Democracy, Oligarchy, and Free Speech

An oligarchy replaces a democracy and a public figure is put on trial for his words. History or current events? Or both?

An oligarchy replaces a democracy and a public figure is put on trial for his words.

No, this isn’t the 2025 trial of Mahmoud Khalil (an activist whom the US government wants to deport). But could it be?

Encyclopedia Britannica describes a “coup of the oligarchs” from about 2,500 years ago in Athens: Spartan “opponents of Athenian democracy staged a coup” to “install an oligarchy.” The initial coup was not completely successful, but democracy was quickly upended. “Sparta installed” a group called “the Thirty Tyrants in Athens to establish a far less democratic regime there.”

In that context, the famous philosopher Socrates was tried and sentenced to death for corrupting the minds of the youth with his speech, and for impiety.¹ Britannica also notes that Socrates’ jury “might have taken his association” with undesirables as “grounds for considering him a dangerous man.”

Now let’s be clear. Mahmoud Khalil isn’t Socrates. He isn’t a world-famous philosopher and he wasn’t just talking. Nor will he be put to death (at least not in the US).

Still, the parallels are remarkable, and they offer historical perspectives on free speech.

As we’ll see, the lessons from antiquity are these: Societies best thrive when people are treated equally, regardless of what they say or believe. It is destructive tyranny that tries to silence unpleasant voices. And one sign of a poorly run society is that people are rightly afraid to speak.

Tyranny vs. Equality

For instance, the ancient playwright Euripides, writing a bit before the coup of the oligarchs, says:

Nothing is more hostile to a city than a tyrant... By contrast when the laws are written down, the rich and the weak alike have equal justice … and the weaker prevail over the stronger if they have justice on their side.²

Writing at roughly the same time, the historian Thucydides also extols the merit of equality before the law, adding that that tolerance also extends to daily life:

The freedom which we enjoy in our government also extends to our daily life. We do not suspect one another, not are we angry with our neighbors for doing what they like; we don’t even indulge in disapproving looks which, though harmless, are painful to see.³

That is, we tolerate diversity.

Additionally, Plato, Socrates’ most famous student, quotes⁴ Socrates as rejecting the effectiveness of killing a person for his words:

For if you think that by putting people to death you will prevent anyone from reproaching you for not acting as you should, you are mistaken. For that escape is neither possible in any way nor honorable, but the easiest and most honorable escape is not by suppressing others, but by making yourselves as good as possible.⁵

So it’s not just that people should be allowed to say what they want. Silencing them doesn’t work.

Another of Socrates’ students, the historian and soldier Xenophon, also defends Socrates at length. He starts by expressing shock that Socrates had been convicted at all:

I have often wondered by what arguments the accusers of Socrates persuaded the Athenians that he deserved to be put to death by the state. For this was the indictment against him: Socrates is guilty of not recognizing the gods that the city recognizes ... and also of corrupting the youth.⁶

He follows up with two chapters on why Socrates is manifestly innocent.

Unchecked Speech

The same Euripides that condemns tyranny also recognizes the danger of unchecked speech:

For whenever a sweet talker with harmful thoughts persuades a mob, it does great harm to the state.⁷

Troubling Times

Finally, Confucius advises people to be careful about what they say in a poorly governed place:

When the state is well governed, speak boldly and act boldly. When the state is poorly governed, act boldly and speak cautiously.⁸

And when the Roman historian and senator Tacitus looks back on the ascension of Tiberius, Rome’s second emperor — Rome had been governed as a republic before the emperors — he paints a dire picture:

Meanwhile at Rome, consuls, senators, and knights all rushed into servitude. The higher a man’s rank, the more eager was his hypocrisy, and his looks the more carefully composed, so as not to appear too gleeful at the departure of one emperor nor too unhappy at the rise of another, mixing tears with joy, lamentation with flattery.⁹

Echoes of History

The echoes of history are unmistakable. When speech is punished selectively, when fear replaces open discourse, and when power shifts toward oligarchy, we know what will happen. Socrates’ trial was not just about him, but rather a reflection of Athens’ decline. It revealed a society turning against its own principles, where the free exchange of ideas was no longer tolerated, and political expediency outweighed justice. The lesson is clear: a society that fears dissent is a society in retreat, and history tells us that those who silence voices today will create a civilization tomorrow in which no one wants to live.

