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90-570: Shortly after the Greek victory of 479 BC, Athens assumed the leadership of the Delian League , a coalition of states that wished to continue the war against Persia. This league experienced a number of successes and was soon established as the dominant military force of the Aegean . Athenian control over the league grew as some "allies" were reduced to the status of tribute-paying subjects and by

180-594: A second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC, taking an enormous (although oft-exaggerated) army and navy to Greece. Those Greeks who chose to resist (the 'Allies') were defeated in the twin simultaneous battles of Thermopylae on land and Artemisium at sea. All of Greece except the Peloponnesus thus having fallen into Persian hands, the Persians then seeking to destroy the Allied navy once and for all, suffered

270-676: A ceasefire. 447 —Athens' forces were defeated at Coronea, causing the Athenian army to flee Boeotia . 446 —The Peloponnesian Invasion of Attica: Athens continued their indirect war with Sparta by attempting to gain control of Delphi. City-states such as Megara and Euboea began to rebel against Athens and the Delian League when the Spartan Army invaded Athenian territory. 445 —The Thirty-Year Peace Between Athens and Sparta: After losing Attica, Boeotia and Megara, Athens agreed to

360-657: A complete change in Athenian foreign policy, neglecting the alliance with the Spartans and instead allying with her enemies, Argos and Thessaly . Megara deserted the Spartan-led Peloponnesian League and allied herself with Athens, allowing construction of a double line of walls across the Isthmus of Corinth and protecting Athens from attack from that quarter. Roughly a decade earlier, due to encouragement from influential speaker Themistocles ,

450-586: A decisive defeat at the Battle of Salamis . The following year, 479 BC, the Allies assembled the largest Greek army yet seen and defeated the Persian invasion force at the Battle of Plataea , ending the invasion and the threat to Greece. The Allied fleet defeated the remnants of the Persian fleet in the Battle of Mycale near the island of Samos—on the same day as Plataea, according to tradition. This action marks

540-464: A disastrous Persian-sponsored expedition in 499 BC, Aristagoras chose to declare Miletus a democracy. This triggered similar revolutions across Ionia, extending to Doris and Aeolis , beginning the Ionian Revolt . The Greek states of Athens and Eretria allowed themselves to be drawn into this conflict by Aristagoras, and during their only campaigning season (498 BC) they contributed to

630-506: A few skirmishes with other powers. Thucydides writes about how this period of growth was an inevitable cause of war, “Their supremacy grew during the interval between the present war and the Persian wars, through their military and political actions recounted below against the barbarians, against their own allies in revolt, and against the Peloponnesians whom they encountered on various occasions.” (1.97 [2]) Athenian naval supremacy

720-462: A force of 14,000. The Spartans were victorious in this battle. 457 —The Battle of Oenophyta: After the Spartans returned home from Tanagra, the Athenians conquered Boetia and Phocis after a battle at Oenophyta . They then proceeded to tear down Tanagra's fortifications. 450 —The Peace of Callias—Although this peace treaty is subject to scholarly debate, allegedly Athens and Persia agreed to

810-574: A force of 4,000 Hoplites to suppress the rebels. According to Thucydides, Sparta decided to dismiss Cimon's Athenian Army, because they felt that Athens would convince the Helots on Ithome to form a coalition and besiege Sparta. Spartans did not feel comfortable with such a large Athenian force inside their city. If the Athenians were to turn their backs on Sparta, the city would not be able to protect itself. At this point, Sparta acknowledged that Athens might be getting too powerful. According to Thucydides,

900-516: A force to capture the city of Byzantion (modern day Istanbul ). The siege was successful, but the behaviour of the Spartan general Pausanias alienated many of the Allies, and resulted in Pausanias's recall. After Byzantion, Sparta was eager to end its involvement in the war. The Spartans greatly feared the rise of the Athenians as a challenge to their power. Additionally, the Spartans were of

990-413: A hole in the rocks. A klepsydra, or "spring catchment," has been maintained as a village watering place. That is it is ancient is shown by the ancient system of channels constructed from it to the ancient urban area below. Mavromati is at 419 metres (1,375 feet), thus Messene was essentially at 119 metres (390 feet) and Mount Ithome loomed at 681 metres (2,234 feet) over it. As the most defensible point in

