Roman Agora, Portico and central square

Julius Caesar funded the erection of the Roman Agora, the construction of which began in his time and was terminated during the reign of Augustus between 12 and 2 BC. The market place is known as the 'Roman Agora', or 'Caesar and Augustus Agora'. The rectangular central square measures 82 by 69 meters. The central open space was enclosed by Ionian style porticoes on four sides, with two Gateways (propylaia) located in the east and west Entrances to the Agora. The floor was Paved with Marble in the 2nd Century AD. There were shops in the porticoes. In the southern portico, there was a Fountain and there still are some traces of it. One of the goods produced and sold in this Agora was probably olive oil, as there still are remains of olive-presses and an inscription suggesting Emperor Hadrian was regulating the olive oil traffic.