the number is from diogenes laertius there is no earlier account which gives the exact number we know that was the size of a typical jury but we also know that the number in some cases went as high as there was no problem in the case of a tie because a tie meant acquittal trials weren't always held in a room they were sometimes held in the open air so there was never a problem of fitting jurors into a room from plato's apology a we know the ratio but not the exact numbers of jurors who voted for and against conviction