6. Literal Ostracism of Rivals
In the ensuing outcry, Cimon’s humiliated faction lost credibility, and leading conservatives were put on trial for corruption. Ephialtes engineered Cimon’s ostracism and exile, assumed the mantle of Athenian leadership, and launched his program of radical reforms. His greatest reform was to emasculate the Areopagus, a council of city elders similar to the Roman Senate, comprised of those who had held high public office, and that was more conservative than the citizen Assembly. It served as Athens’ highest tribunal, with jurisdiction over all cases, including constitutional review of the Assembly’s enactments. That gave the Areopagus a legislative veto over the more democratic Assembly.
