Editing Pericles (section)

==== Athens' rule over its alliance ====
[[Image:Perikles altes Museum.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Bust of Pericles after Kresilas, [[Altes Museum]], Berlin]]
Pericles wanted to stabilize Athens' dominance over its alliance and to enforce its pre-eminence in Greece. The process by which the Delian League transformed into an Athenian empire is generally considered to have begun well before Pericles' time,<ref name="Buckley196">T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 196.</ref> as various allies in the league chose to pay tribute to Athens instead of manning ships for the league's fleet, but the transformation was speeded and brought to its conclusion by Pericles.<ref name="Butler195">H. Butler, ''The Story of Athens'', 195</ref>

The final steps in the shift to empire may have been triggered by Athens' defeat in Egypt, which challenged the city's dominance in the Aegean and led to the revolt of several allies, such as [[Miletus]] and [[Erythrae]].<ref name="Out98">D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 98</ref> Either because of a genuine fear for its safety after the defeat in Egypt and the revolts of the allies, or as a pretext to gain control of the League's finances, Athens transferred the treasury of the alliance from [[Delos]] to Athens in 454–453&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Buckley204">T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 204.</ref>

By 450–449 BC the revolts in Miletus and Erythrae were quelled and Athens restored its rule over its allies.<ref name="Sealey275">R. Sealey, ''A History of the Greek City States, 700–338 BC'', 275.</ref> Around 447 BC Clearchus<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V2hAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA229|title=From Solon to Socrates: Greek History and Civilization During the 6th and 5th Centuries BC|first=V.|last=Ehrenberg|date= 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1136783944 |via=Google Books}}</ref> proposed the Coinage Decree, which imposed Athenian silver coinage, weights and measures on all of the allies.<ref name="Buckley" /> According to one of the decree's most stringent provisions, surplus from a minting operation was to go into a special fund, and anyone proposing to use it otherwise was subject to the death penalty.<ref name="Hornblower">S. Hornblower, ''The Greek World 479–323 BC'', 120.</ref>

It was from the alliance's treasury that Pericles drew the funds necessary to enable his ambitious building plan, centered on the "Periclean Acropolis", which included the [[Propylaea (Acropolis of Athens)|Propylaea]], the Parthenon and the golden statue of Athena, sculpted by Pericles' friend, [[Phidias]].<ref name="Hurwit87">J. M. Hurwit, ''The Acropolis in the Age of Pericles'', 87 etc.</ref> In 449 BC Pericles proposed a decree allowing the use of 9,000 talents to finance the major rebuilding program of Athenian temples.<ref name="Buckley" /> Angelos Vlachos, a Greek [[Academician]], points out the use of the alliance's treasury, initiated and executed by Pericles, as one of the largest embezzlements in human history; this misappropriation financed, however, some of the most marvellous artistic creations of the ancient world.<ref name=";;;Vl62-63">A. Vlachos, ''Thucydides' Bias'', 62–63.</ref>