other · Greece and the Aegean

Second Athenian League

378 BCE – 338 BCE · capital Athens

Alliance of Aegean states formed by Athens in 378 BCE to resist Sparta, with promises not to repeat the abuses of the 5th-century empire.

Origins

Spartan high-handedness after the King's Peace of 386 BCE, and a raid on Attica by the Spartan Sphodrias, pushed Athens to found a new alliance in 378-377 BCE. The surviving decree of Aristoteles invites Greeks and barbarians to join 'so that the Spartans may allow the Greeks to be free', listing members such as Chios, Thebes and Byzantium.

Rule and society

Members kept their autonomy and constitutions, and Athens renounced garrisons, governors, tribute and Athenian settlement on allied land. Allies sat in a council (synedrion) at Athens that voted alongside the Athenian assembly and paid 'contributions' rather than tribute. At its height some seventy states joined. Chabrias' naval victory off Naxos in 376 BCE restored Athenian sea power.

Decline and legacy

Athens gradually broke its promises, planting settlers on Samos. In the Social War of 357-355 BCE Chios, Rhodes, Cos and Byzantium, encouraged by Mausolus of Caria, left the league. Reduced to a rump, it ended after Philip II's victory at Chaeronea in 338 BCE and the creation of the League of Corinth.

Connections (5)

  • Byzantium was part of Second Athenian League378 BCE – 357 BCE
  • Chios was part of Second Athenian League378 BCE – 357 BCE
  • Rhodes was part of Second Athenian League378 BCE – 357 BCE
  • Second Athenian League was part of Athens378 BCE – 338 BCE
  • Second Athenian League was conquered by Macedonian Empire338 BCE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Second Athenian League. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/second-athenian-league
MLA
“Second Athenian League.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/second-athenian-league. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Second Athenian League.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/second-athenian-league.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Second Athenian League’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/second-athenian-league (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