 A freestanding colonnade with a covered walkway, the stoa was both a place of commerce and a public promenade, situated within or adjacent to the agora.At the market-place ("agorai") in Athens, officials were employed by the government to oversee weights, measures, and coinage to ensure that the people were not cheated in market place transactions.The rocky and mountainous terrain in Greece made it difficult for producers to transport goods or surpluses to local markets, giving rise to the "kapēlos", a specialised type of retailer who operated as an intermediary purchasing produce from farmers and transporting it over short distances to the city markets.