The City Council House
A bouleuterion (council house) is one of the building types most commonly associated with an agora. Council houses were considered a quintessential element of cities in the Greek and Roman worlds. These structures were built to house one of the oldest professions: politics. Now, who entered this political arena? Members were predominantly male and rich. In other words, the social elite dominated the city council, discussing matters of civic and legal importance.
In most cities, council seats became legacy positions of wealthy families. Democracy by elected representation was not really happening in Antiquity.
Nevertheless, the popular assembly (the People) held on to some power in Roman times. Their meetings were held on the Upper Agora. There is also mention of a Council of Elders at Sagalassos.
The inhabitants of Sagalassos that had to work for a living, which was the majority of the population, did not have a lot of direct political influence. Organisations such as professional associations helped to give them a voice and as social prestige was very important in Antiquity, the social elite will have taken the wider population into account, to some degree, when making political decisions. The scale of the community at Sagalassos made council members approachable, especially during public events. Politics was wheeling and dealing in the past (as now).