AGNĀTI. [[Cognati].]
AGNŌMEN [[Nomen].]
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.
AGRĀRĬAE LĒGES. [[Ager Publicus]; [Lex].]
AGRAULĬA (ἀγραύλια) was a festival celebrated by the Athenians in honour of Agraulos, the daughter of Cecrops. It was perhaps connected with the solemn oath, which all Athenians, when they arrived at manhood (ἔφηβοι), were obliged to take in the temple of Agraulos, that they would fight for their country, and always observe its laws.