Athens, the cradle of Western Democracy.

With the ancient city-state barely half a day's walk away, the answer seemed obvious but first you would need more unassuming clothes. Willing the garments into reality, your t-shirt and denim jeans vanish and are replaced with timeline appropriate tunic, long pants, leather boots, and traveling cloak with hood. They felt strange and foreign to your skin, but all in all they fit you perfectly like a glove. Pleased with your appearance, you snap your fingers and teleport to the foot of the mighty Acropolis, your godly powers masking your presence from any random passerby.

This was where it all began; the heart and foundation of modern governments. Athens and numerous other Greek states had taken a chance on an experiment in an age filled with monarchies and dynasties; Democracy, which later on would be refined by the Romans into a Republic mixed with aristocracy, oligarchy, and in some cases autocracy. Key point; directly opposing a monarchy. Intricacies aside regarding the differences between the two, such ways of thinking would endure for thousands of years but only because of the bravery and courage of its defenders. As you ascend the pristine marble staircase to the Acropolis' summit, you ponder the state of affairs here in Athens and stretch out with your senses.

Down in the streets, the common people go about their lives in relative comfort. Day to day activities like merchants, both local and foreign, peddle their wares in the public forum, blacksmiths craft arms, armor, and tools in their forges, and children runabout in the streets playing games and causing harmless mayhem. It all created a cacophony of peaceful civilization that brought a content smile upon your face; not at all like the chaos of the cities back home. At the summit of the Acropolis, however, come sounds far more hostile. Thus were you beset with the other side of the coin, the failings of Democracy, taking the form of asinine, squabbling old men with a few younger ones caught in between. To elect your representatives is all well and good, but when those representatives are more concerned with fighting each other and gathering personal power rather than push your nation forward as a whole, you were left with a squalor disguised order.

Upon reaching the summit, you immediately pick out the precursor to the mighty Parthenon still in its infancy stage as a designated foundation of limestone and marble, as well as an impressive temple to Athena. Lastly was the Senate forum, a somewhat rounded meeting hall with stadium style seating. It was here that you found roughly 200 or so magistrates in heated debate over the mounting Persian threat. Even as a direct democracy, the wealthy and influential still managed to exert the majority of control in this governing body. Still cloaked by your power, you lean against a marble pillar and listen in, the Ancient Greek tongue effortlessly translated to English with Divine assistance.

"The Persian host will stop at nothing until all of Hellas has been brought to heel," spouts a younger man, relatively younger compared to his older compatriots anyway. "I need. More. Ships!"

"You're a madman, Themistocles," chided an elder with a long, white beard. "We simply can't support a fleet of 200 triremes so quickly. You'll have to make do with what you have."

"Gold will mean nothing if Athens is burned to the ground," sounded off another.

"If Athens is burned to the ground. Xerxes desires reparation for his father's defeat at Marathon ten years ago. Clemency will be given if we simply agree to his terms!" came yet another detractor.

"To Tartarus with a tyrant's clemency!" yelled yet another Magistrate from the rear of the assembly.

You let out a sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose as the supposed educated and well-spoken Athenians devolve into a burly brawl more reminiscent of the hot-blooded Suebi in the cold north. As you catch a few pairs of hands beginning to fly, you decide enough was enough and drop the concealing charm, followed by a single clap of your hands that thunderously shakes the agora. Silence follows as all action grinds to a standstill, with 200 pairs of eyes turning in your direction as you step forward into the light.