File:Agora of Priene.jpg

English: Agora of Priene. Priene was built as a coastal port in the 11th century BC. By the 4th century BC, however, the magnificent deep-water port had already silted up so badly that the city had to be relocated to avoid the "bad miasma" (unhealthy air) that led to the wasting sickness that we now know as mosquito-borne malaria. The new (only 2,400 years old) location of Priene was constructed on the slopes of the escarpment of Mycale on the order of the Persian-empire satrap, Mausolus (whose fantastic carved marble burial monument gives us the word "Mausoleum"). When Alexander the Great conquered the Persian empire in the latter half of the 4th century BC, he continued the work Mausolus had started on the temple of Athena, using the noted architect Pytheos to design the perfect temple for the environment. Here are the remains of the agora, or civic square and market place of ancient Priene. By the time this agora was built in the 4th century BC, Priene was a full democracy, with every (adult, male, free, property-owning male) citizen able to vote on major decision and to elect a city council that took care of the many daily needs of the city, such as fixing the streets or inviting great poets to recite or playwrights to stage performances in the city theater.