In one of the first recorded acts of its kind, the newly restored Athenian democracy of 403 B.C.E. adopted an amnesty for collaborators from the deposed oligarchic regime. Such political forgiveness was, according to Aristotle, a marvel of statesmanship, presumably allowing Athenians to recover a measure of civic unity (though not to Socrates' benefit). With the recent emergence of powerful human rights organizations, the option of amnesty has suffered from theoretical disrepute, though not practical disuse, and the terminology of forgiveness has acquired a maudlin air.