The Agora Essay, Research Paper

In ancient Greece, an agora was a public area or marketplace, usually located in the middle of the city

or near a harbor. Generally square in shape, it was always surrounded by a colonnade of single or

double ranges of columns. In early Greek times public assemblies were held in the agora. Later it

functioned primarily as the center of commercial life in the city; markets were held here, and it was the

site of transactions of all kinds. In later Greek times the agora also became a religious center and

contained temples, altars, commemorative statues, and sometimes even the tombs of important

personages. The porticoes were often decorated with murals. The Roman FORUM was essentially an

adaptation of the ancient Greek agora.