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For ostracism in interpersonal relationships, see Social rejection.
Pieces of broken pottery as voting tokens. The persons nominated are Pericles, Cimon and Aristides (top to bottom)
Pieces of broken pottery as voting tokens. The persons nominated are Pericles, Cimon and Aristides (top to bottom)

Ostracism (Greek: οστρακισμός ostrakismos) was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which a prominent citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. Pericles (also spelled Perikles) (c 495 – 429 BC Greek:, meaning "surrounded by glory" was a prominent and influential Statesman, orator Cimon (in Greek, Κίμων &mdash Kimōn) (510 Athens - 450 BC Citium, Cyprus) was an Athenian Aristides or Aristeides ( Greek, 530–468 BC was an Athenian soldier and statesman Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Athenian democracy developed in the Greek City-state of Athens Exile means to be away from one's home (ie city state or country while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened by prison or death upon return A city-state is a Region controlled exclusively by a City, usually having Sovereignty. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the victim, ostracism was often used pre-emptively. It was used as a way of defusing major confrontations between rival politicians (by removing one of them from the scene), neutralizing someone thought to be a threat to the state, or exiling a potential tyrant. A politician (from Greek " Polis " is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of Politics or a person In modern usage a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute power over a State or within an Organization. Crucially, ostracism had no relation to the processes of justice. There was no charge or defence, and the exile was not in fact a penalty; it was simply a command from the Athenian people that one of their number be gone for ten years.

The procedure is to be distinguished from the modern use of the term, which generally refers to informal modes of exclusion from a group through shunning. Shunning is the act of deliberately avoiding association with and habitually keeping away from an individual or group Derived as it is from the Greek world, still, the classic social anthropological example of ostracism is the precolonial Australian Aboriginal social expulsion of tribe members, sometimes even resulting in actual physical death. This is an article about a class of people as identified and defined within Australian law

Contents

Procedure

The name is derived from the ostraka, (singular ostrakon , ὄστρακον), referring to the potsherds or pieces of broken pottery that were used as voting tokens. An ostracon ( Greek: ostrakon, plural ostraka) is a piece of Pottery (or stone usually broken off from a Vase or other In Archaeology, a sherd is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of Pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments Broken pottery, abundant and virtually free, served as a kind of scrap paper (in contrast to papyrus, which was imported from Egypt as a high-quality writing surface, and was thus too costly to be disposable). Papyrus (/pəˈpaɪrəs/ (Rhymes -aɪrəs)is a thick paper-like material produced from the Pith of the papyrus plant Cyperus papyrus Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now

Each year the Athenians were asked in the assembly whether they wished to hold an ostracism. ecclesia or ekklesia ( Greek) was the principal assembly of the democracy of ancient Athens during its Golden Age ( The question was put in the sixth of the ten months used for state business under the democracy (January or February in the modern Gregorian Calendar). The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used Calendar in the world today If they voted "yes", then an ostracism would be held two months later. In a roped-off area of the agora, citizens scratched the name of a citizen they wished to expel on potshards, and deposited them in urns. The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states In Archaeology, a sherd is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of Pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments An urn is a Vase, ordinarily covered and without handles that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed Pedestal. The presiding officials counted the ostraka submitted; if a minimum of six thousand votes were reached, then the ostracism took place: the officials sorted the names into separate piles, and the person receiving the highest number of votes was exiled for ten years.

The person nominated had ten days to leave the city — if he attempted to return, the penalty was death. Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Notably, the property of the man banished was not confiscated and there was no loss of status. After the ten years he was allowed to return without stigma. It was possible for the assembly to recall an ostracized person ahead of time; before the Persian invasion of 479 BC, an amnesty was declared under which at least two ostracised leaders — Pericles' father Xanthippus and Aristides 'the Just' — are known to have returned. Events By place Greece The Persian commander Mardonius, now based in Thessaly, wins support Pericles (also spelled Perikles) (c 495 – 429 BC Greek:, meaning "surrounded by glory" was a prominent and influential Statesman, orator Aristides or Aristeides ( Greek, 530–468 BC was an Athenian soldier and statesman Similarly, Cimon, ostracised in 461 BC, was recalled during an emergency. Cimon (in Greek, Κίμων &mdash Kimōn) (510 Athens - 450 BC Citium, Cyprus) was an Athenian [1]