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1080-672: A key event of 454 BC was the moving of the treasury of the Delian League from Delos to Athens. This is often seen as a key marker of the transition from alliance to empire, but while it is significant, it is important to view the period as a whole when considering the development of Athenian imperialism, and not to focus on a single event as being the main contributor to it. At the start of the Peloponnesian War , only Chios and Lesbos were left to contribute ships, and these states were by now far too weak to secede without support. Lesbos tried to revolt first, and failed completely. Chios,

1170-407: A means of dividing spoils of war. The members were given a choice of either offering armed forces or paying a tax to the joint treasury; most states chose the tax. League members swore to have the same friends and enemies, and dropped ingots of iron into the sea to symbolize the permanence of their alliance. The Athenian politician Aristides would spend the rest of his life occupied in the affairs of

1260-638: A place called Bulcano is The Domains and Fiefs of the Principality of Achaia , composed for Marie of Bourbon, 1364. The Grand Seneschal of the Kingdom of Naples, Niccolo Acciajuoli , is said to possess Lo Castello de Bulcano (Messene) as a fief. The monastery on top, which dates to no later than the reign of the Byzantine emperor, Andronikos II Paleologus, 1282–1328, was probably known as Vurkano even then. The Archaeological Museum of Messenia dates

1350-527: A settlement going back to the Stone Age. The location of Messene is marked by massive city walls that include the east side of the ridge, where they protect the ancient zig-zagging road to the summit, the top of the ridge, a wide area around the bowl and end against the mountain on the north, an approximately rectangular circuit. The mountain itself protects the east side. These defenses were probably restored, rather than constructed anew, by Epaminondas. Within

1440-514: A symbolic gesture, Pericles moved it to Athens in 454 BC. By 431 BC, the threat that the League presented to Spartan hegemony combined with Athens's heavy-handed control of the Delian League prompted the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War ; the League was dissolved upon the war's conclusion in 404 BC under the direction of Lysander , the Spartan commander. Witnessing Sparta's growing hegemony in

1530-534: A thirty-year peace in return for all the conquered areas in the Peloponnesian region. From this point on, all future conflicts between Athens and Sparta were resolved under arbitration. 447 —Athenian Colonization and the Colony of Brea: With the 30-year peace treaty, Athens was able to concentrate attention towards growth rather than war. From 447 to 445, the Delian League was able to influence city-states near

1620-477: Is the northernmost of twin peaks in Messenia , Greece . Mount Ithome rises to about 800 metres (2,600 feet), about 760 metres (2,490 feet) over Valyra , the seat of Ithomi , the former municipality. The other peak is Mount Eva ( Greek : Εύα ), 700 metres (2,300 feet), connected to Mount Ithomi by a thin ridge 0.80 kilometres (0.50 miles) long. Mount Ithome is 25 kilometres (16 miles) north of Kalamata on

1710-603: The Aegean and the Anatolian coast. The Delian League was formed as an anti-Persian defensive association of equal city-states seeking protection under Athens, as the latter wished to extend its support towards the Ionian Greek colonies of Anatolia. By the mid-fifth century BC, the alliance had developed into a naval imperial power, called the Athenian Empire , where Athens established complete dominion and

1800-535: The Areopagus , claiming that they were abusing their powers. Part of the reform was to introduce " graphe paranomon " or public protest against illegal decrees. Any citizen would have the right to challenge a previous degree instilled by the Areopagus and claim it as invalid. The assembly would have to conduct a "dokimasia" or examination of state officials before they enter office. Opportunities for citizens to join

1890-416: The Battle of Tanagra (457 BC) . Without the patronymic or demotic it would have been impossible to identify the particular individual being referred to when multiplicity of the same name occurred, thus both reducing the impact of the long list and ensuring that individuals are deprived of their social context. After Ephialtes death, his younger partner Pericles continued with reforms, transforming Athens into

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1980-789: The Megarian Decree imposed strict economic sanctions on Megara, another Spartan ally. These disputes, along with a general perception that Athenian power had grown too powerful, led to the breakdown of the Thirty Years Peace; the Peloponnesian War broke out in 431 BC. 479 —Rebuilding of Athens: Although the Greeks were victorious in the Persian War, many Greeks believed that the Persians would retaliate. This led Athens to rebuild its city walls that were razed by

