UQ lecture on Greek archaeological site

The University of Queensland will host a free public lecture this month on an important archaeological site in Athens.

The Agora and the Origins of Democracy will be discussed at the lecture at the Abel Smith Lecture Theatre, Campbell Road, St Lucia on Tuesday, October 10 at 8pm.

The University's Department of Classics and Ancient History and the Queensland Friends of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens have organised the lecture.

It will be given by the 2000 Australian Archaeological Institute of Athens Visiting Professor of Archaeology, American School of Classical Studies, Professor John McKesson Camp II.

The American School of Classical Studies has been excavating in the area of the Athenian Agora since1931, bringing to light the history of the area over a period of 5000 years.

The Agora of the 5th and 4th centuries BC has been the main focus of attention and scholars have identified the site, through the material remains, as the centre of civic activity of a powerful city state.

Public documents inscribed on stone, weight and measure standards, and jurors' identification tickets and ballots reflect the administrative nature of the site, while traces of private dwellings in the area, with their household pottery and other small finds, throw light on the everyday lives of Athenian citizens.

In his lecture, Professor Camp will give an account of the earliest public buildings of the Agora and the information they provide for an understanding of the beginnings of Greek democracy.

The lecture will be chaired by Professor Bob Milns of the Department of Classics and Ancient History.

Enquiries to the Department of Classics and Ancient History, telephone (07) 3365 2643, Fax (07) 3365 1399, Email classics@mailbox.uq.edu.

Media: Further information, Professor Bob Milns, telephone 3365 2698 or Jan King at UQ Communications 0413 601 248 or email: communications@mailbox.uq.edu.au.