ekklesiasterion

thumb|The ekklesia in Athens convened on a hill called the Pnyx In Ancient Greece, the ekklesiasterion (ἐκκλησιαστήριον) was the meeting place of the popular assembly (ekklesia) in a democratic Greek city-state (polis, plural poleis).

== Venue == thumb|The theater of Metapontum was built over the ekklesiasterion In a few poleis, the ekklesiasterion was a separate building, but in many cases the theater was used for both performances and the meetings of ekklesia. In some cases, multiple locations were used. In Athens, the regular meetings of the assembly were held on the Pnyx hill and two annual meetings took place in the Theater of Dionysus. Around 300 BC, all the meetings of the ekklesia were moved to the theater. The meetings of the assembly could attract large audiences: 6,000 citizens might have attended in Athens during the fifth century BC. Hansen and Fischer-Hansen argue that theaters were primarily built for performances and that their use by the ekklesia was a convenient extra function.