RECONSTRUCTING SPARTA · PAUS. 3.11.2–3.11.11
The Agora and the Persian Stoa
ANCIENT TESTIMONY · PAUSANIAS 3.11.2–3.11.11Pausanias calls the agora “worth seeing”: it held the council-chamber of the senate (gerousia) and the offices of the ephors, the guardians of the laws and the Bidiaioi (3.11.2). Its most striking feature was the “Persian” portico, built from spoils of the Persian Wars and later enlarged; on its pillars stood white-marble figures of Persians including Mardonios and Artemisia (3.11.3). The area where the boys danced at the Gymnopaidiai was called Choros (3.11.9).
EXCAVATED EVIDENCEThe location of the agora and of the Persian Stoa has not been securely established by excavation. To be updated from current excavation reports.
CONJECTUREPlacement on the schematic map is approximate.
RECONSTRUCTION TO COME