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Account for the development of the Athenian empire to 440 BC.
The Delian League began as a mutual defence pact between Athens and the other
maritime states of Greece. However, by 440 it had been transformed into a powerful
empire, with Athens at its centre. Athens had achieved this by wresting control of the
League’s political, economic, military and judicial levers. In the process, the other states
were reduced to mere tributaries.
When the Delian League was formed in 478 it was intended to be an alliance of equals.
Each member state sent a deputy to the island of Delos, where meetings were held and
where the treasury was based. These deputies had equal voting rights, though Athens
exercised greater influence given its size and prestige.
Member states contributed to the League’s finances according to their capacity, with the
larger states supplying ships, and the smaller ones contributing money. Plutarch tells us that
the contributions were determined with “scrupulous integrity and justice”, and that the
member states “felt they had been appropriately and satisfactorily treated.”
In its early years, the League devoted itself to its mandate – liberating the Ionian states,
driving the Persians from the Aegean and plundering their territories. However, as the
Persian threat receded during the 470s, member states became resentful of the annual
tribute they had to pay. This became an increasing problem for Athens following the Battle
of Eurymedon in 468, when the Persian navy was decisively beaten.
That same year, Naxos decided to leave. The Athenians argued that this was illegal, and
the League’s forces to besiege the island and force it to rejoin. Thucydides points to this as a
turning point in the transformation of the Delian League into the Athenian empire.
Increasingly, member states either preferred, or were required, to contribute money, which
Athens used to build ships that were manned by its own citizens. Those ships, in practice,
were under Athenian rather than League control, and could be used to enforce Athenian
authority.
That authority was used again by Athens in 465, when Thasos seceded from the League.
The Athenian fleet laid siege to the island, and defeated it in 463. Like Naxos, it too was
required to pay tribute rather than contribute ships.
Up until 461 Athens had maintained friendly relations with Sparta. However, this changed
with the ostracism of Cimon. The city now embarked on a program of conflict with the
Peloponnesian League. It also tightened its grip on the Delian League, using political,
economic, military and judicial means to exercise control over its allies.
Politically, Athens took control of the League’s foreign policy, as evidenced by the fact that
the council ceased to meet after 460. Athens also made members states swear an oath of
loyalty to itself rather than to the League – something it could then use to justify punishing
them if they opposed its leadership.
Economically, Athens took control of the League’s finances, moving the treasury from
Delos to Athens itself. Increasingly, the money was used to fortify and beautify the city as
well as to maintain the fleet. Athens also enforced a uniform currency on its allies, with all
coins minted by itself. This stripped them of much of their independence.
Judicially, Athens insisted that the legal affairs of its allies be heard in its own courts,
where the outcomes could be manipulated in its favour.
Finally, Athens used League’s fleet to punish any states which attempted to secede. These
included Megara and Euboea in 447-46 and Samos in 440. It also stationed its own troops
inside the walls of states suspected of disloyalty, and established cleruchies on their land.
Hence by 440, the Delian League had been transformed from an alliance of equals to an
empire under the control of Athens.