Athens: The Advantages Of The Delian League

The besiegement of Thasos revealed Athens' true motivations behind the League and the future plans for her allies. According to _Ancient Greece Using Sources_ Thasos was one of the largest and richest members of the Delian League, and a conflict broke out between Athens and Thasos over the gold mining on the island. Thasos then attempted to withdraw from the League, as the Persians were no longer a threat in the Aegean, and Athens was demanding too much for too little in return.

Fifth-century Athens refers to the Greek city-state of Athens in the period of roughly 480 BC-404 BC. This was a period of Athenian political hegemony, economic growth and cultural flourishing formerly known as the Golden Age of Athens or The Age of Pericles. The period began in 480 BC when an Athenian-led coalition of city-states, known as the Delian League, defeated the Persians at Salamis. As the fifth century wore on, what started as an alliance of independent city-states gradually became an Athenian empire. Eventually, Athens abandoned the pretense of parity among its allies and relocated the Delian League treasury from Delos to Athens, where it funded the building of the AthenianAcropolis. With its enemies

The Athenian Empire was a more voluntary alliance of city-states that were impressed by the Athenian Navy's prowess in the Persian War and were willing to pay for its protection. Athens used this revenue to further improve its navy, as well as improve its own infrastructure and defenses. Included in these improvements was the construction of large walls around the city and down to the port at Piraeus, home of the Athenian Navy.

The Greeks closest to the Persian Empire after the war created the Delian League to protect them from the Persians. The Greeks chose the Athenians to lead them. The Spartans were originally asked to lead them, but the kind was very arrogant, so they retracted their offer. The Spartans then created the Peloponnesian League because they didn’t think the Athenians should lead the Delian League because they were getting too much credit for defeating the Persians in the war. The two leagues didn’t get along at all. This rivalry eventually turned into the Peloponnesian War. This war went on for about 30 years. After the war, the government changed in Athens.

Democracy, the form of government in which there is a rule by the people, is said to have originated and thrived in the classical period of Athens, from 500-350 B.C.. Democracy inherently gave all that were considered citizens power to participate in politics. That being said, it is highly debated as to how much power the people, also known as the demos, exercised in this democracy. Many practices and informal institutions can be said to have limited the power of the demos. The democracy in Athens could be said to have been a democracy in theory yet not in practice, as can be proven through a variety of primary sources recounting Athenian political institutions and practices. Such primary sources that can demonstrate this include Herodotus’ History, Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War, and Demosthenes’ Oration Against Eubulides.

One way was the sea. Athens was located on the Attica peninsula so they were surrounded by water on three sides and Athens built its naval supremacy of Triremes. The Triremes gave Athens control of the Mediterranean Sea so they controlled trade and gained the name the “Big Olive.” A lot of the battles of the Persian war were fought with navies and the Trireme allowed for them to win the narrow straits of Salamis. The sea also greatly impacted economy. The Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Aegean Sea connected all of the land and islands of Ancient Greece so they could trade with one another. The Sea also allowed for travel and they could trade with other countries like Egypt. They could make a profit for their natural resources and benefit from obtaining resources that were not natural to Greece at the time. The biggest impact geography had on Greece was the land. The land was dry with only 20% arable land and it was extremely mountainous. The mountains ran from the northwest part of Greece to the southeast part along the Balkan Peninsula. Due to the dryness, the Greek city states were constantly looking to expand their land and the mountains caused each city state to be spread apart. This made them have decentralized governments. Also due to the mountainous geography, there were over 1000 Greek city states including Athens and Sparta. Land also was on Sparta’s side during the Peloponnesian

- Athens had become an imperial power
- Delian League ask for contributions & would not let anybody leave
- Trireme – row ship used for war
- Democracy in Athens
- Athens made a form of taxes
- Sophists – traveling teachers
- Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle - Athens had become an imperial power
- Delian League ask for contributions & would not let anybody leave
- Trireme – row ship used for war
- Democracy in Athens
- Athens made a form of taxes
- Sophists – traveling teachers
- Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle - Athens had become an imperial power
- Delian League ask for contributions & would not let anybody leave
- Trireme – row ship used for war
- Democracy in Athens
- Athens made a form of taxes
- Sophists – traveling teachers
- Socrates,

Athens has a better government system then the Roman Republic. some might say the Romans were better. But Athens is more about the people; they are also more secure. They are also carful with who can be a citizen rather then "stingy". They are just more carful.

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new,” said Socrates, a famous Greek philosopher. Athens was one of many city-states in Ancient Greece. This city-state had a form of government that was for the people to have a say. Athens had great geography that was advantageous for them. Athens also had many achievements culturally such as architecture and philosophy.

In turn, this political equality enabled all citizens to become involved. As a result of the freedom within one's private life, citizens of Athens kept to the law in matters regarding public life. Pericles discusses the Athenians' deep respect and commitment to upholding the laws in which the representatives, whom the people elect, create. With limited legal restrictions on what citizens can and cannot do, free enterprise flourished as well; living in such a dominant, prosperous state such as Athens opened up many international economic options. Through obeying the laws, regulations, and customs set forth by elected officials and supported by Athenian culture, as well as serving their country, the people of Athens stood to gain profit.

Once Sparta created his own rival league, the Peloponnesian League, feelings of jealousy accumulated towards the people of Athens and those feelings increased with competitive notions for power. Then when Athens attacked an ally of Sparta’s Peloponnesian League, Sparta decided

Investigating Athens' Treatment of Her Allies During the period of 478-431, Athens’ treatment of her allies changed dramatically as she rose to become the leader of an empire. The establishment of the Delian League marked the beginning of a significant series of events, which lead to Athens’ rise to extreme power. From the evidence of Thucydides and the inscriptions, it is possible to track the progress of these events and the rapidly changing treatment that Athens enforced upon her allies.

In Athens, the people they enslaved were their allies and covered it up by saying they were uniting them. When in reality they were truly taking advantage of them and only wanted to keep they own people safe. To keep their people safe Athens gained many Allies to protect their people. Not only did Athens use allies for protection but as source of revenue as well. Athens soon realized with out there allies they

The exporting area of Athens economy reached then Sicily, Egypt, and the Black Sea. New monuments were built and the city experienced its first jump in culture and arts. Athens was also the prime fighter during the war with Persia. This war aided by the existence of democratic governing helped Athens become Greece's leading city and the center of an allied state.

Greece’s Golden Age can be defined as a time of flourishing. There are many changes that occurred during this time that changed Athens for the better. Athens made the important decision of splitting itself from Sparta, who they constantly differed with. “It is from this split that the Athenian Empire was created” (Hunt 80). This split illustrates the certainty that the Athenians possessed in terms of creating a better nation. Athens developed an empire because democracy was expensive. In order for democracy to be created, you need an empire to raise money. The Athenian empire was well-known for its excellent trading along with the arts and sciences that developed during this time. When trade flourished, the polis grew which created