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82-648: The First Peloponnesian War began in 460 BC with the Battle of Oenoe, where Spartan forces were defeated by those of Athenian-Argive alliance. At first the Athenians had the better of the fighting, winning the naval engagements using their superior fleet. They also had the better of the fighting on land, until 457 BC when the Spartans and their allies defeated the Athenian army at Tanagra . The Athenians, however, counterattacked and scored

164-459: A Libyan king who had led almost all of Egypt in revolt from the Persian king Artaxerxes . Athens and her allies sent a fleet of 200 ships to assist Inarus; a substantial investment of resources. Thus, Athens entered the war with her forces spread across several theatres of conflict. The impact this had on the Athenians can be seen in an inscription dating to 460 or 459 BC which lists the dead of

246-718: A crushing victory over the Boeotians at the Battle of Oenophyta and followed this victory up by conquering all of Boeotia except for Thebes. Athens further consolidated their position by making Aegina a member of the Delian League and by ravaging the Peloponnese. The Athenians were defeated in 454 BC by the Persians in Egypt which caused them to enter into a five years' truce with Sparta. However,

328-419: A farm, where they were trapped and massacred. For several years at the beginning of the war, Sparta remained largely inert. Spartan troops may have been involved in some of the early battles of the war, but if so, they were not specifically mentioned in any sources. In 458 BC or 457 BC, Sparta at last made a move, but not directly at Athens. A war had broken out between Athens' ally Phocis and Doris , across

410-610: A leading role in the formation of the Delian League against Persia in 478 BC, becoming its commander in the early Wars of the Delian League , including at the Siege of Eion (476 BC). In 466 BC, Cimon led a force to Asia Minor , where he destroyed a Persian fleet and army at the Battle of the Eurymedon river. From 465 to 463 BC he suppressed the Thasian rebellion , in which

492-449: A major revolt by its helots. However, this expedition ended in humiliation for Cimon and for Athens when, fearing that the Athenians would end up siding with the helots, Sparta sent the force back to Attica. This insulting rebuff caused the collapse of Cimon's popularity in Athens. As a result, he was ostracised from Athens for ten years beginning in 461 BC. The reformer Ephialtes then took

574-546: A more dangerous disturbance, in which Euboea and Megara revolted. Pericles crossed over to Euboea with his troops to quash the rebellion there, but was forced to return when the Spartan army invaded Attica . Through negotiation and possibly bribery, Pericles persuaded the Spartan king Pleistoanax to lead his army home. Back in Sparta, Pleistoanax would later be prosecuted for failing to press his advantage, and fined so heavily that he

656-479: A period of ten years. The First Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta began the following year. At the end of his exile, Cimon returned to Athens in 451 BC and immediately negotiated a truce with Sparta; however it did not lead to a permanent peace. He then proposed an expedition to Cyprus , which was in revolt against the Persians. Cimon was placed in command of the fleet of 200 warships. He laid siege to

738-651: A renewal of Cimon's earlier treaty. He had served Athens well during the Persian Wars and according to Plutarch : "In all the qualities that war demands he was fully the equal of Themistocles and his own father Miltiades". After his successes in Asia Minor, Cimon moved to the Thracian colony Chersonesus . There he subdued the local tribes and ended the revolt of the Thasians between 465 BC and 463 BC. Thasos had revolted from

820-456: A significant number of ships were probably kept at Megara's port of Pagae throughout the war. Moreover, while early modern scholars were sceptical of Athens' ability to prevent a Spartan army from moving through the Megarid, recent scholarship has concluded that the pass of Geraneia could have been held by a relatively small force. Thus, with the isthmus of Corinth closed and Athenian fleets in both

902-632: A strength of 14,000. The Spartans were led by Nicomedes and had a total of 11,500 soldiers. While both the Athenians and Spartans suffered great losses, Sparta ultimately claimed victory in this battle. Prior to the breakout of this battle, in the Persian Wars , the Spartan-led Peloponnesian League won a hegemony . As time progressed the Peloponnesian League grew to fear the power of the Athenian Empire. Relations between

