Year 12 Ancient - Delian League Map

Here is a map showing the major Greek alliances in the 5th Century BC - the Delian league (Athena and its allies) and the Peloponnesian League (Sparta and its allies). The Delian League was mainly an anti-Persian grouping, aimed at fostering trade, at freeing the Ionian poleis, and ensuring Athenian supremacy in the Aegean. The Peloponnesian League was mainly a defensive alliance, aimed at controlling the helots, bolstering Sparta's small population, and ensuring Spartan predominance in the Peloponnese. Over the decades following the Persian Wars, the two leagues jostled for power, and eventually conflict broke out between them, culminating in the destructive Second Peoloponnesian War (431-404BC).