The Athenian Empire: 1
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The Athenians took over the leadership in this way, as the allies wanted because they hated Pausanias. They made an assessment of which allied cities should provide money for the war against the Persians and which were to provide ships. They did this because a pretext for the alliance was to take revenge for their losses by devastating the Persian King's territory. It was at that time [spring 477] that the Athenians first established the office of Hellenotamiai [Treasurers of the Greeks]. These were the men who received the tribute, as the money that was contributed was called. The first tribute that was assessed amounted to 460 talents. Delos was for them a treasury and it was at the sanctuary there that meetings were held. [97.1] They were leaders of allies who at first were independent and took counsel in meetings open to all. The Athenians led allies who were at first independent and deliberated in meetings open to all, and increased their power greatly by war and by their handling of affairs between this [Peloponnesian] war and the Persian War. Their fighting was directed both against the Persians and against their own rebellious allies and those Peloponnesians who clashed with them from time to time.
Questions
Try to work out an answer, however tentative, to each of the following:
- From what sort of work might this passage have been extracted?
- What sort of person might have written it?
- Who and what might it have been written for?
- Does the writer seem to favour the Athenians or their Allies? If so, why? (For this question you might wish to consider source 2 later as well.)
Section notice
Material to help teachers and students develop interests and skills as a historian.