Delian League introduction PP

The Delian League: An Introduction: 

The Delian League: An Introduction

The Delian League - background: 

The Delian League - background The Delian League was formed in 478BC. It was a maritime federation. Members: Ionian Greeks, Athens and her allies (see map). Athens was hegemon, or leader. Over time, Athens increased her control at the expense of allied members. Transition from League to EMPIRE.

How did Athens become hegemon?: 

How did Athens become hegemon? After Mycale, the Spartans returned home. Athens and the Ionians besieged Sestos and took it from the Persians returning home with their spoils. Chios, Lesbos and Samos asked Athens for help to expel the Persians. The Athenians and Ionians wanted to free the Aegean and Hellespont from the Persians. The Athenians and Ionians relied on grain from the Black Sea and on Aegean trade for their wealth. Sparta was agriculturally self sufficient. Are you getting the gist…..???????????

Sparta: 

Sparta Was already leader of the Peloponnesian League Was still seen as the military leader of the combined Greek forces However, this was beginning to change with the emergence of Athens Peloponnesian states began to question Sparta’s leadership of the P.L. Sparta therefore continued the fight against the Persians.

Pausanias: 

Pausanias Pausanias, the hero of Plataea continued to lead the Greek forces. Leading the fleet, Pausanias secured most of Cyprus and conquered Byzantium, where he kept the allied fleet, protecting the Greek seafarers. However, because of his many successes, Pausanias became quite unbearable, adopting an arrogant attitude, making himself unpopular with the other Greek leaders. Eventually Pausanias was recalled to Sparta to face charges of corruption. Sparta relinquished the role of leadership to Athens.

Pausanias: 

Pausanias The Athenians were already well liked… but the grasping and overbearing conduct of Pausanias served to endear them (the Athenians) to the Greeks even more. The allied commanders were constantly treated with arrogance and ill temper by Pausanias, and their men punished with floggings or by being forced to stand all day with an iron anchor on their shoulders. No one was allowed to get straw for bedding or fodder for his horse, or to draw water until the Spartans had helped themselves, and their servants, who were armed with whips, would drive away anyone who approached. (Plutarch)

The main reasons why Athens became the leaders of the League.: 

The main reasons why Athens became the leaders of the League. Their kinship with the Ionian Greeks Spartan isolationism Athens's naval power and reputation after Salamis The arrogance of Pausanias The courteous behaviour of the Athenian General Artistides.

Aristides: 

Aristides Before the Spartans knew it, Aristides had eased them out of the leadership, and he did this not with the help of troops or ships or cavalry, but through tact and diplomacy…. The generals and admirals of the Greek expeditions, especially those of Chios, Samos and Lesbos, approached Aristides and pressed him to accept the supreme command and rally around him the allies who had long wished to be quit of Sparta and to transfer their support to Athens. Aristides told them that he regarded their proposals as both necessary and just. (Plutarch)

Aristides: 

Aristides Research the military and political career of Aristides the Just. Plutarch, The rise and fall of Athens, chapter 4 ‘Aristides’. Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War : Book 1.

Aims of the Delian League : 

Aims of the Delian League Aristotle: Constitution of the Athenians “ Aristides administered to the Ionians the oath by which they swore to have the same enemies and the same friends as the Athenians. It was in confirmation of this oath that they cast the heavy pieces of iron into the sea”

Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War, 1:96: 

Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War, 1:96 “The Athenians object being to compensate themselves for their losses by ravaging the territory of the King of Persia”

John Fine p.333: 

John Fine p.333 The Greeks’ aims probably also included their determination to protect those Greek states which had already revolted from Persia and to liberate those still under Persian rule.

Organisation of the League: 

Organisation of the League It is uncertain which states joined the Delian League at its outset. Chios, Lesbos and Samos were founding members, as were most of the Ionian poleis. Most of the states that joined were hoping to be freed from the threat of Persian domination and share trading interests with Athens. The Athenians invited all interested parties to meet on the island of Delos.

Why Delos?: 

Why Delos? It possessed an excellent harbour. Was slap bang in the middle of the Aegean. Was a cult centre for Apollo – an important god for all Greeks. A sacred site Delos became the HQ and treasury of the League.

Delos: 

Delos

Tribute: phoros: 

Tribute: phoros The Delian League did not have a written constitution. To fund the alliance and carry out the purposes of the League, money and ships were needed. This tribute was called phoros and all member states were expected to contribute. The Athenians appointed treasures, Hellenotamiae, to collect the annual tribute.

Tribute: Plutarch (Aristides): 

Tribute: Plutarch (Aristides) The Greeks applied …for the services of Aristides and appointed him to survey the various territories and their revenues, and then to fix their contributions according to each member’s worth and ability to pay.. He drew up the list of assessments not only with scrupulous integrity and justice, but also in such a way that all the states felt they had been appropriately and satisfactorily dealt with…. The Tax which Aristides imposed amounted to 460 talents.