The Second Sacred War was the Spartan defeat of the
Phocians at
Delphi and the restoration of Delphian self-government.
Background
In 458 or 457BC, the Phocians captured three towns in the
Spartan metropolis of
Doris. A Spartan army marched on Doris, defeated the Phocians, and restored Dorian rule. On their way back to
Peloponnese, an
Athenian force attacked the
Spartan army but were repelled, and the Spartans returned home. After the
Five Years' Truce, Sparta embarked on a campaign of truncating "Athens' imperialistic ambitions in
Central Greece".[1]
Conflict
The Second Sacred War (
Ancient Greek: ἱερὸς πόλεμος)[1] was a conflict over the occupation of the
Temple of Apollo at
Delphi.[2] The Spartans quickly removed the Athenian-backed Phocians and returned stewardship to the Delphians.[3] After the Spartans left, however, an
Athenian army led by
Pericles took the city and re-installed Phocian rule.[4]
Dating of Conflict
Accepting the writings of the Greek historian
Philochorus, a group of historians led by
Karl Julius Beloch,
Benjamin Dean Meritt,
Theodore Wade-Gery and Malcolm Francis McGregor argued that the Spartan ejection of the Phocians occurred in 449BC, and that the Athenians re-installed them in 447BC.[5][6] An alternative view was put forward by historians led by
Arnold Wycombe Gomme and
Felix Jacoby who rejected Philochorus' chronology. Instead, they asserted that both marches on Delphi happened in 448BC.[7][8][9][10][11]
^Cloché, Paul (1946). "La Politique Extèrieure d'Athènes de 454–453 á 446–5 avant J.–C" [The Foreign Policy of Athens from 454–453 to 446–5 BC]. Les Études Classiques (in French). 14.
Namur: 23–25.
ISSN0014-200X.
OCLC1568337.