399 BC
Trial and Death of Socrates
Athens convicts the philosopher Socrates and sentences him to death.
- Time period
- 399 BC
- Region
- Greece (Athens)
- Theme
- Politics
- Civilization
- Classical Greece
In 399 BCE, an Athenian jury found Socrates guilty of impiety and corrupting the youth. He refused to flee and died by drinking hemlock. His trial, recorded by Plato and Xenophon, became a foundational story of Western philosophy.