We had a hire car for the day and following our trip to
Pantalica, Nigel wanted to get the most from it and we drove on to the Greek
settlement of Akrai.
I hadn’t revised Ancient Greek town planning recently, so when
we came upon the ‘bouleuterion’, frankly I had to remind myself what one of
those was – a bakery? – a pétanque court? In fact it’s an area where the city
council meets, debates and votes.
In Akrai, the bouleuterion has a little semi-circular
seating area overlooking a grassy rectangle. Although I was there to admire
Greek city government, I was soon distracted by a gorgeous pink orchid within
the enclosure. But as I stepped forward to photograph it, I became very aware
of where I was planting my boots – every few inches there were more orchids –
we counted, within that small, ancient space, seven different types (pictured
below).
What was it about the bouleuterion which fostered such rich
flora. Greek attempts at democracy were partial and flawed as we are constantly
reminded, but at least they made a start. Perhaps ancient democracy provided
fertile soil for rare and beautiful things to grow and flourish.
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