Note 87 — Chapter XXVIII · THE STORY OF THE TRIAL.

It was the curious custom in the Athenian courts of criminal justice that the accused, if found guilty, was required to name a counter penalty to that proposed by the prosecutor. The prosecutor, as has been seen, had proposed death. Socrates, under the circumstances, could hardly have proposed anything less than banishment, if he had any wish that it should be accepted by the court.