Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

EXPLORATORES.

]

72

EXSILIUM.

baggage (impedimenta). Hence the epithet
was often applied to any portion of the Ro-
man army, when the necessity for haste, or
the desire to conduct it with the greatest fa-
cility from place to place, made it desirable
to leave behind every weight that could be
spared.

EXPLORATORES. [Speculatohes.]

EXSEQUIAE. [Funus.]

EX8ILIUM(<hri),banishment. (1) Greek.
Banishment among the Greek states sel-
dom, if ever, appears as a punishment ap-
pointed by law for particular offences. We
might, indeed, expect this, for the division of
Greece into a number of independent states
would neither admit of the establishment of
penal colonies, as among us, nor of the va-
rious kinds of exile which we read of under
the Roman emperors. The general term
<j>vyij (flight) was for the most part applied
in the case of those who, in order to avoid
some punishment or danger, removed from
their own country to another. At Athens it
took place chiefly in cases of homicide, or
murder. An action for wilful murder was
brought before the Areiopagus, and for man-
slaughter before the court of the Ephetae.
The accused might, in either case, withdraw
himself (^euyeu') before sentence was passed ;
but when a criminal evaded the punishment
to which an act of murder would have ex-
posed him had he remained in his own
land, he was then banished for ever ((pevya
aeic/juyiai'), and not allowed to return home
even when other exiles were restored upon a
general amnesty. Demosthenes says, that
the word <f>evyeiv was properly applied to the
exile of those who committed murder with
malice aforethought, whereas the term /ueSi-
orao-Sai was used where the act was not in-
tentional. The property also was confiscated
in the former case, but not in the latter.
When a verdict of manslaughter was re-
turned, it was usual for the convicted party
to leave his country by a certain road, and
to remain in exile till he induced some one
of the relatives of the slain man to take com-
passion on him. We are not informed what
were the consequences if the relatives of the
slain man refused to make a reconciliation ;
supposing that there was no compulsion, it
is reasonable to conclude that the exile was
allowed to return after a fixed time. Plato,
who is believed to have copied many of his
laws from the constitution of Athens, fixes
the period of banishment for manslaughter at
one year.—Under <j>vyri, or banishment, as a
general term, is comprehended Ostracism (6a--
rpafao-juds). Those that were ostracised did
not lose their property, and the time, as well
as place of their banishment, was fixed.

This ostracism is supposed by some to have
been instituted by Cleisthenes, after the ex-
pulsion of the Peisistratidae ; its nature and
object are thus explained by Aristotle :—
" Democratical states (he observes) used to
ostracise, and remove from the city for a de-
finite time, those who appeared to be pre-
eminent above their fellow-citizens, by rea-
son of their wealth, the number of their
friends, or any other means of influence."
Ostracism, therefore, was not a punishment
for any crime, but rather a precautionary re-
moval of those who possessed sufficient power
in the state to excite either envy or fear.
Thus Plutarch says, it was a good-natured
way of alla3'ing envy by the humiliation of
superior dignity and power. The manner of
effecting it at Athens was as follows :■—A
space in the agora was enclosed by barriers,
with ten entrances for the ten tribes. By
these the tribesmen entered, each with his
ostracon (ocrrpa.Koi<), or piece of tile (whence
the name ostracism), on which was written
the name of the individual whom he wished
to be ostracised. The nine archons and the
senate, t. e. the presidents of that body, su-
perintended the proceedings, and the party
who had the greatest number of votes against
him, supposing that this number amounted
to 6000, was obliged to withdraw (p.eTa-
o-rijfat) from the city within ten days ; if the
number of votes did not amount to 6000, no-
thing was done. Some of the most distin-
guished men at Athens were removed by
ostracism, but recalled when the city found
their services indispensable. Among these
were Themistocles, Aristeides, and Cimon, son
of Miltiades. The last person against whom it
was used at Athens was Hyperbolus, a dema-
gogue of low birth and character ; hut the
Athenians thought their own dignity com-
promised, and ostracism degraded by such an
application of it, and accordingly discontinued
the practice.—From the ostracism of Athens
was copied the Fetalism (TreTaAitr/ios) of the
Syracusans, so called from the tt£to.\ov, or
leaf of the olive, on which was written the
name of the person whom they wished to re-
move from the city. The removal, however,
was only for five years; a sufficient time, as
they thought, to humble the pride and hopes
of the exile. In connection with petalism it
may be remarked, that if any one were
falsely registered in a demus, or ward, at
Athens, his expulsion was called zk<\>v\Xo-
cpopia, from the votes being given by leaves.
Besides those exiled by law, or ostracised,
there was frequently a great number of po-
litical exiles in Greece ; men who, having
distinguished themselves as the leaders of
one party, were expelled, or obliged to re-