Distinction from other Athenian democratic processes

Ostracism was crucially different from Athenian law at the time; there was no charge, and no defence could be mounted by the person expelled. The law Courts in classical Athens ( 4th and 5th centuries BC) were a fundamental organ of democratic governance The two stages of the procedure ran in the reverse order from that used under almost any trial system — here it is as if a jury are first asked "Do you want to find someone guilty?", and subsequently asked "Whom do you wish to accuse?". Equally out of place in a judicial framework is perhaps the institution's most peculiar feature: that it can take place at most once a year, and only for one person. In this it resembles the Greek pharmakos or scapegoat — though in contrast, pharmakos generally ejected a lowly member of the community. Pharmakos ( Greek: φαρμακος in Ancient Greek religion was a kind of human Scapegoat (a slave a cripple or a criminal who was chosen and expelled scapegoat was a Goat that was driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in Judaism during the times

A further distinction between these two modes (and one not obvious from a modern perspective) is that ostracism was an automatic procedure that required no initiative from any individual, with the vote simply occurring on the wish of the electorate — a diffuse exercise of power. By contrast, an Athenian trial needed the initiative of a particular citizen-prosecutor. While prosecution often led to a counterattack (or was a counterattack itself), no such response was possible in the case of ostracism as responsibility lay with the polity as a whole. In contrast to a trial, ostracism generally reduced political tension rather than increased it.

Although ten years of exile would have been difficult for an Athenian to face, it was relatively mild in comparison to the kind of sentences inflicted by courts; when dealing with politicians held to be acting against the interests of the people, Athenian juries could inflict severe penalties such as death, unpayably large fines, confiscation of property, permanent exile and loss of citizens' rights through atimia. Atimia was a form of Disenfranchisement used under classical Athenian democracy. Further, the elite Athenians who suffered ostracism were rich or noble men who had connections or xenoi in the wider Greek world and who, unlike genuine exiles, were able to access their income in Attica from abroad. Xenia ( Greek: ξενία xenía) is the Greek concept of Hospitality, or generosity and courtesy shown to those who are far from home Attica (Αττική Attikí;) is a periphery (subdivision in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece In Plutarch, following as he does the anti-democratic line common in elite sources, the fact that people might be recalled early appears to be another example of the inconsistency of majoritarianism that was characteristic of Athenian democracy. Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c Majoritarianism is a traditional Political philosophy or agenda which asserts that a Majority (sometimes categorized by Religion, Language, or However, ten years of exile usually resolved whatever had prompted the expulsion. Ostracism was simply a pragmatic measure; the concept of serving out the full sentence did not apply as it was a preventative measure, not a punitive one.

One curious window on the practicalities of ostracism comes from the cache of 190 ostraka discovered dumped in a well next to the acropolis. An ostracon ( Greek: ostrakon, plural ostraka) is a piece of Pottery (or stone usually broken off from a Vase or other The Acropolis of Athens is the best known Acropolis (high city The "Sacred Rock" in the world From the handwriting they appear to have been written by fourteen individuals and bear the name of Themistocles, ostracised before 471 BC and were evidently meant for distribution to voters. Themistocles ( Greek:; c 524&ndash459 BC was an Athenian soldier and statesman Events By place Greece Athenian Politician Themistocles loses the confidence of the Athenian people partly due to This was not necessarily evidence of electoral fraud (being no worse than modern voting instruction cards), but their being dumped in the well suggests that their creators wished to hide them. Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an Election. What they do indicate is that groups attempted to influence the outcome of ostracisms, although how successful these attempts were is unknown. The two-month gap between the first and second phases would have easily allowed for such a campaign.

That two-month gap is a key feature in the institution, much as in elections under modern liberal democracies. An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office The term "liberal" in "liberal democracy" does not imply that the government of such a democracy must follow the political ideology of It first prevented the candidate for expulsion being chosen out of immediate anger, although an Athenian general such as Cimon would have not wanted to lose a battle the week before such a second vote [1]. Secondly, it opened up a period for discussion (or perhaps agitation), whether informally in daily talk or public speeches before the Athenian assembly or Athenian courts. Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured deliberate manner intended to inform influence or entertain the listeners * In this process a consensus, or rival consensuses, might emerge. Further, in that time of waiting, ordinary Athenian citizens must have felt a certain power over the greatest members of their city; conversely, the most prominent citizens had an incentive to worry how their social inferiors regarded them.