2070-565: The Peloponnesian War broke out. Those who revolted unsuccessfully during the war saw the example made of the Mytilenians , the principal people on Lesbos . After an unsuccessful revolt, the Athenians ordered the death of the entire male population. After some thought, they rescinded this order, and only put to death the leading 1000 ringleaders of the revolt, and redistributed the land of the entire island to Athenian shareholders, who were sent out to reside on Lesbos. This type of treatment

2160-573: The Peloponnesian league . With the withdrawal of these states, a congress was called on the holy island of Delos to institute a new alliance to continue the fight against the Persians; hence the modern designation "Delian League". According to Thucydides, the official aim of the League was to "avenge the wrongs they suffered by ravaging the territory of the king." In reality, this goal was divided into three main efforts—to prepare for future invasion, to seek revenge against Persia, and to organize

2250-591: The Athenian commander at Mycale, had furiously rejected this; the Ionian cities had been Athenian colonies, and the Athenians, if no one else, would protect the Ionians. This marked the point at which the leadership of the Greek alliance effectively passed to the Athenians. With the Spartan withdrawal after Byzantion, the leadership of the Athenians became explicit. The loose alliance of city states which had fought against Xerxes's invasion had been dominated by Sparta and

2340-774: The Athenians had also constructed the Long Walls connecting their city to the Piraeus , its port, making it effectively invulnerable to attack by land. In 454 BC, the Athenian general Pericles moved the Delian League's treasury from Delos to Athens, allegedly to keep it safe from Persia. However, Plutarch indicates that many of Pericles's rivals viewed the transfer to Athens as usurping monetary resources to fund elaborate building projects. Athens also switched from accepting ships, men and weapons as dues from league members, to only accepting money. The new treasury established in Athens

2430-555: The Athenians were deeply offended by their removal from Ithome. They denounced their original treaty with Sparta made during the Greco-Persian Wars, then proceeded to make an alliance with Argos , a major enemy of the Spartans. 460 —Athens' Clash with Corinth over Megara: Megarians joined the Delian League due to a war between Megara and Corinth. This angered the Corinthians. Even using Athens' weakest soldiers, being

2520-497: The Athenians were not the old popular rulers they had been at first; and if they had more than their fair share of service, it was correspondingly easy for them to reduce any that tried to leave the confederacy. The Athenians also arranged for the other members of the league to pay its share of the expense in money instead of in ships and men, and for this the subject city-states had themselves to blame, their wish to get out of giving service making most leave their homes. Thus while Athens

2610-831: The Battle of Eurymedon: From the beginning of 469 to 466, the Delian league led an army to Asia Minor against Persia. Cimon persuaded Greek settlements on the Carian and Lycian coast to rebel against Persia. This led the Persian army to mobilize a force to fight Cimon in the Battle of Eurymedon in Pamphylia . Cimon was able to defeat the Persian army swiftly and the war profits were used to finance Athens' city walls. 465 —Operations in Northern Greece: Athens' powers and desire for expansion grow. In 465, after cleruchizing

2700-556: The Chersonese, they tried to gain control of Thasos . Thucydides wrote that Sparta contemplated an invasion of Attica in order to help free Thasos. However, in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake and subsequent helot uprising in Sparta, no attack—if indeed such was projected—was launched. 461 —The Debate in Athens over Helping Sparta: With a legion of Helots rebelling against Sparta, Athens offered Sparta their help by sending

2790-616: The Corinthian army. The Corinthians was also able to influence the Spartans to join the cause, since Sparta didn't want to lose such an affluent ally. The fighting concluded with an Athenian victory. 432 —The Megarian Decree: With Sparta's aid, Megara urged Athens to drop their decree against them since it was hurting their economy; they were forbidden to use Athens' markets and harbors. Athens claimed that Megarians insulted them by trespassing on land sacred to Demeter and murdering an Athenian ambassador. However, most scholars believe it

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2880-532: The Gulf of Messenia, 60 kilometres (37 miles) east of Pylos , seat of Bronze Age Messenia, and 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Messini , modern namesake of ancient Messene , nestled under the cliffs of Mount Ithome. From the top the whole valley of the Pamisos river can be viewed eastward to Mount Taygetus and southward to the Gulf of Messenia. The site is highly defensible and yet off the main road; in this case,

