ABSTRACT
The basis of Athens’ imperial power was the fleet. The allies were for the most part either island-cities or coastal towns, and for that reason the Athenians had the ultimate weapon in exercising imperial control. After the battle of Eurymedon in c.469 most of the ship-suppliers gradually converted to phoros-paying status to avoid military service, the expense and the strictness of Athenian leadership on campaign, resulting in the growth of the Athenian fleet:
By 450, only Samos, Lesbos and Chios supplied ships to the League’s campaigns, and even this number was soon reduced, with the reduction of Samos in 439 (Thuc. 1.117.3; AE64 p. 40) and Lesbos in 427 (Thuc. 3.28) – thus the Athenians had the military strength to crush any state that revolted or opposed their wishes. This situation was made easier by the fact that they controlled a naval
and not a land empire:
The Old Oligarch, although a right-wing pamphleteer and opponent of Athens’ radical democracy, is very astute in his observations of the means by which the Athenians maintained their control over the subject-allies.
Although Plutarch’s statement that the Athenians kept 60 ships on permanent patrol for eight months of the year seems exaggerated owing to the cost involved (Plutarch, Pericles 11), there is no doubt that an Athenian fleet was constantly patrolling the Aegean in a policing capacity. The fear of a sudden appearance by this fleet at any time during the sailing season in a subject-ally’s harbour would usually act as a deterrent to the anti-Athenian faction and as a source of encouragement to the pro-Athenians. The removal of defensive walls, at least in Ionia (Thuc. 3.33.2), whether as part of the peace agreement with Persia in 449 or under Athenian orders, gave the subject-allies little chance of a successful revolt. The dominance of the fleet could also ensure good behaviour without
recourse to brute force. The economies of most of the subject-allies were dependent on overseas exports, as well as the feeding of their populations by grain imports, and these could easily be threatened by the Athenian fleet:
