Caveat Emptor

I accidentally discovered that Wikipedia has a list of philosophers who were executed. What surprised me is how many names I recognized on that list! A full third of them are in Socrates' direct lineage: there's Socrates himself, two Academics, a Stoic, and five Neoplatonists.

It seems to me that a philosophical school, like a state or any other social construct, has a guardian angel guiding it. If you buy into that school, you come under the care and guidance of that angel, and it will presumably lead you along similar paths as it's led its prior wards. So, while Socrates is an excellent role model in many ways, it is worth remembering one takes the bad with the good: examine your teacher's life carefully and make sure you're willing to mirror it before you embark!

(On the other hand, I suppose it's also entirely plausible that Athens (under the spear of Athena) and Rome (under the sword of Mars) were simply more, er, martial than most states.)