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984-451: A sudden halt in 454 BC, when its Egyptian expedition was finally crushingly defeated. A massive Persian army under Megabazus had been sent overland against the rebels in Egypt some time earlier, and upon its arrival had quickly routed the rebel forces. The Greek contingent had been besieged on the island of Prosopitis in the Nile . In 454 BC, after a siege of 18 months, the Persians captured

1066-604: A truce with Sparta. Cimon arranged a five-year truce, and over the next several years Athens concentrated its efforts in the Aegean. The years after the truce were eventful ones in Greek politics. The Peace of Callias , if it existed, was concluded in 449 BC. It was probably in that same year that Pericles passed the Congress decree, calling for a pan-Hellenic congress to discuss the future of Greece. Modern scholars have debated extensively over

1148-425: Is the phrase εν τῳ πολεμῳ 'in the war' suggesting that all these arenas were still considered (or intended to seem) a single war, in contrast to a similar list of the 440s BC where the casualties died εν τοις πολεμοις 'in the wars'. CF Peloponnesian War In either 460 or 459 BC, Athens fought a number of major battles against the combined forces of several Peloponnesian states. On land, the Athenians were defeated by

1230-699: Is translated thus: 'Of the tribe Erechtheis, these died in the war, in Cyprus , in Egypt , in Phoenicia , in Halieis, in Aegina , at Megara , during the same year'. This fits very closely with Thucydides' account, the last three chronologically following the order he gives. Thucydides does not, however, mention Phoenicia, so the inscription gives evidence for fighting in a place we would otherwise not associate with this period. Also significant

1312-536: The Athenian Assembly to send military support to Sparta, where the helots were in revolt (the Third Messenian War ). Cimon personally commanded the force of 4,000 hoplites sent to Sparta. However, the Spartans refused their aid, telling the Athenians to go home – a major diplomatic snub. The resulting embarrassment destroyed Cimon's popularity in Athens; he was ostracized in 461 BC, exiling him for

1394-646: The Corinthian Gulf from the Peloponnese. Doris was traditionally identified as the homeland of the Dorians , and the Spartans, being Dorians, had a long-standing alliance with that state. Accordingly, a Spartan army under the command of the general Nicomedes, acting as deputy for the under-age king Pleistoanax , was dispatched across the Corinthian Gulf to assist. This army forced the Phocians to accept terms, but while

1476-604: The Delian League (also known as the Confederacy of Delos), and it was agreed that Cimon would be their principal commander. As strategos, Cimon commanded most of the League's operations until 463 BC. During this period, he and Aristides drove the Spartans under Pausanias out of Byzantium . Cimon also captured Eion on the Strymon from the Persian general Boges . Other coastal cities of

1558-476: The Delian League , in a conference of Ionian and Aegean states at Delos . The Athenians rebuilt their walls in secret at the urging of Themistocles, who convinced the Athenians that this was the best way to protect themselves. Themistocles also delayed talks with Sparta for universal arms control by constantly finding issues with Sparta's proposals, stating that it would leave Athens vulnerable to Sparta's superior hoplites and phalanx fighting formation. After

1640-556: The Long Walls , a defensive structure that secured the communication lines between the city and Piraeus. Like other walls that were built, it allowed the Athenians to refuse battle and retreat without fear of being cut from supplies coming from the sea. When the Phocians made war on the cities of Doris —the traditional homeland of Doric Greeks —the Doric Sparta sent a relief force under

1722-561: The Long Walls , maneuvered to cut off the Spartan army isolated in Boeotia. The exiled Athenian politician and general Cimon met with the Athenian with his own forces known as the tribe known as the Oeneis to assist Athens. Cimon was turned away from assisting the Athenian forces due to the Council of 500 fearing it would disrupt Athens forces. Facing either transport through waters controlled by

