See full version: Formation of the Delian League
Several Ionian cities joined together in the Delian League for mutual protection against the Persians. They placed Athens at the head (as hegemon) because of her naval supremacy. This free confederation (symmachia) of autonomous cities, founded in 478 B.C., consisted of representatives, an admiral, and treasurers appointed by Athens. It was called the Delian League because its treasury was located at Delos.
For 10 years, the Delian League fought to rid Thrace and the Aegean of Persian strongholds and piracy. Athens, which continued to demand financial contributions or ships from its allies, even when fighting was no longer necessary, became more and more powerful as her allies became poorer and weaker. In 454, the treasury was moved to Athens. Animosity developed, but Athens would not permit the formerly free cities to secede. [links]
In The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War (1989), author-historian Donald Kagan says 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. here
Both Persia and Athens come to an agreement to end conflict. Persia gives back Ionian colonies back to Greece, marks end of dispute of Greco-Persian Wars.
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Inspired by the concept of Freedom and Democracy and outnumbered 3-1, Athenians hand Persia first ever defeat under the leadership of Militades on the shores of Marathon. Much debate going into the battle whether to meet the Persians at the coast, or fight in Athens. This battle is seen as one of the most important moments in history, if the Greeks had lost, Western civilization would have never developed.
The Battle of Plataea was the final land battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. Mardonius and the Persians face a large Greek land force, where the Greeks initially extend to far and order a retreat due to miscommunication with the lines, Mardonius foolishly orders an advance of Persian infantry, only for the Greeks to stop in their places and cut them down, ending the Second Invasion Force.
Persia's main invasion force from the land and the sea is wiped out at the battles of Platea, Mycale, and Salamis. Persians, including Xerxes, have retreated back home to Persia while Persian general Mardonius stays and gets cut down by the Greeks
Greeks assemble a huge fleet and catch the resting Persians on the beach that were hoping to avoid a battle and slaughter them. This would be one of two battles that would end the Persian land invasion force.
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League formed by Greek colonies for the protection, and to fight back against Persian resistance. Would later be a source of conflict between the Greek colonies after Athens would begin to act imperialistically.
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In the 460s BC, an earthquake hit Sparta, some Spartans were killed, so the helots, the Spartan slaves, took this opportunity to revolt. Desperate, Sparta asked Athens for help. The Athenian named Cimon led an Athenian army to help Sparta, but when they arrived the Spartans had second thoughts and sent Cimon and the Athenian army back home. Perhaps the Spartans feared the spreading of democratic ideas by these Athenians, as Sparta was not fond of this new way of governing. The Athenians were insulted, and Cimon, on the advice of an Athenian named Pericles, was ostracized. here
Surprisingly, Themistocles, the man who convinced the Athenians to build a navy with their silver, was not rewarded. In a democracy, there was no room for standout personalities like Themistocles, and he was ostracized. Themistocles was forced to leave Athens for ten years. He never returned, and instead went to Persia, were he lived out the rest of life. here
The Ionian city-states gained their independence after the Persian Wars, however, the threat of a Persian attack was real. The Persian Empire was as large, powerful, and rich as it always had been. Greek city-states in and around the Aegean Sea needed protection, and Athens was the logical protector, with its large navy. Athens also depended on trade routes throughout the Aegean Sea and into the Black Sea for grain to feed its large population. Many Greek city-states in the Aegean islands and Asia Minor joined with Athens to form an alliance in 478-77 BC called the Delian League. The allies, around 150 Greek cities, met on the Island of Delos, the supposed birth-place of Apollo. Athens was made the leader of the league. Each member had to pay money to a common treasury, which was held in a bank on the Island of Delos, or contribute ships and crew to the league navy. The alliance was intended to keep the Greek allies free from Persian rule, and make Persia pay for the damages they caused during the Persian Wars. In 466 BC at the Battle of Eurymedon, off the south coast of Asia Minor, the Athenian navy, led by Cimon, destroyed the Persian fleet. It was now clear that Athens ruled the Aegean Sea. No power, including the Persians, could now challenge Athens' navy. more
From the Persian Wars to the conquests of Philip II of Macedonia
When we talk about the accomplishments of the Greeks in the Classical Period, we are really talking about Athens. The polis of Athens prospered after the defeat of the Persians in 479 BC. As you read in the last chapter, Athens had a fleet of over 200 warships. This large fleet, a result of the Persian Wars, was something new to the Greek world. No polis had ever possessed a navy as large as the Athenian navy. It was the Athenians who contributed most of the Greek warships at the Battle of Salamis.
