It was not always so; it is not always so even now. But long ago it was much worse.
Ostracism.
Clisthenes gave every one a vote—rich and poor alike—and ruled wisely and well.
Clisthenes started something called ostracism. If for any reason the people wanted to get rid of a man, all they had to do was to scratch his name on any piece of a broken pot or jar they might find and drop it in a voting-box on a certain day. If there were enough such votes, the man would have to leave the city and stay away for ten years. This was called ostracism, and a man so treated was said to be ostracized, from the Greek name for such a broken piece of pottery, on which the name was written. Even to-day we use this same word to speak of a person whom no one will have anything to do with, whom no one wants around, saying he has been ostracized.
Have you ever been sent away from the table to the kitchen or to your room for being naughty?
Then you, too, have been ostracized.
22
Rome Kicks Out Her Kings