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1804-558: The Phoenician and Persian stronghold of Citium on the southwest coast of Cyprus in 450   BC; he died during or soon after the failed attempt. However, his death was kept secret from the Athenian army, who subsequently won an important victory over the Persians under his 'command' at the Battle of Salamis-in-Cyprus . He was later buried in Athens, where a monument was erected in his memory. During his period of considerable popularity and influence at Athens, Cimon's domestic policy

1886-491: The oracle of Delphi. In 447 BC a revolt broke out in Boeotia which was to spell the end of Athens' "continental empire" on the Greek mainland. Tolmides led an army out to challenge the Boeotians, but, after some early successes, was defeated at the Battle of Coronea . In the wake of this defeat, Pericles adopted a more moderate stance and Athens abandoned Boeotia, Phocis, and Locris. The defeat at Coronea, however, triggered

1968-562: The (second) Peloponnesian War , with decidedly more conclusive results. Battle of Tanagra (457 BC) The Battle of Tanagra was a land battle that took place in Boeotia in 457 BC between Athens and Sparta during the First Peloponnesian War . Tension between Athens and Sparta had built up due the rebuilding of Athens' walls and Spartan rejection of Athenian military assistance. The Athenians were led by Myronides and held

2050-401: The Athenian democratic regime. Athens, meanwhile, had been asserting itself on the international scene, and was eager to take the lead in the Aegean. The Athenians had already rebuilt their walls, against the express wishes of Sparta. In 479 BC and 478 BC Athens also took a much more active role in the Aegean campaigning. In the winter of 479–478 BC they accepted the leadership of a new league,

2132-434: The Athenian general and statesman Cimon advocated a policy of cooperation between the two states, acting as Sparta's proxenos at Athens. Still, hints of conflict emerged. Thucydides reports that in the mid 460s BC, Sparta decided to invade Attica during the Thasian rebellion , but was stopped by an earthquake in 464 BC that triggered a revolt among the helots . It was that helot revolt which would eventually bring on

2214-506: The Athenian navy or a difficult march through the Geraneia mountain passes held by Athenian soldiers supported from Megara , the Spartans decided to wait either for the opening of a safe route home or an outright Athenian assault. The battle was fought at Tanagra where the Athenian forces of 14,000 strong with their 1,000 allies from Argos met Sparta with 11,500 strong with 1,500 Spartans and 10,000 allied Hoplites . No details or accounts of

2296-429: The Athenians at Oenophyta . The Athenians scored a crushing victory which led to the Athenians conquering all of Boeotia except for Thebes, as well as Phocis and Locris . The Athenians pulled down Tanagra's fortifications and took the hundred richest citizens of Locris and made them hostages. The Athenians also took this chance to complete the construction of their long walls. Shortly after this, Aegina surrendered and

2378-514: The Athenians regrouped under the command of Myronides . They then defeated Thebes at the Battle of Oenophyta and took control of Boeotia, taking down the wall the Spartans had built and taking one hundred of the richest men of the Opuntian Locris as hostages. With the victory, the Athenians also occupied Phocis , the original source of the conflict and the Opuntian Locris. Years after

2460-499: The Battle of Tanagra, Cimon was recalled from exile due to the special relations they had between Sparta and Athens. With these special relations, Cimon helped create a five year peace treaty between Athens and Sparta. 38°19′N 23°32′E  /  38.317°N 23.533°E  / 38.317; 23.533 Cimon Cimon or Kimon ( Ancient Greek : Κίμων Μιλτιάδου Λακιάδης , romanized :  Kimōn Miltiadou Lakiadēs ; c.  510   – 450   BC)

2542-466: The Corinthian and Saronic gulfs, Attica was unassailable from the Peloponnese. The Spartans' inability to attack Megara proved to be a key component in their loss to the Athenians, but one scholar believes that the Spartans' inability to attack and control Megara was due to poor calculations and Athenian efforts to avoid an open land battle with the Spartans. Athens' remarkable string of successes came to

