Ostracism in Ancient Athens

Ostracism, "the judgment of the potsherds": Athenian juridical practice in which a potentially dangerous person would be exiled from the city without loss of property or civil rights.

One of the problems in any democracy is the possibility that a leader arises with too much charisma. Of course this is not a crime, but people with too much personal influence can become dangerous for the democratic system itself, even when their ideas are not divisive or dangerous. A well-established democracy can cope with these people, but charismatic personalities can destabilize early democracies and become tyrants.

A possible measure to protect democracy would be to exile the man who was too influential, but although a very common way to protect the city from rivalries, this was a harsh measure that was only taken by the community as a whole. (In fact, the right to send people away was, like the death penalty, something in which the city-state showed its independence and autonomy.) Because it was seen as too strong a measure, the ancient Athenians -perhaps the statesman Clisthenes- developed the practice known as ostracism, which can be described as "exile lite". This happened in two stages.

  1. Every year, the People's Assembly (ekklesia) was asked whether a vote of ostracism should be held. If there was no clear majority, this was the end of the matter. But if the people wanted to ostracize a person, a day was set, typically two months later.
  2. Every voter was given a potsherd (ostrakon) on which he wrote down the name of a politician he believed to be potentially dangerous. (Or he asked someone else to do the writing.) If a certain quorum was reached, the politician who had received most votes was sent away from Athens.

The difference with an ordinary exile is that the man who was ostracized remained a citizen, had to leave the city for a fixed period of ten years, did not lose his possessions, and could be recalled - which happened quite often.

Our sources are unclear about the quorum. Plutarch of Chaeronea says that a grand total of 6,000 potsherds had to be cast; Philochorus, however, states that the exiled man had to receive 6,000 votes.

Although the practice was intended to protect the democratic procedures against charismatic politicians, it appears that it was often used by conservatives who already had great influence against politicians who challenged their positions.

Ostracism could also be applied in the struggle between politicians. For example, in 415, there was a general feeling that the extravagant Alcibiades should leave the city, but after the decision to organize an ostracism had been taken, he found the support of Nicias, and together they were able to obtain more votes for someone else, Hyperbolus, a radical democrat.

Examples of potsherds used in the ostracism process:

This one reads "Xanthippus, the son of Ariphron."

This one reads “Themistocles, son of Neocles"

Discussion questions:

(Use facts to back up our answer).

  1. Do you think ostracism was used a lot in Ancient Athens? Why or why not?
  1. Would you consider ostracism a harsh punishment? Why or why not?

3. Imagine if ostracism was applied to present day America. Who would you choose to vote to be ostracized? Why would you choose that individual? (Keep in mind the purpose of ostracism when making your decision.)