The American excavations in the agora at Athens, while solving many problems, have left others unsolved, and have even raised unsuspected difficulties. One of the most important points of dispute is the identification of the Stoa Basileios. H. A. Thompson's theory that the winged building at the north end of the west side was both the Basileios and the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios seems to me to be the most convincing solution, though, as he says, the present state of knowledge does not leave the problem finally settled. Even if one sets aside the complicated topographical, chronological and sculptural evidence, the balance of which probably favours Thompson, certain recent rival claimants to the title Stoa Basileios are open to grave doubts on the ground that they were not stoas in the normal classical sense of the word.