Athens built a wall, and made the Delian League pay for the wall.

In 461 BC, Athens built a wall. A big, beautiful wall. Athens built a great, great wall, actually two great walls, and Athens made the Delian League pay for those walls. Mark my words.

After the Greeks destroyed their Persian invaders in the Greco-Persian Wars, Athens and other city-states formed the Delian League as an alliance to defend against future attacks. Most of the city-states didn’t have military resources to contribute, so instead they paid tribute to Athens and became protectorates.

The Long Walls of Athens

The Persians stopped being a significant threat after the war, but Athens kept collecting tribute anyway. The Athenians used the tribute money to build their walls, and the Parthenon, and other stuff that had nothing to with the Delian League. Any city-states that tried to secede were attacked and had their land and ships confiscated.

Eventually the city-states got tired of paying for Athens’ dumb monuments so they allied with Sparta and destroyed Athens in the Peloponnesian War. Then they tore down the walls. The End.

One thought on “Athens built a wall, and made the Delian League pay for the wall.

  1. I like the second picture in your text about the walls of Athens, and I would appreciate to use it in my book on democracy – would you kindly let me know about the conditions?
    Kind regards
    L.M. Auer
    [email protected]

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