Image Archive - Miscellaneous
Ostraka (fragments of pottery) were used as the
means of registering votes in various parts of Greece. At Athens, in the
fifth century BC, they were used to vote in favour of the banishment of
powerful individuals whose presence was thought to threaten the stability
of the city. If ‘ostracised’, the individual was required
to stay away from the city, usually for a period of ten years.
This ostrakon bears the name of Aristeides the son of Lysimachos, a leading
Athenian politician who was banished in 482 BC but, unusually, allowed
back in 480. It is one of more than 120 so far discovered bearing his
name. Note the spelling 'Arissteides'. Spelling variations, crossings
out and insertions are a feature of ostraka.
From the ancient Agora of Athens. Athens, Museum of the Ancient Agora.
For the publication and study of ostraka from the Athenian Agora, see M. L. Lang, The Athenian Agora. Results of the Excavations conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. XXV. The Ostraka (Princeton, N.J., 1990); includes line drawings and photographs. On ostracism, see Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd. edn., ed. S. Hornblower and T. Spawforth) 1083.
Email lgpn@classics.ox.ac.uk
© Lexicon of Greek Personal Names. All rights reserved.
Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, University of Oxford, Great Britain. Supported by the University of Oxford, the British Academy, the Arts and Humanities Research Board.