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2624-626: The Delian League over a trade rivalry with the Thracian hinterland and, in particular, over the ownership of a gold mine . Athens under Cimon laid siege to Thasos after the Athenian fleet defeated the Thasos fleet. These actions earned him the enmity of Stesimbrotus of Thasos (a source used by Plutarch in his writings about this period in Greek history). Despite these successes, Cimon was prosecuted by Pericles for allegedly accepting bribes from Alexander I of Macedon . According to Plutarch's account, Pericles at trial "was very gentle with Cimon, and took

2706-591: The First Peloponnesian War broke out, Athens and Spartans had fought alongside each other in the Greco-Persian Wars . In that war, Sparta held hegemony over what modern scholars call the Hellenic League and the overall command in the crucial victories of 480 and 479 BC. Over the next several years, however, Spartan leadership bred resentment among the Greek naval powers that took the lead in carrying

2788-575: The Peloponnesian League worsened due to a breakdown in diplomatic affronts and demands. In 478 BC, wanting to deny any future Persian invasion a base from which to operate, Sparta had urged Athens, along with other Greek cities, to refrain from rebuilding their walls. However, suspecting a Spartan ploy and having already begun the work of construction, Athens employed subterfuge to delay the wheels of diplomacy until Athens could finish them. Athens did this by waiting to send Athenian politician Themistocles to Lacedaemon until Athens had started constructing

2870-508: The Persians at the Battle of the Eurymedon on the Eurymedon River in Pamphylia . Cimon's land and sea forces captured the Persian camp and destroyed or captured the entire Persian fleet of 200 triremes manned by Phoenicians . And he established an Athenian colony nearby called Amphipolis with 10,000 settlers. Many new allies of Athens were then recruited into the Delian League, such as

2952-503: The Spartans. Later, with a Persian fleet moving against a rebellious Cyprus , Cimon proposed an expedition to fight the Persians. He gained Pericles' support and sailed to Cyprus with two hundred triremes of the Delian League. From there, he sent sixty ships under Admiral Charitimides to Egypt to help the Egyptian revolt of Inaros , in the Nile Delta . Cimon used the remaining ships to aid

3034-420: The area surrendered to him after Eion, with the notable exception of Doriscus . He also conquered Scyros and drove out the pirates who were based there. On his return, he brought the "bones" of the mythological Theseus back to Athens. To celebrate this achievement, three Herma statues were erected around Athens. Around 466 BC, Cimon carried the war against Persia into Asia Minor and decisively defeated

3116-636: The armies of Corinth and Epidaurus at Halieis, but at sea they were victorious at Cecryphaleia (a small island between Aegina and the coast of Epidaurus). Alarmed by this Athenian aggressiveness in the Saronic Gulf , Aegina entered into the war against Athens, combining its powerful fleet with that of the Peloponnesian allies. In the resulting sea battle, the Athenians won a commanding victory, capturing seventy Aeginetan and Peloponnesian ships. They then landed at Aegina and, led by Leocrates , laid siege to

3198-524: The army was in Doris an Athenian fleet moved into position to block its return across the Corinthian Gulf. At this point Nicomedes led his army south into Bœotia. Several factors may have influenced his decision to make this move. First, secret negotiations had been underway with a party at Athens which was willing to betray the city to the Spartans in order to overthrow the democracy. Furthermore, Donald Kagan has suggested that Nicomedes had been in contact with

3280-454: The battle have been found. While no description of the events within the battle was given, both the Spartan and Athenian forces claimed both suffered great losses. Sparta claimed victory of this battle and were now able to return home through the mountain passes of the Isthmus , cutting down the fruit trees once crossing into the Megarid along the journey home. Sixty two days after the battle,

3362-464: The city. With substantial Athenian detachments tied down in Egypt and Aegina, Corinth invaded the Megaris , attempting to force the Athenians to withdraw their forces from Aegina to meet this new threat. Instead, the Athenians scraped together a force of men too old and boys too young for ordinary military service and sent this force, under the command of Myronides , to relieve Megara. The resulting battle

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3444-418: The command of Nicomedes , son of Cleombrotus , acting as regent for his under-age nephew, King Pleistoanax . An army of 1,500 Spartan hoplites with 10,000 of their allies entered Boeotia and compelled the submission of Phocis . Athens, already contemptuous of Spartan treatment and now suspecting Athens of negotiating with factions within the city to undermine democracy and prevent the construction of

3526-473: The completion of the walls Themistocles declared Athens independent of Spartan hegemony, stating that Athens knew what was in its best interest and was now strong enough to defend itself. At this time, one of the first hints of animosity between Athens and Sparta emerged in an anecdote reported by Diodorus Siculus, who said that the Spartans in 475–474 BC considered reclaiming the hegemony of the campaign against Persia by force. Modern scholars, although uncertain of

3608-426: The crisis that precipitated the war. Unable to quell the revolt themselves, the Spartans summoned all their allies to assist them, invoking the old Hellenic League ties, especially looking for help from the Athenians, who, at this point, had become known for their siege warfare. Athens responded to the call, sending out 4,000 men with Cimon at their head. However, when the Athenians failed at their siege efforts against

3690-426: The dating and reliability of this story, have generally cited it as evidence of the existence, even at this early date, of a "war party" in Sparta. For some time, however, friendly relations prevailed between Athens and Sparta. Themistocles , the Athenian of the period most associated with an anti-Spartan policy, was ostracised at some point in the late 470s BC, and was later forced to flee to Persia. In his place,

3772-455: The exiled Athenian politician Cimon , armoured for battle, approached the Athenian lines to offer his services, but was ordered to depart; before going, he ordered his friends to prove their loyalty through their bravery. This they did, but the Athenians were defeated in the battle, although both sides suffered heavy losses. The Spartans, rather than invading Attica, marched home across the isthmus, and Donald Kagan believes that at this point Cimon

3854-414: The finances of the league, and a number of inscriptions survive showing who contributed to the wealth of the league and how much each city gave. Osborne and Rhodes' new book containing a great number of the inscriptions available from this period has one tribute list from 454/3 depicting the amount of tribute which Athens received from its allies and which it dedicated to Athena. The change in the location of

3936-429: The floor only once in accusation." Cimon, in his defense, pointed out that he was never envoy to the rich kingdoms of Ionia or Thessaly, but rather to Sparta, whose frugality he lovingly imitated; and that, rather than enrich himself, he enriched Athens with the booty he acquired from the enemy. Cimon was in the end acquitted. Cimon was Sparta's Proxenos at Athens , he strongly advocated a policy of cooperation between

4018-460: The government of Thebes and planned to unify Boeotia under Theban leadership; which, upon his arrival, he seems to have done. With a strong Spartan army in Boeotia and the threat of treason in the air, the Athenians marched out with as many troops, both Athenian and allied, as they could muster to challenge the Peloponnesians. The two armies met at the Battle of Tanagra . Before the battle,

4100-407: The head of his household, he also had to look after his sister or half-sister Elpinice . According to Plutarch , the wealthy Callias took advantage of this situation by proposing to pay Cimon's debts for Elpinice's hand in marriage. Cimon agreed. Cimon in his youth had a reputation of being dissolute, a hard drinker, and blunt and unrefined; it was remarked that in this latter characteristic he

4182-430: The helots, the Spartans became fearful of Athens' revolutionary views being so close to the helots and Spartans. Fearing the Athenians may choose to side with the revolting helots, the Spartans sent them back home to Athens, alone of all their allies. This action destroyed the political credibility of Cimon; he had already been under assault by his Athenian opponents led by Ephialtes , and shortly after this embarrassment he

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4264-510: The intent of that proposal; some regard it as a good faith effort to secure a lasting peace, while others view it as a propaganda tool. In any event, Sparta derailed the congress by refusing to attend. In the same year the Second Sacred War erupted, when Sparta detached Delphi from Phocis and rendered it independent. In 448 BC, Pericles led the Athenian army against Delphi, in order to reinstate Phocis to its former sovereign rights over

