The emergence of Athens as the new dominant power over Hellas was a consequence of Sparta's inability to adapt to new conditions due to its tradition of conservatism and isolation. Athens on the other hand, was a state of vitalism since its democratic institutions gave the Athenian people an incentive to grow economically and this induced the expansion of the city's influence beyond the Sphere of Attica. The ability of Athens to be far-sighted made the city realize that its geographical location which was in poor land could only produce a meager subsistence and a low standard of living. The leaders of Athens such as Solon, knew very well that their city could only survive and grow through becoming a sea-power which could enable it to trade for wheat and other commodities.
Control of the sea for commercial trade wasn't the only purpose behind the emergence of Athens as a sea power.Being a city in the plains of Attica, Athens had no natural protection against invaders and therefore the only solution for its defense was the building of a powerful navy. This strategy was to prove itself correct in the consequent years when it was put into practice during the new Persian invasions where not only Athens, but the whole of Greece was saved mainly because of the Athenian navy.
The recognition of the Athenian supremacy over Sparta was undisputed among the newly-freed city states of the Aegean and the Asia Minor coast. This was even more re-enforced after the Spartans decided to retreat to the Peloponnese instead of helping the Athenians to free the Eastern Greeks of Asia Minor who had revolted against Persian rule over them. The battle of Sestos and the Athenian capture of the city gave Athens the official recognition as deliverers of the Eastern Greeks from the Persian yoke.
In the name of freedom and the protection from the barbarians, Athens undertook the responsibility of being ηγεμών or leader of the rescued cities. In the winter of 478-7 B.C., the voluntary confederacy of Delos was formed and the treasury of the league was established on the sacred island of Delos hence its from this island that the league took its name.
The league included the Ionian and Aeolian cities of Asia Minor, the islands adjacent to its coast from Lesbos to Rhodes, a large number of towns on the Propontis (Pontus) and some in Thrace, most of the Cyclades islands and all of Evboea except Carystus.
By declaring itself as the originator of the Ionian cities and therefore of all Greeks of the Ionian stock, Athens farther reinforced her claim as ηγεμών (leader) of the Confederacy, and took the liberty of setting down the tribute that each state had to pay. Some states had to provide ships and some money. The ships where incorporated into the Athenian navy and the number of ships that each city state had to contribute was changed annually.With these assessments of the φόρος or tribute on each member of the league, Athens was well on its way to becoming an empire.
As it was stated before, the original purpose of the Delos confederacy was to protect and free Eastern Greeks from Persian domination. The tribute money was supposed to cover campaigns and the building of new ships. Even though some of the money must have been spent for these purposes, most of it went into the reserve.
The Athenian fleet was increased and kept in good condition from the contributions of ships from the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, and probably Thasos, which were all rich in timber. It was this increase in its fleet that enabled Athens to wage campaigns against Persia which resulted in the capture of Eion-a most important stronghold of the Persians-which in tern helped to deliver the Asia Minor cities of the areas of Caria and Lycia from Persian rule. The cities from these districts were constrained and joined the confederacy.
Following up this success under the leaderships of Cimon, the Athenians won a battle in Eurymedon which freed Greece from all dangers on the side of the Persian Empire.
The purpose of the Athenian expedition in the eastern Mediterranean was to open up a trading route between that area and Athens so that badly needed wheat could reach the port of Piraeus. The later expeditions to free the Greek cities of the island of Cyprus and to help Egypt throw off the Persian yoke, where done with this intension.
Athens' allies in the meantime were increasingly reluctant to continue active campaigning abroad since the threat from Persia had gone. Many states started revolting with the islands of Naxos and Thasos first.Both islands were capitulated by Athens. The Athenian imperialist "might is right"policy was demonstrated very well in those 469-65 B.C. revolts and similar approaches were taken with other revolts which weren't few in number.
Upon the subjection of the revolting states, their autonomy was completely taken away and a constitution set up by Athens replaced it. Many times Athenian garrisons and civil officers were left behind in order to prevent farther troubles.
