the cradle of free speech

"The unexamined life is not worth living."

In the year 399 BCE, an Athenian court tried the rational philosopher Socrates [469-399 BCE] for crimes against the state. The 70-year old was found guilty of questioning the gods and corrupting the young. Accepting his sentence, he drank a poison hemlock mixture and died. 

An earlier School of Athens reference on this blog here.