4346-540: The island of Thasos attempted to leave the Delian League. This event marked the transformation of the Delian League into the Athenian Empire . Cimon took an increasingly prominent role in Athenian politics, generally supporting the aristocrats and opposing the popular party (which sought to expand the Athenian democracy ). A laconist , Cimon also acted as Sparta 's representative in Athens . In 462 BC, he convinced

4428-404: The island, destroying the force almost entirely. Though the force that was obliterated was probably not as large as the 200 ships that had originally been sent, it was at least 40 ships with their full complements, a significant number of men. It was in 454 that the treasury of the Delian League, which Athens was head of, was moved from Delos to Athens. This change gave Athens greater control over

4510-629: The lead in running Athens and, with the support of Pericles, reduced the power of the Athenian Council of the Areopagus (filled with ex- archons and so a stronghold of oligarchy ). Power was transferred to the citizens, i.e. the Council of Five Hundred , the Assembly, and the popular law courts. Some of Cimon's policies were reversed including his pro-Spartan policy and his attempts at peace with Persia. Many ostraka bearing his name survive; one bearing

4592-515: The main parts of their empires. Athens continued its domination of the sea while Sparta dominated the land. Megara returned to the Peloponnesian League and Aegina became a tribute-paying but autonomous member of the Delian League. The war between the two leagues restarted in 431 BC, leading to the Second Peloponnesian War . It ended with a conclusive Spartan victory, where, in 404 BC, Athens was occupied by Sparta. Only twenty years before

4674-655: The peak of Athenian power. Holding Boeotia and Megara on land and dominating the sea with its fleet, the city had stood utterly secure from attack. The events of 447 BC and 446 BC, however, destroyed this position, and although not all Athenians gave up their dreams of unipolar control of the Greek world, the peace treaty that ended the war laid out the framework for a bipolar Greece. In return for abandoning her continental territories, Athens received recognition of her alliance by Sparta. The peace concluded in 445 BC, however, would last for less than half of its intended 30 years. In 431 BC, Athens and Sparta would go to war once again in

4756-402: The same time, Athens settled the helots exiled after the defeat of their revolt at Naupactus on the Corinthian Gulf . By 460 BC, Athens found itself openly at war with Corinth and several other Peloponnesian states, and a larger war was imminent. As this war was beginning, Athens also took on a serious military commitment in another part of the Aegean when they sent a force to assist Inarus ,

4838-406: The spiteful inscription: " Cimon, son of Miltiades, and Elpinice too " (his haughty sister). In 458 BC, Cimon sought to return to Athens to assist its fight against Sparta at Tanagra , but was rebuffed. Eventually, around 451 BC, Cimon returned to Athens. Although he was not allowed to return to the level of power he once enjoyed, he was able to negotiate on Athens' behalf a five-year truce with

4920-464: The town of Kition , but died (of unrecorded causes) around the time of the failure of the siege in 450 BC. Cimon was born into Athenian nobility in 510 BC. He was a member of the Philaidae clan, from the deme of Laciadae (Lakiadai). His grandfather was Cimon Coalemos , who won three Olympic victories with his four-horse chariot and was assassinated by the sons of Peisistratus . His father

5002-557: The trading city of Phaselis on the Lycian -Pamphylian border. There is a view amongst some historians that while in Asia Minor, Cimon negotiated a peace between the League and the Persians after his victory at the Battle of the Eurymedon. This may help to explain why the Peace of Callias negotiated by his brother-in-law in 450 BC is sometimes called the Peace of Cimon as Callias' efforts may have led to

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5084-433: The treasury is often pin-pointed as a focal point for the realisation of an Athenian empire. The disaster in Egypt severely shook Athenian control of the Aegean, and for some years afterwards the Athenians concentrated their attention on reorganising the Delian League and stabilising the region. The Athenians responded to a call for assistance from Orestes, the son of Echecratides , King of Thessaly , to restore him after he

