What happened to Athens after the Persian War?

Answer 1

After the battle of Marathon, the polis was considered as the most powerful city-state in all Greece. They thought themselves as heroes. They started to act like if they were superior in every ways: the way they thought, they way they fought ...

There is also Miltiades who were the Athenian general at Marathon who ambush Paros because they gave ships to the Persians. he didn't succeded and was sentenced to death. Because of him, there were no longer democracy in Athens. The population did not trust the politicians anymore and there were no more democracy for many decades.

Athens was also destroyed during the second Persian War. It was completely destroyed but no citizen was killed or made slave because they had the time to flee because of the 300 spartians. The Athenians then fought the naval army of Xerxes close to Salamis. They won, once again and were considered as the best polis ever in all Greece

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There is also the Delian League that consisted in an alliance between Athens and other polis. They had to pay Athens which was supposed to protect them if there were another Persian invasion but it never happened. The Athenians used the money to rebuild their city.

Answer 2

After peace was made with Persia, Athens converted the Delian League - the anti-Persian confederation it had led against the Persian Empire - into an empire of its own, continuing to collect the war contributions, by force where necessary, and using them to glorify its city and keep half of Athens on the public payroll.

The strength of its fleet, paid for by its empire, led it to become adventurous, over-confident and interfere in the Greek city-states outside its empire, leading to war with the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. After a devastating 27 years of war, Athens was defeated and stripped of its empire, thereafter becoming a second-rate power.

Answer 3

Insecure, but with an opportunity. They formed an anti-Persian alliance covering about 250 cities which provided the revenue for a large fleet which gave Athens naval superiority in the Greek world. This alliance was progressively transformed into an empire which supplied the funds which made Athens great for 50 years.

Answer 4

Athens continued to extort the war funds from their allies, turning the anti-Persian league into an empire of its own. With these funds, much building, promoting arts and half the populace on the public payroll.

Answer 5

In the latter part of the war, Althens led the Delian League - 200 Greek city-states in Asia Minor, collecting annual financial levies from the cities for providing protection from the Persians and keeping its treasury at Delos. When peace was made with Persia, Athens continued to collect the levy and used it for its own aggrandisement, building the Parthenon and other buildings, putting half its people on the public payroll, and maintaining a large war fleet which each year went around the cities enforcing payment of the levy.

Answer 6

It turned the Delian League which it had led against the Persians into an empire of its own, living the high life on the war funds it continued to extort from the cities.