Agora - Agora (Greek)

Japanese: アゴラ - あごら（英語表記）agora ギリシア語

In ancient Greek society, the square was the center of political and economic life for citizens. It is a public facility unique to the Greek polis (city-state) society, which had the early practice of citizen assemblies and public trials. Originally it meant a gathering of the people, but was also used as a place for assemblies, and examples of both uses can be found in Homer. The Forum of Rome corresponds to this. It is said that the agora of Sifnos in the second half of the 6th century BC was decorated with luxurious Paros marble using the revenues from mining. There have been many excavations in Corinth, Thasos, and elsewhere, but the most famous is the agora of Athens, which has been systematically excavated since 1931 by the American Institute of Classics in Athens and continues to this day.

[Keiji Baba]

Athenian Agora

Burials stopped in this area in the northwest of the Acropolis around the time of Solon's reforms in the early 6th century BC, and the area's character as a public site became clear. In the latter half of the same century, under the sons of the tyrant Peisistratos, the agora was improved and temples, government offices, and public facilities were built. From the end of the same century, when Cleisthenes reformed (508 BC) to the beginning of the 5th century BC, drains, council halls, and public courts were built one after another. The Stoa Basilius (Royal Hypostyle), excavated in 1970, was also built around 500 BC. During the Persian Wars, the city of Athens was completely destroyed between 480 and 479 BC, but these government offices, council halls, and courts were quickly rebuilt before the temple sanctuary was built. From the middle of the 5th century BC, the Tholos, the Stoa Poikile, the Temple of Hephaestus, the general's quarters, the Stoa of Zeus, the South Stoa, and the new council hall were built one after another. In the agora, commerce was carried out with stalls lined up, and the expression "the agora is bustling" is sometimes used, but the western corner, where public buildings stood from north to south, was a sacred area marked off by boundary markers, and those who had committed crimes such as murder or blasphemy were prohibited from entering.

[Keiji Baba]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

古代ギリシア社会で、市民の政治、経済にまたがる生活の中心をなした広場。市民総会や公開裁判の慣行を早くから有したギリシアのポリス（都市国家）社会に特有の公共施設である。もともとは民の集会を意味したが、集会の開かれる場所にも転用され、ホメロスには双方の用例がみいだされる。ローマのフォルムがこれに対応する。紀元前6世紀後半シフノスのアゴラは鉱山収入に物いわせて豪華なパロス大理石で飾られたと伝えられる。コリント、タソスなど発掘事例は多数に上っているが、もっとも有名なのはアテネのアゴラで、これは在アテネ・アメリカ古典学研究所によって1931年以来組織的に発掘が進められ、現在に至っている。

［馬場恵二］

アテネのアゴラ

アクロポリス北西のこの一角は、紀元前6世紀初めソロンの改革のころから埋葬が止み、公用地としての性格が明確になった。同世紀後半、僭主(せんしゅ)ペイシストラトスの息子たちのころにはアゴラの整備、神殿・役所・公共施設の建造が始まり、同世紀末のクレイステネスの改革（前508）から前5世紀初めにかけて排水溝、評議会場、民衆裁判所が相次いで建設された。1970年発掘の「ストア・バシレイオス」（王の列柱館）も前500年ごろの創設である。ペルシア戦争に際して前480～前479年アテネ市は徹底的に破壊されたが、神殿聖所に先駆けてこれらの役所や評議会場、裁判所がいち早く再建された。前5世紀なかば以降にはトロス、ストア・ポイキレ、ヘファイストス神殿、将軍詰所、ゼウスのストア、南のストア、新評議会場の建築が相次いだ。アゴラでは屋台を並べての商業も営まれ、「アゴラの賑(にぎ)わう時」という表現もあるが、公共建築物が南北に立ち並んだ西寄りの一角は境界標によって区画された聖域であり、殺人や涜神(とくしん)の罪を犯した者の立ち入りが禁止された。

［馬場恵二］

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