The Delian League (or Athenian League) was an alliance of Greek city-states led by Athens. The league was formed in 478 BCE to liberate eastern Greek cities from Persian rule. The league was then used as a defence against possible revenge attacks from Persia following the Greek victories at Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea in the early 5th century BCE.
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Definition
Timeline
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479 BCE - 478 BCECombined Greek operations in the Hellespont and Cyprus.
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478 BCESamos becomes a member of the Delian League.
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478 BCEMany Cycladic states join the Athenian led Delian League as a defence against Persian agression.
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478 BCE - 454 BCEThe treasury of the Delian League is kept on Delos until its removal to Athens.
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478 BCE - 404 BCEThe Delian League in Greece, led by Athens.
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476 BCE - 463 BCEDelian League operations are led by Athenian commander Cimon
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c. 475 BCEAthenian general Cimon drives the Dolopian pirates out of the Aegean island of Scyros.
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c. 475 BCEAthenian general Cimon defeats Spartan general Pausanias and takes Byzantium.
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475 BCECimon captures Eion in Thrace for Athens.
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c. 472 BCECarystos forced to join the Delian League.
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c. 470 BCE - c. 469 BCEAttempted secession of Naxos from the Delian League. It is defeated and enslaved.
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c. 467 BCEThe island of Naxos rebels against Athenian dominance of the Delian League.
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c. 466 BCEAthenian general Cimon twice defeats the Persians at Eurymedon on the southern coast of Asia Minor.
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c. 465 BCESecession of Thasos.
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465 BCE - 463 BCEAthenian general Cimon conquers Chersonesus in Thrace and the north-Aegean island of Thasos.
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464 BCE - 463 BCEEarthquake in Sparta, followed by slave revolt. Surrender of Thasos.
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462 BCE - 461 BCERadicalisation of democracy in Athens; Cimon exiled, Pericles comes to exercise influence.
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460 BCE - 459 BCEMegara switches sides to Athens; outbreak of war with the Peloponnesians & Athenians initially victorious.
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c. 457 BCE - 454 BCELarge expedition to Egypt, to aid rebels against Persian rule.
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456 BCE - 455 BCEAthenians spread their power in northern Peloponnese.
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454 BCEFailure of Egyptian expedition; some Delian League members unsuccessfully revolt. Removal of League treasury from Delos to Athens.
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451 BCE - 450 BCEPeace between Argos and Sparta. Athens and Sparta conclude five-year truce.
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450 BCEAthenian general Cimon dies on Cyprus fighting the Persians.
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447 BCE - 446 BCEBoeotian cities revolt against Athens. Secessions in Euboea and Megara.
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446 BCE - 445 BCESpartans invade Attica. Thirty Years' Peace between Athens and Sparta.
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441 BCERevolt of Samos.
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436 BCE - 435 BCEExpedition of Pericles into the Black Sea. Corcyra/Epidamnus affair draws in Corinth and the Athenians.
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433 BCE - 432 BCEAthens concludes treaties with Italiot and Siceliot cities. Megarian decree commercially isolates Megara.
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432 BCESecession of Potidaea involves Corinthians.
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431 BCE - 404 BCEThe 2nd Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta (the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League) which involved all of Greece.
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428 BCEMytilene on Lesbos unsuccessfully revolts against the Athenian domination of the Delian League.
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427 BCEFirst Athenian expedition to Sicily.
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421 BCEPeace of Nicias, a truce between the Delian and Peloponnesian Leagues.
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421 BCE - 416 BCE"Cold war' between Athens and Corinth.
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415 BCE - 413 BCEGreat Athenian expedition to Sicily ends in failure.
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413 BCEWholesale revolt of Delian League members; War recommences. Spartans and Corinthians gain advantage from League seccessions and help from the Persians.
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404 BCEAthens loses the Peloponnesian War; the Delian League is dissolved.