1. CENTRAL TO EVERY GREEK CITY AND TOWN WAS THE AGORA, A MARKETPLACE AND
MEETING PLACE. IT WAS A LARGE, USUALLY RECTANGULAR SPACE SURROUNDED BY
BUILDINGS. PLATFORMS, ALTARS AND STATUES OF GODS, SPORTSMEN AND POLITICAL
FIGURES COULD ALSO BE FOUND THERE. THE STOA, WHICH FORMED AN EDGE OF THE
AGORA, WAS A LONG BUILDING WITH COLUMNS. SHOPS WERE LOCATED IN THE STOA.
MORE EXPENSIVE ITEMS COULD BE BOUGHT THERE.PUBLIC SPECTATORS COULD WATCH
CRIMINALS BEING PLACED ON TRIAL IN THE AGORAFARMERS CAME WITH THEIR
PRODUCE. IN THE LARGE EMPTY SPACE OF THE AGORA, STALLHOLDERS SET UP THEIR SUN
SHADED TABLES AND SOLD SUCH ITEMS AS MEAT, FISH, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES,
CHEESES, EGGS, HONEY, WINE, OLIVE OIL AND ANIMALS (E.G. DONKEYS, HORSES, HENS).
FRESH MEAT AND FISH WERE DISPLAYED ON MARBLE SLABS THAT KEPT THE FOOD COOL.
"FAST FOOD" WAS ALSO SOLD TO HUNGRY AND THIRSTY SHOPPERS. SLAVES WERE
PLACED ON DISPLAY AND BOUGHT AND SOLD.MERCHANTS ALSO BOUGHT AND SOLD
EXOTIC FOREIGN ITEMS IN THE AGORA. WOMEN AND SLAVES COULD USE A PUBLIC
FOUNTAIN IN THE AGORA TO COLLECT THEIR DAILY SUPPLY OF WATER IN POTS.THE
AGORA WAS A VITAL AREA FOR A COMMUNITY.
SOLON WAS AN ATHENIAN STATESMAN, LAWMAKER, AND POET. HE IS REMEMBERED
PARTICULARLY FOR HIS EFFORTS TO LEGISLATE AGAINST POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND
MORAL DECLINE IN ARCHAIC ATHENS.SOLON, THE MOST FAMOUS OF ALL THE ANCIENT
GREEK LAWGIVERS, WAS BORN AT ATHENS ABOUT 638 B.C., AND BELONGED TO ONE OF
THE MOST DISTINGUISHED FAMILIES OF ATTICA. HIS EARLIEST APPEARANCE IN THE FIELD
OF POLITICS WAS OCCASIONED BY THE CONTEST BETWEEN ATHENS AND MEGARA, FOR
THE POSSESSION OF SALAMIS, AN ISLAND OFF THE COAST OF ATTICA. SOLON REVIVED
THE MARTIAL SPIRIT OF HIS COUNTRYMEN, WHICH HAD SUNK UNDER THE EFFECT OF
REPEATED DISASTERS, OBTAINED COMMAND OF A BODY OF TROOPS, AND CONQUERED
THE ISLAND, ABOUT 595 B.C. FROM THIS POINT HIS CAREER IS CONSPICUOUSLY NOBLE
AND HONORABLE. IN 594 B.C., HE WAS CHOSEN ARCHON AND RECEIVED UNLIMITED
PERMISSION TO ACT AS HE SAW BEST FOR THE GOOD OF THE STATE. SOLON WITHDREW
FROM ATHENS, AND IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE DIED AT CYPRUS AT THE AGE OF 80.
PERICLES WAS A PROMINENT AND INFLUENTIAL GREEK STATESMAN, ORATOR, AND
GENERAL OF ATHENS DURING THE CITY'S GOLDEN AGE—SPECIFICALLY, THE TIME
BETWEEN THE PERSIAN AND PELOPONNESIAN WARS.
PERICLES TURNED THE DELIAN LEAGUE INTO AN ATHENIAN EMPIRE AND LED HIS
COUNTRYMEN DURING THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. THE
PERIOD DURING WHICH HE LED ATHENS, ROUGHLY FROM 461 TO 429 BC, IS SOMETIMES
KNOWN AS THE "AGE OF PERICLES.”

2. PERICLES PROMOTED THE ARTS AND LITERATURE; IT IS PRINCIPALLY THROUGH HIS
EFFORTS THAT ATHENS HOLDS THE REPUTATION OF BEING THE EDUCATIONAL AND
CULTURAL CENTER OF THE ANCIENT GREEK WORLD. PERICLES FOSTERED ATHENIAN
DEMOCRACY TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT CRITICS CALL HIM A POPULIST.
THE ECCLESIA WAS THE PRINCIPAL ASSEMBLY OF THE DEMOCRACY OF ANCIENT ATHENS
DURING ITS "GOLDEN AGE" (480–404 BCE). IT WAS THE POPULAR ASSEMBLY, OPENED TO
ALL MALE CITIZENS WITH 2 YEARS OF MILITARY SERVICE BY SOLON IN 594 BC MEANING
THAT ALL CLASSES OF CITIZENS IN ATHENS WERE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE. THE EKKLESIA
GAVE ALL THE CITIZENS THERE THE OPPORTUNITY TO NOMINATE AND VOTE FOR
MAGISTRATES—INDIRECTLY VOTING FOR THE AREOPAGUS—HAVE THE FINAL DECISION
ON LEGISLATION, WAR AND PEACE. IN THE 5TH CENTURY BC THEIR NUMBERS
AMOUNTED TO ABOUT 43,000 PEOPLE. HOWEVER, ONLY THOSE WEALTHY ENOUGH TO
SPEND MUCH OF THEIR TIME AWAY FROM HOME WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO
PARTICIPATE UNTIL PERICLES CHANGED THAT.