The Athenian Empire

Athens was by far the most powerful city-state in the ancient Greek world, so much so that an enemy said “Athens alone can stand against all the rest of us combined.” How did the Athenian polis and its people, the demos, rise to such dominance by land and sea that they controlled the majority of Greek civilization, defeated the Persian Empire, and wielded an unprecedented amount of military and economic power in the Eastern Mediterranean? This class will explore the demographic, economic, military, and political factors that led to the rise and fall of the Athenian empire. The archaic origins of Athenian colonization, the role of tyrants, and the rise of democratic imperialism prior to and after the Persian wars will be discussed in depth. The devolution of the free Delian League into Athenian Empire will be studied through inscriptions, followed by the eventual Greek resistance that culminated in the  Peloponnesian War with Sparta, as well as the revival of Athenian hegemony in the fourth-century free Second Athenian League.