This book traces the architectural evolution of the Greek agora in the post-Classical polis and represents a significant contribution to studies of urbanism and public space in the ancient world. The narrative of this evolution is driven by D.’s careful and critical examination of archaeological, literary and epigraphic evidence. D. limits the scope of his project to the six centuries between the death of Alexander and the Herulian invasion, and to sites in mainland Greece and Macedonia, with Thasos being a notable exception. These chronological and geographical boundaries focus attention on some relatively fresh ground, though the likes of Athens and Corinth still receive much consideration. In short, this is a long and ambitious study that offers a fresh perspective on Hellenistic and Roman Greece.
Throughout the book, D. challenges two long-held assumptions about the post-Classical agora. First, he argues against the established belief that the architectural transformation of the post-Classical agora, specifically the trend of spatial enclosure, must be evidence of Greece's political decline. Second, he counters the idea that changes to the appearance of the agora in the Hellenistic and Roman periods are the direct result of external (i.e. Roman) influence. Overall, D. is persuasive.
D. traces the architectural evolution of the agora over four chapters organised chronologically: ‘The Early Hellenistic Period, 323 bc–197 bc’; ‘The Late Hellenistic Period, 197 bc–31 bc’; ‘The Early Imperial Period, 31 bc–ad 97’; and ‘The High Imperial Period, ad 97–ad 267’. Chapters are organised around common building types and organisational trends rather than particular sites. This framework subordinates the analysis of any one agora to the construction of a broader narrative of architectural development. While the bigger picture is vital to understanding both the concept and the physical space of the agora in Hellenistic and Roman Greece, single sites are often discussed in multiple places throughout the text. D. was aware that not every reader would find this organisational scheme satisfactory, and it can indeed be frustrating. D. might have mitigated the disjointed discussions of a single site through the use of phase plans which highlight architectural and spatial changes (only the agoras of Athens and Thasos are illustrated at two different points in their architectural development). Helpfully, though, D. provides a thorough index. I am not convinced that the book's structure best serves D.’s goal of foregrounding the gradual, often untidy, architectural development of the agora. Much of the evidence, however, seems to necessitate this arrangement, as many of the recently excavated or less well-studied sites D. brings into the conversation lack the publication history which would allow for a sustained case study. Nevertheless, D. leverages the available evidence skilfully in his attempt to reconstruct the function and importance of the agora in the post-Classical polis.
In Chapter 1 D. argues that the early Hellenistic agora tends in general towards architectural enclosure, monumentalisation and specialisation of commercial and political spaces. He carefully highlights both departure from and continuity with agoras in the Archaic and Classical periods. D. concludes that the early Hellenistic period marked a pivotal moment in urban design in which expectations of a Greek agora's appearance and function began to crystallise.
Chapter 2 departs from the thematic organisation to focus on three case studies: Messene, Athens and Thasos. D. observes that the architectural trends established in the early Hellenistic period continue with one major addition: the appearance of bemata. Perhaps the most important (and likely controversial) argument in this chapter centres on the Classical agora at Athens. D. contends that it extended considerably farther east than usually presumed, and included at least part of the area later occupied by the Roman agora. This eastern sector, D. suggests, already had a commercial function in the late Hellenistic period, so that the Stoa of Attalos effectively separated the western (political and administrative) agora from the eastern (commercial) agora. While D. sees this transformation as part of the larger trend towards both monumentalisation and specialisation of space, he admits that the division between commerce and politics/administration was never absolute.
In Chapter 3 D. shows that the continuing desire to monumentalise the agora focuses particularly on buildings that enclose the space and on access points to the space. Multiple agoras and separate market buildings are common features of Greek agoras in this period and may have allowed increased specialisation of space. Despite some continuity, the early Imperial period marks a moment of transformation in which new kinds of buildings – namely those related to Roman cultural imports, such as bathing and emperor-worship – appear in the agora. Nevertheless, D. cautions against seeing these changes solely as a product of top-down imperial initiative. Looking to the Roman agora at Athens, he posits that local elites were critical in shaping the landscape of the Greek agora in the early Empire. This perspective, one of D.’s most significant contributions, is a fresh and welcome approach to understanding the monuments of Roman Greece – and one which should prove influential for subsequent scholarship. Although this period is marked by a change in the appearance of Greek agoras, D. argues that what we see in the archaeological remains is not a radical break with the past, but rather a further development of architectural trends seen already in agoras of the Hellenistic period.
Chapter 4 finds the appearance of Greek agoras altered further still with the construction of new cultural facilities, such as libraries. Access to the agora in the High Imperial period seems to have been more controlled than before, but at sites like Philippi, Thessalonike and Athens, D. presents evidence that the agora, instead of becoming a cultural museum, continued to function in some of the same ways as before. The argument that the agora retained its political and administrative function and cultural importance long after the Classical period is a strong undercurrent throughout the book. By setting architectural transformations in a broader chronological context and by demonstrating that even in the High Empire new political buildings were being constructed (and old ones were being refurbished and augmented), D. compellingly challenges the long-held assumption that the architectural changes seen in the Greek agora in the Hellenistic and Roman periods were the result of direct Roman influence and, therefore, evidence of political decline.
The text is well edited and relatively free of mistakes, typos and omissions (a notable exception is the omission of ‘Dickenson forthcoming-c’ [cited on p. 355 n. 103] from the bibliography). The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for the images (a few examples include Fig. 7, in which no. 8 is included in the caption, but does not appear on the plan itself; Fig. 13, in which both nos. 2 and 7 are labelled Glauke; and Fig. 14, in which the Altar of Zeus Agoraios is labelled no. 14 on the plan, but is not listed in the caption. There are also several occasions in which D. discusses buildings that are not indicated on the plan or in the caption.). In general, D.’s arguments would have been better served by paying more attention to images and how they can be leveraged to visualise architectural and spatial transformations. This was a missed opportunity. Nevertheless, the book has much to recommend it. D.’s major arguments are carefully crafted, persuasive and supported by his astute deployment of literary and epigraphic evidence. This work demonstrates that the agora in Hellenistic and Roman Greece was a vibrant and adaptable public space. Although its appearance changed over time, D. shows that there was far more continuity of function than is usually supposed.
