[German version]

(ὀστρακισμός, 'trial by sherds' from óstrakon , pl. óstraka, 'pottery sherd'). A procedure in Athens that permitted expulsion of a man from the country for ten years without having been convicted of an offence, but without confiscating his property. According to the (Pseudo-) Aristotelian Athēnaíōn Politeía (22,1; 22,3), ostracism was introduced by Cleisthenes [2] (508/7 BC), but not applied until 488/7. A fragment by Androtion (FGrH 324 F 6) reports that ostracism had been established immediately before its first application, but …