The Delian League :The Delian League was an association about 150 Greek city states under the leadership of Athens, whose main purpose was to continue fighting Persia after the Greek victory in the 479BC. According to Thucydides (1.96), the official aim of the League was to "avenge the wrongs they suffered by ravaging the territory of the king." In reality, this goal was divided into three main efforts - to prepare for future invasion, to seek revenge against Persia, and to organize a means of dividing spoils of war. League members swore to have the same friends and enemies, and dropped ingots of iron into the sea to symbolize the permanence of their alliance. The Delian League


Formation :Formation When the Persians retreated from Greece, the Hellenic League began to show tensions. Although Sparta had contributed the most to the war and had fought the deciding battle at Plataea, the victory over the Persians would not have been possible without the Athenian navy, which remained powerful after the war. All the Greek cities in Ionia lived under the direct threat of Persian invasion and revenge; Sparta, being a land-based military, was in no position to defend these city-states. So these city-states, and the city-states of the islands in the Aegean, turned to Athens and her powerful navy for protection and alliance. The city-states in the south of Greece, and some in the north, turned to Sparta, which had led the Greek League in the war against the Persians. Thus was set up the great rivalry between these two diametrically opposed Greek states and cultures.


Formation 2 :Formation 2 The Persians had become a permanent fixture in Greek life; Greek experience throughout the fifth century BC was lived under the shadow of a possible Persian return. For Persia remained powerful and revenge was always on the horizon. In 478 BC, one year after the final defeat of the Persians, representatives from the Greek city-states of Asia Minor and the islands scattered throughout the Aegean Sea, met on the island of Delos—a sacred island associated with the cult of Apollo—to discuss an alliance with the Athenians. They swore oaths of alliance to each other and to Athens; thus was born the Delian League. This new league had several purposes besides defence; one of these was to wage a military campaign against the Persians to free those Greek cities that were still under the control of the Persians. Although Athens was the leader of the League, each city-state had one vote—the League was essentially a democratic alliance between equals.


Aims/Goals :Aims/Goals To increase Athenian power in the Aegean To spread the values of democracy and destroy tyranny To liberate Ionia from Persian influence To ransack Persian territory and take booty as compensation for the damage suffered in the Persian Wars To unite the disparate Greek states To form a rival power bloc to the Peloponnesian League To push the Persian Wars into Persian territory To protect Greece from any future Persian invasion


Activity 1 :Activity 1 Rank the eight ‘aims’ on the previous slide from 1 (most important) to 8 (least important) For the top 4 reasons, write one sentence explaining why you think it is so important Classify each aim as either ‘offensive’ or ‘defensive’ “The formation of the Delian League was not really about fighting Persia; it was more about increasing Athenian power.” Discuss the above statement (one paragraph)


Organisation :Organisation Meetings and Treasury at Delos 150+ members Aristides fixed each members’ tribute payment Tribute (phoros) totalled 460 talents, and was paid to Athenian officials called hellenotamiae States that contributed ships retained control of them Initially all states were independent and equal Policy was decided by a Synod – one vote per state, but Athens often pushed votes in a certain direction All states took an oath to have the same enemies and friends, and accepted Athens as leader of the alliance Athens was hegemon (leader) and assessed tribute, collected money, and contributed most ships and men


Activity 2 :Activity 2 Which aspects of the League’s organisation were fair and equal to all members? Which aspects favoured Athens? How does the organisation of the League show us that Athens was the leading member?


Benefits for members :Benefits for members Can you think of five benefits for the smaller members of the League? 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)


Benefits for Athens :Benefits for Athens Power of being the leader and able to coerce other Greek states to follow her lead Wealth – received money as payment for organising the League Was the permanent leader of the League and fleet Controlled the tribute. Athenian officials in charge of the treasury Presided over the Synod and influenced policy and strategy Criminal cases were brought before the League and tried at Athens Received half the booty from campaigns against the Persians Sale of captured slaves added to revenue Piraeus was the main port of the Aegean (trade benefits) Allies were forced to trade with Athens Employment flourished in shipbuilding and related activities When a state revolted, Athens established a cleruchy (settlement) of Athenian citizens there.


Actions :Actions The League busily set about fighting the Persians, freeing city after city until they achieved a decisive victory against the Persians in c.469 BC, at Eurymedon River. This battle freed several Greek cities, all of which joined the league. Many cities joined unwillingly; they were coerced by the League members sometimes under threat of destruction. Although the League was essentially democratic, they believed that the safety of the League and its objectives would be seriously compromised by states independent of the League.   Athens during all this time was led by a powerfully brilliant political leader named Cimon, who was the son of Miltiades, the great hero of the battle of Marathon. Under his leadership, Athens and the League constantly and aggressively attacked the Persians; as the League grew, the power of Athens, as leader of the League, grew proportionately.


