Athens stands proud upon its hills, its white-stone temples catching the sun like blades of light. It is a city of reason and rhetoric, of law and ambition—a polis beloved of Athena, who gifted it the olive tree and the spirit of wisdom. Her Parthenon crowns the Acropolis like a crown upon the brow of a queen.
But all is not well beneath the marble gleam. The streets are restless. Whispers echo in the symposia, in the wrestling schools and theatre rows. Some speak of omens, of vanished oracles, of the army of Danorax victorious against the barbarians now marching back toward Greece. Others call for strong rule, for order over decedent freedom.
Athens is at the height of its power—yet its soul is fragile.