How and why did Athens become an Empire?
During the Persian wars, Athens became the most dominant naval power in the world.
The Ionians sought a powerful ally like Athens for protection from the Persians. At the
beginning the Delian League was to be beneficial for both Athens and her allies, however
because of radical democracy, the leadership of Aristides, Cimon and in particular
Pericles and his aggressive imperial policy Athens had transformed the Delian League
into the Athenian Empire. This essay will discuss how Athens became not only a member
but leader of the Delian League; it will also examine Aristides, Cimon and Pericles fight
for the right to set the direction of the League, Pericles’ foreign policy and finally
Sparta’s response to Athens growing power.
Athens willingly and in fact, eagerly became the leader of the Delian League because of
self interest and the opportunities that it would provide for her. After the Greeks final
victory over the Persians in 479 BC, some of the Greek communities in the Aegean still
sought liberation from Persian control. The Ionians first looked to Sparta to secure and
maintain their independence. However Sparta was more concerned with problems that
affected them and so were apprehensive about having to ensure the safety of the Ionians
as well. Sparta was under constant threat from the Helots, they had an independent grain
supply and they lacked a navy large enough ensure the Ionians safety. Sparta’s loss of
supreme military command was not only because of traditional security and religious
issues but also the Peloponnesian states began to question Sparta’s leadership of the
Peloponnesian League and Pausanias’ “grasping and overbearing conduct” towards the
Greeks at the end of the war. Pausanias’ actions in particular as well as Sparta’s attitude
that the Ionians should return to the mainland for protection, this greatly angered the
larger Ionian settlements being Chios, Lesbos and Samos. Plutarch states that the allies
“approached Aristides and pressed him to accept the supreme command and rally around
him the allies who had long wished to be quit of Sparta and to transfer their support to
Athens.” Athens was the obvious alternative to Sparta. Athens had proven herself as a
more than capable leader through the likes of Xanthippus and Aristides and Athens
victory at Salamis and the removal of Persian control in Asia Minor.
Leadership of the League was in the best interests of Athens. Athens was heavily
dependent on maritime trade, and so like the Allies, control of the shipping lanes would
be essential for Athens growth. Athens moving away from a landed aristocracy meant
that because Athens was a democracy, was forced to seek her wealth through trade and so
taking leadership of the Delian League was a logical decision. Lastly, Athens had the
same ancestry as the Ionians, unlike the Spartans.
When the Delian League was formed it was set out to be mutually beneficial for Athens
and the Allies as it was an aggressive as well as a defensive alliance, they had “the same
enemies and the same friends”. The structure and organisation of the League can be
largely attributed to Aristides, whose reputation among the Athenians and the Allies was
seen as the honourable politician and was given the nickname ‘the Just’. Meetings and
the treasury were to be held at the island of Delos, which was located in the central
Aegean. Each member was to be represented by a deputy, they were to be free and equal
and each member had one vote and all votes were equal. At council meetings policy was
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discussed. Aristides devised a regular system of phoros (contributions) which, according
to Plutarch, was done with “scrupulous integrity and justice, but also in such a way that
all the states felt they had been appropriately and satisfactorily dealt with.” The
contributions consisted of money payments and ships (which would be needed to support
a constant state of war against the League’s enemies.)
Although Thucydides argues that Athens plan all along had been to “compensate
themselves for their losses by ravaging the territory of the King of Persia”, their initial
actions were structured, according to Bradley, “not only with fairness and integrity but
also with kindness and good will.” Since the Allies were to be free and equal members
they may not have realised that their membership would become permanent. However
Aristotle points out the oath of allegiance that the Allies and Athenians had made, they
threw lumps of iron into the sea to symbolise an alliance that would last until the metal
floated. This suggests that both Athens and the Allies thought the oaths to be permanent
and an attempt to leave the alliance would be viewed as an act of war. Due to the fairness
of the phoros, the ability of the assembly to vote on either: contributing ships, men or
money, and Athens agreement to collect the phoros (which was seen as a burden), meant
there was little objection about the purpose of the League.
Athens’ radical democracy allowed greater participation by ordinary citizens. It’s
considered radical because of the selection by lot, rotation of offices, collegiality and the
payment for services. This radical democracy allowed people such as Aristides, Cimon,
Pericles and others to compete for control over the direction of the League. Aristides
management of the League was soon replaced by Cimon who took control as the
oligarchic faction’s general. Cimon was renowned for his military prowess. He managed
to take control of the Aegean in the battles of Byzantium, Eion, Caria, Eurymedon and
also conquered Sycrus which was inhabited by non-Greek pirates. Cimon did not have
complete power over the League’s actions. He followed a new policy of Panhellenic
idealism, showing particular favour to the Spartans. When Themistocles’ fortified
Athens’ city and harbour, Sparta was deeply angered because they feared Athens’
growing dominance and imperialism. Cimon’s pro-Spartan attitude during this time was
not very popular among the Athenians “afterwards, when [Athens’] power had grown and
they saw that Cimon was wholeheartedly attached to the Spartans, they resented this”. In
464 BC the Spartans sought help with the helot revolt; Cimon took 4000 hoplites with
him in the name of Panhellenic friendship. However the Spartans singled the Athenians
out from the other allies and sent them away because they feared they were “dangerous
revolutionaries”. When Cimon returned to Athens he was blamed for Sparta’s insulting
behaviour and as a result was ostracised in 461 BC.