Athens :Athens Athens itself grew tremendously wealthy during this time; part of the agreement of the League involved tax payments by other members of the League to Athens for maintaining the fleet. With all that wealth, Athens began to invest in large building projects (such as the Acropolis), in drama, in art, and in crafts. The great flowering of Athenian culture begins in the heyday years of the Delian League, as wealth and power seemed to flow to Athens as if it were the center of the world.


League to Empire :League to Empire The turning point in the Delian League came with the revolt of a small island city, Thasos. Unhappy with the League and payments to Athens, Thasos rebelled against the League. Cimon promptly squashed this revolt; however, the reaction to the Thasos rebellion was the first time in the League history where a decision was made only in regard to the interests of Athens rather than the interests of the League as a whole. At home, Cimon became unpopular, and a radical democratic movement, under the leadership of Pericles, challenged his authority. As Athens stood on the brink of becoming a democratic state, Pericles stood ready to move the Delian League into an Athenian Empire.


Empire :Empire In 461 BC, under the leadership of Pericles, Cimon was ousted from power. Athens overnight changed direction in domestic and foreign politics. In foreign affairs, Athens began to define its role in direct relationship with Sparta rather than in relationship with Persia. Immediately after the exile of Cimon, the Athenians formed an alliance with Argos, a long-standing rival of Sparta. They later formed an alliance with Megara, the city which lay directly in the path of the route from Athens to the Peloponnesus, the southern part of Greece. To get at Athens, then, the Spartans would first have to go through the Megarans. The Spartans, as you can imagine, grew suspicious of these moves, particularly the alliance with Megara, and began a campaign against the Athenians: the First Peloponnesian War.


Empire 2 :Empire 2 Athens dominated the war in its early years, but a disastrous campaign against the Persians in Egypt decimated the Athenian navy and inspired several members of the Delian League to revolt. For the Delian League had imperceptibly become the Athenian Empire; the alliance was less about the security of the League as equal states, and more about Athenian power politics in Greece. Reeling from the Egyptian defeat and the various rebellions, Athens made peace with the Spartans. In 449 BC, Athens stopped the war with Persia that it had been aggressively pursuing since 478 BC.


Wealthy ’Hegemon’ :Wealthy ’Hegemon’ Before the peace with Sparta, Athens benefitted from the taxes paid into the League and began growing quite wealthy; after the peace, the Athenians moved the treasury to Athens and began keeping one sixtieth of all the revenue. The Athenians began to grew especially wealthy. The League, after all, was no longer at war with Persia, but the tribute money kept rolling in. At this stage, when the League had lost its military justification and when the tribute money was no longer really going for defence, the League in reality had become an Athenian empire. Reaction among the tribute states was mixed; some city-states eagerly participated in the empire, but most disliked the pressure of Athenian control and taxation. As Athens grew more and more powerful and the city more opulent, discontent grew among the tribute states. However, the Spartans, in particular, grew increasingly distrustful of Athenian power and wealth. It was becoming apparent that even without the continental territory, the Athenians were a major threat to Sparta and its influence.


Achievements :Achievements The achievements of the League by 440BC: Persia was defeated at Eurymedon River Many Ionian cities were liberated from Persian rule Athenian democracy was stronger than ever, and democracy was spreading throughout the Greek world Money, booty and slaves flowed into Greece Athens had become the wealthiest and most powerful Greek state Trade had increased in Greece, benefitting Athens Persia did not again invade Greece The League had become an Athenian empire League members who resisted Athenian rule were punished or conquered Rivalry had grown between Athens and Sparta and a destructive war loomed between the two Peace was signed with Persia in 449BC Athenian culture flourished as Athenian power grew


Activity 3 :Activity 3 Ranks the achievements (Slide 17) from 1 to 12 Compare the goals & aims (Slide 5) with the achievements (Slide17). Which goals were met? Which goals were not met? “By 440 BC, the Delian League had fulfilled all of the aims it had set for itself 40 years previously”. Discuss this statement (one paragraph) Compare the Benefits to members (Slide 9) with the actions and achievements of the League. In your view, did the League end up benefitting or disadvantaging the member states? (One paragraph) Practice essay (2 pages) “Explain the aims and activities of the Delian League during the period 478-440BC.”