Practice question · Fill in the blanks
Complete the description of ostracism.
Once a year, if at least ______ potsherd votes were cast, the "winner" was exiled for ______ years, with no charge, no trial, and no ______ of property. Not a punishment: a fuse.
Word bank: 6,000 · 10 · confiscation · 100 · restoration
Hints
- The measure was deliberately mild in its consequences.
- Property and family were untouched, and the exile was temporary.
Show the answer
Once a year, if at least 6,000 potsherd votes were cast, the "winner" was exiled for 10 years, with no charge, no trial, and no confiscation of property. Not a punishment: a fuse.
Why
The gentleness is the point. Ostracism removed a man who had grown too big without creating a martyr or a feud, his house and fortune waited untouched for his return.
Practise Classical Greece and the Polis
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More questions on Classical Greece and the Polis
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- Why did Aristotle call the lottery democratic and election aristocratic?
- Most Athenian public offices were filled by lottery rather than election.