SoCrates|The_Trial_of_Socrates

Socrates' reasoning and philosophy, and the questions they raised not only about ephemeral things but also political, moral, and legal matters, drew the ire of the community's leaders who, fearing he was leading the young people of the city astray. The Athenians held a vote and determined that he should be condemned to death, after a trial in which Socrates, instead of putting on an eloquent defense, called into question the whole basis for the trial. The judges were unmoved. Socrates' followers encouraged him to flee, but he refused on principle, and took the poison (hemlock) himself. He was, thus, one of the first of a limited number of strictly intellectual "martyrs". Socrates died at the age of 70.