The Second Sacred War took place between 449 BC

449 BC

Year 449 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Third year of the decemviri and the Year of the Consulship of Potitus and Barbatus...

-448 BC

448 BC

Year 448 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Coritinesanus and Caeliomontanus...

 and resulted in an indirect confrontation between Athens and Sparta

Sparta

Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

 during the so-called First Peloponnesian War

First Peloponnesian War

The First Peloponnesian War was fought between Sparta as the leaders of the Peloponnesian League and Sparta's other allies, most notably Thebes, and the Delian League led by Athens with support from Argos. This war consisted of a series of conflicts and minor wars, such as the Second Sacred War...

.

The war erupted when Sparta detached Delphi

Delphi

Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...

 from Phocis

Phocis

Phocis is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardousia on the west, upon the Gulf of Corinth...

 and rendered it independent, handing it back to the Delphians. The Athenians were however champions of the Phocians. Therefore, in 448 BC

448 BC

Year 448 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Coritinesanus and Caeliomontanus...

, Pericles led the Athenian army against Delphi, in order to reinstate Phocis in its former sovereign rights on the oracle

Oracle

In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....

 of Delphi. Immediately after the Spartans had left, they recaptured Delphi and handed it back to the Phocians.

According to M. Dillon, the military actions of both Sparta and Athens were quick and effective and there is no evidence that they affected pilgrims consulting the oracle

Pythia

The Pythia , commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi, was the priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. The Pythia was widely credited for her prophecies inspired by Apollo. The Delphic oracle was established in the 8th century BC...

.

In contrast to the Third Sacred War

Third Sacred War

The Third Sacred War was fought between the forces of the Delphic Amphictyonic League, principally represented by Thebes, and latterly by Philip II of Macedon, and the Phocians...

, this war was short and not so bitter.