Delian League/Athenian Empire Flashcards
(37 cards)
Pre-Delian league – The Persian Empire
- The King of Persia – Darius I (550 – 486)
- The King of Persia – Xerxes (486 – 465)
- Building on a continually expanding empire.
- Taking over Europe was his objective.
- Persian Empire invaded Greece in 490 BC.
Major battles of the Persian wars
- Battle of Marathon – 490 BC Battle between the Persians (Darius I) and the Athenians- GREEK VICTORY
- Battle of Thermopylae – 480 BC- Battle between the Spartan and Persians (Xerxes)- PERSIAN VICTORY
- Battle of Salamis – 480 BC - Sea Battle between the Athenians and Persians (Xerxes)- GREEK VICTORY
What did the Greeks have to do next?
- 478BC Greek states needed to consolidate power against the Persians.
- Hellenic League preceded this, Sparta had been in control.
- Sparta happy to give up power due to their own domestic concerns.Other states happy to allow Athens to take control
- Athenians held in high regard after Salamis
- Had a large experienced navy
- Sparta and Athens on friendly terms at this time
- Therefore Athens given hegemonia.
Athens begins to grow…
- After the Persian Wars, Athens had the most powerful Naval force in Greece.
- Sparta still had the most powerful land force.
- Sparta did not want the Athenians to rebuild their fortifications but Athens ignored this and rebuilt them.
- Relationship between Athens and Sparta now very strained.
Key Dates
479-478 BC:
- Persians left Greece.
- Athens emerged as leading naval power, Sparta as military land power.
- Conflicts arose between the Spartans and Athenians. Sparta did not wish Athens to rebuild her fortifications; Athens ignored Sparta and rebuilt them any way.
- After this incident relations between Athens and Sparta were strained.
Key Dates
478 BC
The Delian League Formed
- The Persian Mopping Up- Two Greek expeditions led by Sparta:
1. Led by the king Leotychidas of Sparta against Northern Greece where support for the Persians had been at its strongest. Failure, Spartan king found guilty of corruption.
- Led by Spartan Regent Pausanias. Brought Cyprus into Greek control. Byzantium captured. Pausanias’ behaviour annoyed the other Greek states, Athens was asked to take command. Beginning of Athens becoming a major power.
Original Administration before the transition into a private Athenian empire:
- Athens had a leading role, but originally the other members governed themselves and had a vote in the decisions related to the league.
- Athens as the executive leader had a separate vote, which equalled in strength the combined decision of the other member states.
- Again it was a voluntary alliance, but on its creation member states swore an oath that it would last forever.
Taking an oath:
- Oaths very much more significant in the ancient world than they are today.
- People connected Oaths with their relationships with the gods.
- All the voluntary states had to take oath of allegiance to the League that was life-long.
- They threw iron into the sea as a symbol of the seriousness and weight of their oath.
aims of the league: Against Persian invasion
- The league had three broad aims or mission statements:
1. The official aim was to compensate themselves for their losses by ravaging the territory of the King of Persia (Thucydides).
2. To liberate all Greek states under Persian control.
3. To protect Ionia and mainland Greece from Persian attack. - Therefore it was both an offensive and defensive alliance.
Athens quickly became the leading state, due to its willingness to lead and its effective navy.
financing the league
- The headquarters and Treasury of the league were originally kept on the island of Delos.
- It was chosen because it was a sanctuary site and therefore neutral, also because it was midway between Athens and Asia Minor and it had a good harbour.
- Some states would provide money, some ships
- Regular system of contributions. Allies requested that Aristides be in charge of this. He drew up a list of contributions which was considered fair and based on states’ ability to pay.
- To be collected and supervised by hellenotomiae (treasurers)
- Those providing ships were in control of and responsible for them.
- Expected to serve in the League’s fleet for a portion of the year.
- This was expensive – dangers of casualties of men & ships, therefore many states eventually preferred to give money instead.
- Money contributions (phoros) paid directly into the League’s treasury at Delos
Athens’ position
- Permanent leader (hegemon)
- Executive powers: Aristides assessed tribute
- 10 Athenian officials collected and supervised tribute
- Cimon was the leader of the fleet
- Contributed the largest number of ships and men.
- NO EVIDENCE THAT THE AIM WAS TO DEVELOP IMPERIAL POWER
When did Athens become an imperial leader?
