The Greek Political Legacy

The political system of the ancient Greece is alive today through the influence they had upon the Roman Empire via the conquest of the nations which founded America.

The Delian League was established during 478 BC under the leadership of Athens. Its main headquarters was on the island of Delos. Although the island is sacred to the Ionian Greeks, all members were Athenians. The larger states gave ships to the Athenians, while the smaller ones contributed money, as tribute. Its purpose was to preserve the freedom of Greek states newly liberated from Persia in the aftermath of the Persian War.

This new alliance also contemplated carrying the war against Persia into its own territories. The league was successful in driving the Persians from the Aegean Sea. In 454 BC the Delian League was moved to Athens to complete the Athenian Empire. The League was later used to place embargos on Corinth.

This then lead to the Peloponnesian War. The Peloponnesian War, 431-404 BC, a mighty struggle between Athens and Sparta and their allies, resulted in Athens being defeated and stripped of its empire and Sparta becoming the leader of the Greek world. The Athenians sought to regain control of the sea and attacked Corinthian settlements in northwestern Greece. After Athens's defeat in Sicily in 413, Sparta became a strong naval power and gradually drove Athens from the sea. After the defeat of Athens, each city-state attempted to rule the nation.

Neither Sparta, Athens, nor any other city-state had been capable of uniting Greece under its leadership. Intense jealousies, sharpened by the egoistical abuse each polis dealt the others whenever circumstances permitted, made unity a hopeless dream. Through all the fighting, the army was weakened to such a degree that they could be easily invaded.