Download packages of information

Transformation of the Delian League into the Athenian Empire –
packages of information
1. Changes in Athenian policy – 465- 461 BC:

In 465 BC Thasos seceded from the Delian League. It was the richest island in the
northern Aegean, and objected to Athenian demands for a share of its mining
operations in Thrace.

The Athenian fleet laid siege to Thasos, and defeated it in 463. As punishment, Thasos
was forced to hand over its ships and mining interests to Athens, demolish its city walls,
and pay tribute rather than provide ships to the Delian League.

This was the first time Athens had used the League’s fleet to settle a dispute between
itself and another member of the League. It was a promise of things to come, and the
first sign that the League was becoming an Athenian Empire.

Up until 461 Athens had maintained friendly relations with Sparta. Cimon was happy to
cede military leadership to Sparta if it ceded naval leadership to Athens. However, this
changed following a devastating earthquake and slave revolt in Sparta in 464. Cimon
sent 4,000 soldiers to help the Spartans crush the revolt, but the Spartans ordered them
home, fearing they might spread ideas about democracy to the slave population. Cimon
was publicly humiliated and his chief political rival, Ephialtes, had him ostracised
(exciled) in 461.

Ephialtes and his ally Pericles now put an end to Cimon’s policy of cooperation with
Sparta, and embarked on a policy of conflict with the Peloponnesian League. In 461,
Athens allied itself with Sparta’s enemy Argos.
2. The imperial policy of Pericles, 460 – 445 BC:

With the ostracism of Cimon, Pericles became the leading politician in Athens until his
death in 429 BC. His policy was to expand the Delian League, establish a land empire for
Athens by weakening the Peloponnesian League, and continue hostilities with Persia.

To this end, Athens undertook a series of aggressive moves that alarmed its neighbours:
 It built the Long Walls, to connect Athens with Piraeus. Once built, the city could
never be cut off from its fleet, so could outlast a besieging army by importing food
and supplies.
 It made war on Aegina and forced it to join the Delian League.
 It allied itself with Megara, a city in conflict with Sparta’s ally Corinth.
 It sent ships and troops to Egypt, to support a revolt against Persian rule.

The Persians put down the revolt in Egypt in 454, inflicting a humiliating defeat on
Athens. In response, Athens recalled Cimon from exile in 451 to negotiate a truce with
Sparta. The Delian League then attacked the Persian navy off Cyprus and inflicted an
equally devastating defeat. In 448 Athens and Persia signed the Peace of Callias, ending
the conflict between them permanently.

In 447 – 446, Megara and Euboea revolted against Athenian rule. Athens lost control of
the former, but crushed the latter, forcing it back into the League. Samos also revolted
in 440, and met the same fate as Euboea.

According to Thucydides, Pericles conceded that although it was wrong to create an
empire, “it was certainly dangerous to let it go.”
1
3. Methods used by Athens to control its allies:

Athens used political, economic, judicial and military means to control its allies.

It took control of the Delian League’s foreign policy, as evidenced by the fact that the
council of the League ceased to meet. This occurred sometime after 460 BC.

Athens also exercised control over the League’s finances, particularly after the treasury
was moved from Delos to Athens. The money was used not only to maintain the fleet,
but to fortify and beautify Athens.

Athens enforced a uniform currency on its allies, with all coins minted in Athens itself.
This made trade easier, but gave Athens significant economic leverage.

Athens increasingly demanded that the legal affairs of its allies be heard in its own
courts, where the outcomes could be manipulated.

It also installed democratic governments in member states previously ruled by tyrants
or oligarchs – a move that was popular with the lower classes, and which kept them
loyal to Athens.

Athens made members states swear an oath of loyalty to itself rather than to the
League, and used force to prevent them from seceding.

States that were suspected of disloyalty had Athenian garrisons stationed inside their
walls.

Athens also established cleruchies (settlements of Athenian citizens) in strategic
locations and on the land of disloyal allies. These provided land for Athens’ poor, and
created safe ports for the Athenian fleet. However, they also created resentment
among the local people, whose land was handed over to the settlers.
4. Impact of the Athenian Empire on the member states:

Athens’ allies gained significant benefits by being part of its empire:
 They gained protection from Persian attack.
 They were protected from attack by other Greek states.
 They prospered from increased trade in the Aegean.
 They gained security from piracy, as the League cleared the Aegean of pirates.
 They gained democracy.

