The Athenian Empire

647 Pages·63.109 MB·English

by  Meiggs, Russell

THE
ATHENIAN
EMPIRE·
RUSSELL MEIGGS
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
Oxford University Press, Walton Street. Oxford OX2 6DP
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Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press
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ISBN 0 19 814843 7
© Oxford University Press 1972
First published 1972
Reprinted with corrections 1973, 1975
first published in paperback 1979
Reprinted 1982, 1984
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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Printed in Hong Kong
To my pupils
V SLM

PREFACE
W
I studied Greek history as an undergraduate a1.
HEN
Oxford nearly fifty years ago it was reasonable to think
that nothing significantly new could be written about
the Athenian Empire. Thucydides' dark picture of the charac-
ter of Athenian control was generally accepted, and what little
could be gleaned from the sources about the methods employed
by Athens had been exhausted. There seemed little prospect of
important new evidence being found and, though nothing would
put a stop to articles on the Peace of Callias, and though military
campaigns could always be rewritten, the nineteenth century had
apparently said all that could be said about the central issues.
The first signs of new life came with the masterly work of
Meritt and West, who in a series of brilliant studies succeeded
in determining the relative positions of all the fragments of the
pre-war tribute lists, without which their nse by the historian
had been hazardous in the extreme. Their reconstruction of the
first two stelai marked the beginning of an epoch and became
even more fruitful when the American excavations in the Agora
yielded an unexpected crop of inscriptions, many of which
threw new light on Athenian imperialism. The fruits of their
work were garnered in the four volumes of The Athenian Tribute
Lists, in which Meritt was joined by Wade-Gery and by
McGregor, who had worked closely with West and became his
successor when West was tragically killed in a road accident.
The title of their work is too modest, for they included in their
province a wide range of evidence, especially epigraphic, which
was only very indirectly related to the tribute lists. Their third
volume, indeed, will remain the basic foundation for any com
prehensive study of the empire.
The first draft of this book was begun in February 1961,
the completed text was delivered in March 1970. In the long
interval the text had to face strong competition from a full
teaching programme, much enjoyed, and the dubious charms
of essential administration, stoically endured. The sixties,
however, were years of fertile controversy and I probably
viii PREFACE
gained rather than lost by the delay. Since parting with my
manuscript, however, there has been an embarrassing outpour
ing of books and articles that bear directly on the topics I have
discussed. As there is too much substance in them for piece
meal patching I have left my text unaltered and added a
supplementary bibliography of contributions that I have read
since March 1970, with a note to outline their ·effects on some
of my views.
During the ten years of incubation I have had much help
from many people. Tony Andrewes read through an untidy
manuscript in its penultimate stage, and his judicious admixture
of criticism and comfort was psychologically invaluable. I have
also profited considerably from discussions with David Lewis,
and have to thank them both for two books which have made
·a major contribution to my study. The revised edition of Hill's
Sources for Greek History, in spite of occasional carelessness, is a
most useful collection of evidence, and the recent publication
of Greek Historical Inscriptions has saved me from holding up the
narrative with indigestible discussions of. individual documents.
Colin Kraay has been my main adviser on numismatic problems,
and such use as I have made of the evidence from coins is
largely due to his generous help; I am, however, particularly
anxious that he should feel free to disown anything that I
have written about coins.
My debt to my pupils of many generations is of a different
kind, but very real. They have stifled many wild heresies before
they could grow wings, and have been my keenest critics, with
out damping my enthusiasm. Indirectly at least they will be
responsible for some of my mistakes. A few names must serve
for many. Kenneth Dover has always found time to answer
my questions patiently and authoritatively, and John Barron
has been my liaison with the world of archaeology. Kenneth
Cavander has contributed two lively translations. Glen Bower
sock, Alan Hall, Jonathan Barnes, and Robin Law gave useful
advice on form and substance in the middle years and at the end
Thomas Braun helped in the correction of proofs and improved
my text at many points. In the first year of my retirement it is
appropriate that I should dedicate this book to these and my
other pupils of many years.
Towards the end of my work it was necessary for me to make
PREFACE ix
the Epigraphic Museum in Athens a second home. I am very
grateful to the Craven Committee who made it easier for me
to settle in Athens during two summers, and to M. Mitsos
and D. Peppa Delmousou, successive directors, whose kindness
in the Museum enabled me to make the best use of my
time. These visits to Athens also enabled me to discuss my
problems with a wider range ofs cholars of different background.
Homer Thompson did his generous best to modify my ignorance
of building techniques, and stimulating sessions with Sterling
Dow, Kendrick Pritchett, Eugene Vanderpool, and Alexander
Fuks also helped to offset the rigours of the search for three
barred sigmas.
My wife has throughout been my production manager,
sheltering me from unnecessary interruptions, releasing me
from all but a minimum of domestic duties, and sending me off
alone to Greece. In the last phase particularly she combined
encouragement with discipline most astutely. Without her this
would never have become a book, and we both have a special
debt to Rosamund Broadley, who struggled heroically with
handwriting that even its author finds challenging. For my
helpers in the Clarendon Press my movements through r970
and 1971 have been a tiresome complication, but their letters
to Greece, America, and Mexico have been unfailingly polite
and helpful.
The authors of The Athenian Tribute Lists have generously
allowed me to use their map to illustrate the tribute districts
of the empire, and for this I am very grateful. I am even more
grateful for the material and incentive which their work pro
vided for mine.
R. M.
Garsington
July 1971

