Editing Delian League (section)

==Wars in Greece==
[[File:Before Peloponnesian War.png|thumb|Greece at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War]]
Soon, [[First Peloponnesian War|war with the Peloponnesians]] broke out. In 458 BC, the Athenians blockaded the island of [[Aegina]], and simultaneously defended Megara from the Corinthians by sending out an army composed of those too young or old for regular military service. The following year, Sparta sent an army into [[Boeotia]], reviving the power of [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]] in order to help hold the Athenians in check. Their return was blocked, and they resolved to march on Athens, where the Long Walls were not yet completed, winning a victory at the [[Battle of Tanagra (457 BC)|Battle of Tanagra]]. All this accomplished, however, was to allow them to return home via the Megarid. Two months later, the Athenians under [[Myronides]] invaded Boeotia, and winning the [[Battle of Oenophyta]] gained control of the whole country except Thebes.

Reverses followed peace with Persia in 449 BC. The [[battle of Coronea (447 BC)|Battle of Coronea]], in 447 BC, led to the abandonment of Boeotia. [[Euboea]] and Megara revolted, and while the former was restored to its status as a tributary ally, the latter was a permanent loss. The Delian and Peloponnesian Leagues signed a peace treaty, which was set to endure for thirty years. It only lasted until 431 BC, when the [[Peloponnesian War]] broke out.

Those who revolted unsuccessfully during the war saw the example made of the [[Mytilene|Mytilenians]], the principal people on [[Lesbos]]. After an unsuccessful revolt, the Athenians ordered the death of the entire male population. After some thought, they rescinded this order, and only put to death the leading 1000 ringleaders of the revolt, and redistributed the land of the entire island to Athenian shareholders, who were sent out to reside on Lesbos.

This type of treatment was not reserved solely for those who revolted. Thucydides documents the example of [[Melos]], a small island, neutral in the war, though founded by Spartans. The Melians were offered a choice to join the Athenians, or be conquered. Choosing to resist, their town was besieged and conquered; the males were put to death and the women sold into slavery (see [[Melian dialogue]]).