The Delian League

What was the Delian League?

• The Delian League (Athenian League) was an alliance of Greek city-states led by Athens.

• Although Athens and Sparta set aside their differences during the Persian Wars to defeat their common enemy, when the wars ended, they once again continued their rivalry.

• The League was formed in 478BCE to liberate eastern Greek cities from Persian rule and as a defence to possible revenge attacks from Persia following the Greek victories at Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea in the early 5th century BCE.

• Sparta didn't join the Delian League because it was led by Athens and Athens and Sparta were traditionally rivals.

Pausanias written by Thucydides: Pt.1 of 3

• Son of Cleombrotus, he went around with twenty Peloponnesian and thirty Athenian ships and overtook Cyprus and the Persian-controlled Byzantium.

• "Pausanias had already begin to reveal the arrogance of his nature, and he was becoming unpopular with the Hellenes, particularly with the Ionians and those who had recently been liberated from Persian domination."

• "Serious charges had been made against him by Hellenes arriving at Sparta: instead of acting as commander-in-chief, he appeared to be trying to set himself up as a dictator. It happened that he was recalled just at the time when, because of his unpopularity, his allies, apart from the soldiers of the Peloponnese, had gone over to the side of the Athenians."

• He was charged with various injustices against individuals but was also accused of collaborating with the Persians, with seemingly good evidence.

• Dorcis was sent as a new commander-in-chief, "but by this time the allies were no longer willing to accept them as supreme commanders."

Pausanias written by Thucydides: Pt.2 of 3

• The Spartans were fearful of their overseas commanders falling to similar corruption, and did not try for leadership. Athens took over with Sparta's favour, and the allies were content, because of their dislike of Pausanias.

• The Athenians demanded that the Spartans drive out the curse of the goddess of the Brazen House. This was referring to Pausanias leaving for the town of Hermione without Spartan consent, with the pretence of joining the national struggle against Persia, but instead to intrigue the Persian King.

• Pausanias' first Persian sympathy was releasing the Persian prisoners he had captured when he took Byzantium. He covered this up as an escape to the other Greeks. He did this of his own accord and proceeded to tell the King in a letter,

• "Even before this Pausanias had had a great reputation among the Hellenes because of his generalship at the Battle of Plataea, and now, when he received this letter (from Xerxes), he thought even more of himself and could no longer bear to live in the ordinary way."

Pausanias written by Thucydides: Pt.3 of 3

• Pausanias, while in Byzantium, dressed in the Persian style of clothes, kept Persian and Egyptian bodyguards and held Persian banquets, and soon enough his intentions were obvious.

• "He shut himself off from normal contacts and behaved towards everyone alike in such a high-handed way that no one was able to come near him. This was one of the chief reasons why the allied forces turned towards the Athenians."

• Pausanias was declared a public enemy by the Spartans, and his confidence that he could bribe his way out he returned, where he was imprisoned by the ephors. He was released and the Spartans struggled to find enough evidence to condemn him. Pausanias did try to convince the helots to join him in a revolt, and then his arrest was planned.

• Pausanias fled and walled up inside the temple of the Goddess of the Brazen House, where he was then discovered and starved out. He died of starvation as soon as they planned to let him out.

• The Spartans accused the Athenian Themistocles of the same crimes as Pausanias, and the Athenians agreed to punish him.

How did the Hellenic League come to an end?

• Sparta became too power hunger and all of the remaining city-states decided to disband and began warring with Sparta.

• The Hellenic League had no clear goals beyond the expulsion of the Persians, so once the invasion was over the League began to crumble.

• Following the actions of Pausanias, Sparta (alongside most other city-states) withdrew support from the campaigns throughout the Aegean.

• The Hellenic League was functionally, if not legally, over.

How was the Delian League formed in 478BCE and what were its goals?

• This is in stark contrast to the usual state of affairs in Greece, where Sparta was seen as the major power (Aristagoras went to them first) and was Hegemon of the Peloponnesian League.

• Instead of the Hellenic League a new series of alliances between Athens and newly liberated Ionian city-states began to form - the Delian League

• The Delian League's main and obvious goal was the liberation of the Ionian Greeks from Persian control, and the protection of the Aegean against the Persians.

• The actions of Pausanias, the reluctance of Sparta to assist the Ionians and the prestige gained by Athens throughout the Persian Invasions led to Athens being hegemon of the Delian League.

What was important about the oath taken to solidify a city-state's involvement in the Delian League?

• "Hence it was Aristides who assessed the tributes of the allied states on the first occasion, two years after the naval battle of Salamis, in the archonship of Timosthenes, and who administered the oaths to the Ionians when they swore to have the same enemies and friends, ratifying their oaths by letting lumps of iron sink to the bottom out at sea." (Aristotle)

• The sinking of the iron implies that this oath is permanent- the oath is binding until the iron rises up from the water (which it never will).

• This sets a precedent for the League membership - no one is allowed to leave the Delian League, and that even though it has temporary goals, the League itself is not temporary.

• If the oath was broken the Athenians promised to destroy the revolting city-state and burn its city to the ground.

Where did the Delian League secure its wealth?

• Each time the Delian League captured a city from the Persians (which happened frequently as first as they liberated the Aegean and Ionia), slaves and other ransacked wealth would flow back to the allies.

• Many of the city-states in the Delian League were wealthy with mines, and so a proportion of these deposits were donated to the caused of the League.

• Persians and pirates were expelled from the Aegean and the new port at Piraeus was a huge trade hub - trade becomes widespread and many allies benefit greatly.

• The Athenians, as hegemon, taxed their own people heavily to fund the expenses of the Delian League.

What did the protection of the Delian League look like?

• The Delian League had a very powerful fleet - mostly provided by the Athenians themselves.

• This provided liberation and protection from the Persians for the Greeks throughout the Aegean - the Persian navy was severely weakened by Greeks already.

• The Ionian Greeks obviously resented the Persians, as shown by the Ionian Revolt (449 - 493BCE)

• Athens also strongly encouraged democracies in all member states, protecting from the oligarchic members of their own cities.

What was tribute, or phoros, in the Delian League?

• All Delian League members had to pay phoros to the Athenias, which scaled to their own power and wealth.

• This included regular payments and material goods claimed from the Persians.

• At first, this tribute mostly consisted of ships and men to sail the ships in the campaigns against the Persians.

• As the Persian threat ended (and Athens confiscated fleets from disloyal members), this tribute shifted to monetary tribute which was kept at the neutral island of Delos.