The Agora

There was an agora in the middle of each Greek city. It was a square open space, filled with market stalls. Farmers brought their goods to sell, and craftsmen displayed their jewellery, pots or swords. There were traders from all over Greece, and from abroad. Traders came from Italy, Asia Minor (Turkey) and North Africa, some to buy Greek goods and some to sell their own.

Men would meet in the market to discuss politics with their friends, read the public notices or exchange news with traders from other lands.

The only women on their own in the agora would be female slaves. Wealthy women sent slaves to do their shopping and poorer women stayed at home whilst their husbands collected the shopping.

Around the agora there was often a shady arcade, where traders could set up their stalls away from the glare of the sun, and many of the city's important buildings were built around the market square.

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An agora