The Delian League

Pericles political intelligence, his way of communicating with the people, and his military status and tactics were legendary and exemplify why he was the one to create a better life for the people of Athens. When Pericles became leader of Athens, the Delian league was having extreme success in the Persian wars. Thucydides describes Pericles as being “the first citizen” of Athenian democracy (History, n.d.). During Pericles reign the Assembly, the council and the courts were all significant parts of the democratic system of government. The Assembly made the executive decisions, the council were the committee for the assembly, and the courts where were citizens made decisions depending on what the majority of the people wanted (Hornaday, J. 2009). The money that the Delian league made in the Persian wars Pericles used to restore monuments all over Athens. This clearly showed how successful the league was and how strong it had become since being created (Crystalinks. n.d.). The radical democracy during Pericles reign made sure that citizens were paid to take part in public affairs this was known as “pay for service”. This enabled several 1000 thetes males and male citizens in general to take part in the assembly and popular courts (Purdue University. (n.d.). Pericles was necessary for democracy to become as successful and powerful as it did which ultimately influenced current modern

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.

Athens and Sparta were both dominant powers in ancient Greece. However, a legendary rivalry existed between the two. When Athens ended its alliance with Corcyra in 433 B.C. and began to surround Potidaea, it threatened Corinth’s position. Sparta feared that Athens was becoming too powerful and tried to avert war. The Spartans believed that peace was possible if the Athenians would revoke measures against Sparta's ally, Megara. The Athenian leader, Pericles, refused to concur with this because Sparta and Athens had earlier agreed that conflicts would be solved by negotiation. If the Athenians would yield to Sparta's request, they would in fact be accepting Sparta’s orders. This was unacceptable, and as a result, war broke out. Athens and its Delian League were attacked by Sparta and its Peloponnesian League. Diodorus mentions that the Spartans did not just declare war, but sought additional support from Persia.

The open Athenian democracy stood in stark contrast to the strict oligarchy of Sparta. A political, philosophical and cultural center, Athens' power and prosperity depended on its command of its great maritime empire, which was centered on the Aegean Sea. Its navy grew along with the alliance.

Today, much of the world’s governments have converted to democracies. In the Ancient World, there was only one truly notable example of a democratic society: The City-State of Athens. This is actually the birthplace of democracy, where instead of the rich or powerful ruling, it was the citizens of the city-state that held the power. This advanced way of government was so effective and well structured, it even laid the foundations for the development of our own democracy, right here in the United States, over 2,000 years in the future. Prior to Athens’s collapse during the Peloponnesian War, it truly had an efficient and very organized system of government.

Explain the methods used by the Athenians to transform the Delian League into the Athenian Empire. (25 marks) There is certainty no evidence to suggest that the Athenians had any long-term plans, in the years 479-470 BC, to change the Delian League into an empire, although from the beginning the potential to develop into an imperial power were there. Because from the beginning, Athens had considerable power as she was the permanent hegemon.The most important aspects involving the transformation of League into empire was the changing relationships between Athens and her allies, Periclesʼ imperial policy, Athensʼ selfish self interest in gaining more power by using the Leagueʼs power and establishing laws onto her allies such as the Coinage

The exiting of Sparta from this alliance at the conclusion of the war gave way for Athens to rise as the power which controlled the alliance. This gave Athens control of much of the coast, and allowed them to control and build up great commercial power. This would lead to the creation of the Athenian Empire. Athens would hold power until war breaks out between them and Sparta. Athens would eventually fall to Sparta with the defeat of her navy at

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.

- 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,

Thesis: The period between the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars can be considered the Golden Age of Athens. It was the golden age because Athens thrived in multiple characteristics of an empire. Context:

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

It is apparent that the objective of the Iroquois was to socially bond and gradually diffuse their cultures to those in the North American region. However, the Delian League had an isolationist perspective, with the goals of resisting foreign pressures and protecting those admitted into the league. The background leading up the formation of the league composed of political struggles between the Greeks and Persians. The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states under the leadership of Athens. However, a series of Greek revolutions against Persian rule led to further Persian attacks across the land, most notably Xerxes’ second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC, taking an enormous army and navy to Greece, letting all of Greece except the Peloponnesus thus having fallen into Persian hands. However, Greece defeated the Persian invasion force in the following year, ending the invasion and the threat to Greece, and hence boosting Greek nationalism and hence the desire to create a

The Delian League was an establishment formed in 478 BC. A large number of Greek cities formed an alliance under this league and together aimed to provide a strong defence against Persia, under the

Greek democracy was best developed in the city-state of Athens from where the very word “democracy”, meaning “the rule of the people” stems. People ‘ruled’ by electing officials through lot and making important decisions by majority rule. Democracy was direct, meaning that the Athenians “allowed the whole citizenry to assemble in the central eklisia, or the equivalent today of the main city hall, to vote on important issues” (Makedon 1995). In this sense, Athenian democracy differed from representative democracy that is currently prevalent in most states, in which officials are elected through democratic vote and then given authority to make decisions for the people. In Athens, elected officials were paid, but the pay was very low so that it compared with the wages of the poorest citizens and only covered the compensation of their time and effort.

The last Olympic swimmer just touched the wall and the race has ended. Cameras are replaying every single movement from the race and a winner has been clearly decided. Just as these Olympic swimmers will gain a medal for placing, ancient Athens had numerous accomplishments of its own. Athens “prosperity … was due in large part to its stable and effective government” (SOURCE 1). When analyzing the history of ancient Athens, is easy to see how the accomplishments of a democracy, Greek philosophy, and Greek literature all shape Athens.