political community. In all Greek poles, the angora became an important anchor for political, cultural and religious innovation. The introduction of new gods was successful when they received a sanctuary near the Acropolis or on the angora. Regime change, treaties and incisive legislation were anchored in the pols by collective oath taking on the angora. In sum, the angora was a quintessential element of one of the most conspicuous innovations of ancient Greece, the citizen-state, in which the demos as a collective was sovereign, represented in multiple authoritative bodies.This PhD project will investigate the creation of the agora in Greek poles from the Early Iron Age to late classical times, as a place where institutional innovations were anchored in physical terms (environmental context, spatial configuration and architectural design) and as a civic space whose very conception influenced the kind of pols’ institutions founded there. A second objective concerns the choice of its location: were primarily practical considerations (e.g. close to the harbor) involved or also anchoring processes (e.g. close to a per-existing sanctuary)?The agora can be considered the foundational space of the Greek pols: a communal space set aside as a podium for civic life. It developed in the center of the urban fabric, lined with germs, sanctuaries, altars and temples. Beside operating partly or on specific moments as a market place, it was first of all a civic space, the heart of the pols as a social, religious and political community. In all Greek poles, the agora became an important anchor for political, cultural and religious innovation. The introduction of new gods was successful when they received a sanctuary near the Acropolis or on the agora. Regime change, treaties and incisive legislation were anchored in the pols by collective oath taking on the agora. In sum, the agora was a quintessential element of one of the most conspicuous innovations of ancient Greece, the citizen-state, in which the demos as a collective was sovereign, represented in multiple authoritative bodies.This PhD project will investigate the creation of the agora in Greek poles from the Early Iron Age to late classical times, as a place where institutional innovations were anchored in physical terms (environmental context, spatial configuration and architectural design) and as a civic space whose very conception influenced the kind of pols’ institutions founded there. A second objective concerns the choice of its location: were primarily practical considerations (e.g. close to the harbor) involved or also anchoring processes (e.g. close to a per-existing sanctuary)?
