Intro The Delian League (Athens) The Delian League was an empire that included most of the island and coastal states around the northern and eastern shores of the Aegean Sea. As a result of this, Athens had a strong navy. Athens was also financially prepared for war, owning a large fund they had amassed from the regular tribute paid to them from their empire. The Peloponnesial League (Sparta) Sparta was leader of an alliance of independent states that included most of the major land powers of the Peloponnese and central Greece, as well as the sea power Corinth. The Spartans had a stronger army than Athens. The league was organized with Sparta as the leader. It was controlled by the council of allies which was composed of two bodies; the assembly of Spartians and the Congress of Allies. Each allied state had on vote, regardless of its size or power. No tribute was paid except in times of war, when one third of the military of a state could be requested. Only Sparta could call a congress of the League. Although each state had one vote, Sparta did not have to abide by any decisions the League might have come to on its own. The first war (460 BC - c. 445 BC) Athens took over leadership of Greece in 487BC with the Delian League.With Sparta caught up in internal problems in the Peloponnese, and the war with the helots further stretching them, Athenian democracy was continuing to move up. The rocky relationship between the two became irreperable when Sparta asked Athens for aid against the helots. When the large Athenian army arrived, Sparta had a change of heart, and dismissed the force, fearing that the Athenians would side with the helots against them. Insulted, Athens broke off relations with Sparta, striking an alliance with A... ... middle of paper ... ...aders and a demoralized navy, Athen's naval supremacy would now be challenged. The new Spartan general was an artful diplomat, with a strong personal relationship with the Persian prince Cyrus. Using this to its advantage, Sparta sailed to the Hellespont, the main source of Athens' grain. Forced to follow under threat of starvation, Athens were defeated in 405BC. Facing starvation and disease, Athens surrendered in 404BC, along with its allies. Corinth and Thebes demanded that Athens be destroyed and all its citizens enslaved, hovever Sparta decided to take Athens into its own system. Aftermath For a short period of time, Athens was ruled by the 'Thirty Tyrants' and democracy was suspended but was restored by Thrasybulus 403 BC. Although the power of Athens was deminished, it made something of a recovery and continued to play an active role in Greek politics.
Athens was a bastion of Greek democracy, with a foreign policy of regularly intervening to help fellow democratic allies. Spartans, who favored oligarchies like their own, resented and feared the imperialistic and cultural ascendancies of Athens. There were thus constant disdain and rivalry simmering between the two cities.
Athens had the gold, they had the ships, and they had it all. To their disadvantage however, the Spartans and the Peloponnesian league would win the favor of a new rival to Athens; the plague.
In 500 BC, the two most powerful cities in Greece were Athens and Sparta. Athens was on the sea. Its citizens had the ability to explore, trade and form relationships with other city states in Greece. Sparta was more secluded and kept to itself. Though they were both of the same country, spoke the same language and worshipped the same Gods, these cities differed largely in many ways.
In the years following the Persian Wars in 479 B.C., Athens had come out on top being the most dominantly powerful of any Greek city with a navy that had superior strength that increased day by day. The Athenians “ruled with heavy-handed, even brutal force as well as with reason” (Kagan 2). This was due largely to the fact that Athens had a stable and effective government, which only increased their advantage in proving themselv...
As the war progressed with minimal gains on either side, Athens and Sparta each evolved their strategies. Athens continued to allow Sparta and the Peloponnesians to attack Attica, increased its presence in Peloponnesus, and subdued revolting allies. Spartan meanwhile grew its allied naval capability which they used to counter Athenian attacks and promote insurrections among Athens’
...led to a natural distrust between the two cultures. Pericles, the Athenian ruler before and during the Peloponessian war once compared the “living force of Athenian freedom with the dead hand of Spartan tyranny”. Thucydides once quoted a Spartan describing the Athenians; “ The Athenians are addicted to innovation, and their designs are characterized by swiftness alike in conception and execution; you have a genius for keeping what you have got, accompanies by a total want of invention, and when forced to act you never go far enough. Again they are adventurous beyond their power, and daring beyond their judgement …” These two quotes show a clear dislike between the two peoples. The two superpowers, so different in culture could not avoid conflict, conflict that eventually resulted in the peloponnesian war.
Athens obtained hegemony around 448 BC, right after the war-like city-state of Sparta. Athens’ Golden Age was under the rule of Pericles, who initiated a large number of public works projects and encouraged the arts and literature. With the help of rulers such as Pericles and the silver mined in southeastern Attica, Athens quickly became known as a city of wealth and prosperity. It was also notable as a center of philosophy, being the home of Plato’s Akademia and Aristotle’s Lyceum. One of its most significant contributions is that of the beginning of democracy, a system of government that set a standard for many to come, most notably the United States of America. Though by no means a completely egalitarian system, as only free adult males could participate as citizens, Athenian democracy was still a completely revolutionary way of running a government. Overall, Athens became a city of enormous power, which it displayed through its numerous marble buildings, including the Parthenon. The grandeur Athens exhibited made it the envy of all other cities at its time. Athens’ dominance found its end when it was defeated in the Peloponnesian War, and the once traditional and honored city lost its independence, though it still maintained its rich culture and w...
