Athens’ Golden age, where both economically and politically they reached their peak, is generally found between the repulsion of the Persian invasion and the Peloponnesian war (431-404BC). During this period Athens became its most democratic and wealthiest; her navy was the envy of the entire classical world both in size and quality. Behind these achievements flourished both population and culture, tragedy and comedy from playwrights such as Aristophanes and Euripides whilst philosophy and medicine reached new heights under Socrates and Hippocrates respectively. Far more than just these sweeping general achievements happened but they set the filter through which Athenians saw themselves and their city. This is important in order to fully answer …show more content…
The Spartan commander Pausanias however lost the faith of the city states of Greece who instead compelled Athens to command a new alliance meeting at Delos, where the modern term for the league comes. This Delian league lost Sparta face whilst provided Athens a unique opportunity with supposedly no deterioration of friendship with Sparta who "wanted to be rid of the Median war". Strictly Athenian treasurers (Hellenotamiai) managed the finances of the Treasury which was based at first on Delos. Furthermore all members allowed Aristides, renowned as fair and just, to decide how much each city state would pay or provide to the army. All commanders were provided for the combined forces by Athenian assembly that voted in 10 Strategoi each year confining almost every decision to Athens and the Athenian Strategos of the Delian Army. These developments all set up Athens with a strong navy and income that her allies were bound by absolute oath to provide, though they generally did so willingly and were 'unlikely to defy orders'. Sparta meanwhile had no such navy, most ships provided by their close allies, though close to the beginning of the Delian league Athenian successes do not go unnoticed by Sparta who debate on their own use of a Navy for economic reasons. This plan is defeated by an elder Hetiomaridas who warns that Sparta’s interests do not extend …show more content…
The money, rowers and experience from the league meant that at the battle of the Eurymedion Athens and her allies defeat the Persians both on land and sea; thanks to a vast navy of 200 triremes that could only be funded by the Delian treasury. Clearly the use of the Treasury was meant for funding such expeditions for the good of the members and Athens benefitted greatly, Van Wees finds that economically Athens could wage war without any costs. Such costs that completely barred Sparta from the seas and for other naval city states caused problems where the upper classes had to pay for the cities ships, Rhodes for instance faced social revolution. But this phoros was not the only income for Athens and her vast territory as Pericles declares 600 talents of silver and ‘other sources of income’ such as the Silver mines. Due to this income by the start of the Peloponnesian war Athens held a vast treasury of 6000 talents. These incomes meant the Athenian state directly paid more wages to officials and soldiers than any other, but these were certainly considered by most to be of great value; yearly income is most visually displayed in the construction of the Parthenon that housed a gilded statue of Athena on the Acropolis. This became the pinnacle of secular wealth in Greece as well as a display at their confidence of using Delian funds for purely their own benefit,