5166-406: The tribe Erechtheis . It is unusual in focusing on a single tribe as it was common for the dead of all ten tribes to be listed together on either a single Stele or several adjoining stelai with a common title. Perhaps it can be explained in this instance, however, by the unusually high death toll; 185 personal names are listed on the inscription in total. The list is preceded by an inscription which

5248-406: The two states. He was known to be so fond of Sparta that he named one of his sons Lacedaemonius. In 462 BC, Cimon sought the support of Athens' citizens to provide help to Sparta. Although Ephialtes maintained that Sparta was Athens' rival for power and should be left to fend for itself, Cimon's view prevailed. Cimon then led 4,000 hoplites to Mt. Ithome to help the Spartan aristocracy deal with

5330-623: The uprising of the Cypriot Greek city-states. From his many military exploits and money gained through the Delian League, Cimon funded many construction projects throughout Athens. These projects were greatly needed in order to rebuild after the Achaemenid destruction of Athens . He ordered the expansion of the Acropolis and the walls around Athens, and the construction of public roads, public gardens, and many political buildings. Cimon laid siege to

5412-511: The urging of Cimon , who was appointed its commander. Sparta grew suspicious that the Athenians were potentially aiding the helots in Ithome in their uprising. Sparta turned away the Athenian forces that were sent to aid Sparta. These actions resulted in rising political tensions between Athens and Sparta. Athens was insulted and humiliated by Sparta’s actions, and this led to Athens breaking their alliance with Sparta. In 458 BC, Athens began building

5494-453: The walls resulting in the Long Walls being nearly completed by the time Themistocles told Sparta that there were plans to rebuild the Long Walls. In 464 BC, suffering another Helot rebellion and failing to make progress in the siege against their stronghold Ithome , Sparta had asked for Athens' aid along with its other allies. A "considerable force" was sent out to support the Spartans at

5576-614: The war against Persian territories in Asia and the Aegean, and after 478 BC the Spartans abandoned their leadership of this campaign. Sparta grew wary of Athens' strength after they had fought alongside each other to disperse the Persians from their lands. When Athens started to rebuild its walls and the strength of its naval power, Sparta and its allies began to fear that Athens was becoming too powerful. Different policies made it difficult for Athens and Sparta to avoid going to war, since Athens wanted to expand its territory and Sparta wanted to dismantle

5658-514: The war flared up again in 448 BC with the start of the Second Sacred War. In 446 BC, Boeotia revolted and defeated the Athenians at Coronea and regained their independence. The First Peloponnesian War ended in an arrangement between Sparta and Athens, which was ratified by the Thirty Years' Peace (winter of 446–445 BC). According to the provisions of this peace treaty, both sides maintained

5740-475: Was Thessalus (who would become a politician). During the Battle of Salamis , Cimon distinguished himself by his bravery. He is mentioned as being a member of an embassy sent to Sparta in 479 BC. Between 478 BC and 476 BC, a number of Greek maritime cities around the Aegean Sea did not wish to submit to Persian control again and offered their allegiance to Athens through Aristides at Delos . There, they formed

5822-521: Was an Athenian strategos (general and admiral) and politician. He was the son of Miltiades , also an Athenian strategos . Cimon rose to prominence for his bravery fighting in the naval Battle of Salamis (480 BC), during the Second Persian invasion of Greece . Cimon was then elected as one of the ten strategoi , to continue the Persian Wars against the Achaemenid Empire . He played

5904-525: Was consistently antidemocratic, and this policy ultimately failed. His success and lasting influence came from his military accomplishments and his foreign policy, the latter being based on two principles: continued resistance to Persian aggression, and recognition that Athens should be the dominant sea power in Greece, and Sparta the dominant land power. The first principle helped to ensure that direct Persian military aggression against Greece had essentially ended;