2970-597: The Hellenes called Inaros and Amyrtaeus , who requested aid from Athens. Pericles led 250 ships, intended to attack Cyprus , to their aid because it would further damage Persia. After four years, however, the Egyptian rebellion was defeated by the Achaemenid general Megabyzus , who captured the greater part of the Athenian forces. In fact, according to Isocrates, the Athenians and their allies lost some 20,000 men in

3060-404: The Ionian city-states which bordered it. The members of the Delian League were made to swear an oath of loyalty to the league and contributed mostly monetarily but in some instances donated ships or other forces. It was also the case that many democratic members of the League owed their freedom from oligarchic or tyrannical rule to Athens. Because of this, Athens gained an overwhelming advantage in

3150-445: The Ionians difficult to rule, eventually settling for sponsoring a tyrant in each Ionian city. While Greek states had in the past often been ruled by tyrants, this form of government was on the decline. By 500 BC, Ionia appears to have been ripe for rebellion against these Persian clients . The simmering tension finally broke into open revolt due to the actions of the tyrant of Miletus , Aristagoras . Attempting to save himself after

3240-524: The Kalamata-Pylos road. Like most ancient names the etymology of Ithome is not certain. It is also the name of a town in Thessaly , although Reece notes evidence that the one in Thessaly was originally called Thome . The pre-independence name Vurcano has had many variants: Vourkano , Voulkanos , Vulcano , Voucano , Boulcano , Dorkano , Voulkani , etc. One of the earliest records of

3330-573: The League through judicial decisions. Synoecism under the Athenian Empire was enforced by resolving matters of and between states in Athens by courts composed of Athenian citizens and enforcing those decisions through the Athenian military. In the first ten years of the league's existence, Cimon/Kimon forced Karystos in Euboea to join the league, conquered the island of Skyros and sent Athenian colonists there. Over time, especially with

3420-409: The League's vast territory. Furthermore, Pericles employed a number of offices to maintain Athens' empire: proxenoi , who fostered good relations between Athens and League members; episkopoi and archontes , who oversaw the collection of tribute; and hellenotamiai , who received the tribute on Athens' behalf. Athens's empire was not very stable and after 27 years of war, the Spartans, aided by

3510-588: The Mediterranean to join and pay tribute ( phoro ). This helped the region because the tributes paid by each and every city-state were reduced with the increasing number of members joining the league. 441 —The Samian Revolt: Athens decided to besiege Samos after their revolt in 441. However, Persia decided to take the opportunity to support Samos even though they have signed the Peace of Callias with Athens. Athens would eventually spend 1200 talents to fund

3600-558: The Persian Army during the occupation of Attica in 480. 478 —Formation of the Delian League: Athens and other city states form a coalition against Persia. 477 —The Conquest of Eion: Cimon , the son of Miltiades of Marathon fame, led Athens to numerous victorious campaigns and war profits. In 477, he led an army against Persian-occupied Eion in northern Greece. Athens was able to benefit from this invasion since

3690-499: The Persians and Athenian internal strife, were able to defeat it. However, it did not remain defeated for long. The Second Athenian League , a maritime self-defense league, was founded in 377 BC and was led by Athens. The Athenians would never recover the full extent of their power, and their enemies were now far stronger and more varied. Ithome Mount Ithome ( Greek : Ἰθώμη) or Ithomi , previously Vourkano(s) ( Greek : Βουρκάνο(ς) ) or Voulcano(s) ( Greek : Βουλκάνο(ς) ),

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3780-457: The Spartans were particularly adept at, but also from the way in which the deal was brokered. Thucydides writes of Themistocles , an envoy to Sparta, who in 479 changed the tide of history by hiding the facts regarding the construction of the walls around Athens and those of the Piraeus. In Themistocles’speech to the Spartan assembly Thucydides points out that at this point Athenian independence

3870-596: The Spartans, motivated by ethnic solidarity, sent out 1500 Hoplites and an additional 10,000 from their allies' forces to suppress the Phocians' army invading Doris . The Spartans were victorious, but they found themselves stuck in this foreign land. Athens, suspecting a plot by the Spartans to overthrow the democracy and to prevent the building of the Long Walls, then attacked the Spartans at Tanagra in Boeotia with

