How did Athenians determine if a man should be exiled from Greece as a punishment for a crime?

A.The man could choose between death and exile if he murdered another man.
B.Only the women and children of Athens were allowed to banish the criminals of the city. They did so by casting a vote.
C.Exile was never a form of punishment in Greece.
D. At first it was an oral vote cast by the citizens of Athens. Later black and white beans were used to count votes.

And you think it's … ?

Read lots of these search results:
https://www.google.com/search?q=ancient+greeks+exiled+man+for+treason&oq=ancient+greeks+exiled+man+for+treason&aqs=chrome..69i57.11545j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

A

D. At first it was an oral vote cast by the citizens of Athens. Later black and white beans were used to count votes.

In ancient Athens, the decision of whether to exile a man from Greece as a punishment for a crime was determined through a voting process. Initially, this was done through an oral vote cast by the citizens of Athens. However, as the number of citizens increased, a more efficient method was adopted. This involved the use of black and white beans to count the votes. Each citizen would cast one of these beans into a designated container, with black beans indicating a vote for exile and white beans indicating a vote against exile. The beans were then counted to determine the outcome of the vote.

The Athenians determined whether a man should be exiled from Greece as a punishment for a crime through a process called ostracism. The correct answer is D.

Ostracism was a procedure that allowed citizens to vote on whether to exile a specific individual from the city-state of Athens. This process was in place during the 5th and 6th centuries BCE.

To initiate an ostracism, any citizen could propose the name of a person they believed to be a threat to the democracy or stability of Athens. This person was known as the ostracized individual, or ostracizee.

Once the proposal was made, the Athenian citizens would gather in the agora, the central meeting place of Athens. There, they would use shards of pottery, known as ostraka, to vote. Each citizen would write the name of their chosen person to be exiled on an ostrakon (plural: ostraka), and then cast it into a designated area.

Initially, an oral vote was conducted, where each citizen would call out the name of the person they wanted to exile. However, to enhance the secrecy and fairness of the process, it later evolved to using black and white beans. Each citizen would receive a handful of beans, and then place either a black or white bean into a container to represent their vote. The beans were counted, and if the number of votes exceeded a certain threshold, usually around 6,000 votes, the person with the most votes would be exiled.

It's important to note that ostracism was not a punishment for a specific crime but rather a preventive measure against individuals who were deemed dangerous to the Athenian democracy. This process aimed to maintain the balance of power and prevent the rise of tyrants.

Therefore, option D is the correct answer: At first, an oral vote cast by the citizens of Athens was used, and later black and white beans were used to count the votes during the process of ostracism.