How did the Delian League turn into an Athenian empire, and what did Athens gain from it?
The transformation of the Delian League into an Athenian empire: the founding of the League against Persia, the move of the treasury from Delos to Athens in 454 BC, the suppression of allies who revolted, and how empire funded Athenian power and the building programme, studied through Thucydides.
An OCR GCSE Ancient History answer on how the Delian League became an Athenian empire between 462 and 429 BC, covering the founding of the League against Persia, the move of the treasury from Delos to Athens in 454 BC, the suppression of revolting allies, and how empire funded Athenian power and the building programme, studied through Thucydides.
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What this dot point is asking
Athens in the age of Pericles was not only a democracy but the head of an empire. This dot point traces how the Delian League, founded as a voluntary alliance against Persia, became the Athenian empire: the move of the treasury to Athens in 454 BC, the crushing of allies who tried to leave, and how the tribute funded Athenian power and the great building programme. You need to explain the change and to use Thucydides critically.
The answer
The founding of the Delian League
How the League became an empire
By the age of Pericles the "allies" were effectively subjects, paying for Athenian power and unable to leave.
Empire, money and the building programme
Thucydides as the source
Examples in context
A model answer explains the process by which allies became subjects, rather than just stating that the League "became" an empire.
Try this
Q1. When and why was the Delian League founded? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. In 478 or 477 BC, as a voluntary alliance of Greek states led by Athens to continue the war against Persia and protect the Aegean.
Q2. Explain why the move of the treasury to Athens in 454 BC mattered. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Moving the treasury from Delos to Athens put the allies' tribute under direct Athenian control and allowed it to be spent on Athenian purposes such as the building programme, marking the League's transformation into an Athenian empire.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR J198/01 201810 marksExplain how the Delian League changed into an Athenian empire. [10-mark depth-study explanation question]Show worked answer →
A depth-study explanation question (AO1 and AO2) on change.
Knowledge. The Delian League was founded in 478/477 BC as an alliance against Persia, with members contributing ships or money to a treasury on Delos. Over time Athens dominated, the treasury moved to Athens in 454 BC, and allies who tried to leave were forced back.
Explanation. Reward developed reasons: members increasingly paid tribute rather than serving, Athens controlled the fleet and the funds, revolts (such as Naxos and Thasos) were crushed, and Athens used the money for its own purposes. These steps turned allies into subjects.
Top band. Explain how each step shifted the League from a voluntary alliance to an empire and judge the most important turning point (often the move of the treasury or the crushing of revolts).
OCR J198/01 20218 marksStudy Thucydides Book 1 on the growth of Athenian power. How useful is this source for understanding how allies were treated? [8-mark depth-study source-utility question]Show worked answer →
A depth-study source-utility question (AO3). Judge usefulness through content and provenance.
Content. Thucydides describes how Athens reduced allies who revolted and how the League became an instrument of Athenian power; draw out the relevant detail.
Provenance. Thucydides is a contemporary Athenian, a careful historian, but writes with hindsight and his own analysis of power; he is invaluable but selective and interpretative.
Judgement. Conclude that he is highly useful as a near-contemporary, analytical account of how the empire grew and treated allies, but his interpretation must be recognised; judge value for the specific enquiry rather than calling him simply reliable.
Related dot points
- The democratic reforms of 462 to 429 BC: the reforms of Ephialtes stripping power from the Areopagus, Pericles' introduction of pay for office and jury service, and how these changes created a radical direct democracy, studied through Aristotle's Athenaion Politeia and Plutarch.
An OCR GCSE Ancient History answer on the democratic reforms of Ephialtes and Pericles between 462 and 429 BC, covering the stripping of power from the Areopagus, the introduction of pay for jurors and office-holders, how Athens became a radical direct democracy, and how to use Aristotle's Athenaion Politeia and Plutarch as sources.
- The workings of Athenian democracy: the Assembly, the Council of 500, the popular courts and the use of the lot and ostracism, who counted as a citizen, and the exclusion of women, slaves and metics, studied through Aristotle's Athenaion Politeia and Thucydides' funeral oration.
An OCR GCSE Ancient History answer on how Athenian direct democracy worked between 462 and 429 BC, covering the Assembly, the Council of 500, the popular courts, the lot and ostracism, who counted as a citizen, and the exclusion of women, slaves and metics, studied through Aristotle's Athenaion Politeia and Thucydides' funeral oration.
- The career and leadership of Pericles: his repeated election as general (strategos), the building programme on the Acropolis, the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War and his strategy, his death in the plague of 429 BC, and the debate over whether Athens was ruled by the people or by Pericles, studied through Thucydides and Plutarch.
An OCR GCSE Ancient History answer on the leadership of Pericles between 462 and 429 BC, covering his repeated election as general, the Acropolis building programme, the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War and his strategy, his death in the plague of 429 BC, and the debate over whether Athens was ruled by the people or by one man, studied through Thucydides and Plutarch.
- The prescribed sources for the Athens depth study: Thucydides as a contemporary historian (the funeral oration and the growth of empire), Aristotle's Athenaion Politeia as a later constitutional account, Plutarch's Life of Pericles as a much later biography, and how to weigh contemporary against later evidence.
An OCR GCSE Ancient History guide to the prescribed sources for the Athens in the Age of Pericles depth study, explaining how to use Thucydides as a contemporary historian (the funeral oration, the growth of empire), Aristotle's Athenaion Politeia as a later constitutional account and Plutarch's Life of Pericles as a much later biography, and how to weigh contemporary against later evidence.
- The AO3 source skills: making supported inferences from a source, comparing two sources, and judging how useful a source is for a stated enquiry using content, provenance (nature, origin and purpose) and contextual knowledge, rather than labelling a source reliable or biased.
An OCR GCSE Ancient History skills guide to the AO3 source questions, explaining how to make supported inferences, compare two sources, and judge how useful a source is for a stated enquiry using content, provenance and contextual knowledge, with a method that transfers across the Greek and Roman options.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR GCSE (9-1) Ancient History J198 specification — OCR (2017)
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 1 — Perseus Digital Library