After the Roman Forum, we headed to an earlier Greek marketplace: the Ancient Agora.
Here's an interesting picture which just goes to show how Athens has old and new melding together. The metro tracks run right along the Ancient Agora. In fact, they run under this pedestrian bridge that takes you to the entrance.
This is a modern full-scale reproduction of the Stoa of Attalos. It was built in the 1950s, but you'd swear it was built two thousand years ago.
The modern building is historically accurate. You can even see that the first six feet or so of the exterior columns is smooth to make it more comfortable for the philosophers and politicians to lean against.
This is called a "herm". It is a small square column topped with the head of Hermes, and displaying male genitalia. These stood at crossroads, and passers-by would rub the testes for good luck. Ma is "getting lucky" here.
Despite the fact that the Romans would eventually ruin Athen's Ancient Agora, Emperor Hadrian put his statue here. He loved Greece, especially Athens, and made many significant contributions, like the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Arch of Hadrianopolis (described later).
Temple of HephaistosIt looks like the Parthenon, only smaller.
Unlike the Parthenon, this temple has withstood the ravages of war, weather, and natural disaster.