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The Peloponnesian War

The Athenian Empire

In 470, when Naxos wanted to withdraw from the League, Athens refused, arguing that the island was benefiting from the protection of the continued presence of the League's fleet and so must contribute to it. Naxos disagreed and a brief war ensued. Athens defeated the city and dismantled its walls.

Effectively, this brief conflict signalled that membership in the League was not really voluntary, and increasingly Athens demanded money payments rather than contributions in ships. Especially to the other city-states, these contributions were looking more and more like tribute payments. You will find some books that refer to the Athenian Empire, but such a thing never existed; that is, there was no emperor in Athens. The city did, however, use the League in a manner reminiscent of modern imperialism, and so we call it an empire.

Athens also began to expand within the Greek mainland. She did this mostly by treaty, but she was not afraid to use force when negotiations failed. In 457 Athens invaded and conquered most of Boeotia, defeating the major city-state of Thebes. Her expansionist policies made an enemy of both Sparta and Corinth, a powerful combination. In 454 Pericles transferred the Delian treasury to the Temple of Athena, arguing that the treasury would be safer within the Acropolis. Any pretense of a league was now very hard to maintain. The Persians had been driven from most of the Aegean Sea. Members of the League could not withdraw and their "contributions" were mainly in cash. The treasury itself was physically in Athens and the monies were being used for non-League purposes including the beautification of the city. And now Athens was annexing her neighbors within Greece itself. Small wonder that Sparta and Corinth (and others) regarded Athens, rather than Persia, as the chief danger to Greek liberty.