3960-551: The alliance, dying (according to Plutarch ) a few years later in Pontus, whilst determining what the tax of new members was to be. The Delian League, also known as the Athenian Empire, was a collection of Greek city-states largely based around the Aegean Sea which operated under the hegemony of Athens. This alliance initially served the purpose of coordinating a united Greek front against a perceived looming Persian threat against

4050-454: The allies became increasingly less autonomous. The alliance held an assembly of representatives in order to shape its policy, while the members swore an oath of loyalty to the coalition. The Delian League successfully accomplished its principal strategic goal by decisively expelling the remaining Persian forces from the Aegean. As a result, Persia would cease to pose a major threat to Greece for

4140-463: The blockade of Citium , though the fleet won a double victory by land and sea over the Persians off Salamis, Cyprus . This battle was the last major one fought against the Persians. Many writers report that a peace treaty, known as the Peace of Callias , was formalized in 450 BC, but some writers believe that the treaty was a myth created later to inflate the stature of Athens. However, an understanding

4230-514: The capture and burning of the Persian regional capital of Sardis . After this, the Ionian revolt carried on (without further outside aid) for a further five years, until it was finally completely crushed by the Persians. However, in a decision of great historic significance, the Persian king Darius the Great decided that, despite having subdued the revolt, there remained the unfinished business of exacting punishment on Athens and Eretria for supporting

4320-462: The city with art and architecture. In order to maintain the new synoecism, Athens began using its greatly expanded military to enforce membership in the League. City-states who wished to leave the alliance were punished by Athens with force such as Mytilene and Melos . No longer considered her allies, Athens eventually began to refer to the members of the Delian League as "all the cities Athens rules." Athens also extended its authority over members of

4410-469: The colony of Amphipolis on the Strymon river. Thasos , a member of the League, saw her interests in the mines of Mt. Pangaion threatened and defected from the League to Persia. She called to Sparta for assistance but was denied, as Sparta was facing the largest helot revolt in its history. After more than two years of siege, Thasos surrendered to the Athenian leader Aristides and was forced back into

4500-494: The conflict. This first-hand experience allows a look into the mind of a person at the center of the ordeal. The conflict between Athens and Sparta is in Thucydides’ eyes an inevitable confrontation of the two major powers. The beginning of this tension begins during the incipient stages of the Athenian empire following the defeat of Persia during a period called the “pentekontaetia”. The pentekontaetia began in 479 and ended with

4590-578: The course of this conflict, Athens gained and then lost control of large areas of central Greece . The conflict was concluded by the Thirty Years' Peace , which lasted until the end of the Pentecontaetia and the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. The eventual breakdown of the peace was triggered by increasing conflict between Athens and several of Sparta's allies. Athens' alliance with Corcyra and attack on Potidaea enraged Corinth , and

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4680-542: The early 14th century from the same stone. In the 17th century this monastery of Panagia Voulkanou, or Moni Voulkanou, was closed, except for a caretaker, to become known as the Old Monastery. The new monastery was constructed on the lower east slope of Eva. It was a staging point in the Greek War of Independence and also houses a noted library containing ancient manuscripts. Ithomaea ( Ancient Greek : ἰθώμαια ),

4770-544: The end of the Persian invasion, and the beginning of the next phase in the Greco-Persian wars, the Greek counterattack . After Mycale, the Greek cities of Asia Minor again revolted, with the Persians now powerless to stop them. The Allied fleet then sailed to the Thracian Chersonese , still held by the Persians, and besieged and captured the town of Sestos . The following year, 478 BC, the Allies sent

4860-548: The expedition, while modern estimates place the figure at 50,000 men and 250 ships including reinforcements. The remainder escaped to Cyrene and thence returned home. This was the Athenians' main (public) reason for moving the treasury of the League from Delos to Athens, further consolidating their control over the League. The Persians followed up their victory by sending a fleet to re-establish their control over Cyprus , and 200 ships were sent out to counter them under Cimon , who returned from ostracism in 451 BC. He died during

4950-567: The first half of the 4th century BC, Athens went on to partly revive the alliance, this time called the Second Athenian League , reestablishing its naval dominance in the eastern Mediterranean . The Greco-Persian Wars had their roots in the conquest of the Greek cities of Asia Minor , and particularly Ionia , by the Achaemenid Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great shortly after 550 BC. The Persians found

