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History of the Agora The excavations of the Athenian Agora have uncovered about thirty acres on the sloping ground northwest of the Acropolis (Fig. 3). Material of all periods from the Late Neolithic to ... Recovery in the 2nd century was fueled by Athens’ reputation as the cultural and educational center of the Mediterranean, and the philosophical schools founded by Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and Epicurus flourished.