For almost 50 years after Platae, peace reigned at home and the victorious city-state entered its most brilliant.era. Athens was instrumental in bringing the disparate Aegean and other communities together, creating a "league of nations", known as the Delian League. The headquarters of the League was originally on the island of Delos, but it was moved to Athens itself in 454 BC. The resources of the treasury of the Delian League were used, amongst other things, to
build the Parthenon and other monuments that still adorn the Acropolis today. The moving power behind this unrivalled time of greatness, which has come to be known as the Golden Age, was Pericles. This aristocrat was, in effect, the supreme ruler of Athens and its empire for 30 years until his death in 429 BC. Great works of art, literature, science and philosophy were produced by what Pericles referred to as the "school of Hellas." Major names of the time included the dramatists Euripides and
Sophocles, the historian Herodotus, the philosopher Socrates as well as the scientists Zeno and Anaxagoras. The first literary salon in history was presided over by Aspasia, Pericles' mistress, a remarkable woman of intelligence and spirit. During all this, the Athenian political system allowed the average citizen a greater degree of participation in public life than ever before anywhere. Slavery was common, but most slaves in Athens were prisoners of war.