5040-529: The following fifty years. From its inception, Athens became the League's biggest source of military power, while more and more allies preferred to pay the dues in cash. Athens began to use the League's funds for its own purposes, like the reinforcement of its naval supremacy, which led to conflicts between the city and its less powerful allies, at times culminating in rebellions, like that of Thasos in 465 BC. The League's treasury initially stood in Delos until, in

5130-475: The league. As a result, the fortification walls of Thasos were torn down, and they had to pay yearly tribute and fines. Additionally, their land, naval ships, and the mines of Thasos were confiscated by Athens. The siege of Thasos marks the transformation of the Delian league from an alliance into, in the words of Thucydides, a hegemony . In 461 BC, Cimon was ostracized and was succeeded in his influence by democrats such as Ephialtes and Pericles. This signaled

5220-486: The long walls gave Athens a major military advantage by forming a barrier around the city-state and its harbors, which allowed their ships to access waterways without threat from outside forces. Two walls were constructed from the city to the sea, one to Phaleron and the other to Piraeus . Athens relied on these long walls to protect itself from invasion, while sending off its superior vessels to bombard opponents' cities. 458 —The Battle of Tanagra: According to Thucydides,

5310-441: The long walls which connected the main city of Athens to the port of Piraeus around 478. “Spartan feeling was at that time very friendly towards Athens on account of the patriotism which she had displayed in the struggle with Mede. Still the defeat of their wishes could not but cause them secret annoyance.” (1.92 [1]) The Spartan annoyance stems partly from the long walls being a major deterrent to land based, non-siege tactics which

5400-402: The lower part of this wide circuit are the ruins of the ancient city. About 300 metres (980 feet) up the slope is the modern village of Mavromati, occupying a small portion of the ancient city. It is a subdivision of the municipality of Messene . Mavromati is built around the key feature of the city, one which made its large size possible, a large surface spring flowing out of the mountain through

5490-478: The middle of the 5th century BC (the league treasury was moved from Delos to Athens in 454 BC) the league had been transformed into an Athenian empire. Athens benefited greatly from this tribute, undergoing a cultural renaissance and undertaking massive public building projects, including the Parthenon ; Athenian democracy, meanwhile, developed into what is today called radical or Periclean democracy , in which

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5580-403: The most democratic city-state of Ancient Greece. During 450, he implemented a state salary of two obols per day for jurors to increase public participation from citizens. However, this system caused an outrage from the elites, claiming that the poor were uneducated and incapable of governing. Thucydides offers us a unique perspective to view the Peloponnesian War since he actually took part in

5670-531: The most famous battles in history. During the first invasion , Thrace , Macedon and the Aegean Islands were added to the Persian Empire, and Eretria was duly destroyed. However, the invasion ended in 490 BC with the decisive Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon . After this invasion, Darius died, and responsibility for the war passed to his son Xerxes I . Xerxes then personally led

5760-573: The most powerful of the original members of the Delian League save Athens, was the last to revolt, and in the aftermath of the Syracusan Expedition enjoyed success for several years, inspiring all of Ionia to revolt. Athens was nonetheless eventually able to suppress these revolts. To further strengthen Athens's grip on its empire, Pericles in 450 BC began a policy of establishing kleruchiai —quasi-colonies that remained tied to Athens and which served as garrisons to maintain control of

5850-498: The name Vourkano to the 10th century. Mavromati is segmented mavr-oma-ti, "place of the black eye" from mavros, "dark," and omma, "eye," or ommation, "small eye," a common name for springs. The Homeric village of Ithome was probably on the summit, which is flat. In the Bronze Age, a temple dedicated to Zeus Ithomatas (Zeus of Ithome) existed there. It was torn down and rebuilt as a Christian church and monastery no later than

5940-453: The office were increased tremendously when 500 members were added. Transferring the powers of the Areopagus to all Athenian citizens enabled a more democratic society. These democratic ideals are reflected in the use of personal names without a patronymic on inscriptions of casualty lists from around this time, such as those of the tribe Erechtheis dated to 460/459BC and the Argive dead at