- No specific date
- Between the years of 472 – 449 BC
- From the point of view of the allies, it would have been at different times.
- It would have depended on whether or not Athens had to use force against them.
Transition to empire
472 BC
- The forcing of Carystus to join the Delian league to prevent them from forming an alliance with Persia.
- To make war on a state that wished to remain neutral and to deprive it of its independence was a clear sign of imperial behaviour from Athens.
469 BC
The revolt and conquest of Naxos:
- Naxos was a member state who wished to leave the alliance and revolted against the league of states led by Athens. Athens besieged and defeated Naxos.
- It lost its independence and may have had to surrender its fleet and become a tribute paying member state at this point. The league supported this as once a member state had joined their contributions were compulsory not voluntary.
468 BC
- Two major naval victories won by League, increased Athens naval power, skills and confidence. Major victory over the Persians at Eurymedon, from here on the Persians are no longer a threat.
- At this point many members switched from paying contributions of ships to providing money; this meant that many states had little naval power themselves whereas Athens was increasing hers all the time in numbers of ships and experience.
Transition to empire
468 BC
- With the victory at Eurymedon there no longer seemed to be a Persian threat and many of the league members wanted to disband the league.
- However the Athenians, influenced by Pericles, had other ideas. Pericles was responsible for the final developments of Athenian democracy and he actively encouraged the Athenians to build an empire.
465 BC
- In 465 the island of Thasos decided it wanted to leave the league. The Athenians disagreed and decided to besiege the island. The siege lasted two years ending with the Athenians victorious.
- The Thasians were punished severely – their navy was confiscated, the city walls demolished, their mint was closed and land owned by the Thasians on the mainland was taken over by the Athenians, they were forced to pay a large fine and an annual tribute/tax to Athens.
457 BC
- Aegina was an island 15 miles off the coast of Attica which Athens had never really got on with. In 456 relations deteriorated into a war and a siege. The siege lasted two years with the Athenians again emerging victorious.
- The Aeginatans were forced to hand over their fleet, join the Delian League as a subject state and pay an annual tribute of 30 talents, which was the largest single contribution of any of the subject states.
Allied forces were used in battles that only suited Athens e.g. against Boeotia and Aegina.
456 BC
- A Libyan Prince, Inaros, asked the League for help in a rebellion against Persian rule in Egypt. Athens welcomed the chance to attack the Persians and sent a large part of her fleet to help the rebellion.
- Some initial success but largely a disaster- Athens lost practically her whole navy. Athens was beaten back. Athenians probably lost because their forces were divided, they were fighting in Greece also.
456 BC
- As a result of the defeat in Egypt, Athens decided to move the League Treasury from Delos to Athens, where it would be ‘safer’ and where they could have easier access to it.
- Many of the states were still paying money into the League, but they were no longer voluntary contributions, rather they were called Tributes to Athens. A tribute could be a sum of money or quotas of ships provided as demanded by Athens.
449 BC
Peace of Callias:
- In 449 a peace treaty was negotiated between the Persians and the Greeks- Callias an Athenian negotiator gave his name to the treaty. The terms of the treaty were as follows:
- Persia agreed not to come within three days march of Asia Minor.
- Not to send warships into the Aegean and Propontis.
- The Greeks in Asia Minor were to be autonomous (self- governing).
- Athens agreed not to attack Persian territory.
- Athens agreed to give up claims to Cyprus and Egypt.
how did Athens gain so much power?
- The behaviour of the allies resulted in Athens gaining power and an empire:
1. The allies became more and more reluctant to provide the man power required for their own defence against the Persians.
2. Therefore instead of increasing their own experience and strength they provided money for Athens.
3. Thus Athens built up her navy and experience, whilst the allies effectively got weaker.
4. The allies relied on and looked to Athens for protection, thus giving Athens power over them.
5. If any allies tried to leave they were easily forced back into the league/empire by the might of the Athenian navy.
How did Athens rule its Empire?
- Athens gradually gained control over the Delian League and made it into its own private empire; however it would only maintain this control for a period of about fifty years.
- To understand why Athens lost its empire we must look at two things:
1. The pressures of the war with Sparta
2. The administration of the empire by Athens.
Pressures of the Peloponnesian War
- Athens was at war with Sparta for almost thirty years, which put a huge financial and military pressure on Athens.
