Then still another fact makes it easy to see that the law is a bad one: we are the only Greeks to observe it, and no other state is prepared to imitate us.The evidence on the subject of ostracism in Greece at large is too inconclusive to enable us either to accept or to reject this statement with confidence. It is known that the institution existed for a time at least at Argos (Aristot. Pol. 8.3, 1302b 18), at Miletus (Schol. Aristoph. Kn. 855), at Megara (ibid.), and at Syracuse (Dio. Sic. 11.87.6). It was introduced at Syracuse in 454 B.C. under the name of πεταλισμός, definitely in imitation of Athens. Yet it is recognized that the best institutions are those which have proved most suited to democracy and oligarchy alike and which are the most generally favoured.