Athenian Control of the Delian League

Abstract

The transformation of the Delian League into the Athenian Empire, Pericles' citizenship-law, and the increasing grant of proxenia-privileges-these almost simultaneous three events seen in the Athenian policy of the 5th Century B. C, the author thinks, were deeply inter-connected. Here, first, the author tries to show how highly the Athenians appreciated the role of the proxenoi as the collaborators for the maintenance and working of the Athenian Empire : his main evidences are the protection-term in one of the oldest extant proxenia-mscriptions (SEG X 23) and Aristophanes, Aves, 1021 ff. Then, the author studies the character of the Athenian imperial magistrates, such as the episkopoi and the archontes. Episkopoi: their non-sedentary, temporal character is clear, and their power was very much limited and surely they hadn't judicial power over the allies. Archontes : contrary to the episkopoi, they were sedentary magistrates and had some judicial power over the allies. But, the power seems not to have been so large, and important cases were sent to the Athenian Court. It is very difficult to talk of the independent character of the Athenian imperial magistrates. They surely supervised the allied cities or districts, but at the same time, in their turn, they were severely controlled by the Athenian ehklesia and dikasteria. They were only the small apparatus, and nothing more. The Athenian Empire, established in the age of the Radical Democracy, was actually controlled from the beginning, directly by the Athenian demos, ekklesia.