The Pnyx, a rocky hill just west of the Acropolis, was the meeting place of the Athenian ekklesia, the popular Assembly, and one of the earliest and most important sites in the history of democracy. Beginning around 507 BC, following the reforms of Cleisthenes, ordinary Athenian citizens gathered here to debate and vote on matters of state. A flat, semicircular platform cut into the hillside, the bema, served as the speakers’ platform from which figures like Pericles, Themistocles, and later Demosthenes addressed the assembled citizenry, all within sight of the Parthenon on the Acropolis above. [Editor’s note: no old-site source material was found for this page. This paragraph was drafted as a placeholder using general reference sources and should be reviewed/expanded by Dr. Siegel.]