"We are called a Democracy" (Noble Friends, this is a Greek City-State Game)

[Rhetoric]

It is common knowledge that the light of Democracy did not shine on mankind until the worthy man Solon was chosen to be archon of the city of Athens, in the district of Attica. With his legal powers in that office, he instituted the idea of rule by the many. His honor was so great that he entered self exile after the reform, so that the law could not be changed. Serving as an example to its neighbors, Athenian politics spread throughout the classic period.

Unfortunately, not all great ideas are adopted painlessly. A generation after Solon's innovation, a tyrranos1 seized power in Athens: Peisistratus, a clever and dangerous politician who ruled well. Such was his favor that the goddess Athena appeared at his side after his exile, and the aristocrats of Athens had no choice but to accept rule by Peisistratus.

He won the favor of the masses through public building projects to provide jobs to people in need, while simultaneously investing energy on Athens as a cultural center. He replaced private wells of the aristocrats with public fountain houses. He and his sons also built the first aqueduct in Athens, allowing reliable water supply to sustain the large population.

When he died, the job of tyrranos fell to his son, Hipparchus. Noble Friends, Athens has seen good times and bad times, but under the rule of Pesistratus and Hipparchus the city has flourished. The gods surely smile on us.

Noble Friends, our protagonist will be born sometime between 535 and 525. Who are you to be?

A. The eldest son of a wealthy aristocrat, educated by private tutors and favored by your father. (an easy start)
B. The son of a tanner, blessed by the goddess Styx such that you retain knowledge from a previous life. (an easy start)
C. The slave of a wealthy aristocrat, entrusted with the daily operations of a shipyard. Your skill as a shipwright and manager is such that you have nearly saved up enough money to buy your freedom. (an average start)
D. The slave of a merchant, you help the lady of the house with tasks that require brute strength. You are trusted to escort her in public and to purchase household goods on behalf of your master. You are young and clever with numbers, a trait your master encourages. (an average start)
E. The daughter of a wealthy aristocrat, you are illiterate, uneducated, and held to be inferior to men.2 You expect that you will spend your entire life under the guardianship of your father, or your brothers, or your husband. (the hard start)
F. The daughter of a helot3, you fled Sparta after your father and brother were killed by the Crypteia4 and managed through cunning, manipulation, and endurance of indignities to arrive at Athens. You have few skills, no friends, and have been exploited by the sailors who gave you passage to Athens. You will likely have to become a pornoi, the lowest class of prostitute. (the impossible start)


1It is worth noting that though the modern word "tyrant" is derived from tyrranos, there is none of the stigma attached to the word tyrranos that "tyrant" has in modern language. It simply means a ruler who has taken power by force instead of by hereditary right. The concept of "benevolent dictator" is much closer to what a tyrranos is, than the modern tyrant.
2Ancient Greece was a sexist society. Women had a limited ability to control property, and they had no political rights. In Athens and other restrictive cities, citizen women are even more restricted. They are kept secluded, in separate quarters in the home. They cannot go out without escort, and must wear veils. They have even fewer property and civil rights than elsewhere in Greece, and are entirely under the control of a male guardian (father, brother, or husband). Other cities, particularly those in the Peloponnese, treat citizen women with more respect.
3Helots were the subjugated serfs of the Spartans. They were ritually mistreated, humiliated and even slaughtered by the Spartans. They lived a life of terror and had few rights. A female helot was not afforded the same considerations that female Spartan citizens enjoyed.
4A Spartan rite of passage where younger men would travel the countryside in bands and murder helots with the goal of exterminating potential rebel leaders and keeping the helot population cowed.

This timeline covers the historical period, from 1100 B.C. to 525 B.C. All dates are B.C.

c. 1000 – Lefkandi settlement begins recovery after the dark ages.
c. 800 – First Greek trading post in Syria.
776 – First recorded Olympic Games.
c. 775 – First Greek trading posts in Italy.
735 – First Greek colony begun in Sicily.
734 – Lelantine War begins between Chalcis and Eretria.
733 – Foundation of Syracuse.
c. 730 – Sparta begins conquering Messenia. Homer and Hesiod are composing. Hoplite tactics become widespread, laying the foundation for a middle class with political power.
c. 700 - Gyges, King of Lydia, begins the invasion of Ionia (a region colonized by Greeks). Over the next two hundred years the Ionian cities gradually fall under Lydian rule.
c. 650 - The Ionian League, the first confederacy of city-states, forms.
c. 680 – Pheidon, king of Argos, becomes a tyrannos. Lycurgan reforms take place in Sparta. Lelantine War ends.
621 – First code of laws made in Athens, by the legislator Draco. These extremely strict laws are gradually reformed.
c. 600 – The poet Sappho, known as the "Tenth Muse," is composing on the island of Lesbos.
594 – Solon reforms the Athenian law code, laying the groundwork for true Democracy.
585 – Thales of Miletus, one of the first philosophers, correctly predicts an eclipse of the sun.
560 – Peisistratus seizes power in Athens and becomes a tyrannos.
559 – Cyrus II establishes the Persian Empire.
556 – Peisistratus is forced into exile from Athens.
c. 550 – Sparta becomes the dominant city in the Peloponnese. Peloponnesian League established. Sparta uses its power to discourage democratic movements in other cities.
546 – Peisistratus returns to Athens and retakes control. The goddess Athena grants him her support.
545 – King Croesus of Lydia attacks Persia and is defeated. Cyrus II conquers Lydia and the Ionian Greeks.
534 – First tragedies performed at the Dionysian festivals in Athens.
528 – Death of Peisistratus. His son Hipparchus becomes tyrannos of Athens.
c. 525 – Pythagoras is active in southern Italy as a mystic, philosopher and teacher.

