The Second Athenian League was a maritime

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

of Aegean city-states from 378 to 355 BC and headed by

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, primarily for self-defense against the growth of

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

and secondly, the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

Background

In 478 BC, Athens founded the

Delian League The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Pl ...

to counter Persian influence during the

Greco-Persian Wars The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the ...

. Athenian leadership became solidified over the next few decades, with many historians considering the league to be an Athenian Empire, especially after the treasury was moved from

Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are ...

to Athens in 454 BC. This league fought against the

Peloponnesian League The Peloponnesian League was an alliance of ancient Greek city-states, dominated by Sparta and centred on the Peloponnese, which lasted from c.550 to 366 BC. It is known mainly for being one of the two rivals in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC ...

, dominated by Sparta, in the

Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...

, which lasted from 431 to 404 BC. It ended after a siege of Athens in 404 BC, when Athens and Sparta struck a peace deal establishing Spartan hegemony over the Greek world. The Corinthians and Thebans, both Spartan allies, wanted to destroy Athens and enslave its citizens instead of a more lenient peace deal. The Spartans rejected this due to Athens being a major factor in holding up the balance of power in the Attica, Boiotia and Isthmos regions, and instead imposed the following terms: the Athenian walls and fortifications were to be destroyed, the Athenian fleet was to be decommissioned except for twelve ships, Athenian exiles were to be allowed back to the city, and Athens was to acknowledge Spartan leadership and join the Spartan alliance network, allowing Sparta to dictate its foreign policy. Sparta's former allies turned against it in 395 BC, with Thebes instigating a Spartan attack that would lead to the

Corinthian War The Corinthian War (395–387 BC) was a conflict in ancient Greece which pitted Sparta against a coalition of city-states comprising Thebes, Athens, Corinth and Argos, backed by the Achaemenid Empire. The war was caused by dissatisfaction with ...

. This pit Sparta against a coalition of Athens, Thebes, Corinth, and Argos, which was backed by Persia. After a series of Athenian successes, Persia enforced the

Peace of Antalcidas The King's Peace (387 BC) was a peace treaty guaranteed by the Persian King Artaxerxes II that ended the Corinthian War in ancient Greece. The treaty is also known as the Peace of Antalcidas, after Antalcidas, the Spartan diplomat who traveled t ...

: it would take control of all Greek cities in Asia Minor as well as the island of Cyprus and guarantee the independence of all other Greek cities with the exceptions of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros, which would belong to Athens. This war empowered Athens for the first time since the end of the Peloponnesian War, allowing it to rebuild its previously decommissioned fortifications and its navy.

Origins

The formation of the League was stimulated by three major events that caused relations between Athens and Sparta to deteriorate. The first event was Spartan intervention in a factional conflict within Thebes. In 382 BC, Sparta sent a force led by the general Eudamidas and his brother

Phoebidas Phoebidas ( el, Φοιβίδας) was a Spartan general who, in 382 BC, seized the Theban acropolis, thus giving Sparta control over Thebes. To punish his unauthorized action, Phoebidas was relieved of command. Nevertheless, the Spartans continued ...

to combat the expansion of

Olynthus Olynthus ( grc, Ὄλυνθος ''Olynthos'', named for the ὄλυνθος ''olunthos'', "the fruit of the wild fig tree") was an ancient city of Chalcidice Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and ...

Chalkidiki Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...

, northern Greece. On the way to Olynthus Phoebidas stopped near Thebes, where the two polemarchs

Ismenias Ismenias (Ancient Greek: Ἰσμηνίας) was an ancient Thebes (Greece), Theban politician of the 4th century BC. He rose to power in the years after the Peloponnesian War and pursued an anti-Spartan policy, which included harboring exiles fleei ...

and Leontiades were locked in a power struggle for control of Thebes. Ismenias was pro-democracy and anti-Sparta so Leontiades convinced Phoebidas, who is described by

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

as driven by desire to perform good deeds but lacking in reasoning capacity, that it would be in Sparta's interest to help him take control of Thebes. Phoebidas agreed and helped him take the citadel and imprison Ismenias, which led to about 300 of his supporters fleeing in exile to Athens. Although this Spartan interference in Thebes represented a flagrant violation of the Peace of Antalcidas, Leontiades argued that the Spartans should not punish Phoebidas because his actions had only served to help Sparta. The Spartans agreed, deciding to keep the Thebian citadel and put Ismenias to death. The second event was the outbreak of the

Boeotian War The Boeotian War broke out in 378 BC as the result of a revolt in Thebes against Sparta. The war saw Thebes become dominant in the Greek World at the expense of Sparta. However, by the end of the war Thebes’ greatest leaders, Pelopidas and E ...

