# Thucydides son of Melesias is ostracised, leaving Pericles without a paired rival Date: 443 ## The fact 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. Do not twin this with Cimon’s 461 ostracism. Different man, different decade. Later editors, printers, and excavators remain named where they appear. 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. ## 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](/people/plutarch) as carrier share the heading. The public setting is the file around -0443-01-01. Unnamed clerks, soldiers, printers, or later editors may appear without becoming this instrument. 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. Shared offices, unnamed crews, printers, or later editors may appear without becoming this instrument. Driver [political-polarization](/drivers/political-polarization) is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage. ## Evidence and sources 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; Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent: Britannica — Thucydides (politician), ostracism (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thucydides-Greek-politician; 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; Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent carrier: Britannica — Thucydides (politician), ostracism (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thucydides-Greek-politician; Encyclopaedia Britannica). Official or archival record: Britannica — Pericles, Thucydides son of Melesias (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pericles-Athenian-statesman; Encyclopaedia Britannica). ## Significance 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. ## What is established and what is not 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. 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. Do not twin this with Cimon’s 461 ostracism. 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. The attached driver is political-polarization. The welfare reading used in this dossier is worsening. 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. ## People - Pericles: https://factrail.ai/people/pericles ## Drivers - Political Polarization: https://factrail.ai/drivers/political-polarization ## Sources - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thucydides-Greek-politician - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pericles-Athenian-statesman ## Methodology https://factrail.ai/methodology Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/per-thucydides-ostracism-443