Recherche par auteur > Dickenson Chris

One of the most discussed developments of Greek agoras in Hellenistic and Roman times is their increasing monumentalisation, particularly through the use of stoas to demarcate the squares' edges. . There were no real limits as to how long stoas could become which allowed them to run along the entire length of even the largest of public squares and their colonnades and rooms could accommodate the full range of activities associated with their agora including administration and politics, commerce and socialising. They also provided shelter so that activities taking place in the central open space could shift indoors if the weather was too hot, cold or wet. Despite the enhanced amenities and visual splendour that stoas brought they have often been interpreted as having a negative impact on the function of the agora, cutting it off from traffic, isolating it from the rest of the city and thereby decreasing its vitality as a public space. This paper will reassess the exclusionary impact of stoas on Hellenistic and Roman agoras by taking a two-pronged approach. Firstly it will argue that there is no indication that increasing monumentality had a detrimental effect on the diversity of activites found within the post-Classical agora. Secondly it will assess the extent to which stoas really did limit access from other parts of the city.