ĂGŎRA

( ἀγορά ) properly means an a embly of any kind, and is usually employed by Homer to designate the general a embly of the people. The Agora seems to have been considered an e ential part of the constitution of the early Grecian states. It was usually convoked by the king, but occasionally by some distinguished chieftain, as, for example, by Achilles before Troy. The king occupied the most important seat in these a emblies, and near him sat the nobles, while the people stood or sat in a circle around them. The people appear to have had no right of speaking or voting in these a emblies, but merely to have been called together to hear what had been already agreed upon in the council of the nobles, and to expre their feelings as a body. The council of the nobles is called Boulé ( βουλή ) and Thoöcus ( θόωκος ), and sometimes even Agora . Among the A then i ans, the proper name for the a embly of the people was Ecclesia ( ἐκκλησία ), and among the Dorians Halia ( ἁλία ). The term Agora was confined at Athens to the a emblies of the phylae and dem i. The name Agora was early transferred from the a embly itself to the place in which it was held; and thus it came to be used for the market-place, where goods of all descriptions were bought and sold. Hence it answers to the Roman forum .