Latin
Lines 1.31-1.34
Greek and Roman Historians, The Pentecontaetia 1.31-34
Not analysed yet
9. 2. 5. The Ostracism of Aristides
The threat ostracism was meant to combat could also come from a man's great personal prominence, if he became so prominent that he could appear to overshadow all others on the political scene and thus threaten the egalitarian principles of Athenian democracy, in which no one man was supposed to dominate the making of policy. This point is illustrated by a famous anecdote concerning Aristides, who set the dues for the Delian League. This Aristides had the nickname "The Just" because he was reputed to be so fair-minded. On the balloting day for an ostracism, an illiterate man from the countryside handed Aristides a potsherd, asking him to scratch on it the name of the man's choice for ostracism. "Certainly," said Aristides; "Which name shall I write?" "Aristides," replied the countryman. "Very well," remarked Aristides as he proceeded to inscribe his own name. "But tell me, why do you want to ostracize Aristides? What has he done to you?" "Oh, nothing; I don't even know him," sputtered the man. "I'm just sick and tired of hearing everybody refer to him as 'The Just.'"
9. 2. 6. Ostracism and personal prominence
The anecdote about Aristides and the illiterate voter may well be apocryphal, but Aristides was indeed ostracized in 482 B. C. (and recalled early in 480 B. C. to fight the Persians). Nevertheless, it makes a valid point: the Athenian political system assumed that the right way to protect democracy was, even in cases in which an individual might be unfairly penalized, to rely on the judgment of the mass of ordinary male citizens as expressed in a majority vote. This conviction required making allowances for irresponsible types like the kind of man depicted in the story about Aristides. It rested on the belief that the cumulative political wisdom of the majority of male citizens would outweigh the eccentricity and irresponsibility of the few. And personal prominence certainly did not usually lead to ostracism. Pericles, the most prominent and famous of Athenian political leaders of the fifth century, was never ostracized, even though his political opponents apparently tried to use that procedure against him on at least one occasion. Pericles presumably avoided ostracism because the majority of the voters approved of his policies and because he was able to outmaneuver his opponents by rallying popular support when they tried to get him ostracized.