An agoranomos (, plural: ''agoranomoi'', ἀγορανόμοι) was an elected official in the cities of
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
and
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
, responsible for order in the
marketplace (''
agora
The agora (; , romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Ancient Greece, Greek polis, city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center ...
'', hence the name, translated as "market overseer"). A ''
polis'' could have several of them. The position was similar to the Roman ''
aedile''.
[{{Cite EB1911, wstitle=Agoranomi, volume=1, page=381]
Their duties included setting prices for certain goods, certifying goods and weights and scales, controlling money exchange, and the important function of managing the supply of the ''polis'' with grain. In controlling unscrupulous merchants, an agoranomos had the right to impose corporal punishment (and was often portrayed walking along the agora with a
whip) on non-freeborn people, and fines on free citizens. An agoranomos also kept an eye on temples in the ''agora''.
Ancient Athens had ten agronomoi, chosen annually. Five were responsible for the city, and five for the
Piraeus.
[
Over time, ''agoranomos'' has also become an honorary title for a public benefactor, who contributed significant amounts for public institutions. The term is still in use today in modern ]Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
(''Αγορονομία'' — Agoranomía), for the analogous in U.S. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, which is a branch of the Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
).
See also
* Aedile - an elected Roman official with similar duties.
* Astynomos - a person in charge of public places outside the ''agora''.
* Muhtasib - in Islamic world had similar (and some other) duties.
References
Demos: Classical Athenian Democracy
Ancient Greek titles