By the middle of the 5th century B.C., the turning of the alliance into an empire was well advanced. A further advance in Athenian imperialism was when the treasury was moved from Delos to Athens. The motive behind the transfer was to make league funds more accessible to Athens so that it could be used for its own purposes.
Under the leadership of Pericles, who was a strong statesman, Athens rose to become the greatest city state of Greece and of the then known world. Using the funds of the league, tribute payments from subjugated states, and money accumulated by their newly found wealth, the Athenians build majestic monuments for their city such as the Parthenon which are still marveled at to this day.
The greatness of 5th century B.C. Athens wasn't just its architecture-that was only one element of it.The whole city was bursting with life as thousands of aliens poured into its walls taking advantage of a good economy and the safety that it offered. The husbandmen and craftsmen, the retail dealers and the foreign traders however could have not been lured into Athens if it wasn't for its sea-power and the supremacy of the Athenian navy.
Being the mistress of the sea, Athens forced all trading ships in the Aegean to stop at the port of Piraeus were goods from all over the world could be traded or transshipped for re-export after duties were put on them. By doing this, Athens assured a constant food-supply which met the demands of the city's growing population and created jobs for its skilled and unskilled labor force. Above all it enabled the city to become a trading center which stimulated economic growth and a higher standard of living.
In the meantime, Athen's rival, Sparta, was getting restless upon seeing the increasing dominance and prosperity of the city. Sparta and its allies in the Peloponnesian league feared the naval empire of Athens and its rapidly extending trade because it competed with them. The Spartans who where of Dorian stock tried to include other Dorian city states in the Peloponnesian league in order to better its position against her Ionian rival, Athens.
The Peloponnesians had already tried to come to the aid of their Dorian brothers in Northern Greece by invading the region in 457 B.C. and setting up Thebes as a powerful state in order to hold Athens in check. However,this proved to be a failure to a great extent since this operation led to an assault on Athens by the Spartans and their allies which resulted in Athens capturing many Dorian cities.
The outcome was to make Athens not only a maritime power but also a continental one as well. The Spartans were not too keen in fighting battles outside the Peloponnese and after a few more loosing confrontations with Athens, they decided to come to terms with the Athenians and agreed to a thirty years' peace. In the agreement both parties agreed not to admit an ally of the other into its alliance, and neutral states could join whichever alliance they chose.
The feelings of hatred between the Peloponnesian league and Athens and its allies was steadily growing and the "Thirty Years' Peace" agreement between them did not put Spartan's mind to rest. The fear that Athens would try to extend its empire over the whole of Greece, was always constant and the increasing power and wealth of Athens, alarmed the Peloponnesians. Everybody felt that a final struggle would not take long to come.
The peace of Callias in 449 B.C. between Persia and Athens, had enabled Athens to divert its attention from the Eastern Mediterranean, and concentrate on maintaining and expanding its empire.With the peace of Callias, the original purpose of the Delian league was not longer in
effect, many of the allies wanted to secede from the league but Athens had already developed a firm control over them and it was able to hold its empire together. The revolt of Samos in 440 B.C. and its consequent siege and reduction was a lesson to be taught to other allies.
With its powerful fleet having firm control over its Aegean domination, Athens turned its ambitions of expansion westward.Since Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean was lost to the Persians, the Athenians needed to open up a new route so that they could develop trade for wheat and other commodities. However this westward expansion of Athens came into direct conflict with Corinth-a Dorian city of the Peloponnese whose wealth depended almost entirely on its trade with Sicily and Italy. The Athenians were entering into trade with the Greeks of Sicily and Italy at the expense of Corinth and the Corinthians were outraged at this Athenian intervention.
Corinth who was a leading member of the Peloponnesian league and had taken part in signing the "Thirty Years' Peace' agreement with Athens, was looking for an excuse to break the peace and enter into war with Athens in order to defend its trading interests. The Corinthians were at this time involved in a quarrel with their own colony of Kerkyra, the island state in the Ionian sea, and it was from this quarrel that Corinth found the excuse to come to open arms with Athens.
