Download The Delian League

The Delian League
Following the defeat of the Persians at Salamis in
480, led by Athens, the Greeks wanted to form a
more permanent alliance (team) just in case the
Persians were to return to fight once again.
Meetings began on the Greek island of Delos. The
result was the Delian League. Most of the
members of the Delian league were located on the
Aegean Sea, and traded with each other.
At its height the Delian League numbered some
two hundred members which met annually on
Delos. Athens was its undisputed leader and
gradually used the alliance and the money
generated from it as a launching point for its own
ambitious goals. By 454, the League's treasury
was moved to Athens. Pericles then used the
money to beautify Athens, by building monuments
of imperial splendor such as the Parthenon.
Athens had become an empire in all but name.
Five years later a permanent peace was made with
the Persians and its very reason for existing was
no longer needed, but by then most of the other
members of the alliance had already lost its
independence to Athens. But there were citystates that never joined the alliance, like Sparta
and its allies. These two groups, one lead by
Athens, and the other by Sparta, will eventually
lead to the Peloponnesian War, and the decline of
both city-states.
Answer me this: Was Athens justified/smart in using money from the Delian League to beautify its city?
Points to consider: The money was supposed to be used for the Navy, Athens did build and man the ships,
Athens was burnt to the ground in the Persian Wars. Support your answer.
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In the 5th century B.C.E., during the Golden Age of Athens, the city-state came to dominate the
Aegean world. Through the military and trade alliance of the Delian League, Athens was able to
force other city-states to remain loyal to her. In addition, the Athenians required member city-states
of the Delian League to pay Athens tribute money – payments of loyalty which amounted to perhaps
$200 million in modern day amounts.
Alarmed at the forcefulness of Athenian control over many of the Greek
city-states, some turned to Sparta, Athens’s chief rival, for protection
and direction. The Spartans and their allies banded together in a second
powerful confederation called the Peloponnesian League.
The leagues came to dominate the Greek peninsula from 454 to 431
B.C.E. These two armed and powerful city-states eventually went to
war against one another in a series of conflicts known as the
Peloponnesian Wars, beginning in 431.
The Athenian monopoly in the Aegean region had caused much strain between Athens and her
neighbors. War broke out when a member of the Peloponnesian League, the city of Corinth, became
embroiled in a conflict with Athens over trading colonies. At the request of the Corinthians, Sparta
and the Peloponnesian League declared war on Athens in 431 B.C.E.
Pericles, the ruler of Athens, based his
strategy on Athenian sea power. He
abandoned the farmlands surrounding
the city and moved the farmers and
their families into Athens. Everyone
was fed imports of grain that came into
the Athenian port at Piraeus just five
miles away.
Since Sparta did not have an adequate
navy, it looked as though Athens might
be able to hold out forever. However,
in 430 B.C.E., a plague broke out in
Athens. Many people died, suffering
dreadful symptoms such as vomiting,
painful sores, and harsh diarrhea.
Pericles himself died in 429.
Many in the city were afraid they were being punished by their gods through the plague. This
affected their confidence in meeting the challenge of the Spartan military on land. The death rate
from disease was so high (approximately one-third of the people in Athens died) that the Athenians
were unable to adequately man their warships.
War continued for another ten years until the Athenians and Spartans agreed to a 50-year truce, or
peace, in 421 B.C.E. However, by 415, Athens was up to its old ways again - bullying its neighbors –
and the Peloponnesian Wars resumed.
In 413 B.C.E., the Spartan army began permanent occupation of the Athenian countryside. The great
silver mines of Athens came under Spartan control and 20,000 Athenian slave-miners declared their
loyalty to Sparta. Slowly the Athenians were being defeated.
In 404 B.C.E., with no powerful leader having replaced Pericles, the Athenians surrendered and were
forced by the Spartans and the Peloponnesian League to tear down their defensive walls and reduce
their navy to 12 ships.
While the Golden Age of Athens came to an end, the city did remain an important cultural center and
home to the most famous philosophers in all of ancient Greece, including Socrates (469-399 B.C.E.)
and Plato (427-347 B.C.E.). The ideas of Socrates and the writings of his pupil, Plato soon became
the cornerstones of Ancient Greek philosophy.
Explain This: What was Pericles strategy? How was it supposed to work? What was the result?
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Decline of the City-States
After the Peloponnesian War, most Greeks began to lose their sense of community. The war had
lasted a long time and had cost a great deal of money. People became more interested in making
money and having a good time. Soon, bitterness developed between the upper and lower classes
within each polis.
After the war, Sparta ruled Greece. The
Spartans were harsh rulers who angered the
other Greeks. As a result, in 371 B.C.E., a
group of city-states led by Thebes overthrew
Spartan rule. The rule of Thebes, however,
was no better than that of Sparta. It
weakened the city-states even more. The
Greeks were no longer strong enough or united
enough to fight off invaders. In 338 B.C.E.,
Philip II of Macedonia conquered and united
Greece, but it would be his son Alexander who
would conquer much of the known world,
spreading Greek culture throughout it.