Period of operation

Ostracism was not in use throughout the whole period of Athenian democracy (circa 506–322 BC), but only occurred in the fifth century. The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. The standard account, found in Aristotle's Athenian Constitution 22. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. 3 [2], attributes the establishment to Cleisthenes, a pivotal reformer in the creation of the democracy. Cleisthenes (Κλεισθένης also Clisthenes or Kleisthenes) was a noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family In that case ostracism would have been in place from around 506 BC. The first victim of the practice, however, was not expelled until 487 BC — nearly twenty years later. Events By place Greece The island of Aegina and the city of Athens go to war Over the course of the next sixty years some twelve or more individuals followed him. The list may not be complete, but there is good reason to believe the Athenians did not feel the need to eject someone in this way every year. The list of known ostracisms runs as follows:

Themistocles
Themistocles

Around twelve thousand political ostraka have been excavated in the Athenian agora and in the Kerameikos. In modern usage a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute power over a State or within an Organization. Peisistratus (sometimes transliterated Peisistratos Psistratus, Peistratus, Pesistratusor or Pisistratus, Greek: Callixenus or Kallixenus or Kallixenos may refer to Kallixenos nephew of Cleisthenes and head of the Alcmaeonids, ostracised Cleisthenes (Κλεισθένης also Clisthenes or Kleisthenes) was a noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family Xanthippus ( Gr) was a wealthy Athenian politician and general during the early part of the fifth century BC Pericles (also spelled Perikles) (c 495 – 429 BC Greek:, meaning "surrounded by glory" was a prominent and influential Statesman, orator Aristides or Aristeides ( Greek, 530–468 BC was an Athenian soldier and statesman Themistocles ( Greek:; c 524&ndash459 BC was an Athenian soldier and statesman Cimon (in Greek, Κίμων &mdash Kimōn) (510 Athens - 450 BC Citium, Cyprus) was an Athenian Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (ˌælsɨˈbaɪədiːz (pronunciation Greek:, transliterated Alkibiádēs Kleiníou Skambōnidēs) meaning Alcibiades Thucydides ( Θουκυδίδης) was a prominent politician of ancient Athens and the leader for a number of years of the powerful conservative faction Damon, son of Damonides was a greek musicologist of the fifth century BC Hyperbolus ( Ancient Greek:, Hypérbolos) was an Athenian politician active during the first half of the Peloponnesian war, coming to particular Kerameikos is an area of Athens, Greece, located to the northwest of the Acropolis, which includes an extensive area both within and outside the city The second victim, Cleisthenes' nephew Megacles, is named by 4647 of these, but for a second undated ostracism not listed above. The known ostracisms seem to fall into three distinct phases: the 480s BC, mid-century 461–443 BC and finally the years 417–415: this matches fairly well with the clustering of known expulsions, although Themistocles before 471 may count as an exception. This suggests that ostracism fell in and out of fashion. [4]

The last known ostracism was that of Hyperbolos in circa 417 BC. Hyperbolus ( Ancient Greek:, Hypérbolos) was an Athenian politician active during the first half of the Peloponnesian war, coming to particular Events By place Greece Following the loss by Athens and its allies in the Battle of Mantinea, a political "tug of war" There is no sign of its use after the Peloponnesian war, when democracy was restored after the oligarchic coup of the Thirty had collapsed in 403 BC. Oligarchy' ( Greek, Oligarkhía) is a Form of government where Political power effectively rests with a small elite segment The Thirty Tyrants (30 τύραννοι or οἱ Τριάκοντα were a pro- Spartan Oligarchy installed in Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian Events By place Greece Thrasybulus leads the democratic resistance to the new oligarchic government known as the Thirty However, while ostracism was not an active feature of the 4th-century version of democracy, it remained; the question was put to the assembly each year, but they did not wish to hold one.

Purpose of ostracism

Because ostracism was carried out by thousands of people over many decades of an evolving political situation and culture, it did not serve a single monumental purpose. Still, observations can be made about outcomes, as well as the initial purpose for which it was created.

