Stoa of Basil

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The Stoa Basileios is a building on the Agora of Athens .

identification

In 1970, during excavations in the northwest corner of the agora, the remains of the so-called royal stoa , the Stoa Basileios , were found. Scientists agree that the foundation and the remains of the wall are the Stoa Basileios. Pausanias 1, 3, 1 reports their position as part of his clear description of the route when walking across the agora; he writes, "is first of all the To the right" Royal Stoa "to the seat of the" king "of the so-called" Royal Office Furthermore Des they found two inscriptions of public officials, the Office of "holding for one year." Basileus Archon occupied . They had the stones erected during or shortly after their term of office, thus making it possible to clearly identify the royal stoa.

Dating

When the Stoa Basileios was built is unclear. The problem is that the architectural features of the Doric columns and the Doric frieze date back to the 6th century BC. Let close. In the foundations of the hall, on the other hand, ceramics were found, which were not made before the 5th century BC Was made. It is now assumed that the Stoa Basileios first appeared in the 6th century BC. Was built, destroyed in the Persian storm of 480 and then rebuilt.

Appearance

The outer appearance of the royal stoa is dominated by eight Doric columns at the front. The front of the stoa faces east towards Panathenaic Street. The sides are closed so only the front with the pillars is open. The roof was supported by four Doric columns in the middle of the stoa. According to Pausanias, “there are statues made of scorched earth [on the tiled roof of this stoa]: Theseus , who plunges Skiron into the sea, and Hemera, who carries Cephalos.” ​​These statues were at either end of the roof. The walls of the stoa are made of massive limestone blocks. One of the outer walls has been preserved up to three layers of stone. The roof tiles of the Stoa Basileios were made of terracotta . The stoa was 18 meters long and 7.50 meters wide. While the Stoa of Basil in the 6th century BC Was still isolated, the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios to the south was later built. To the northeast on the other side of the street, the Athenians built the Stoa Poikile. In front of the Stoa Basileios there is a sacrificial stone on which archons had to take their oaths before taking office. In the 3rd century BC A statue of Themis , the goddess of justice, was erected in front of the Stoa of Basil . In addition, wings were added to both ends of the stoa, possibly to create more space for putting up the law plaques.

use

The government of the ancient Attic democracy was formed by nine archons: The Archon Eponymos, who was the most influential of the archons and who gave his name to the year. The Archon Basileus, who was responsible for cultic and religious matters, and the Archon Polemarchos, who was the commander of the armed forces. The remaining six archons were the so-called thesmothetes . Their task was to document judicial judgments and make them available to the public.

After the reforms of 487/486 BC BC the lot decided who would become an archon for one year. This reform shifted much of the power to the strategists, who were still elected. The Archon Basileus, who was responsible for religious matters, had his official residence in the Stoa Basileios. His job was to organize religious festivals such as torch relays and lenées . The Archon Basileus honored the best comedies and tragedies. From today's perspective it may seem strange that a high religious official is responsible for the theater, but in ancient times, acting was considered sacred.

It was also his responsibility to lead proceedings in the event of religious offenses (such as infidelity) or criminal acts (such as murder). It was therefore also in the area of ​​responsibility of Archon Basileus to conduct the preliminary investigation in the Asebie charge , the charge of godlessness, against Socrates in 399 BC. To direct. This event represents one of the most famous events in the Stoa of Basil. At the end of the trials, Socrates was sentenced to death by the cup of hemlock .

Another peculiarity of the Stoa Basileios was that the tablets of the law were in it after Solon had written the new constitution. Later, too, new laws were drawn up in the Stoa of Basil so that the public could access them. This is also the reason why the small hall was later enlarged by two side wings. The above-mentioned, 0.95 × 2.95 meter large, unworked limestone in front of the stoa probably served as an oath stone on which officials took their oath. The civil servants had to take an oath before entering service and swear that they would act in the interests of the state and that they would respect the law. With this oath they also swore to erect a golden statue should they break a law. Since the stone, also called lithos, is believed to be older than the stoa itself, some scholars believe that it is the reason why the stoa was built on the site.

literature

  • John M. Camp: The Agora of Athens. Excavations in the heart of classical Athens , Mainz 1989.
  • Hans Rupprecht Goette , Jürgen Hammerstaedt : Ancient Athens. A literary city guide , Munich 2004.
  • Christoph Höcker : Stoa , in: Der Neue Pauly 11, Stuttgart 2001, Sp. 1002.
  • Hans Lauter : The Architecture of Hellenism , Darmstadt 1986.
  • John Travlos: Pictorial dictionary on the topography of ancient Attica , Tübingen 1988.
  • Chester G. Starr: The Birth of Athenian Democracy. The Assembly in the Fifth Century BC , New York 1990.

Coordinates: 37 ° 58 ′ 34.1 ″  N , 23 ° 43 ′ 20.4 ″  E