The Trial of Socrates

In 399 BCE, Athens tried Socrates for corrupting the youth and introducing false gods. The deeper charge was political: he had embarrassed powerful people by exposing their ignorance in public. The gadfly had stung too many important horses.

At trial he refused to beg for mercy, insisting his questioning was a service to Athens, not a crime. The jury convicted him by a narrow margin. Asked to propose his own punishment, he suggested free meals for life — the honor given to Olympic champions. The jury chose death, and he accepted it with calm.