Natural Resources and 5th Century Athenian Foreign Policy: the Effect of Natural Resources on Fifth Centuryathenian Foreign Policy and the Development of Theathenian Empire

This work explores the role of natural resources inthe expansion and transformation of the Delian Leagueinto the Athenian empire, concentrating on twoparticularly resource-rich regions, Thasos and theBlack Sea coast. Thasos was well-known in antiquityfor its valuable precious metal resources and theBlack Sea was likewise renowned for its grain. Thispaper will investigate whether Athenian interest innatural resources could have played a significantrole in shaping Athenian policy, and thus affectedthe development of the Athenian empire. The copiousamount of scholarship on the transformation andexpansion of the Athenian empire indicates that itcannot be simplistically reduced to a single factoror cause, and the pursuit of natural resources cannotexplain or justify the Athenian empire by itself. Nevertheless this work will show that the Athenianpursuit of natural resources could have affected theevents of the 5th century, and ignoring the pursuitof natural resources in the development of theAthenian empire would minimize a significant factorin the interpretation of its motives and causes.