Constitutional Law
Part 2: “What Were They Thinking?”
Digression: “A History of Government in 6 Revolutions: From the Paleolithic to Philadelphia”
Pg 134: “The High Life”
PANEL 1
An overhead view of Attica, Salamis and part of Euboea. Athens is located with a star.
NARRATIVE:
Mycenaean Athens was never an economic powerhouse.
ATHENIAN VOICE 1:
Worst soil in Attica.
ATHENIAN VOICE 2:
And that’s saying something!
PANEL 2
A huge white stone flies from mountains to land in a plain with a FUMF!
NARRATIVE:
But, millions of years before, tectonic forces had thrust a massive chunk of limestone here, from the eastern mountains.
MOUNTAINS:
Hup!
PANEL 3
The view from inside a glittering limestone cavern, with stalactites, stalagmites, and a pool of water. Outside are the tops of trees stretching into the distance, mountains far away, and birds above and below eye level.
NARRATIVE:
That rock was a magical place.
Rainwater percolated down through the limestone to form mineral springs below (which probably attracted early settlements).
Along the way, the water carved out all kinds of enchanting caves.
PANEL 4
A sandstone butte rises against a colorful sunset. An early-Bronze-Age-style temple sit at the top, where a man is opening his arms to the heavens.
NARRATIVE:
People always like to build their temples on high places. Mycenaean palace complexes were no different.
MAN:
Can you hear me now?
PANEL 5
An aerial view of the Acropolis and its surrounding hills, the plains down to the gulf, and the lands beyond. On top of the Acropolis is the Mycenaean palace complex as it looked around 1300 BC. There are no walls.
NARRATIVE:
The Bronze Age Athenians built their palatial “high town” (or “akro polis”) on this mystical rock!
PALACE VOICE 1:
It’s like living among the gods.
PALACE VOICE 2:
Why else would we be here?
PALACE VOICE 3:
We sure didn’t come here for the farming.
So you’re saying that the founders of Athens must have been high.
omg