6030-512: The old and young men who were left behind in the city, they were able to win the war against Corinth with ease. 460 —The Athenian Expedition to Egypt: Athens led a coalition with the Egyptians to rebel against Persia. However, their six-year expedition did not lead to much success against Persia, as 100 Athenian ships were destroyed in the Delta region. 458 —The Long Walls: The construction of

6120-476: The outbreak of war. With great confidence in their military abilities, perhaps a bit of instilled machoism, and the need for an anti-Persian alliance, Athens begins recruiting various Greek city-states into an alliance called the Delian League . The growth of Athenian power through the Delian League is centered on a growing navy, the rebuilding of the walls that protect the city from land-based attackers, and an aggressive push to extend their influence which included

6210-486: The popular assembly of the citizens and the large, citizen juries exercised near-complete control over the state. The later years of the Pentecontaetia were marked by increasing conflict between Athens and the traditional land powers of Greece, led by Sparta . Between 460 BC and 445 BC, Athens fought a shifting coalition of mainland powers in what is now known as the First Peloponnesian War . During

6300-427: The power of Thebes in order to help hold the Athenians in check. Their return was blocked, and they resolved to march on Athens, where the Long Walls were not yet completed, winning a victory at the Battle of Tanagra . All this accomplished, however, was to allow them to return home via the Megarid. Two months later, the Athenians under Myronides invaded Boeotia, and winning the Battle of Oenophyta gained control of

6390-401: The region was rich in timber, which was critical to building Athens' burgeoning naval fleet. 476 —The Conquest of Scyros: The invasions continued with success on a par with Cimon's prior campaigns. In 476, Athens fought against the pirates of Scyros, as the Delian League wanted to reduce piracy around the region and capture the important materials for itself. 469 —Operation in Asia Minor and

6480-428: The revolt. The Ionian revolt had severely threatened the stability of Darius's empire, and the states of mainland Greece would continue to threaten that stability unless dealt with. Darius thus began to contemplate the complete conquest of Greece, beginning with the destruction of Athens and Eretria. In the next two decades, there would be two Persian invasions of Greece, occasioning, thanks to Greek historians, some of

6570-587: The sanctuary of the Temple of Apollo ; contemporary authors referred to the organization simply as "the Athenians and their Allies". While Sparta excelled as Greece's greatest power on land, Athens turned to the seas becoming the dominant naval power of the Greek world . Following Sparta's withdrawal from the conflict with Persia , Athens took the lead of the Hellenic alliance accompanied by several states around

6660-417: The sea and forthwith began to lay the foundations of the empire.” (1.93 [5]) Thucydides credits Themistocles with the determining point in which Athens becomes an empire creating the divide between Sparta and Athens. Delian League The Delian League was a confederacy of Greek city-states , numbering between 150 and 330, founded in 478 BC under the leadership ( hegemony ) of Athens , whose purpose

6750-400: The split. Themistocles through his cunningness asserts an independent and strong Athenian identity. He makes it clear after the walls have been secured (ensuring Athenian strength) that Athens is independent and is making self-interested decisions. Furthermore, Themistocles also predicts that the growth in Athenian power will be centered on the sea. “For he first ventured to tell them to stick to

6840-500: The suppression of rebellions, Athens exercised hegemony over the rest of the league. Thucydides describes how Athens's control over the League grew: Of all the causes of defection, that connected with arrears of tribute and vessels, and with failure of service, was the chief; for the Athenians were very severe and exacting, and made themselves offensive by applying the screw of necessity to men who were not used to and in fact not disposed for any continuous labor. In some other respects

6930-524: The view that, with the liberation of mainland Greece, and the Greek cities of Asia Minor, the war's purpose had already been achieved. There was also perhaps a feeling that establishing long-term security for the Asian Greeks would prove impossible. In the aftermath of Mycale, the Spartan king Leotychidas had proposed transplanting all the Greeks from Asia Minor to Europe as the only method of permanently freeing them from Persian dominion. Xanthippus,

7020-509: The voting system conducted by relying on the support of democratic city-states Athens had helped into being. By 454 Athens moved the treasury of the Delian League from the Island of Delos to the Parthenon in Athens. Benefitting greatly from the influx of cash coming out of the 150-330 members, Athens used the money to reinforce its own naval supremacy and used the remaining funds to embellish

