ABSTRACT
In 478 the Spartan regent Pausanias was dispatched as commander of the Hellenes, but at Byzantium his arrogance made him unpopular with the Ionians, and Athens began to assume the leadership of the recently liberated Greeks (doc. 8.3). The rationale behind the Delian League was the continuation of the war against the Persians, although the Athenians obviously realized at the time the benefits to be gained from such an alliance. However, that the league was intended primarily to pursue a war of liberation is implicit in its subsequent military activities, in which the last remnants of Persian power in Greek territory were defeated.