For a short period of time, Athens was ruled by the 'thirty oligarchs'. According to a foonote in The Trial and Death of Socrates translated by GMA Grube pg 35, the thirty oligarchs was "the harsh oligarchy that was set up after the final defeat of Athens by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC, and that ruled Athens for some nine months in 404-403 before the democracy was restored."
The Spartan strategy during the first war, known as the Archidamian War after its king Archidamus II, who invaded Attica, the land surrounding Athens. While this invasion deprived Athens of the productive land around their city, Athens itself was able to maintain access to the sea, and did not suffer much. Many of the citizens of Attica abandoned their farms and moved inside the Long Walls, which connected Athens to its port of Piraeus. The Spartans also occupied Attica for only a few weeks at a time; in the tradition of earlier hoplite warfare the soldiers expected to go home to participate in the harvest. Moreover, Spartan slaves, known as helots, needed to be kept under control, and could not be left unsupervised for long periods of time. The longest Spartan invasion, in 430 BC, lasted just forty days.
The Lacedaemonians were not content with simply sending aid to Sicily; they also resolved to take the war to the Athenians. On the advice of Alcibiades, they fortified Decelea, near Athens, and prevented the Athenians from making use of their land year round. The fortification of Decelea also prevented the shipment of supplies overland to Athens, and forced all supplies to be brought in by sea at increased expense. here
The Athenians people did not act solely from altruism: they held visions of conquering all of Sicily. Syracuse, the principal city of Sicily, was not much smaller than Athens, and conquering all of Sicily would have brought Athens an immense amount of resources. In the final stages of the preparations for departure the hermai (religious statues) were mutilated by unknown persons, and Alcibiades, the Athenian general in charge of the expedition, was charged with religious crimes. Fearing that he would be unjustly condemned, Alcibiades defected to Sparta and Nicias was placed in charge of the mission. After his defection, Alcibiades informed the Spartans that the Athenian planned to use Sicily as a springboard for the conquest of all of Italy, and to use the resources and soldiers from these new conquests to conquer all of the Peloponnese. here
The Battle of Mantinea was the largest land battle fought within Greece during the Peloponnesian War. The Lacedaemonians, with their neighbors the Tegeans, faced the combined armies of Argos, Athens, Mantinea, and Arcadia. The Spartans, "utterly worsted with respect to skill but superior in point of courage", routed the alliance against them. While the battle was indecisive with respect to the Athenian-Peloponnesian conflict, Sparta succeeded in defeating Argos, thus ensuring their supremacy over the people of Peloponnese. more
Faction triumphed in Athens: following a minor Spartan victory by Lysander at the naval battle of Notium, Alcibiades was not reelected general. He retired, leaving Athens to the mercy of a new and cunning opponent. Lysander was a rare Spartan, comfortable at controlling ships, trustworthy abroad, and with good personal relationships with the Persians.
Sparta grew alarmed at Athens’ hegemony, which continued to expand due to regular tributes pouring in from across the empire. Athens also planned to rebuild the ‘Long Walls’ – miles of fortifications connecting the city to the harbour of Piraeus – so as to offer a link to the sea even at times of siege, making it yet more powerful.
And yet, the Spartans and their allies were slow to act, allowing Athens to rebuild and put into service its reserve navy. Athens started winning naval battles again, so much so that by 406 BC, it had actually won back parts of the empire thought to have been lost.
In 415 BC, war officially resumed when Athens launched a massive assault on Sicily with the aim of capturing Syracuse, a powerful city-state which controlled a large share of Mediterranean trade. If successful, Athens could claim its abundant resources. [links]
Sparta’s position did not last long. It became embroiled in too many conflicts for its army to handle, and its hold over Greece ended with defeat by Thebes and its Boeotian League allies at the battle of Leuctra in 371 BC.