Остракизм в Афинах

1. During last years ancient historians often note the importance that studying political institutions of Greek democracy has for better comprehension of that State system. One of such institutions — and one that played a significant role in the life of fifth-century B.C. democratic Athens — was ostracism. It can be defined as politically motivated extrajudicial banishment from the polis of the most influential citizens, for a fixed period (10 years), without any deprivation of civil rights (including property rights) and with subsequent full restoration of political rights. The banishment was exercised through the demos' vote in the assembly, using a special procedure (with inscribed clay sherds as ballots).

When applying to the history of ostracism, the author was led by the following reasons. On the one hand, he considered it a possibility to make a contribution to the researching the institutional aspect of political life in the democratic Athenian polis, especially as many historical and procedural details of ostracism remain up till now debatable and not enough clear, although the institution has long been studied in world scholarly literature (as to Russian historiography, the phenomenon of ostracism has been subject of almost no study yet). On the other hand, it was also a possibility to dive, so to say, to the very milieu of the classical Athenian political struggle, to the boiling of passions, interweaving of interests, high tension of internal conflict — all features distinctive of that struggle. Ostracism was one of its principal elements. It is possible to say without any exaggeration that a large and exceptionally important historical period (almost coinciding chronologically with framework of the fifth century B.C.) passed «under the badge of ostracism». So when studying that institution one constantly has to consider non-institutional factors, such as clashes of different factions, interrelations of political elite and the demos, mechanisms of forming and displaying public opinion in the democratic polis. It is in that way that ostracism may and should be investigated: at the «junction» of institutional and non-institutional approaches, of constitutional history and history of political processes, in the context of public life in the whole.

Presently, Athenian ostracism is attracting more and more attention in the world research literature. In some respects, it is promoted by broadening of the source base, mainly by publications of ostraka (clay "ballots") discovered in Athens in large quantities. In the light of these finds that carry very valuable information, the study of ostracism in becoming one of the most prospective and urgent trends in investigating classical antiquity.

2. The principal object of this work is to undertake a study of Athenian ostracism as full and comprehensive as possible under present condition of sources. Such an object conditions specific tasks we have to deal with. They include consideration and solution of the following problems:

— the chronology of ostracism (Chapter I);

— the origin of ostracism; time, causes and purposes of its introduction (Chapter II);

— the procedure of ostracism (Chapter III);

— functions of ostracism in the political system of Athenian democracy and its role in the political life of the democratic polis; main stage in the history of ostracism (Chapter IV);

— causes of falling of ostracism into disuse in the late fifth century B.C.; institutional mechanisms that replaced it (Chapter V).

As ostracism in its «classical» form functioned in the Athenian state throughout the fifth century B.C. (from 487 to 415), it is this piece of time that is chiefly under consideration in the book. At the same time, also used are some data belonging both to the earlier, archaic epoch (it is necessary to expose «roots» of ostracism, those institutional realities from which it had grown) and to the later period, the fourth century B.C. (as during that period ostracism was in nominal existence, although never in use, and also as such perspective allows to trace how the «end of ostracism» influenced the general political situation). In connection with ostracism, the book deals principally with Athenian material, as it (and only it) has some degree of integrity and comprehensiveness and allows responsible conclusions. This circumstance conditions geographical framework of the investigation. Scant and contradictory information on ostracism in other Greek cities is analyzed in a special excursus (Appendix I).