However, there were also key drawbacks:
 They lost their independence.
 They had to pay for a large fleet that was no longer needed, as the Persian threat
quickly subsided.
 They found themselves dragged into Athens’ wars.
5. Impact of the empire on Athens:

The benefits of the empire for Athens were obvious:
 It gained revenue from its allies in the form of tribute, which could be used to create
employment for its citizens. They worked as rowers, dock workers, soldiers and
craftsmen.
 Money poured into the city from increased trade and naval activity. Piraeus became
the busiest port in the Greek world.
 Athens became a major military power.

However, there were also disadvantages:
2
Pericles’ policies alientated Sparta and its allies. This eventually lead to the ruinous
Peloponnesian War.
 Imperial policies tainted Athenian democracy – particularly the brutal way revolts
were put down.

6. The role and contribution of Aristides the Just:

Aristides was a general at Marathon, serving alongside Miltiades and Themistocles. He is
said to have served them well.

He opposed Themistocles over the issue of relying on naval power. He also opposed him
over the issue of democracy. Aristides was against extending too much power to the
masses.

In 483 Aristides was ostracised, but was recalled in 480 as part of Athens’ policy of
reaching out to former enemies. He and Themistocles put aside their differences and
worked together against the common enemy – Persia.

Aristides supported Themistocles’ plan at Salamis – something which earned him great
praise from Herodotus. He also played a crucial role in the battle, leading the force that
wiped out the Persian troops on the island of Psyttaleia.

He was then sent to Sparta, to try to persuade or shame the Spartans into sending
troops to fight the Persians. In this he was successful. He then led the 8,000 Athenian
troops at Plataea.

When the Delian League was formed in 478, Aristides was given responsibility for its
administration, due to the respect he had gained at Marathon, Salamis and Plataea. It
was he who determined how much tribute each member state had to pay – something
Plutarch says he did with “scrupulous integrity and fairness.”

It was also Aristides who made members states swear an oath of allegiance to the
Delian League and gave the impression that membership was permanent.

He died in 468, the same year as the Persians were beaten in the Battle of Eurymedon.
With that battle, the Delian League had, in effect, achieved its purpose.
7.






The role and contribution of Cimon to the Delian League:
Cimon was Miltiades’ son. Plutarch described him as being “as brave as Miltiades and as
intelligent as Themistocles,” and “a juster man than either.” This made him a truly great
statesman.
In the lead-up to Salamis, Cimon supported Themistocles’ plan to evacuate Athens and
rely on the navy. He fought well in the battle itself, winning respect from his fellow
citizens.
When the Delian League was formed in 478, Cimon and Aristides became its leaders –
with Cimon commanding the fleet and Aristides taking charge of administration. The
two men also shared a wariness of democracy, so allied together against Themistocles.
During this period the League liberated every Greek city in Thrace and Asia Minor, and
expelled the Persians from the region. It also plundered Persian territory.
Cimon also oversaw the expansion of the League, forcing Carystus to join in 472 BC. He
also used League forces to besiege Naxos and force it to rejoin the League following its
rebellion in 468.
In 468 Xerxes gathered a force of soldiers and ships, in the hope of regaining part of his
empire. He sailed this north to the Eurymedon River, to the south of Asia Minor. Cimon
decided to attack it before Xerxes’ Phoenician ships could arrive.
3




The Persian ships were destroyed, and their land force scattered. Cimon gathered a
great deal of booty from this campaign, which was shared between Athens and its. He
then sailed south and destroyed the Phoenician fleet. Xerxes’ hopes of another invasion
were dashed, and he was forced to sign a peace treaty in which he promised to keep
has ships away from Asia Minor.
Cimon’s policy while commander of the fleet was to maintain friendly relations with
Sparta. However, this changed following an earthquake in Sparta in 464. Cimon sent
4,000 soldiers to aid Sparta rebuild, but the Spartans ordered them home, fearing they
might spread ideas about democracy to the local slave population (the helots). Cimon
was publicly humiliated, and his chief political rival, Ephialtes, had him ostracised
(exciled) in 461.
Ephialtes and his ally Pericles now embarked on a policy of conflict with Sparta. This
policy resulted in serious problems for Athens, including military defeat in Egypt. In
response, Cimon was recalled in 451 to negotiate a truce with Sparta. He then led the
Delian League in an attack on the Persian navy off Cyprus, inflicting a devastating blow
that ended the Persian threat permanently. Cimon died during this campaign.
The historian Victor Ehrenberg describes Cimon as “a great patriot who never tried to
gain personal power beyond that of a legally elected strategos [general]. Like Aristides
... Cimon was no diehard, no extremist in politics; he became one of the builders
indirectly of democracy and directly of Athenian rule of the Aegean.”
4