Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...

, the ''ekklesiasterion'' (ἐκκλησιαστήριον) was the meeting place of the popular assembly ('' ekklesia'') in a democratic Greek city-state (''

polis ''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...

'', plural ''poleis'').

Venue

In a few ''poleis'' the ''ekklesiasterion'' was a separate building, but in many cases the

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

was used for both performances and the meetings of ''ekklesia''. In some cases multiple locations were used. In

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

the regular meetings of the assembly were held on the

Pnyx The Pnyx (; grc, Πνύξ ; ell, Πνύκα, ''Pnyka'') is a hill in central Athens, the capital of Greece. Beginning as early as 507 BC ( Fifth-century Athens), the Athenians gathered on the Pnyx to host their popular assemblies, thus makin ...

hill and two annual meetings took place in the Theater of Dionysus. Around 300 BC all the meetings of the ''ekklesia'' were moved to the theater. The meetings of the assembly could attract large audiences: 6,000 citizens might have attended in Athens during the fifth century BC. Hansen and Fischer-Hansen argue that theaters were primarily built for performances and that their use by the ''ekklesia'' was a convenient extra function. In ''poleis'' which had a separate ''ekklesiasterion'' the building could take a variety of forms. Many consisted of steps built in the slope of a hill, similar to theaters but much smaller.

Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island ar ...

had a roofed building. In

Metapontum Metapontum or Metapontium ( grc, Μεταπόντιον, Metapontion) was an important city of Magna Graecia, situated on the gulf of Tarentum, between the river Bradanus and the Casuentus (modern Basento). It was distant about 20 km from ...

it was a circular structure on flat terrain with elevated steps. A walkway intersected through the center, where a podium was placed. It could accommodate 7,500 to 8,000 people in the beginning of the fifth century BC, after it was expanded. Such a circular structure was unusual for its location in

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; the ...

. A circular unroofed building with tiers of seating in

Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...

, ancient Poseidonia, has also been identified as an ''ekklesiasterion''. This is more likely a ''

bouleuterion A bouleuterion ( grc-gre, βουλευτήριον, ''bouleutērion''), also translated as and was a building in ancient Greece which housed the council of citizens (, ''boulē'') of a democratic city state. These representatives assembled a ...

'' however, because it could only seat 500 to 600 people in a relatively large city.

References

Sources

* * {{italic title Ancient Greek buildings and structures Greek words and phrases Legislative buildings