became the treasury (ταμιεῖον)[1] of the League,—the meetings of the deputies being held in the temple of the Delian Apollo. The Hellenotamiae (who were exclusively Athenians) were concerned solely with the Federal fund. But the temples of Delos were placed under the protection of the League. This afforded an easy pretext for meddling with their administration. The transference of the Federal treasury from Delos to Athens had taken place before 454 B.C. But Athens continued to interfere in the local management of Delian affairs. An inscription found at Athens, and referring to the years 434–433 B.C.[2], warrants the inference that the sacred revenues of the Delian Apollo were at that date controlled by Athenian officials; who, though now representing imperial Athens alone, presently appear under the plausible title of amphictyones, "Federal Commissioners." With a decent respect for the forms of independence, Athens still, indeed, permits the name of a Delian archon to appear in company with that of the Athenian eponymus.
It was in the winter of 426 B.C. that the Athenian Demos, imitating the example of the Athenian despot, undertook the purification of Delos. Peisistratus had obeyed a sacred text; and they too, says Thucydides, acted "on some oracle or other" (κατὰ χρησμὸν δή τινα). All the coffins (θῆκαι) in the
