Page:History of Greece Vol V.djvu/333

GRECIAN CONFEDEEACY UNDER ATHENS. A victory thus remarkable, which thrust back the Persians to the region eastward of Phaselis, doubtless fortified materially the position of the Athenian confederacy against them ; but it tended not less to exalt the reputation of Athens, and even to popularize her with the confederates generally, from the large amount of plunder divisible among them. Probably this increased power and popularity stood her instead throughout her approaching contest with Thasos, at the same time that it explains the increasing fear and dislike of the Peloponncsians.

Thasos was a member of the confederacy of Delos ; but her quarrel with Athens seems to have arisen out of causes quite distinct from confederate relations. It has been already stated that the Athenians had within the last few years expelled the Persians from the important post of Eion, on the Strymon, the most convenient post for the neighboring region of Thrace, which was not less distinguished for its fertility than for its mining wealth. In the occupation of this post, the Athenians had had time to become acquainted with the productive character of the adjoining region, chiefly occupied by the Edonian Thracians ; and it is extremely probable that many private settlers arrived