Crime & Justice in the 5th century BC

43 sourced entries, 493 BCE to 400 BCE, oldest first. Also see Crime & Justice across every century or everything else in the 5th century BC.

• 493 BCEThe Athenian poet Phrynicus produces a tragedy on the Fall of Miletus. The Athenian authorities ban the play from further production on the grounds of impiety.source
• 490 BCECleomenes I is forced to flee Sparta when his plot against Demaratus is discovered, but the Spartans allow him to return when he begins gathering an army in the surrounding territories. However, by this time he has become insane, and the Spartans put him in prison. Shortly after, he commits suicide. He is succeeded as King of Sparta by a member of the Agiad house, his half-brother, Leonidas.source
• 485 BCEThree times Roman consul Spurius Cassius Vecellinus is tried, condemned and executed for high treason.source
• 484 BCEThe Athenian general and statesman, Xanthippus, is ostracised.source
• 478 BCEWhile Pausanias is occupying Byzantium, his arrogance and his adoption of Persian clothing and manners offends the allies and raises suspicions of disloyalty. Pausanias is recalled to Sparta, where he is tried and acquitted of the charge of treason, but he is not restored to his command.source
• 465 BCEKing Xerxes I of the Persian Empire, together with his eldest son, is murdered by one of his Ministers, Artabanus the Hyrcanian. The Persian general, Megabyzus, is thought to have been one of the conspirators in the assassination.source
• 465 BCEArtabanus gains control of the Achaemenid state for several months. However, he is betrayed by Megabyzus and is killed by Xerxes' son, Artaxerxes.source
• 464 BCEEgypt seizes the opportunity created by the murder of Xerxes I to revolt against Persia. The revolt is led by Inaros, a Libyan, who gains control of the Delta region and is aided by the Athenians.source
• 463 BCEIn Athens, the democratic statesman Ephialtes and the young Pericles attempt to get the oligarchic Kimon ostracized for allegedly receiving bribes. Kimon is charged by Pericles and other democratic politicians with having been bribed not to attack the King of Macedonia (who may have been suspected of covertly helping the Thasian rebels). Though Kimon is acquitted, his influence on the Athenian people is waning.source
• 462 BCEPericles starts to effectively be the leader of Athens.source
• 461 BCEEphialtes is murdered by Aristodicus of Tanagra in Boeotia, who is said to have acted on behalf of members of the Athenian oligarchy.source
• 461 BCEThe ostracism of Kimon and the murder of Ephialtes leave Pericles as the most influential orator in Athens.source
• 459 BCEThe Sicilian town of Morgantina was destroyed by Ducetius, Hellenised leader of the Siculi (according to Diodorus Siculus).source
• 454 BCEMahavira attains Kevala Jnana at the age of 43, according to the Śvetāmbara branch of Jain philosophy.source
• 453 BCEPericles, the ruler of Athens, bestows generous wages on all Athens' citizens who serve as jurymen on the Heliaia (the supreme court of Athens).source
• 450 BCEMyron makes a bronze statue called The Discus Thrower (Discobolus). A Roman copy is now kept at Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome (approximate date).source
• 450 BCEPolykleitos starts making the bronze statue Achilles (also known as The Spear Bearer or Doryphoros), which he finishes about ten years later. A Roman copy of the original bronze is now kept in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples, Italy (approximate date).source
• 450 BCEThe red-figure decorations A Painter, Assistants Crowned by Athena and Victories are made on a hydria in Athens. They are now kept in a private collection (approximate date).source
• 439 BCEMaelius is summoned before Cincinnatus but refuses to appear. Shortly thereafter, Maelius is killed by Gaius Servilius Ahala and his house is burnt to the ground.source
• 434 BCEAnaxagoras is arrested by Pericles' political opponents on a charge of contravening the established dogmas of Athenian religion. It takes Pericles' power of oratory and persuasion to secure his release, and even then, he is fined and forced to retire from Athens to Lampsacus in Ionia.source
• 434 BCEWhile in prison, Anaxagoras tries to square the circle with straightedge and compasses.source
• 427 BCEAristophanes produces Daitaleis (The Banqueters)source
• 425 BCEAristophanes produces the comedy, Archanians.source
• 425 BCEEuripides' play Hecuba is performed.source
• 424 BCEXerxes II rules as King of Persia for only about 45 days until he is killed. He is reportedly murdered, while drunk, by Pharnacyas and Menostanes on the orders of Sogdianus, the son of one of Artaxerxes I's concubines, Alogyne of Babylon.source
• 422 BCEAristophanes' play The Wasps is performed.source
• 420 BCEEuripides' play The Suppliant Women is performed.source
• 420 BCEEuripides' play Phaethon is performed.source
• 419 BCESophocles' play Electra is performed. The play takes its theme from The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus.source
• 419 BCEEuripides' play Andromache is performed.source
• 418 BCEKing Agis II of Sparta escapes being fined 10,000 drachmae and having his house razed for his failure to press his advantage by promising more successful outcomes in the future.source
• 414 BCEAristophanes' play The Birds is performed.source
• 413 BCEEuripides' play Electra is performed.source
• 411 BCEAntiphon defends himself in a speech Thucydides describes as the greatest ever made by a man on trial for his life. Nevertheless, Antiphon is unable to persuade his accusers and he is executed for treason.source
• 411 BCEEuripides' play Iphigenia in Tauris is performed.source
• 411 BCEAristophanes' plays Lysistrata and Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria are performed.source
• 408 BCEEuripides' plays Orestes and The Phoenician Women are performed. Euripides then leaves Athens in dissatisfaction and travels to the court of Archelaus I of Macedon at the King's invitation.source
• 407 BCEThe exiled former leader of the moderate democrats of Syracuse, Hermocrates, is killed while attempting to force his way back into Syracuse.source
• 404 BCEDarius II's younger son, Cyrus, is accused by Tissaphernes, the satrap of Caria, of plotting his brother Artaxerxes II's murder. On the intercession of Artaxerxes II and Cyrus's mother, Parysatis, however, Cyrus is pardoned and sent back to his satrapy.source
• 404 BCEThe Athenian leader Cleophon continues to urge resistance against the Peloponnesians, but the situation becomes desperate and he is arrested, condemned to death and executed.source
• 400 BCESan Lorenzo Tenochtitlán is abandoned (approximate date).source
• 400 BCETamõs, the satrap of Ionia, fled from his satrapy in fear of the king's retribution. He loaded his possessions onto his satrapy's fleet of triremes and sailed to Egypt seeking the protection of Psammetichus, the King of the Egyptians. Psammetichus executed Tamõs and his family and took his possessions and fleet for himself.source
• 400 BCEThe Bianzhong of the Marquis Yi of Zheng are cast.source