Site:
Athens
Type: Prison
Summary: Almost rectangular building; just off the southwest
corner of the
Agora.
Date: 450 B.C.
Period: Classica
l
Socrates died in a public prison that was bordering the Agora in Athens. He was condemned to die because of his philosophizing and the death penalty was to drink a small amount of a natural herbal extract from the hemlock plant. The prisoner was given a small cup to drink and await death, which usually followed fairly painlessly in half an hour or so. The reason the prison was located outside of the Agora was important because the Agora was a holy place where blood was not allowed to be shed. The prison had to be near the courtrooms, while outside the boundaries as well.
The prison is a long hall that led to a courtyard and had five almost square rooms off the west side of the hall, 3 off the east side, and 4 rooms at the northeast corner near the entrance. The prison is located near the law courts, has separate cells and easily guarded by a single entrance. It had provisions for bathing and supplied all the requirements for an ancient prison; therefore, the inner cell is the only one which has a bench built onto one wall. Usually prisoners had to find their own sleeping space, however, the execution chamber was required to have a bed for convicts to die on. The finding of a small statue of Socrates and a plethora of medicine bottles, most likely containers that held poisons that were used to execute prisoners, have led to the belief that this building was the State Prison, where Socrates was executed in 399 B.C.
The outlay of the Prison.
Excavation site of what is believed to be the Prison.
These small clay pots were found on the floor of what is to believe to be the prison. They held about 1 to 2 ounces and were used to dispensed poison to the prisoners made from the hemlock plant.
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