ĂGŌNĀLĬA or ĂGŌNĬA, one of the most ancient festivals at Rome, its
institution being attributed to Numa Pompilius. It was celebrated on
the 9th of January, the 21st of May, and the 11th of December; to
which we should probably add the 17th of March, the day on which the
Liberalia was celebrated, since this festival is also called _Agonia_
or _Agonium Martiale_. The object of this festival was a disputed
point among the ancients themselves. The victim which was offered
was a ram; the person who offered it was the rex sacrificulus; and
the place where it was offered was the regia. Now the ram was the
usual victim presented to the guardian gods of the state, and the
rex sacrificulus and the regia could be employed only for such
ceremonies as were connected with the highest gods and affected the
weal of the whole state. Regarding the sacrifice in this light, we
see a reason for its being offered several times in the year. The
etymology of the name was also a subject of much dispute among the
ancients; and the various etymologies that were proposed are given
at length by Ovid (_Fast._ i. 319-332). None of these, however, are
at all satisfactory; and we would therefore suggest that it may have
received its name from the sacrifice having been offered on the
Quirinal hill, which was originally called _Agonus_.
ĂGŌNES (ἀγῶνες), the general term among the Greeks for the contests
at their great national games. The word also signified law-suits, and
was especially employed in the phrase ἀγῶνες τιμητοί and ἀτίμητοι.
[TIMEMA.]
ĂGONŎTHĔTAE (ἀγωνοθέται), persons in the Grecian games who decided
disputes, and adjudged the prizes to the victors. Originally, the
person who instituted the contest and offered the prize was the
_Agonothetes_, and this continued to be the practice in those games
which were instituted by kings or private persons. But in the great
public games, such as the Isthmian, Pythian, &c., the _Agonothetae_
were either the representatives of different states, as the
Amphictyons at the Pythian games, or were chosen from the people in
whose country the games were celebrated. During the flourishing times
of the Grecian republics the Eleans were the _Agonothetae_ in the
Olympic games, the Corinthians in the Isthmian games, the Amphictyons
in the Pythian games, and the Corinthians, Argives, and inhabitants
of Cleonae in the Nemaean games. The _Agonothetae_ were also called
_Aesymnetae_ (αἰσυμνῆται), _Agonarchae_ (ἀγωνάρχαι), _Agonodicae_
(ἀγωνοδίκαι), _Athlothetae_ (ἀθλοθέται), _Rhabduchi_ (ῥαβδοῦχοι),
or _Rhabdonomi_ (ῥαβδονόμοι, from the staff which they carried as
an emblem of authority), _Brabeis_ (βραβεῖς), and _Brabeutae_
(βραβευταί).
ĂGŎRA (ἀγορά) properly means an assembly of any kind, and is usually
employed by Homer to designate the general assembly of the people.
The Agora seems to have been considered an essential part of the
constitution of the early Grecian states. It was usually convoked
by the king, but occasionally by some distinguished chieftain,
as, for example, by Achilles before Troy. The king occupied the
most important seat in these assemblies, and near him sat the
nobles, while the people stood or sat in a circle around them. The
people appear to have had no right of speaking or voting in these
assemblies, but merely to have been called together to hear what
had been already agreed upon in the council of the nobles, and to
express their feelings as a body. The council of the nobles is called
_Boulé_ (βουλή) and _Thoöcus_ (θόωκος), and sometimes even _Agora_.
Among the Athenians, the proper name for the assembly of the people
was _Ecclesia_ (ἐκκλησία), and among the Dorians _Halia_ (ἁλία). The
term Agora was confined at Athens to the assemblies of the phylae and
demi. The name Agora was early transferred from the assembly itself
to the place in which it was held; and thus it came to be used for
the market-place, where goods of all descriptions were bought and
sold. Hence it answers to the Roman _forum_.
ĂGŎRĀNŎMI (ἀγορανόμοι), public functionaries in most of the Grecian
states, whose duties corresponded in many respects with those of the
Roman aediles. At Athens their number was ten, five for the city, and
five for the Peiraeus, and they were chosen by lot. The principal
duty of the Agoranomi was, as their name imports, to inspect the
market, and to see that all the laws respecting its regulation were
properly observed. They had the inspection of all things that were
sold in the market, with the exception of corn, which was subject
to the jurisdiction of special officers, called _Sitophylaces_
(σιτοφύλακες). They regulated the price and quantity of articles
exposed for sale, and punished all persons convicted of cheating,
especially by means of false weights and measures. They had the power
of fining all citizens who infringed upon the rules of the market,
and of whipping all slaves and foreigners guilty of a like offence.
They also collected the market dues, and had the care of all the
temples and fountains in the market place.