ABSTRACT
One of the most important parts of any ancient Greek city was its agora, the marketplace and civic centre. In addition to being a place where people gathered to buy and sell (agorazein in Greek) all kinds of commodities, it was also a place where people assembled to discuss (agoreuein) all kinds of topics: business, politics, current events, or the nature of the universe and the divine. In fact, excavations at the southwest corner of the Agora have uncovered a house/shop of the 5th century BC, just beyond a boundary stone, where archaeologists found iron hobnails and bone eyelets for shoes, and a cup inscribed with the name of ‘Simon’. Other private houses and workshops lined the streets leading into the Agora. Of particular interest in one such neighborhood southwest of the Tholos is a large building with several rooms on either side of a narrow corridor, an enclosed courtyard, and a tower.