Sparta, having won the Peloponnesian war (Xenophon, Hellenika 2.23), emerged as the pre-eminent Greek power at the beginning of the fourth century (Cargill 1981: 189). The member states of the Delian league were not freed as expected (Rhodes 2010: 160), but rather taken over and had oligarchic constitutions installed within them (Rhodes 2010: 238). Sparta decided to keep the power it had gained through becoming an imperialistic force just as Athens had been (cartledge 1987: 349).
During the start of the war, the Athenians were led by Perikles, who died at the hand of a great plague in 429 BCE. His death brought a huge degree of discouragement within Athens and they began to use dangerous strategies instead of Perikles’ careful leadership. It’s often thought that democracies seek peace, but that was definitely not the case in Athens. The outcome of the war ends up being a complete disaster for Athens. Even though it was a disaster, the damage was less than normal for a losing Greek city-state. Following defeat, Athens’ democracy was temporarily dissolved. The cultural aspect of Athens was able to remain intact and by the time Aristotle was born, Athens was able to regain its political status.
The government/political structures of Sparta and Athens are quite different from each other. Sparta had a type of government called “oligarchy.” Basically, this means that there was a small group of people who had control of the region. In this case, Sparta was ruled by a small group of retired warriors, explaining
Athens was one of the largest Greek city states. (Stockton, 4). It was about one thousand square miles (Stockton, 4). Athens was founded in the 8th century BC (Muller). It was at first ruled by the college of archons. (Muller). After a term of one year, the archons became members of the Council of Elders (Muller). The people had a voice in the popular assembly, the Ekklesia (Muller). However, it did not have real power until 600 BC. By then, it was an established institution of Athens (Muller). It became the central policy making body in the 5th century. There were two main governmental bodies, the Assembly and the Council. (Acropolis). The Assembly was responsible for policy making. (Acropolis) The Council was responsible for administration and implementing the Assembly’s policies. Not everyone could participate in Athenian politics. Slaves, resident aliens, and women were excluded.
The ruler of Athens was elected annually. The elected form of Athens government was issued as Limited Democracy. Democracy is believed to be politically, practiced first by the Athens. Democracy means “rule by the people” men were separated into groups from 5000 to 6000 and put into groups of 500. Theses groups then broke apart into groups of 50. Each leading for about a month, ten generals was elected because of their experience. The next elections were chosen from “lot” voting. Ekklesia, the Athens assembly, sat and discussed political, social, and militaristic material in the pnyx. The pnyx was close to markets and gatherings in the center of the state. Sparta was a city-state in Greece, its population was around 100,000. Sparta ruled by “Oligarchy” meaning “rule by few” There was an annual election of five Ephors. Sided with two kings who passed the crown down to their chosen son. Kings and Ephors would attend general assembly to discuss
Athens was an amazing area that promoted free thinking, hence the reason the government was a democracy. Athens had very strong values, which were of individuality, beauty, and freedom. Right away we can see that Athens was a peaceful area to live. Athens was located on Greeks peninsula which was a big reason why Athens had a very
The growth and prosperity of Athens resulted in great fear and resentment by the other Greek city-states. They fear that the powerful Athens may come to dominate them too. In an effort to protect their own city-states, Sparta and other Greek city-states formed the ally with the aim to end the expansion of Athenian power. In 431 BCE, the Peloponnesian War broke out between Athens and the Spartan led city-states. The war lasted 27 long and gruesome years that ended tragically when Athens finally surrendered to Sparta in 404 BCE. Athens fell to the power of Sparta and lost all its fortifications, foreign territories, navy, and independence. This destructive war ended Athenian dominance for the rest of Greek history and the Spartans became the dominant power in
With an abundance of food the early cities of Imnae, Pitana, Mesoa and Cynosoura would come together on the banks of the Eurotas River and form Sparta. In mythology it is stated that Sparta was founded by Lacedaemon, the son of Zeus and Taygete, who married Sparta, the daughter of Eurotas. Late in the eighth century BCE, Sparta subjugated most of neighboring Messenia and its population was made to serve Spartan interests. Obtaining this control of 8,500 km² from Messenia and Laconia gave Sparta the largest polis in Greece which carried an advantage in Greek politics. The subjugation of the Messenia and Laconia peoples created what is known as the perioikoi, which were treated as slaves and often forced to join the ranks of the Spartan army. Subsisting with the perioikoi were the helots, which consisted of common laborers who lived on Spartan estates, and the neodamodeis, the liberated group of the helots. The role of the slaves was key in the progress of Spartan knowledge in military training, hunting, war, and politics. With these slaves tending to common manners of agricultural or lesser work, Spartans were able to focus on what they knew would make Sparta a powerful force in Greece. Although rendered as a city state focused solely on war, early Sparta took pride in artist...