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[TheOtherSandman]

[X] C

 

[inverted_helix]

What sort of quest is this to be? An empire quest type or just a more mundane life quest?

 

[Gladiusone]

[X] C

 

[Adyen]

Are we allowed to choose the past life if we choose B?

 

[Rhetoric]

What sort of quest is this to be? An empire quest type or just a more mundane life quest?

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Your life is what you make of it. If you are talented, blessed by the gods, or distinguished in battle you may well be able to become a prominent leader. The idea of a confederacy of city states isn't a new one, nor is the idea of an empire of conquests. Convincing the people of Athens that it is in their interests to become party to such would require skill and cunning, but it is not inherently impossible.

Are we allowed to choose the past life if we choose B?

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You will get several choices and a write-in option to pick from.

 

[Adyen]

Then I'll vote:

[X] B

History buffs go!

 

[inverted_helix]

[X] A

More starting power, time to conquer the past to control the future.

 

[Darkened]

[X] F

We will rise to greatness or crash and burn... and, okay, we'll crash and burn; but, we will not go quietly into the void.

 

[MrGazzer]

[X] F

We will rise to greatness or crash and burn... and, okay, we'll crash and burn but we will not go quietly into the void.

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Some of the most powerful women in Greek history started as whores, you know.

Mostly by fucking their way to the top.

But still!

That counts.

 

[Darkened]

Some of the most powerful women in Greek history started as whores, you know.

Mostly by fucking their way to the top.

But still!

That counts.

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None of them were managed by QQ.

 

[MrGazzer]

None of them were managed by QQ.

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I cannot tell, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

 

[Captain]

I cannot tell, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

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I think he's implying success in that role is beyond QQ.

 

[Falconis]

C. The slave of a wealthy aristocrat, entrusted with the daily operations of a shipyard. Your skill as a shipwright and manager is such that you have nearly saved up enough money to buy your freedom.

Time to be free and then

Spoiler

become a pirate

 

[Guile]

B. The son of a tanner, blessed by the goddess Styx such that you retain knowledge from a previous life. (an easy start)
His previous life? Also a tanner.

 

[Van Ropen]

C. The slave of a wealthy aristocrat, entrusted with the daily operations of a shipyard. Your skill as a shipwright and manager is such that you have nearly saved up enough money to buy your freedom. (an average start)

 

[a2znut]

[X] B

 

[Rhetoric]

C. The slave of a wealthy aristocrat, entrusted with the daily operations of a shipyard. Your skill as a shipwright and manager is such that you have nearly saved up enough money to buy your freedom.

Time to be free and then

Spoiler

become a pirate

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Athens was a leading naval power, and it wasn't unusual for rich men to sponsor trade missions. It also was not unheard of for a trading ship to commit acts of piracy. Pirates of the period could prey on shipping, stealing merchant cargo and selling it or using it for their own ends. However, more often they raided coastal settlements for booty and slaves.

Voting isn't closed yet, but I see that B and C are in the lead. For people who voted for other options, what would you want out of a B or C scenario?

 

[Ghost]

[X] B

 

[Valette-Serafina]

[X] E.
Father was a fool, and Athens will know equality. For the city of wise Athena to be so unjust...

If not, then B.

 

[MrGazzer]

[X]E

Because I know we can make this work.

 

[darklord]

[X] B

 

[staplesdex2]

[X] A

 

[Gnarker]

Ping

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I'd vote E, but I have a few questions first regarding that option:
- What is our starting age? Young enough to finish an education by the time we're adult, if we get the opportunity?
- What is our home situation like? What are our guardians attitudes to women's rights? Could we wrangle an education from them if really tried?

If we go with E, we should propably get contacts with the priesthood of Athene. She is the cities' patron deity, so represents a lot of pull. She is the goddess of wisdom, and she is female, so that's a decent basis for an argument for women's rights and education.

 

[Guile]

Something I should have asked before choosing B)...

How did the Greeks see tanners/renderers? I know in some societies it was seen as unclean, or was it more like an artisan thing, respected like the rest of the merchant class?

 

[Hextroyer413]

[X] E

We will turn Athenas into a matriarchy.

 

[Ct613hulu]

[X] E.

 

[Malcolmo]

[X] A

 

[Ghost]

Something I should have asked before choosing B)...

How did the Greeks see tanners/renderers? I know in some societies it was seen as unclean, or was it more like an artisan thing, respected like the rest of the merchant class?

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As far as I know they didn't have a specific problem with tanners. They were simply a trade that made goods for sale and thus were not very respected but weren't discriminated against. Like an electrician or some other trade job nowadays.

 

[Marthis]

[X] C