What was the effect of the persian war?
The most important effect of the Persian Wars was that Athens became head of a large Greek empire. This happened because many believed the Persian empire remained a threat. (eg, Thucydides, in his account of the Pelopenssian wars, thought the Persians lost simply because of mistakes in strategy.) Therefore for defence, the Greeks organized the Delian league, whose capital was the island of Delos; very near Athens. Because Sparta needed to keep their army as close to home as possible – in case of a helot revolt – Athens was chosen to league. Each of the member states of the Delian league was supposed to contribute a certain number of soldiers, and/or ships to the effort. As times seemed more peaceful, some of the member states decided to contribute funds instead. So far so good…but when the Athenians decided to use these contributions not for defence but to beautify the city…AND the Athenians used force to prevent any members from leaving the league, then the Delian league effective
