=Ostracism.=--This was a peculiar device adopted by Greek city-states for getting temporary relief from the influence of prominent citizens, whose presence was for the time being considered undesirable. At Athens ostracism was introduced by the statesman Kleisthenes about 508 B.C. The method of effecting it was as follows. The popular assembly (Ekklesia) first decided whether they desired that ostracism should be carried out. If they considered it expedient, they met and recorded their vote. The name of the person they most wished to get rid of was written on a potsherd (ostrakon), and if six thousand votes were recorded against any one name, that man had to go into banishment for ten years. In Case K is a coloured illustration (No. =11=) of three ostraka found at Athens (fig. 5). The names written on the sherds are well known in Greek history. _Themistokles_ (fig. 5_a_), of the deme Phrearri, was the creator of Athenian sea-power. In consequence of this ostracism (ca. 471 B.C.) he died an exile at Magnesia on the Maeander. _Megakles_ (fig. 5_b_) of the deme Alopeke, son of Hippokrates and uncle of Perikles, was ostracised in 487 B.C. as "a friend of the tyrants." In the next year, 486 B.C., was banished _Xanthippos_ (fig. 5_c_), son of Arriphron and father of Perikles, on the ground of undue prominence. The Museum collection contains no ostraka of historic importance, but the potsherd inscribed by one Teos (No. =12=) gives an idea of the actual object (fig. 6). [Illustration: FIG. 6.--POTSHERD OF TEOS (NO. 12).] =Dedications for Victory.=--The dedication in a temple of a part of the spoils of victory was not merely a religious observance. It was also the formal entering of a claim to victory. The Etruscan helmet (No. =13=) dedicated at Olympia by Hieron of Syracuse, is an example (fig. 7). It was found at Olympia in 1817, and was presented to the Museum by King George the Fourth. On the side is a votive inscription: [Illustration] [Illustration: FIG. 7.--ETRUSCAN HELMET DEDICATED AT OLYMPIA BY HIERON AND THE SYRACUSANS (NO. 13). 1:4.]