Athenian Empire Research Paper

1248 Words5 Pages
Although the Athenian Empire was small in scale compared to others of it’s time, the power this empire had impacted much of Greece’s history. This empire resulted in many of the accomplishments made by the great Thucydides. After the Greeks defeated Persia in 490 BC, the Athenian Empire began to rise. The Athenian Culture in Greece used the sea and other valuable resources to become a major part in Grecian history. This cultural exchange that happened between Athens and Sparta that led to the Peloponnesian war would affect both societies greatly in ways they did not see coming. Driven by their King Darius, Persia attempted to conquer Athens in 490 BC. During the war between the Athenians and the Persians, Athenians used the sea to drive…show more content…
The Athenians winning the war was not something that was predicted to happen. Winning the war is credited to the Athenians large navy. This win was the start of the rise of the Athenian Empire. Athenians used manipulation to gain control of other surrounding territories. The Delian League is one example of this manipulation. The Delian League receives its name from an island called Delos, which is where the treasury was collected.(Roisman, Joseph, and J.C. Yardley. Ancient Greece from Homer to Alexander) The Delian League was used to crush out allies who would begin too revolt against the Athenian Empire. After destroying old unfaithful allies, new trustworthy ones were built up from the ruins of these old allies. The Athenians would use this to gain more power, by gaining trust from those who shared enemies. Two prominent cases of manipulation by the Delian League happening in history are the island of Cyros and Carystos which is located on the island of Euboeia. The Delian League capturing the island of Cyros was viewed as very controversial. Athenians justified this attack stating the ocean would be…show more content…
They would rely on each other greatly for assistance. When the Spartans went into war with the Helots, they called upon all of their comrades to send soldiers for fighting in their war. Athens sent them many soldiers, as many as 4,000 which was a decent sized amount. They sent these soldiers even though the two empires were not on good terms. However, when these soldiers arrived to fight this war, they were rejected by the Spartans and sent back to Athens. This exchange between Sparta and Athens embarrassed the Athenians. The rejection of these soldiers caused more tension and unease between the two empires.Sparta was afraid of the power the Athenian empire was gaining. The Athenians were so powerful they had the potential to conquer Sparta. In 431 BC the Peloponnesian War began between Sparta and Athens. This war would last almost thirty long years. The Peloponnesian war was not a constant war. However, this war was fought in many separate smaller wars. Sparta’s original reasoning behind the war was an idea announced that Greece had been under Athenian oppression for far too long and something must be done. Athenians had more problems than a war with Sparta to deal with. Just two years after the war started, a plague swept the nation. This would kill many people of Athens, as many as two-thirds. In order for the Spartans too win they would need too convince Athens to give into Spartan control. Athens learned all they
Show More
Related

  • Peloponnesian War Research Paper

    1411 Words  | 6 Pages

    Matt Nolan Global 10 Mr. Kohrt 17 November 2014 Research paper The Peloponnesian War showed that ancient Greece could not act as a unified country for an extended period of time. This war divided ancient Greece between the Delian League, which was led by Athens and the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. It ended with the near destruction of the center of ancient Greek trade. Although the Peloponnesian war took place from 431 B.C. to 404 B.C, It can be broken up into three sections. The Archidamian

    Read More

More about Athenian Empire Research Paper

Open Document