The desire to revive the Athenian empire, and even more the desire to recover a northern possession, Amphipolis, determined the course of Athenian foreign policy until the invasion of Philip II of Macedon. The hasty rearmament of 395, which was paid for by the Persian empire, gave the imperialists new hope of a restoration of the situation before 431. A strong position of Athens at sea was still seen as an important factor for the profits of the government, the provisioning of the city, and the maintenance of democracy.

Restoration of the empire.

However, there was a big problem. The rebuilding of the fleet and the fortifications were only made possible with Persian finances. If a new imperialistic Athens would become to much of a threat to Persia then Persia would simply stop the subsidies, which were very much needed in Athens. The only alternative was that the rich of Athens would pay for the military actions. The rich upper layer of the population was internally divided: some felt that such a speculation was reasonable, while others thought that it was way too adventurous. These two groups were called the (neo-)imperialists and the pacifists. Pacifist was actually a wrong word as they were not principally pacifistic, but only in this occasion. The lower classes in the city generally supported the neo-imperialists, while the people in the plains were in favour of the pacifists.

Athens capitalized on the anti-Spartan atmosphere after the war between Sparta and Thebes, and easily managed to form the second Athenian Naval Confederacy in 378. Besides the desire to revive the old empire, was the fear for Sparta, after Athens had supported Thebes during the war, also a reason to found this new alliance. The Athenians were careful to abjure the most hated of the fifth-century imperial practises as tributes, garrisons, and cleruchies. Several steps were made in order not to violate the King's Peace, and to give the members a guarantee that the alliance would not turn into a second Delian League that was completely dominated by Athens.

Combined military actions of Athens and its allies could only be approved by the Athenian people's court after the majority of a federal diet, of which Athens was no member, was in a favour. Another difference between the Delian League and the new Athenian Naval Confederacy was that Athens did not have permission to establish cleruchies, or base soldiers, on the territory of allies. Finally Athens could not demand tributes, the of course necessary contributions were completely voluntary. These measures made the alliance from the beginning not suited as an instrument for new Athenian imperialism.

Cracks in the alliance.

For many Poleis there was no immediate rush to join the alliance. Only when the confederacy showed its effectiveness by defeating Sparta at sea during the battle of Naxos in 376 gained the alliance quickly members. At first most cities were happy with their membership of the confederacy, but soon Athens showed its real intentions. The many actions at sea had to be paid by somebody of course, and in 377 we first hear of financial contributions, a different word for the tributes of the fifth century. The same year Athens broke another of her promises by installing a garrison on the island of Cephallenia.

These two actions caused the first cracks in the ideological justification of the alliance. The justification, at first a democratic freedom-fight against Sparta, was totally called into question when Sparta did not form a threat anymore after the battle of Leuctra in 371. Still, the league was not abolished. It was originally lead by Athens and Thebes, but the breach between both cities became formal with the Theban expansion by sea in the Aegean. Athens started to dominate the alliance more and more, and the unrest among the allies even grew when Athens sent a settlement to the island of Samos. With this she broke another one of her promises in the eyes of her allies, but the irony was that she was entitled to react as she did. With the King's Peace Hellas recognized Persian leadership over Asia Minor, but not over islands like Samos. However, Persia installed a garrison on the island, but the resentment was even more when Athens installed one too. Memories of the Delian League sprung to mind.