The first rash of people ostracised in the decade after the defeat of the first Persian invasion at Marathon in 492 BC were all related or connected to the tyrant Peisistratos, who had controlled Athens for 36 years up to 527 BC. The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia Marathon ( Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας Marathónas; Attic / Katharevousa:, Marathṓn) is an ancient Greek city-state Events By place Greece The first expedition of King Darius I of Persia against Greece commences In modern usage a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute power over a State or within an Organization. Peisistratus (sometimes transliterated Peisistratos Psistratus, Peistratus, Pesistratusor or Pisistratus, Greek: Events 529 BC — Cambyses II started to rule He is son of Cyrus II. After his son Hippias was deposed with Spartan help in 510 BC, the family sought refuge with the Persians, and nearly twenty years later Hippias landed with their invasion force at Marathon. Hippias of Athens (Ἱππίας ὁ Ἀθηναῖος was one of the sons of Peisistratus, and was Tyrant of Athens in the 6th century BC The city of Sparta ( Doric Σπάρτα Attic Σπάρτη Events and trends 519 BC — Zhou Jing Wang becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China. Tyranny and Persian aggression were paired threats facing the new democratic regime at Athens, and ostracism was used against both. In modern usage a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute power over a State or within an Organization.

Tyranny and democracy had arisen at Athens out of clashes between regional and factional groups organised around politicians, including Cleisthenes. As a reaction, in many of its features the democracy strove to reduce the role of factions as the focus of citizen loyalties. Ostracism, too, may have been intended to work in the same direction: by temporarily decapitating a faction, it could help to defuse confrontations that threatened the order of the State.

In later decades when the threat of tyranny was remote, ostracism seems to have been used as a way to decide between radically opposed policies. For instance, in 443 BC Thucydides son of Milesias (not to be confused with the historian of the same name) was ostracised. Events By place Roman Republic No Consuls are elected in Rome, but rather military Tribunes with consular power are Thucydides ( Θουκυδίδης) was a prominent politician of ancient Athens and the leader for a number of years of the powerful conservative faction Thucydides ( C 460 BC &ndash C 395 BC) ( Greek Θουκυδίδης Thoukydídēs) was a Greek He led an aristocratic opposition to Athenian imperialism and in particular to Perikles' building program on the acropolis, which was funded by taxes created for the wars against Persia. Aristocracy is a form of Government, where rule is established through an internal struggle over who has the most status and influence over society and internal relations Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude Pericles (also spelled Perikles) (c 495 – 429 BC Greek:, meaning "surrounded by glory" was a prominent and influential Statesman, orator The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia By expelling Thucydides the Athenian people sent a clear message about the direction of Athenian policy. [5] Similar but more controversial claims have been made about the ostracism of Cimon in 461 BC. Cimon (in Greek, Κίμων &mdash Kimōn) (510 Athens - 450 BC Citium, Cyprus) was an Athenian Events By place Greece In Athens, Ephialtes and Pericles finally get agreement to the Ostracism of

The motives of individual voting citizens cannot, of course, be known. Many of the surviving ostraka name people otherwise unattested. They may well be just someone the submitter disliked, and voted for in moment of private spite. As such, it may be seen as a secular, civic variant of Athenian curse tablets, studied in scholarly literature under the Latin name defixiones, where small dolls were wrapped in lead sheets written with curses and then buried, sometimes stuck through with nails for good measure. A curse (also called execration) is any manner of Adversity thought to be inflicted by any supernatural power (such as a spell, a Prayer, an A curse tablet or binding spell ( defixio in Latin, κατάδεσμος katadesmos in Greek) is a type of Curse found

In one anecdote about Aristides, known as "the Just", who was ostracised in 482, an illiterate citizen, not recognising him, came up to ask him to write the name Aristides on his ostrakon. Events By Place Byzantine Empire Byzantine emperor Zeno I issues the Henotikon, an attempt to reconcile When Aristides asked why, the man replied it was because he was sick of hearing him being called "the Just". [6] Perhaps merely the sense that someone had become too arrogant or prominent was enough to get someone's name onto an ostrakon.

Fall into disuse

The last ostracism, that of Hyperbolos in or near 415 BC, is elaborately narrated by Plutarch in three separate lives: Hyperbolos is pictured urging the people to expel one of his rivals, but they, Nicias and Alcibiades, laying aside their own hostility for a moment, use their combined influence to have him ostracised instead. Hyperbolus ( Ancient Greek:, Hypérbolos) was an Athenian politician active during the first half of the Peloponnesian war, coming to particular Nicias or Nikias (Νικίας (c470 BC-413 BC was an Athenian politician and general during the period of the Peloponnesian War. According to Plutarch, the people then become disgusted with ostracism and abandon the procedure forever.

