Mr. Cistaro / Mr. C

Our World

Where are we?  Battle of Marathon (Sept. 490 B.C.)  Battle of Thermopylae (Aug. 480 B.C.)  The Sack of Athens  Battle of Salamis (Sept. 480 B.C.)  The Battle of Salamis was a naval battle between the Greek city-states (371 boats) and Persia (1207 boats), fought in September, 480 BC in the straits between Piraeus and Salamis, a small island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens, Greece.

Triemes

The Delian League  Formed in 478 B.C., the Delian League was an alliance of mainly coastal and Aegean city-states against Persia at a time when Greece feared Persia might attack again. Its goal was to make Persia pay and to free the Greeks under Persian dominion. The league morphed into the Athenian Empire that opposed the Spartan allies in the Peloponnesian War.

The Delian League pg2  The league was meant to be offensive as well as defensive: "to have the same friends and enemies", with secession forbidden.  The member poleis placed Athens at the head (hegemon) because of her naval supremacy.  Many of the Greek cities were annoyed with the tyrannical behavior of the Spartan commander Pausanias, who had been leader of the Greeks during the Persian War.

How do we know this?  Thucydides Book 1.96 on the formation of the Delian League Thucydides Book 1.96 on the formation of the Delian League  "96. When the Athenians had thus gotten the command by the confederates' own accord for the hatred they bare to Pausanias, they then set down an order which cities should contribute money for this war against the barbarians, and which galleys. For they pretended to repair the injuries they had suffered by laying waste the territories of the king. [2] And then first came up amongst the Athenians the office of treasurers of Greece, who were receivers of the tribute, for so they called this money contributed. And the first tribute that was taxed came to four hundred and sixty talents. The treasury was at Delos, and their meetings were kept there in the temple."Delos

The Delian League pg3  The members included about 20 members from the Greek islands, 36 Ionian city-states, 35 from the Hellespont, 24 from around Caria, and 33 from around Thrace, making it primarily an organization of the Aegean islands and coast.  This free confederation (symmachia) of autonomous cities, consisted of representatives, an admiral, and financial officers/treasurers (hellenotamiai) appointed by Athens. It was called the Delian League because its treasury was located at Delos. An Athenian leader, Aristides, initially assessed the allies in the Delian League 460 talents.

How do we know this?  Aristotle Ath. Pol "23.5 Hence it was Aristeides 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 the lumps of iron sink to the bottom out at sea." Aristotle Ath. Pol. 23.5

 portal.com/academy/lesson/pericles-the- delian-league-and-the-athenian-golden- age.html#lesson portal.com/academy/lesson/pericles-the- delian-league-and-the-athenian-golden- age.html#lesson