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Thucydides son of Melesias is ostracised, leaving Pericles without a paired rival

About 443 BCE Thucydides son of Melesias was ostracised. The dated expulsion is not Cimon’s 461 ostracism and not the historian Thucydides. In the causal graph this event strengthens Political Polarization, a driver that weakens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Read the full account

About 443 BCE Thucydides son of Melesias was ostracised. The dated expulsion is not Cimon’s 461 ostracism and not the historian Thucydides. Pericles’s documented role is: The opposition leader who attacked the building programme was ostracised about 443. Voters expelled; Pericles remained; he did not uniquely invent the sherd. Different man, different decade. Later editors, printers, and excavators remain named where they appear.

Context

A building-programme fight, unnamed sherds, and later ‘unopposed Pericles’ talk already structure the file. A beneficiary is not unique authorship of every later decree. Later confusion with the historian is refused. Named others on the file: Thucydides son of Melesias, unnamed voters, and later Plutarch as carrier share the heading. The public setting is the file around -0443-01-01. The instrument stays Thucydides son of Melesias is ostracised, leaving Pericles without a paired rival. The setting of Thucydides son of Melesias is ostracised, leaving Pericles without a paired rival is the public file around -0443-01-01. Driver political-polarization is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage.

Why it matters

Worsening polarisation path: expulsion of the remaining organised rival. Complex shared vote. Welfare reading worsening. The attached mechanism is A dated second ostracism polarised elite competition by removing the remaining organised rival. Lag to any modern indicator is not treated as zero. This path is attached because the mechanism is named from this act, not because a driver list needed coverage. The welfare reading on this path is worsening.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Pericles

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.36 · verified

    The opposition leader who attacked the building programme was ostracised about 443. Voters expelled; Pericles remained; he did not uniquely invent the sherd.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactThucydides son of Melesias is ostracised, leaving Pericles without a paired rival
    2. strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
    3. weakensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.35 · Effect from 1 January 443 · verified

    A dated second ostracism polarised elite competition by removing the remaining organised rival.

    • Having a say in government

      via Political Polarization

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.16 (weight 0.35 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Political Polarization

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.16 (weight 0.35 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Britannica — Thucydides (politician), ostracismEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — PericlesEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Britannica independently distinguishes the politician’s ostracism from the historian. Official: Britannica — Pericles, Thucydides son of Melesias (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pericles-Athenian-statesman (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent: Britannica — Thucydides (politician), ostracism (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thucydides-Greek-politician (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica). The two URLs are different pages. Where the carrier is a later edition or a received narrative, that limit is stated rather than upgraded to an autograph. Official carrier: Britannica — Pericles, Thucydides son of Melesias (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pericles-Athenian-statesman (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent carrier: Britannica — Thucydides (politician), ostracism (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thucydides-Greek-politician (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Established: ostracism of Thucydides son of Melesias c. 443. Not established: that the historian is this man. Established: a sourced public record of Thucydides son of Melesias is ostracised, leaving Pericles without a paired rival under -0443-01-01.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Different man, different decade. Mixed effects of Thucydides son of Melesias is ostracised, leaving Pericles without a paired rival are separate paths.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

Shared responsibility is part of Thucydides son of Melesias is ostracised, leaving Pericles without a paired rival. Naming Pericles does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from -0443-01-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorPericles
  2. contributed toFactThucydides son of Melesias is ostracised, leaving Pericles without a paired rival
  3. strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
  4. weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Thucydides son of Melesias is ostracised, leaving Pericles without a paired rival. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/per-thucydides-ostracism-443

https://factrail.ai/facts/per-thucydides-ostracism-443

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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