| This dissertation is the first exploration of the architecture and topography of the Greek and Roman Agora at Ilion. The principal buildings in the Agora include a Bouleuterion, Odeion, Bath, and Nymphaeum. The latest phase of each was Roman, but earlier phases of some buildings date to Archaic and/or Hellenistic times. The principal phases of architectural development in the Agora are linked to visits by Alexander the Great, Augustus, Hadrian, and Caracalla. The buildings in the Agora were destroyed by spoliation and a series of earthquakes beginning in the second half of the fifth century A.D. Individual chapters deal with the history, discovery, and excavation of the Agora, building materials and techniques, and the description, date, context, function, and meaning of the monuments in the Agora in Greek and Roman times. This dissertation includes previously unpublished results of excavations in the Agora by Carl W. Blegen, and it integrates work in the Agora by Schliemann, Dorpfeld, and Blegen with the results of new excavations by the Universities of Tubingen and Cincinnati.; Literary and archaeological evidence indicates that Ilion was believed to have been built on the site of Priam's citadel. Connections to the epic tradition and Homeric Troy had profound impact on the topography of the historical city, especially the Agora, which was not only the economic and political heart of the city, but also the public arena for commemorations and honorifics, as well as Ilion's penultimate attraction for all visitors on their way to the Sanctuary of Athena Ilias on the akropolis. Ilion's agenda to advertise its heritage is apparent in epigraphic and numismatic evidence from the Agora, and it may have included the conscious preservation of the prehistoric fortification walls of the Troy VI citadel at conspicuous locations in the Agora. |
