The Trial of Socrates, 399 BCE

In 399 BCE, three citizens, Meletus, Anytus and Lycon, charged Socrates with impiety: failing to recognize the city's gods, introducing new divine beings and corrupting the young. The case was heard by a jury of about 500 citizens, who voted after speeches from both sides. Socrates was found guilty by a margin of roughly 280 to 220. Historians debate the real causes. Some stress religion, noting Socrates' talk of a private divine sign, his daimonion.

Others emphasize politics: the restored democracy's amnesty barred prosecutions for past political offenses, but many Athenians remembered that Critias and Alcibiades had been his companions. Still others point to resentment from those he had embarrassed in public. The trial raises lasting questions about free speech, majority rule and how democracies treat dissent, and Plato's account of it became one of the most influential texts in Western thought.