AGORA (MARKET) OF THE COMPETENT
Ancient market place for the exchange of cereals and slaves, with the preserved rotunda of the Hermaists.
Also known as the Agora of the Hermaites, this ancient paved square is the first architectural ensemble that one discovers on arriving from the port. This market bears the name of a brotherhood of freedmen and slaves who invoked the Lares as patrons, Roman divinities of crossroads. It was an important place of passage. It was here that grain and slaves were exchanged. It was also where pilgrims entered the sanctuary. The holes in the wooden stalls of the merchants who offered pilgrims ex-votos and sacrificial animals can be seen on the ground. The agora was a crossroads where several streets converged. It is surrounded by the Theatre district (south) and the portico of Philip V (west), behind which is the Sacred Way.
History.
The agora was established in the late 3rd or early 2nd century BC and enlarged in the 2nd century AD. It owes its present name to the brotherhood of Competaliastes, Roman merchants who had many freedmen. They honoured the Lares Compitalia, deities of Etruscan origin celebrated on the occasion of great festivals in January to mark the end of the agricultural year and in which slaves were allowed to participate. In fact, several brotherhoods of merchants had places of devotion here, each under the protection of a deity: the Greek gods Hermes and Apollo honoured by the Hermaites and the Apolloniastes, or Heracles and Maia, the Roman goddess of fertility. Thus, the square was dotted with marble statues and altars erected by the brotherhoods. To the south and east of the agora were also shops built of stone.Rotunda of the Hermaists.
Dating from the 2nd century BC, this is the main monument that remains on the agora. Donated by the brotherhood of the Hermaists, this monumental circular marble altar was dedicated to Hermes and Maia. It is surrounded by the bases of four pillars that supported a roof covering the whole. Around the rotunda, several inscriptions can be seen carved on the stone. One of them, written in both Greek and Latin, is an offering to Hermes and Maia by six Italians of the Hermaist guild, three of them freeborn men and three freedmen. Continue northeast towards the Sacred Way, which runs alongside the portico of Philip V (left) and ancient dwellings (right).Did you know? This review was written by our professional authors.
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