Alcibiades: was he a genuine political refugee?

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the applicability of the modern label of ‘political refugee’ to the case of Alcibiades on the occasion of his first exile. Political exile, whether voluntary or imposed by the political or judicial authority, is the phenomenon from antiquity that most resembles the modern concept of political refugee. Through the analysis of ancient sources concerning the first removal of Alcibiades from Athens - a forced removal, due the risk of capital punishment relating to his indictment for impiety – the paper shows it is possible to date back the origins of the proliferation of political refugees to ancient Greece and to consider Alcibiades as a genuine political refugee.