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It is believed that the Pnyx was founded in the 5th century B.C. It passed three construction periods. At first, the Pnyx was a plain, natural area with a retaining wall to the north. Then, a semi-circular retaining wall was built and two staircases were leading to the Bema, where the orators could speak. The area also had 500 wooden seats for the Councilmen elected by the Assembly. The third reformation of the Pnyx was based on the same design but was in larger scale. In the first century B.C., the Pnyx started to decline because Athens was getting bigger and it was difficult for many citizens to come to the Pnyx. The new Assembly of the Athenians was gathered in the theatre of Dionysos.
It is said that the Pnyx could accommodate 20,000 citizens, although a minimum of 6,000 Athenians was necessary in order for a discussion to start. The Assembly was usually gathered once every nine days to discuss on political, social and war issues.
Excavations on the Pnyx started in about 1910 by the Greek Archaeological Society. Other excavations were conducted in the 1930s by H.A. Thompson. Apart from the platform of the Pnyx, other ancient remains were also found, such as two large stoas, built to shelter people in case of bad weather, the altar of Zeus Agoraios and the sanctuary of Zeus Hypsistos.
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