In part ostracism lapsed as a procedure at the end of the fifth century because it was replaced by the graphe paranomon, a regular court action under which a much larger number of politicians might be targeted, instead of just one a year as with ostracism, and with greater severity. The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. The graphē paranomon (Greek γραφή παρανόμων was a form of legal action believed to have been introduced at Athens under the democracy somewhere around But it may already have come to seem like an anachronism as factional alliances organised around Big Men became increasingly less significant in the later period, and power was more specifically located in the interaction of the individual speaker with the power of the assembly and the courts. The threat to the democratic system in the late 5th century came not from tyranny but from oligarchic coups, threats of which became prominent after two brief seizures of power, in 411 by "the Four Hundred" and in 404 BC by "the Thirty", which were not dependent on single powerful individuals. In modern usage a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute power over a State or within an Organization. Oligarchy' ( Greek, Oligarkhía) is a Form of government where Political power effectively rests with a small elite segment Events By place Greece The Democracy of Athens is overthrown by the oligarchic extremists Antiphon, The Athenian coup of 411 BC was a revolutionary movement during the Peloponnesian War which overthrew the democratic government of Ancient Athens, replacing Events By place Greece The Athenian leader Cleophon continues to urge resistance against the Peloponnesians but the situation The Thirty Tyrants (30 τύραννοι or οἱ Τριάκοντα were a pro- Spartan Oligarchy installed in Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian Ostracism was not an effective defence against the oligarchic threat and it was not so used.

Other cities are known to have set up forms of ostracism on the Athenian model, namely Megara, Miletos, Argos and Syracuse. Megara ( Greek:, "Big Houses" is an ancient city (pop Miletus (mī lē' təs ( Ancient Greek: Μίλητος literally Transliterated Milētos, Latin Miletus) was an Ancient Argos ( Greek: Ἄργος, Árgos ˈaɾɣos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor Syracuse (Siracusa Sicilian: Sarausa, Classical Greek: / transliterated Syrakousai) is a historic City in In the last of these it was referred to as petalismos, because the names were written on olive leaves. The Olive ( Olea europaea) is a Species of small Tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Little is known about these institutions.

A similar modern practice is the recall election, in which the electoral body removes its representation from an elected officer. A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office

Notes and references

Notes

^  Oration IV of Andocides purports itself to be speech urging the ostracism of Alcibiades in 415 BC, but it is probably not authentic. Andocides, or Andokides, ( Greek Ἀνδοκίδης 440&ndash390 BC one of the ten Attic orators.

Citations

  1. ^ a b Plutarch, Life of Cimon 17.2–6. Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c
  2. ^ Aristotle, Athenian Constitution 22.3
  3. ^ a b Lysias 14. 39
  4. ^ Mabel Lang, (1990). Ostraka: 3–6, Athens.
  5. ^ Plutarch, Life of Pericles 11-12,14.
  6. ^ Plutarch, Life of Aristides 7.7

Additional ancient references

From Aristotle Constitution of the Athenians:

From Plutarch's 'Lives':

Note that the ancient sources on ostracism are mostly 4th century or much later and often limited to brief descriptions such as notes by lexicographers. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini / Common era) was that Century A lexicographer is a person devoted to the study of Lexicography, especially an author of a Dictionary. Most of the narrative and analytical passages of any length come from Plutarch writing five centuries later and with little sympathy for democratic practices. There are no contemporary accounts that can take one into the experiences of participants: a dense account of Athenian democracy can only be made on the basis of the much fuller sources available in the 4th century, especially the Attic orators, after ostracism had fallen into disuse. The ten Attic orators were considered the greatest Orators and logographers of the classical era ( 5th century BC – 4th century BC Most of such references are a 4th-century memory of the institution.

Additional modern references

External links

In ancient Syracuse Petalism was a form of Banishment similar to Ostracism in Athens.

Dictionary

ostracism

-noun

  1. The act of banishing or excluding someone
  2. Banishment, exclusion or disgrace
  3. In ancient Greece, the temporary banishment by popular vote of a citizen considered dangerous to the state
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