The fourth-century philosophers borrow the notion of “contemplating the spectacle of truth” not from the Presocratic tradition but from a specific civic institution – that of theoria. In ancient Greece, theoria was a venerable cultural practice characterized by a journey abroad for the sake of witnessing an event or spectacle. This chapter will examine the three most prominent forms of theoria in the classical period: visits to oracular centers, pilgrimages to religious festivals, and journeys abroad for the sake of learning. In all journeys of theoria, the pilgrim or theoros traveled away from home to see some sort of spectacle or to learn something about the outside world, thus confronting foreign peoples and places. In classical Greece, the theoros could be sent as an official representative of his city, in which case the theoria was carried out in a civic and political context. But a theoros could also venture forth on his own, enacting a “private” rather than a “civic” theoria.