What does this have to do with Mahmoud Khalil? Maybe nothing. Or maybe everything.

1. He was technically tried only for impiety, but allegations of corrupting the youth were used in court against him. The laws in place at the time did not disallow what we now call unfairly prejudicial evidence.

2. Οὐδὲν τυράννου δυσμενέστερον πόλει... Γεγραμμένων δὲ τῶν νόμων ὅ τ᾽ ἀσθενὴς ὁ πλούσιός τε τὴν δίκην ἴσην ἔχει, ἔστιν δ᾽ ἐνισπεῖν τοῖσιν ἀσθενεστέροις τὸν εὐτυχοῦντα ταὔθ᾽, ὅταν κλύῃ κακῶς, νικᾷ δ᾽ ὁ μείων τὸν μέγαν δίκαι᾽ ἔχων. The Suppliants, 429-437, 5th c. BCE.

3. Ἐλευθέρως δὲ τά τε πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν πολιτεύομεν καὶ ἐς τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους τῶν καθ᾿ ἡμέραν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ὑποψίαν, οὐ δι᾿ ὀργῆς τὸν πέλας, εἰ καθ᾿ ἡδονήν τι δρᾷ, ἔχοντες, οὐδὲ ἀζημίους μέν, λυπηρὰς δὲ τῇ ὄψει ἀχθηδόνας προστιθέμενοι. History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 2, 37, 5th c. BCE.

4. Or imagines. Plato’s intention is not clear (here and elsewhere).

5. Εἰ γὰρ οἴεσθε ἀποκτείνοντες ἀνθρώπους ἐπισχήσειν τοῦ ὀνειδίζειν τινὰ ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐκ ὀρθῶς ζῆτε, οὐ καλῶς διανοεῖσθε: οὐ γάρ ἐσθ᾽ αὕτη ἡ ἀπαλλαγὴ οὔτε πάνυ δυνατὴ οὔτε καλή, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκείνη καὶ καλλίστη καὶ ῥᾴστη, μὴ τοὺς ἄλλους κολούειν ἀλλ᾽ ἑαυτὸν παρασκευάζειν ὅπως ἔσται ὡς βέλτιστος. Apology, 39d, 4th c. BCE.

6. Ἐθαύμασα τίσι ποτὲ λόγοις Ἀθηναίους ἔπεισαν οἱ γραψάμενοι Σωκράτην ὡς ἄξιος εἴη θανάτου τῇ πόλει. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ γραφὴ κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοιάδε τις ἦν: ἀδικεῖ Σωκράτης οὓς μὲν ἡ πόλις νομίζει θεοὺς οὐ νομίζων, ἕτερα δὲ καινὰ δαιμόνια εἰσφέρων: ἀδικεῖ δὲ καὶ τοὺς νέους διαφθείρων. Memorabilia, 1.1.1, 4th c. BCE.

7. Ὅταν γὰρ ἡδύς τις λόγοις φρονῶν κακῶς πείθῃ τὸ πλῆθος, τῇ πόλει κακὸν μέγα. Orestes, 907-908, 5th c. BCE.

8. 子曰：「邦有道，危言危行；邦無道，危行言遜。」Analects 14.3, c. 500 BCE.

9. At Romae ruere in servitium consules, patres, eques. quanto quis inlustrior, tanto magis falsi ac festinantes, vultuque composito ne laeti excessu principis neu tristiores primordio, lacrimas gaudium, questus adulationem miscebant. Annales, Book 1, 7, 2nd c. CE.