OSTRACISM: THE JUDGMENT OF THE PEOPLE
17:30:00
Wandering around the ancient agora of Athens, the
Stoa of Attalos immediately catches the eye of the visitor. Inside,
there is a museum which all its exhibits are connected with the
Athenian democracy. A very interesting collection is the one with the
pottery shards with different names carved upon them.
Ostracism
was a political practice in ancient Athens in which any citizen could
be expelled from the city for ten years. Ostracism comes from the
greek word ostrakon
which means potsherd. During the procedure, each citizen scratched
the name of the person he wanted expelled from the city (to be
ostracized). Then, the voters deposited the
ostraka in
urns. Later, the officials began to count
them and sorted the names into separate
piles. The person whose pile contained the most ostraka would
be banished. It required at least 6000 votes for
the person to be exiled. The citizen had 10 days deadline
to leave the city. If he decided to return early (before the ten
years), he would face the penalty of death. Even though he was
banished, his fortune remained intact as well as his status.
At
first, ostracism was meant to protect democracy but soon enough was
used for personal motives (one could write the name of someone he
disliked or vanquish a political opponent). There is a well-known
anecdote about an illiterate citizen who wanted to write the name of
Aristeides the “Just’’ in a potsherd, ending up asking the same
Aristeides to write it down (he didn’t recognize him). When
Aristeides asked him (without revealing his identity) the reason behind his decision, the citizen replied that he
was sick of hearing Aristeides being called the “Just’’.
Many
popular names faced the penalty of ostracism. Xanthippus (the father
of Pericles), Aristeides the “Just’’, Themistocles, Cimon,
Alcibiades. Many times though, when a great danger arose, the person
ostracized could be recalled ahead of time.
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