CONTENTS
.
LIST OF MAPS ~V
ABBREVIATIONS XV
I. THE NATURE OF THE EVIDENCE I
2. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 23
3· THE FOUNDATION OF THE DELIAN LEAGUE 42
4• THE FIRST ASSESSMENT 50
5• THE EARLY YEARS 68
6. WAR' ON TWO FRONTS 92
7·
THE AFTERMATH OF EGYPT 109
8. THE PEACE OF CALLIAS 129
9• THE CRISIS OF THE FOR TIES 152
IO. THE THIRTY YEARS' PEACE 175
I I. THE INSTRUMENTS OF EMPIRE 205
12. IMPERIAL JURISDICTION 220
I3. THE TRIBUTE 234
14. THE BALANCE-SHEET OF EMPIRE 255
15. ATHENA'S CITY 273
16. RELIGIOUS SANCTIONS 291
306
I7• THE ARCHIDAMIAN WAR
18. THE ASSESSMENT OF 42 5 324
19. THE PEACE OF NICIAS 340
20. THE IONIAN WAR 351
21. FIFTH-CENTURY JUDGEMENTS 375
22. FOURTH-CENTURY JUDGEMENTS 397
23. EPILOGUE 404
ENDNOTES
The Council of Samos
1.
xii CONTENTS
2. Timocreon on Themistocles 414
3. JG i2• 928 416
4. Blocks attributed to the Promachos 416
5. The Tanagra Campaign 417
6. Athens and the Amphktyonic Leag':le 418
7. The Assessment of Dorus 420
8. The Erythrae Decree 421
9. The Recall of Cimon 422
I o. The Second Sacred War 423
The Status of Lemnos and Imbros 424
I I.
12. JG i2• 27 and 28A 425
13. Peace-time Patrols 427
14. Priene and the Samian Revolt 428
15. The Athenian Alliance with Perdiccas 428
16. The Date of the Megarian Decree 430
17. Epiphora 432
18. [Dern.] vii. 13 433
19. Tribute Display at the Dionysia 433
20. The Chronology of Anaxagoras 435
2 I. The End of Zopyrus 436
22. The Allies in the Melian Expedition 437
23. The Last Assessment 438
24. The Composition of Athenian Crews 439
25. Electrum Staters of the Ionian Cities 441
26. The Cyzicene Stater 442
APPENDICES
1. Thucydides' Account of the Pentekontaetia 444
2. The Use and Misuse of Diodorus 447
3. The Origins of the Delian League 459
4. The Latter Days of Pausanias 465
5. The Battle of Oenoe 469
6. The Sources for the Egyptian Expedition 473
7. Cyprus in the Fifth Century 477