VICTORIUS HELLAS
The Great Persian War was much more than a conflict between two rival states. It was a struggle between East and West; between Oriental despotism and Occidental individualism. On the one side were all the populous, centralized countries of Asia; on the other side, the small, disunited states of Greece. In the East was the boundless wealth, in men and money, of a world-wide empire. In the West were the feeble resources of a few petty communities. Nevertheless Greece won. The story of her victory forms an imperishable record in the annals of human freedom.
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]