5986-457: Was exiled. Together with their Boeotian and Phocian allies, the Athenians marched to Pharsalus, today's Farsala . They were not able to achieve their goals because of the Thessalian cavalry and were forced to return to Athens not having restored Orestes or captured Pharsalus. Therefore, in 451 BC, when Cimon returned to the city, his ostracism over, the Athenians were willing to have him negotiate

6068-441: Was forced to flee into exile, unable to pay. With the Spartan threat removed, Pericles crossed back to Euboea with 50 ships and 5,000 soldiers, crushing all opposition. He then inflicted a harsh punishment on the landowners of Chalcis , who lost their properties. The residents of Istiaia, who had butchered the crew of an Athenian trireme , were uprooted and replaced by 2,000 Athenian settlers. The arrangement between Sparta and Athens

6150-432: Was forced to pull down its walls, surrender its fleet and became a tribute-paying member of the Delian League , completing what Donald Kagan has called an annus mirabilis for the Athenians. The Athenians, pleased by their success, sent an expedition under the general Tolmides to ravage the coast of the Peloponnese. The Athenians circumnavigated the Peloponnese and attacked and sacked the Spartan dockyards, whose location

6232-458: Was indecisive, but the Athenians held the field at the end of the day and were thus able to set up a trophy of victory. About twelve days later the Corinthians attempted to return to the site to set up a trophy of their own, but the Athenians issued forth from Megara and routed them; during the retreat after the battle a large section of the Corinthian army blundered into a ditch-ringed enclosure on

6314-587: Was more like a Spartan than an Athenian. Cimon is repeatedly said to have married or been otherwise involved with his sister or half-sister Elpinice (who herself had a reputation for sexual promiscuity ) prior to her marriage with Callias , although this may be a legacy of simple political slander. He later married Isodice, Megacles ' granddaughter and a member of the Alcmaeonidae family. Their first children were twin boys named Lacedaemonius (who would become an Athenian commander) and Eleus. Their third son

6396-524: Was most probably Gythium . The Athenians followed up this success by capturing the city of Chalcis on the Corinthian Gulf and then landing in the territory of Sicyon and defeating the Sicyonians in battle. Modern scholars have emphasised the critical significance of Athenian control of Megara in enabling the early Athenian successes in the war. Megara provided a convenient port on the Corinthian Gulf, to which Athenian rowers could be transported overland, and

6478-445: Was ostracised. The demonstration of Spartan hostility was unmistakable, and when Athens responded, events spiralled rapidly into war. Athens concluded several alliances in quick succession: one with Thessaly , a powerful state in the north; one with Argos , Sparta's traditional enemy for centuries; and one with Megara , a former ally of Sparta's which was faring badly in a border war with Sparta's more powerful ally, Corinth . At about

6560-467: Was ratified by the "Thirty Years' Peace" (winter of 446–445 BC). According to this treaty, Megara was returned to the Peloponnesian League , Troezen and Achaea became independent, Aegina was to be a tributary to Athens but autonomous, and disputes were to be settled by arbitration. Each party agreed to respect the alliances of the other. The middle years of the First Peloponnesian War marked

6642-604: Was recalled from exile and negotiated a four-month truce between the sides; other scholars believe no such truce was concluded, and place Cimon's return from exile at a later date. Athenian success can also be attributed to them making an alliance with Argos, Sparta's enemy and only threat for control over the Peloponnesian league. The alliance between Athens and Argos was moreover seen as a defensive measure to counteract Sparta's military strength. The Athenians rebounded well after their defeat at Tanagra, by sending an army under Myronides to attack Boeotia. The Boeotian army gave battle to

6724-585: Was the celebrated Athenian general Miltiades and his mother was Hegesipyle, daughter of the Thracian king Olorus and a relative of the historian Thucydides . While Cimon was a young man, his father was fined 50   talents after an accusation of treason by the Athenian state. As Miltiades could not afford to pay this amount, he was put in jail, where he died in 489 BC. Cimon inherited this debt and, according to Diodorus, some of his father's unserved prison sentence in order to obtain his body for burial. As

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