Early European History

by Hutton Webster

34. ATHENS UNDER THEMISTOCLES, ARISTIDES, AND CIMON

THEMISTOCLES AND THE FORTIFICATIONS OF ATHENS

After the battle of Plataea the Athenians, with their wives and children, returned to Attica and began the restoration of their city, which the Persians had burned. Their first care was to raise a wall so high and strong Athens in future would be impregnable to attack. Upon the suggestion of Themistocles it was decided to include within the fortifications a wide area where all the country people, in case of another invasion, could find a refuge. Themistocles also persuaded the Athenians to build a massive wall on the land side of Piraeus, the port of Athens. That harbor town now became the center of Athenian industry and commerce.

ARISTIDES AND THE DELIAN LEAGUE, 477 B.C.

While the Athenians were rebuilding their city, important events were taking place in the Aegean. After the battle of Mycale the Greek states in Asia Minor and on the islands once more rose in revolt against the Persians. Aided by Sparta and Athens, they gained several successes and removed the immediate danger of another Persian attack. It was clearly necessary, however, for the Greek cities in Asia Minor and the Aegean to remain in close alliance with the Continental Greeks, if they were to preserve their independence. Under the guidance of Aristides, the old rival of Themistocles, [9] the allies formed a union known as the Delian League.

[Illustration: "THESEUM" An Athenian temple formerly supposed to have been constructed by Cimon to receive the bones of the hero Theseus. It is now believed to have been a temple of Hephaestus and Athena erected about 440 B.C. The 'Theseum' owes its almost perfect preservation to the fact that during the Middle Ages it was used as a church.]

CONSTITUTION OF THE LEAGUE

The larger cities in the league agreed to provide ships and crews for a fleet, while the smaller cities were to make their contributions in money. Athens assumed the presidency of the league, and Athenian officials collected the revenues, which were placed in a treasury on the island of Delos. As head of this new federation Athens now had a position of supremacy in the Aegean like that which Sparta enjoyed in the Peloponnesus. [10]

CIMON AND THE WAR AGAINST PERSIA

The man who succeeded Themistocles and Aristides in leadership of the Athenians was Cimon, son of Miltiades, the hero of Marathon. While yet a youth his gallantry at the battle of Salamis gained him a great reputation, and when Aristides introduced him to public life the citizens welcomed him gladly. He soon became the head of the aristocratic or conservative party in the Athenian city. To Cimon the Delian League entrusted the continuation of the war with Persia. The choice was fortunate, for Cimon had inherited his father's military genius. No man did more than he to humble the pride of Persia. As the outcome of Cimon's successful campaigns the southern coast of Asia Minor was added to the Delian League, and the Greek cities at the mouth of the Black Sea were freed from the Persian yoke. Thus, with Cimon as its leader, the confederacy completed the liberation of the Asiatic Greeks.

THE DELIAN LEAGUE BECOMES SUBJECT TO ATHENS, ABOUT 454 B.C.

While the Greeks were gaining these victories, the character of the Delian League was being transformed. Many of the cities, instead of furnishing ships, had taken the easier course of making all their contributions in money. The change really played into the hands of Athens, for the tribute enabled the Athenians to build the ships themselves and add them to their own navy. They soon had a fleet powerful enough to coerce any city that failed to pay its assessments or tried to withdraw from the league. Eventually the common treasure was transferred from Delos to Athens. The date of this event (454 B.C.) may be taken as marking the formal establishment of the Athenian naval empire.

DECLINE OF CIMON'S INFLUENCE

Sparta and her Peloponnesian allies viewed with growing jealousy the rapid rise of Athens. As long, however, as Cimon remained at the head of Athenian affairs, there was little danger of a break with Sparta. He desired his city to keep on good terms with her powerful neighbor: Athens should be mistress of the seas, and Sparta should be mistress on the mainland. A contest between them, Cimon foresaw, would work lasting injury to all Greece. Cimon's pro-Spartan attitude brought him, however, into disfavor at Athens, and he was ostracized. New men and new policies henceforth prevailed in the Athenian state.