Constitutional Law
Part 2: “What Were They Thinking?”
Digression: “A History of Government in 6 Revolutions: From the Paleolithic to Philadelphia”
Pg 135: “Social Order”
PANEL 1
An aerial view of the Mycenaean palace buildings atop the Acropolis at Athens.
NARRATION:
Mycenaean civilization enjoyed remarkable stability.
For hundreds of years, Athens’ world seemed to have found its perfect balance.
Most Mycenaean towns, Athens included, didn’t even bother to erect defensive walls!
PALACE VOICE 1:
Barricade ourselves?
Against our neighbors? Absurd.
PANEL 2
A modern-looking conference room. Seated around the table are some ruling-class elites. An old man with a cane is entering the room. An elite man is giving a presentation with graphs and a pie chart. The woman key bearer has turned to address the reader.
NARRATION:
What Athens did not have was democracy.
As usual, kinship-based households and tribes managed most day-to-day societal needs, while an elite class directed the affairs of state.
KEY BEARER:
Who else has the wherewithal to get it all done?
The prestige?
The time?
NARRATIVE:
(Pointing to the old man) The Basileus was the official who coordinated all the tribal chiefs.
BASILEUS:
Sorry I’m late. My other meeting ran long.
…As usual.
The lower right corner of the panel appears to have some minor smoke damage.
PANEL 3
A futuristic landscape like a cross between an org chart and a computer chip, in neon pink against a deep purple background.
NARRATION:
These elites ran command economies at home—dictating how their people’s crops, resources, and surpluses were to be collected, stored, and re-distributed.
ORG CHART VOICE 1:
Not that we grow much here in Athens.
ORG CHART VOICE 2:
Worst soil in Attica…
ORG CHART VOICE 3:
Stick to the plan, folks.
PANEL 4
Much of this panel is obscured by flames and smoke damage.
It depicts a Bronze-Age merchant vessel pulling up to a dock. A large amount of timber is stacked up at the dock. The ship is overflowing with honey. People on the dock and on the boat are speaking to each other.
NARRATION:
And it was those same elites who conducted all the international trade (literally trade—money hadn’t been invented yet). Greek cities exchanged local wines and timber for grain from Ukraine… tin from Afghanistan… linen and jewelry from Egypt… glass from Mesopotamia…
MAN ON PIER:
How much lumber does Pharaoh want for that boatload of honey?
MAN ON BOAT:
How much have you got?
PANEL 5
Much of the panel has entirely burned away, and flames and smoke hide most of the right-hand half of the panel. It appears that the bottom right of the entire page is burning up.
An elite man stands in front of a chart that resembles an old food pyramid. He’s steepled his fingers and is explaining something to the reader.
NARRATIVE:
Peace and prosperity depended on a rigid, inflexible social hierarchy.
The top caste of aristocratic elites ruled, with a sacred duty to provide, to protect, and to keep the gods happy.
Then came the bulk of society: the free households of farmers, herders, fishermen, mariners, artisans…
At the bottom, slaves worked the fields, rowed the galleys, provided services, and generally did much of the labor that a thriving civilization requires.
ELITE MAN:
[Most of his words are concealed by flame. Here’s what is legible.]
Our society has structu
(Like our clothin
that lazy loose drap
If you ask me, struct
makes civi tion oss
[The rest of the page has been completely consumed by fire. All that can be seen behind the page is blackness.]