Greek War Essay

On the day, when the battle of Mycale (479 BC) was concluded, and the joint Athenian and Spartan forces were about to celebrate its victory over the Persian armies; Athens found itself in the position to dominate the Greek world. The Athens will dominate this period not only because it was the Athenian leadership and vision that saved the Greece from Persian tyrrany; but because the Athens won the allegiance, and eventually the contributions of most Aegean Cities. (Durant 1966:474)
When the war was over, the Ionia was impoverished and in ruin, The Sparta will be demoralized by earthquake and the resulting Helot insurrection; Athens on the contrary, will command the largest naval fleet ever seen by men, which will dominate the trade routes around the Aegean Sea.
The war might have been quite over, but the rivalries between the Athenians and Spartans were not; in 478 the Spartan regent
It might seem that the Delian League was as much directed at the Achaemenid Empire, as it was at the Dorian Spartans; the oaths were sworn at the island of Delos, (477 BC) in the temple of Apollo, the Ionian eternal religious center.(Landering 2005)
The Delian League will unite most of the Greeks of Ionian descent into one common entity; the trade and arts will flourish, the rich will get richer and the poor will not go hungry for a while. The Delian League was immensely successful for some time, apparently formed in similar fashion as the western part of the Persian Empire with its active navy, and trade routes. The construction of the Parthenon and countless other monuments, might had not been possible without the financial contribution of the member states of the