ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the archaeological evidence for the Roman-period portrait statues. The archaeological evidence demonstrates that the Agora remained in the Roman period a very prestigious place in which to set up portrait statues of both local and foreign benefactors, and that most of these monuments were public honorific statues set up by the polis authorities, a continuation of pre Roman-period practice. That the Athenian Agora continued to be a very vibrant space with lots of activity right up until the time of the Herulian sack in 267 is shown by the fact that portrait statue monuments continue to be set up there even after Pausanias’ visit. From the evidence, then, of the inscribed statue bases found in the Post-Herulian Wall, we can say that in the second century, the Roman-period portrait monuments on the eastern side of the Agora—in front of the Stoa of Attalos and to its south along.