- As a result relations with its empire suffered.
- At around 460BC Athens had three military concerns the Spartans, the Persians and the loyalty of the allies.
- Athens increased its tribute demands upon its allies and continued to pursue an aggressive imperialistic policy.
- Much of the empire was unhappy at the prospect of fighting other Greeks and hatred of Athens built up
Aspects to know for the Delian League
- Taxation and Tribute
- Attacking Fellow Greeks
- Garrisons Installed
- Oaths of Loyalty
- Trials in Athenian Law Courts Pressures of the
- Athenian Settlements/Cleruchies Peloponnesian War with
- The Destruction of Melos Sparta
- Democracies Installed
- Coinage
- pressures of the Peloponnesian War with Sparta
- Taxation and Tribute
- Taxation and Tribute - Athens ensured her continued growth on monetary and naval strength through her use of the empire. She ensured they paid tribute to them each year in March.
- Tribute was a sum of money that the allies of Athens had to pay to Athens. It was a form of taxation.
- The money was sent to Athens treasury and the Athenians felt they could use it as they saw fit.
- The amounts set heavily varied and could be increased as Athens saw fit.
- The funds collected were used for the payment of state officials and jurors, for the maintenance of the fleet and payment of the rowers and soldiers, for the building of temples and to help pay for festivals.
- Aristophanes describes imperial revenue coming not only from tribute but also from court fees, mine rents, market and harbour dues.
- Attacking Fellow Greeks
-Attacking fellow greeks During these years Athens attacked Aegina for her own reasons. Aegina was forced to pay the largest single contribution of any subject in the League (30 talents) - this must have created fear and resentment among the allies.
- Thasos
- Three years after the Battle of Eurymedon, in 465, the island of Thasos decided to leave the League.
- The Athenians sent ships to besiege the island, and the islanders asked the Spartans to help them.
- Unfortunately for them the Spartans could not come, as a recent severe earthquake had destroyed part of Sparta and encouraged the helots of Messenia, whom the Spartans used as slaves, to rebel against the Spartans. (In fact this rebellion was so serious that the Spartans actually had to ask other Greek states to help them deal with it.)
Thasos
- The siege of Thasos lasted for two years, and when it ended the Athenians punished the people very harshly: they confiscated the Thasian navy, demolished their city walls, closed their mint and seized control of land owned by the Thasians on the nearby mainland.
- They also forced the Thasians to pay a large fine (known as an “indemnity”) and thereafter pay an annual tax (called a “tribute”) directly to the Athenians.
- Clearly the Athenians believed that the Delian League, once an alliance of equals, was now an empire over which they, the Athenians, had control.
Aegina
- The island of Aegina lies about 15 miles south-west of Attica.
- Its inhabitants had never got on particularly well with the Athenians, and in 456, after a war and siege lasting about two years, the Athenians captured the island.
- The Aeginetans were forced to hand over their fleet, join the Delian League as a subject state and pay an annual tribute of 30 talents, which was the largest single contribution of any of the subject states. (This incident was in fact part of a more widespread war which Athens was involved in against other states including Sparta on the Greek mainland. The Athenians were hoping to build a land empire to combine with their maritime empire, but their hopes ended in failure.)
- Garrisons Installed:
- Athens installed garrison in rebellious cities. They were sent to keep the natives in control but to also protect any Athenian inspectors or commissioners.
Oaths of Loyalty
- Allies were made to swear oaths of loyalty to Athens.
- In 447 the island of Euboea revolted against Athens. The rebellion was quickly suppressed and the citizens of the Euboean city of Chalcis were forced to swear an oath of allegiance to Athens, including the following statements:
- I will not revolt against the Athenian people;
- I will pay tribute to the Athenians;
- I will aid the Athenians if anyone wrongs them;
- I will be obedient to the Athenian people.
Clearly, the League of equal members no longer existed.
- Trials in Athenian Law Courts
- As time went by Athens demanded that many trials concerning allies should be referred to Athenian law courts. This caused resentment for the following reasons:
- The allies became discontented at a further loss of their independence.
- They would have had to pay to travel to Athens, pay court fees, lodging and food.
- They would have also had to face a potentially biased Athenian jury and would have little knowledge of the Athenian legal system.
