The Greek agora was the public, commercial and civic center of the ancient Greekpolis. The agora was a marketplace where people from different social classes and different walks of life would interact; it was a place where information and gossip was exchanged; and it was a place where civic meetings were held. The social functions of a public, open space have persisted in our culture--in places like Union Square and in the European tradition of plazas and piazzas.

Lewis Mumford writes that "since the agora combined so many important urban functions--law, government, commerce, industry, religion, sociability--it is hardly any wonder that...it became the most vital and distinctive element in the city."

Mumford goes on to quote the Greek poet Eubolus's description of the agora: "You will find everything sold together in the same place at Athens: figs, witnesses to summonses, bunches of grapes, turnips, pears, apples, givers of evidence, roses, medlars, porridge, honeycombs, chick-peas, law suits...allotment machines, irises, lamps, water-clocks, laws, indictments." (The City in History, 150.)