agora of Thessaloniki

The Agora (lang-el?????, Agor�) was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek (Ancient Greece) city-states. Early in Greek history (900s-700s BCE), free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the agora also served as a marketplace where merchants kept stalls or shops to sell their goods amid colonnades (colonnade). From this twin function of the agora as a political and commercial space came the two Greek verbs ???????, agor�z?, "I shop", and ???????, agore�?, "I speak in public". The word agoraphobia, the fear of critical public situations, derives from agora in its meaning as a gathering place.

The Forum (Forum (Roman)) was the Roman equivalent of the Agora.