, directly caused by the Spartan intervention in Thebes. In 378 BC, some of the exiles from this intervention returned to Thebes and assassinated Leontiades, overthrowing the pro-Spartan tyranny. The Spartan governor sent for reinforcements, but they were destroyed during their approach by Theban cavalry. The cavalry then stormed the Theban acropolis and restored a popular anti-Spartan government. This led to war between Sparta and Thebes. The third event was the invasion of

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

, an Athenian port in Attica, by the Spartan general

Sphodrias Sphodrias ( el, Σφοδρίας) (d. 371 BC) was a Spartan general during the Spartan Hegemony over Greece. As governor of Thespiai in 378 BC, he made an unsuccessful attack against Athens without any order from Sparta. He was put on trial for thi ...

in winter of 378 BC.

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

claims that the invasion was ordered by the Spartan king Cleombrotus, while other historians like Xenophon argue that Sphodrias was bribed by Thebes as part of a plot to bring Athens to their side in the war against Sparta. The Spartan ambassadors stationed in Athens promised that Sphodrias would be convicted and punished in Sparta, but he was acquitted in what Siculus calls a "miscarriage of justice". This caused Athens to seek alliances against Sparta, so they reached out to Aegean cities under harsh Spartan control including

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

, and

Mytilene Mytilene (; el, Μυτιλήνη, Mytilíni ; tr, Midilli) is the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University of ...

. These cities sent representatives to Athens who signed the

Decree of Aristoteles The Decree of Aristoteles (''Inscriptiones Graecae'' II2 43) was a decree passed by the Athenian Assembly in February or March 377 BC. The decree is preserved as the inscription on a stele; it is the most important epigraphical source for the ...

, which outlined the terms of the Second Athenian League.

Charter and policy

An inscribed ''prospectus'' for the League was found at Athens dating to 377 BC, detailing the aims of the new league. The terms of the league were as follows: meetings would be held in Athens, but every city would enjoy one vote no matter its size and would retain its independence. Unlike the terms of the

, these terms did not include forced garrisons or tribute, and Athenian citizens were prohibited from owning property in other member states. Athens framed these terms as a departure from those of the

, which had been unpopular among tribute states due to the ruthlessness of Athenian hegemony and the harsh punishments against states that rebelled. Athens also convinced foreign powers, including Sparta and Persia, that the charter was a way to enforce the

instead of a subversion of it. Many historians consider the Second Athenian League to be a resurgence of Athenian hegemony over Greece. Some, such as the historian of ancient Greece Jack Cargill, argue that this league was different from the Delian League and that it did not represent a new Athenian Empire. He argues that the main cause of defections was Thebes, which left the league in 371 BC and incited other states to leave.

Rise of Thebes

Thebes joined the league at its founding because one of the main points of the charter was opposition to Sparta. However, relations between Thebes and the rest of the league soon became difficult and Athens started to realize that Thebes was not necessarily to be trusted. For example, Thebes destroyed Plataea in 372 BC, which had only recently been re-founded. Athens started to think about negotiating peace with Sparta; it was while Athens was discussing this with Sparta that Thebes defeated the Spartan army decisively at the

Battle of Leuctra The Battle of Leuctra ( grc-gre, Λεῦκτρα, ) was a battle fought on 6 July 371 BC between the Boeotians led by the Thebans, and the Spartans along with their allies amidst the post- Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the vici ...

(371 BC).Xenophon, ''Hellenica'' 6.4.14-15. This led to the end of the Boeotian War and, with it, Spartan hegemony over Greece. Thebes soon left the league and established

hegemony Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over oth ...

of its own.

Later history and disintegration

After Sparta's defeat in 371 BC, Thebes seceded from the League and was able to violate the terms of the Peace of Antalcidas with impunity. Later, a series of revolts rocked the league, culminating with the

Social War (357–355 BC) The Social War, also known as the War of the Allies, was fought from 357 BC to 355 BC between Athens with the Second Athenian League and the allied city-states of Chios, Rhodes, Cos and Byzantion. Origins Provoked by Athens' increasingly domina ...

in which the states of Chios, Rhodes, Kos, and Byzantium went to war against Athens. This war ended in the disintegration of the Second Athenian League.

Background

Origins

Charter and policy

Rise of Thebes

Later history and disintegration

See also

References

Further reading