In 404 BC, Sparta finally defeated Athens and occupied the city, replacing the city's democracy with an oligarchy of thirty tyrants. A period of savage repression followed, including hundreds of political killings and the exile of thousands.

The Thirty Tyrants put an end to many of the privileges enjoyed under democracy, and reduced the number of full citizens from over 20,000 to only 3,000 of their most loyal supporters. Though the details are vague, many historians believe Socrates was one of these specially appointed citizens, since several of his former pupils were also members of the Thirty Tyrants. His association could not have lasted long. When the new regime insisted he arrest a prominent foreign resident, he refused on legal grounds, just as in the case of the generals.

Credited with the phrase 'the majority is always wrong', Socrates' unique style of thinking relied upon turning commonly accepted ideas upside-down. But by also associating with tyrants, Socrates had unintentionally made himself appear as an enemy of democracy.

A year later, when Sparta allowed democracy to be restored, he became one of its first scapegoats...