Delian League

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For the band, see Delian League (band).
Delian League, before the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC.

The Delian League, founded in 478 BC,[1] was an association of Greek city-states, members numbering between 150[2] to 173,[3] under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose 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's modern[4] name derives from its official meeting place, the island of Delos, where congresses were held in the temple and where the treasury stood until, in a symbolic gesture,[5] Pericles moved it to Athens in 454 BC.[6]



Main article: Greco-Persian Wars

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 the Ionians difficult to rule, eventually settling for sponsoring a tyrant in each Ionian city.[7] While Greek states had in the past often been ruled by tyrants, this was a form of arbitrary government that was on the decline.[8] 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 a disastrous Persian-sponsored expedition in 499 BC, Aristagoras chose to declare Miletus a democracy.[9] This triggered similar revolutions across Ionia, extending to Doris and Aeolis, beginning the Ionian Revolt.[10]

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 the capture and burning of the Persian regional capital of Sardis.[11] 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 successfully subduing the revolt, there remained the unfinished business of exacting punishment on Athens and Eretria for supporting the revolt.[12] 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.[12]

In the next two decades there would be two Persian invasions of Greece, occasioning, thanks to Greek historians, some of 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.[13] However, the invasion ended in 490 BC with the decisive Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon.[14] Between the two invasions, Darius died, and responsibility for the war passed to his son Xerxes I.[15]

Xerxes then personally led a second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC, taking an enormous (although oft-exaggerated) army and navy to Greece.[16] Those Greeks who chose to resist (the 'Allies') were defeated in the twin simultaneous battles of Thermopylae on land and Artemisium at sea.[17] 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 a decisive defeat at the Battle of Salamis.[18] 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.[19]

The Allied fleet defeated the demoralized remnants of the Persian fleet in the Battle of Mycale— on the same day as Plataea, according to tradition.[20] This action marks the end of the Persian invasion, and the beginning of the next phase in the Greco-Persian wars, the Greek counterattack.[21] After Mycale, the Greek cities of Asia Minor again revolted, with the Persians now powerless to stop them.[22] The Allied fleet then sailed to the Thracian Chersonese, still held by the Persians, and besieged and captured the town of Sestos.[23] The following year, 478 BC, the Allies sent 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.[24]

Formation of the League[edit]


Xanthippus, the Athenian commander at Mycale, had furiously rejected this; the Ionian cities were originally Athenian colonies, and the Athenians, if no-one else, would protect the Ionians.[25] This marked the point at which the leadership of the Greek alliance effectively passed to the Athenians.[25] With the Spartan withdrawal after Byzantion, the leadership of the Athenians became explicit.




Composition and expansion[edit]

The Athenian Empire at its height, c. 450 BC






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, and lost its fleet and its vote in the League.


Main article: Thasian rebellion


An aftermath of the war was that Cimon was ostracised, and the relations between Athens and Sparta turned hostile. After a three-year siege, Thasos was recaptured and forced back into the League. The siege of Thasos marks the transformation of the Delian league from an alliance into, in the words of Thucydides, a hegemony.[31]

After two years Thasos surrendered to the Athenian leader Cimon. In result, the fortification walls of Thasos were torn down, their land and naval ships were confiscated by Athens. The mines of Thasos were also turned over to Athens, and they had to pay yearly tribute and fines.

Policies of the League[edit]




Wars against Persia[edit]




Wars in Greece[edit]





The Athenian Empire (454–404 BC)[edit]

By 454, the Delian League could be fairly characterized as an Athenian Empire; 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, the greatest and 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 a success of several years, inspiring all of Ionia to revolt. Athens was eventually still able to suppress these revolts.

To further strengthen Athens' grip on its empire, Pericles in 450B.C. began a policy of establishing cleruchiai— quasi-colonies that remained tied to Athens and which served as garrisons to maintain control of 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' empire was not very stable and after only 27 years of war, the Spartans, aided by the Persians and internal strife, were able to defeat it. However, it did not remain defeated long. The Second Athenian Empire, a maritime self-defense league, was founded in 377 BC and was led by Athens. Athens would never recover the full extent of her power, and her enemies were now far stronger and more varied.

See also[edit]


  6. ^ Thucydides, I, 96.
  7. ^ Holland, Tom. Persian Fire. 2006. 147–151
  8. ^ Fine, pp269–277
  9. ^ Herodotus V, 35
  10. ^ Holland, pp155–157
  11. ^ Holland, p160–162
  12. ^ a b Holland, pp175–177
  13. ^ Holland, pp183–186
  14. ^ Holland, pp187–194
  15. ^ Holland, pp202–203
  16. ^ Holland, pp240–244
  17. ^ Holland, pp276–281
  18. ^ Holland, pp320–326
  19. ^ Holland, pp342–355
  20. ^ Holland, pp357–358
  21. ^ Lazenby, p247
  22. ^ Thucydides I, 89
  23. ^ Herodotus IX, 114
  24. ^ Thucydides I, 95
  25. ^ a b c d Holland, p362
  26. ^ a b Thucydides I, 96
  27. ^ Plutarch, Aristeides 26
  28. ^ Thucydides I.98
  29. ^ Thucydides i. 99
  30. ^ Thucydides I,100
  31. ^ Thucydides 101


  • Ryan Balot: The Freedom to Rule: Athenian Imperialism and Democratic Masculinity. In: David Edward Tabachnick - Toivo Koivukoski (eds.): Enduring Empire. Ancient Lessons for Global Politics. London 2009, pp. 54–68.

External links[edit]