7110-585: The war through the Delian League's treasury. Some scholars believed that Sparta might have aided Samos as well, but decided to pull out, having signed the Thirty-year peace treaty. 437 —The Foundation of Amphipolis: With vast resources, especially timber for ship building, Athens founded the city of Amphipolis on the Strymon River. Amphipolis was immensely important to Athens since it controlled many trading routes. 432 —The Potidaean Affair: Athens

7200-420: The whole country except Thebes. Reverses followed peace with Persia in 449 BC. The Battle of Coronea , in 447 BC, led to the abandonment of Boeotia. Euboea and Megara revolted, and while the former was restored to its status as a tributary ally, the latter was a permanent loss. The Delian and Peloponnesian Leagues signed a peace treaty, which was set to endure for thirty years. It only lasted until 431 BC, when

7290-428: Was a great fear of Sparta and her allies. While the Spartans combat prowess was unmatched on land, when it came to the sea Athens was the clear victor. This split seemed to have already been accepted by the Spartans many years earlier, however the aggressiveness and effectiveness of Athenian naval warfare had yet to be fully realized. According to Thucydides following the defeat of Persia , Athens begins to reconstruct

7380-469: Was an act of vengeance when Megara revolted during the early parts of the Pentecontaetia. 432 —Peloponnesian War—This marked the end of the Pentecontaetia, as Athens and Sparta engaged in all-out war, which eventually led to the demise of the Athenian Empire. After the exile of Cimon in Athens, his rivals Ephialtes and Pericles implemented democratic social reforms. In 462, Ephialtes challenged

7470-462: Was an annual festival celebrated at Ithome, in honour of Zeus Ithomatas and originally a musical contest was held. The classical town of Ithome was on the lower west flank of Mount Ithome, which forms a bowl in the side of the mountain. The location was selected as the site for the city of Messene (not the same as the modern city of Messini ) when it was rebuilt by Epaminondas in 369 BC. Excavations there in recent decades have uncovered evidence of

7560-469: Was definitely reached, enabling the Athenians to focus their attention on events in Greece proper. Soon, war with the Peloponnesians broke out. In 458 BC, the Athenians blockaded the island of Aegina , and simultaneously defended Megara from the Corinthians by sending out an army composed of those too young or old for regular military service. The following year, Sparta sent an army into Boeotia , reviving

7650-399: Was highlighted. “Wherever they had deliberated with the Spartans, they had proved themselves to be in judgment second to none.” (1.91 [5]) This is an important step because Themistocles articulates that Athens is an independent state with its own agenda that brushed over that of others. This is a very important point in the lead up to the Peloponnesian War because one man is credited with making

7740-434: Was increasing her navy with the funds they contributed, a revolt always found itself without enough resources or experienced leaders for war. The first member of the league to attempt to secede was the island of Naxos in c. 471 BC. After being defeated, Naxos is believed (based on similar, later revolts) to have been forced to tear down its walls along with losing its fleet and vote in the League. In 465 BC, Athens founded

7830-458: Was not reserved solely for those who revolted. Thucydides documents the example of Melos , a small island, neutral in the war, though founded by Spartans. The Melians were offered a choice to join the Athenians, or be conquered. Choosing to resist, their town was besieged and conquered; the males were put to death and the women sold into slavery (see Melian dialogue ). By 454 BC, the Delian League could be fairly characterised as an Athenian Empire;

7920-496: Was threatened by the possibility of a revolt at Potidaea , plotted by Corinth and Macedon . After fighting in Macedon, which ended when the two countries came to terms with each other, Athens came to Potidaea. They had previously demanded that Potidaea tear down their long walls and banish Corinth ambassadors. However, by the time Athens reached Potidaea, the residents were in full revolt and prepared to fight Athens with support from

8010-640: Was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Second Persian invasion of Greece . The League functioned as a dual –offensive and defensive– alliance ( symmachia ) of autonomous states, similar to its rival association, the Peloponnesian League . The League's modern name derives from its official meeting place, the island of Delos , where congresses were held within

8100-475: Was used for many purposes, not all relating to the defence of members of the league. It was from tribute paid to the league that Pericles set to building the Parthenon on the Acropolis , replacing an older temple, as well as many other non-defense related expenditures. The Delian League was turning from an alliance into an empire. War with the Persians continued. In 460 BC, Egypt revolted under local leaders

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