Pericles represented the democratic faction and through his exceptional ability as
a speaker and manipulation of the voting system was able to mould Athens domestic and
foreign policy. In 461 BC Pericles continued with Themistocles and Ephialtes antiSpartan policies and democratic reforms. Pericles’ popularity is largely due to him giving
dignity to the poorer classes. Unlike Cimon who gave charity or hand outs to the poor,
Pericles gave them employment, introducing payment for citizens for their services to the
state. By doing this Pericles ensured their vote and loyalty. Pericles became such a
powerful figure in Athens because he was the Strategoi, or general, this was the most
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important position in Athens because the Strategoi was elected annually and could be reelected, their role was to conduct foreign policy and call meetings of the Assembly. The
Strategoi, archons, Areopagus and boule were the ones who presented laws to be voted
on in the ecclesia, every Athenian could stand up in the ecclesia and persuade others to
vote in their favour. However Pericles recognised that because of his abilities as a
speaker and politician and his understanding of the system he had more power than the
archons, as they were elected annually and could not be re-elected. By being in power for
15 years (461-446 BC), Pericles was able to convince Athenians to accept his policies.
Pericles embarked on an aggressive imperial policy to maintain his position in Athens.
He continued the ongoing existence and expansion of the League, which resulted in
Athens becoming more ruthless toward the allies. Pericles directed the great wealth that
came into the treasury and restored the temples destroyed by the Persians and built many
new structures, the most impressive of which was the Parthenon on the Acropolis. This
building programme provided employment for the poorer citizens. The fact that when
Pericles did not deliver on some of his promises, and as a result was not re-elected for
that year, only strengthens the idea that both Pericles and the voters were abusing the
system. As well as his aggressive imperial policy, Pericles was able to control who voted
by reforming Athens citizenship laws, allowing people with both parents of Athenian
ancestry the right to be an Athenian citizen. "So in what was nominally a democracy,
power was really in the hands of the first citizen" (2.65). Pericles's policies were based on
a simple idea: Athenian control over her empire must be maintained at all costs.
The aims of the offensive actions undertaken by Pericles were not only for imperialistic
purposes, but also trade. As a result, revolts from members of the League such as Thasos
in 465 BC, and Naxos and Samos in 440 BC needed to be efficiently subdued because
Athens needed control of their grain and shipping lanes. Although Athens gained victory
easily due to the allies being crippled by the phoros, the heavy handedness meant that
many of the allies were deeply resentful and bitter and required constant surveillance.
Thucydides states that Pericles recognised the "empire [was] now like a tyranny: it may
have been wrong to take it; it is certainly dangerous to let it go."
Pericles formed various measures to keep the allies under Athenian control. He attempted
to strip them of their independence by forcing them to use Athenian coinage, weights and
measures, all law trials where held in Athens which gave Athenian citizens employment
and income. The final transformation of the Delian League into the Athenian Empire was
a result of the subject states swearing oaths of allegiance to Athens and the instalment of
puppet governments, garrisons and cleruchies in these allied states, to ensure Athens’ best
interests. This further suppression of the allies did succeed initially, however the allies
began to move in closer allegiance with the Spartans who offered them independence.
The formation of the Athenian Empire caused great fear among the Spartans. Members of
the Peloponnesian League were threatened but also jealous of Athens prosperity, Pericles
was responsible for Athens’ golden age of philosophy, architecture, art and mathematics.
As a result, tensions between Athens and Sparta spilled over. In 447BC at the battle of
Korenea, Tolmides’ Athenian forces were defeated by Sparta, which led to revolts and
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other victories to Sparta. This victory had severely damaged Athens’ land empire.
Consequently Pericles signed the Thirty Years Truce in 446 BC with Sparta in order to
regain control of the maritime empire, reduce the number of fronts being fought on and to
prepare for war with Sparta, but only when it was most advantageous for Athens. Pericles
transformation of Athens into an empire had made war with Sparta all but inevitable.
In the initial stages, the League was structured to be beneficial for Athens and the allies.
Radical democracy, the leadership of Aritides, Cimon and especially Pericles and his
aggressive imperial policy transformed the allies from being independent states into a
powerful empire in which all members became subject to Athens via methods of control.
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