Kerkyra and Corinth had their differences for many years. Kerkyra, which had become one of the richest Greek city states of the day, had long stopped paying any honorary respect to its founder and mother city-Corinth. The Corinthians hated the Kerkyraeans for their wealth and felt that they neglected their mother city. In 435 B.C., the Corinthians decided to make an expedition against kerkyra in order to teach their colony a lesson of respect. The two states fought a naval battle in the Ionian sea in which kerkyra was the victor.
Corinth began to prepare for a greater effort against its powerful and detested colony. The work for preparation frightened Kerkyra, for while Corinth had the Peloponnesian league at her back, Kerkyra had no allies. The Kerkyraeans sent an embassy to Athens and asked the Athenians to accept them in their league. The Athenians had much to benefit with Kerkyra in their domain, because this island state could be used as a stronghold for their expansion to Sicily and Italy. Athens thus received Kerkyra into its alliance and sent ships to kerkyra in order to assist the state against Corinth.
When the Corinthians sailed against Kerkyra, the Athenians joined the Kerkyraeans in the sea battle and saved the city-state from being taken over by Corinth. The Corinthians returned back to their city, but before doing that, they sent a formal protest to the Athenians for braking the 'Thirty Years' truce. The excuse for declaring war on Athens was at last found.
In 431 B.C., after many strong debates at the Spartan assembly, Corinth and other coastal towns of the Peloponnese, convinced Sparta and the majority of the members of the Peloponnesian league to declare war against Athens. The main argument emphasized by Corinth and other coastal towns to convince the states of the interior-Sparta included-was that these states depended on the coastal states for the imports they needed from the outside of the Peloponnese and to market their exports. If Athens was left to dominate their trading routes, the Peloponnese would be cut off from the trading market and shortages of food and other commodities would occur. Such an outcome had to be stopped and the only way was to go to war against Athens.
The war that broke out between the Peloponnesian confederacy and Athens and her allies was to become widely known as the Peloponnesian War and it was to last for almost forty years. It was a civil war between Greeks of Dorian stock against Greeks of Ιοnian stock, and viceversa. Greek states fighting other Greek states.During the course of the Peloponnesian war, from 431 B.C. to 404 B.C., the Hellenic world saw itself being destroyed and its wealth and majesty fading away. The Greeks destroyed each other and at the same time destroyed themselves.
Athens not only had to fight against its Dorian enemies, it had to also fight against its own allies who revolted. These revolts were dealt with a very harsh manner, with the biggest atrocities committed on the islanders of Melos where all the adult males were sentenced to death, and the women and children were enslaved.
With the continuation of war against Sparta and its allies, Athens found it increasingly difficult to keep its allies under control and started losing them one by one. The reason that Athens lost the power of to control its allies is related to the loss of power of the Athenian fleet. After the catastrophic defeat of Athens in its Sicilian expedition, Athens had lost a large number of triremes to the Dorian Syracusians along with thousands of warriors. The state of affairs for Athens was hopelessly bad and the closing of the Lavrion mines in 413 B.C. left the city without a revenue supply.
The loss of many allies of Athens marked the downfall of the Athenian empire and after Sparta's military treaty with Persia, the survival of the city of Athens itself was in question.
The Persians financially helped the Spartans built a large fleet and it sailed off to meet the Athenians in a battle. The Peloponnesians met the Athenians at Aegospotami which was a bad position because it was an open beach without harbor. After a few days waiting, the Peloponnesian squadron found the Athenian fleet defenseless and captured it. With the capture of the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami by the Peloponnesians, the Athenian empire was transferred over to them. The city of Athens was blockaded and the people in it starved until they had no choice but to surrender.
Upon the surrender of Athens in 404 B.C., an assembly of the Peloponnesian allies was organized in order to decide what to do with their captured enemy. The general feeling was that no mercy should be shown. Most of the attendants at the assembly wanted to see Athens utterly destroyed and the whole people sold into slavery. However Sparta resolutely rejected the barbarous proposal of the confederacy because Athens was a Greek city which had done many noble services to Greece against the Persian invaders. Thus Athens was saved.
This post was researched and written by Noctoc
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