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audience, the young men of Athens. No fees were charged, but the ‘student’ or person who was conversing would be encouraged to challenge an established viewpoint and arrive at a completely different conclusion than had first been expressed. Throughout his life Socrates was deemed a real opponent to democracy, and he maintained his belief that a city governed by a single leader was the only acceptable form of government, even up to his eventual execution.

    SOCRATES’S DOWNFALL

    Eventually the philosopher’s radical views and ideas had become too much for the city to bear any longer. The three men who decided to press charges against him were Meletus, Antyus and Lyco. They thought that it was in the best interests of the city for Socrates to be removed so that he could no longer be of influence to the people of Athens. Ironically, these men did not understand one of Socrates’s strongest convictions, that every man must follow the law or the very structure of society would be undermined. Despite these convictions, Socrates was summoned to be tried in 399 BC on charges of corrupting the young, denying the gods of the city and introducing new gods. Whether any of these allegations were true, is really a matter of opinion, but it is hard to imagine that a man who clearly revered and understood the laws of the state would intentionally go out to corrupt impressionable minds. It seems to be more likely that Socrates acted as a scapegoat for those who had lost power during the Peloponnesian war and were afraid that the young men who were taught by Socrates might be encouraged to take over. Socrates’s opponents also wanted to implicate him as a traitor by virtue of his earlier associations with the Thirty Tyrants, who ultimate destroyed the last reminders of a democratic government in Athens.
    Unfortunately, it was Socrates’s philosophical fervour which ultimately led to his death in 399 BC. Following a slightly misguided attempt to defend himself where he essentially insulted his audience by informing them of their own ignorance, the jury — consisting of 501 members — came back with a verdict. It was only by a margin of thirty votes that Socrates was found guilty, but it was enough. To make matters worse for the great philosopher, when given the opportunity to suggest another punishment for himself other than death, he proposed that he be heavily rewarded instead of punished, as he believed that he had only been doing good for the Athenians.
    As Socrates spent his last days in prison he was given one last opportunity for escape. His closest friends concocted several potential breaks for escape, but Socrates was stubborn to the very end. Despite their persistent entreaties for him to leave, he stressed the importance of accepting his fate and abiding by the laws that had been set down. He accepted a graceful death surrounded by friends, as he committed suicide by drinking the poison hemlock.
    There is no question about the fact that Socrates was a great and pioneering philosophical thinker. Whether he was a traitor to his city is hard for us to judge. We might ask how a man who held learning and abiding by his laws in such esteem, could be found guilty of treason, though it is clear that his allegiances with anti-democratic ways of governing were not welcome in fourth-century Athens. What really matters is the legacy of philosophical thought that Socrates has left as both a great thinker and, more importantly, as a real human being.

PART TWO: MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE TRAITORS

Sir Roger Mortimer
     
     
     
     
    Roger Mortimer led a somewhat solitary early life under the supervision of his formidable and aggressive uncle, Roger Mortimer of Chirk. As was the custom in the 14th century, he was married relatively young to Joan de Geneville, daughter of a neighbouring lord, in 1301. This union benefitted him greatly and as a result he acquired various estates including Ludlow Castle and an increased influence in