Delian League Athens changing relations

Explain Athens changing relationship with her allies during this period Athens relations with her allies changed dramatically as she rose to become the leader of an Empire (478-446BC). The establishment of the Delian League marked the beginning of a series of events which lead to Athens rise to Power. Through various sources including inscriptions, it is possible to track the progress of these events and the rapidly changing treatment that Athens enforced upon her Allies. Such events include the revolt of Thasos in 465BC , which showed Athens increasing domination over its allies. The use of cleruchies and garrisons , oaths of allegiance and the subjection of member states that revolted all led to Athens assuming control over the League. The rise of Pericles saw Athens become more imperialistic and the removal of the Treasury in 454BC was done to benefit Athens, not its members. Thus, from this time onwards, Athens adopted a more imperialistic tone and by 446BC no longer included them in imperial oaths . Consequently, the power of the League shifted from equality between the states to the omnipotence of Athens. The Delian League was formed in 478BC and consisted of an amalgamation of Greek-city states (Athens being the hegemony). The key aims of the league were to “compensate themselves for their losses by ravaging the territory of the King of Persia” (Thucydides) , to “protect those Greek states which had already revolted from Persia and to liberate those still under Persian rule” (J.Fine). However, in the longer term, the aim of the league was to provide security against future Persian attacks and to remain a unified force against such a threat. Thus, the Delian league was an offensive and defensive alliance against the threat of a common enemy-Persia. There is no evidence to suggest that the Athenians had any long term plans, in the years 479-470BC , to transform the League into an Empire, although, from the beginning the potential to develop into an imperial power was there; “the Delian League had long possessed the trappings of an empire ” (C.Meier). Within the Delian League, Athens was the hegemony with all aspects of the League controlled by the Athenians (funds & finance, treasury, and fleet of ships); it would have been considered fairer to have appointed different members of the league for these roles, for a stronger sense of equality. According to Thucydides ‘the actions at Scyrus (setting up of a cleruchy), Carystus (forcing an independent state to join the league) and Naxos (reducing rebellious member to subject status) were stepping stones to Athenian rise to power’ ; however, the evidence from these sources are ambiguous but they may suggest Athens authority over her allies in the early development of the League. A number of inscriptions , dated approximately from 453-49BC , as well as ancient and modern sources highlight the methods exercised by Athens to Transform the League into an Athenian Empire and how these affected her allies. Methods used include the subjection of member states , the use of garrisons and cleruchies , oaths of allegiance and the relocation of the Treasury The Delian League no longer had a purpose after the defeat of Persia at Eurymedon in 468BC . However, Athens began to show a new determination to gain control over the states that she had won leadership over during the existence of the League; “the victory of the Eurymedon left Athens free to pursue this inevitable policy of transforming the Confederacy into an Empire” (Bury & Meiggs). Thasos , a first class member of the Delian League, revolted in 465BC . It came into conflict with Athens, however, who claimed a share in the gold mining and trade in the area. A dispute broke out and Thasos seceded from the League. After a two-year siege, Thasos lost its independence and became a tribute paying subject state dependent on the will of Athens. Thasos’ revolt is significant as Athens showed that she had no intention of allowing members to leave the League, despite the removal of the Persian threat; and it was the first time Athens had used the League’s power against a member state in a private quarrel. Thus, this event can be pointed as the earliest signs of Athens’ imperial plans and forebode the gradually changing relationship between Athens and her allies. Part of Athens rise to power was the establishment of garrisons and cleruchies in rebellious states. Military garrisons were placed in suspect states to keep them in check to ensure future loyalty to Athens. Another function of garrisons was to protect the leagues inspectors or commissioners who would be sent to the allied states to assess and collect the tributes (e.g. Naxos). Alternatively, a cleruchy was an Athenian colony established away from Athens. Increasingly, these colonies were settled on the land owned by alleged allies. These strengthened Athens’ hold on her empire, as they were