Delian League Flashcards
what is one way Pericles justified building the Parthenon in Athens? Why is this unfair?
it was built using money from the Delian League. He justified its Resurrection by saying that the Athenians could do what they wished with their money as long as the islands were protected, this would have angered the islands as they would have felt taken advantage of by Athens.
What is another way Pericles justified building the Parthenon in Athens? Why is this unfair?
Pericles also justified the building by saying that it created economic benefits for the citizens of Athens. this was an outright neglect of the rest of the delian league as it was as is Athens was saying that they didn’t matter because Athens’ contributions had to be glorified over theirs, which would have seemed unfair.
What did Athens do with currency? Why is this unfair?
Athens made their coinage the League/Empire’s official currency, this made it easier to collect tribute and reinforced the fact that these other league members were under Athens’ control and answered to her. this was unfair because part of their individuality was taken away from them for an, increasingly, seemingly pointless cause as it was obvious that Athens didn’t care about them
what was the oath of loyalty? why was this unfair?
an oath of loyalty to Athens was implemented to suppress revolt as the oath made the league promise not to revolt, pay tribute, aid Athens if anyone wronged them and to be obedient to Athenian people. this was unfair because it was seeming more and more like slavery rather than a symbiotic relationship that the League was supposed to be.
how would Athens deal with members who wanted to leave the league? why was this unfair?
essentially, Athens bullied the members who tried to leave through demonstrations of power via attacks (i.e. Naxos) this was unfair as it turned what was supposed to be an optional thing into their own personal empire complete with hostile takeovers. this was not fair to the other islands that now felt trapped.
why did the league believe that Athens was loosening their grip on them?
when the Athenians saw an opening for a takeover, they went for it, they were loosening their grip on keeping Persia at bay and tightening their iron fist on their ‘allies’, forcing them into an empire that they didn’t want.
