Ancient Greece is full of interesting stories that rival Byzantine machinations. For example, Megacles, who was archon eponymous during the attempt coup, lead

Ancient Greece is full of interesting stories that rival Byzantine machinations. For example, Megacles, who was archon eponymous during the attempt coup, lead the reprisals that killed Cylon's supporters, after promising them safe passage from the temple to stand trial. For this action, Megacles and the Alcmaeonids (his noble family) were exiled from Athens for some time. (Later on they returned to Athenian politics) Perhaps the most interesting character from the Alcmaeonids was a fellow named Alcibiades, who lived during the Peloponnesian War, which was mainly between Athens and Sparta. (This is after the Persian wars, the events fancifully depicted in the movie 300) Coming from a rich family, he had an aristocratic upbringing, counting Socrates among his teachers; Pericles also helped raise him after his father was killed in battle. Perhaps the best way to describe him is as a blend of JFK's womanzing, Bill Clinton's charm and Donald Trump's flamboyance. (He supposedly had a lisp, but curiously, this made him even more charming, but his "lisp" turned "R" into "L"[0]) He became popular in Athens but obviously made some powerful enemies along the way, and was forced to flee/defect to their rival city, Sparta, after being accused of desecrating religious statues of Hermes in the city. (Could you imagine if a prominent politician was accused of vandalizing churches or destroying flags hung from people's houses after a night of drinking? Such was the supposed outrage in Athens after this act.) After some time in Sparta, he was accused of having an affair with the Spartan King's wife and fled again, this time to Persia. He eventually made it back to Athens, after some negotiations where he promised that he could bring Persian support to Athens in their continuing war against Sparta and her allies. (This support didn't materialize) Nevertheless, he was given a military command and did manage to secure some victories for Athens, but after one particular defeat, his enemies in Athens took this opportunity to get him removed from command. After that, he went into self-imposed exile, and not too long afterward, was assassinated, probably by Sparta. Some other interesting words with roots in Ancient Greek politics: - Anarchy: Athens was ruled by several Archons, who were leaders each with specific duties. So the word "anarchy" means something like "an absence of leadership". - Ostracism: Once a year, Athenians would be given the chance to exile someone. If they decided on this, they took a vote, by writing the name of the person they wanted to exile. The names were written on discarded pieces of broken pottery known as ostraka or ostrakon in the singular. After successful vote, the person was exiled for 10 years; attempting to return before this carried the death penalty. Interestingly, after the 10 years there seems to have been no residual sanction against the individual, and furthermore their property was returned to them. 0. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alcibiades*.html http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/L...