Yet there are some who carp at discourses which are beyond the powers of ordinary men
 and have been elaborated with extreme care, and who have gone so far astray that they
 judge the most ambitious oratory by the standard of the pleas made in the petty actions of
 the courts; For Isocrates’ opinion of court oratory see
 General Introd. p. xxii. as if both kinds should be alike and should not be
 distinguished, the one by plainness of style, the other by display; or as if they
 themselves saw clearly the happy mean, while the man who knows how to speak elegantly
 could not speak simply and plainly if he chose. Now these people deceive no one; clearly they praise those who are near their own level.
 I, for my part, am not concerned with such men, but rather with those who will not
 tolerate, but will resent, any carelessness of phrase, and will seek to find in my
 speeches a quality which they will not discover in others. Addressing myself to these, I
 shall proceed with my theme, after first vaunting a little further my own powers. For I observe that the other orators in their introductions seek to conciliate their
 hearers and make excuses for the speeches which they are about to deliver, This is done by Lys. 2.1 , by Hyp. 6.2 , and by Isocrates himself, Isoc.
 12.36-38 . sometimes alleging that their preparation has been on the spur
 of the moment, sometimes urging that it is difficult to find words to match the greatness
 of their theme. But as for myself, if I do not speak in a manner worthy of my subject and of my
 reputation and of the time which I have spent See General
 Introd. p. 30. —not merely the hours which have been devoted to my speech but also
 all the years which I have lived—I bid you show me no indulgence but hold me up to
 ridicule and scorn; for there is nothing of the sort which I do not deserve to suffer, if
 indeed, being no better than the others, I make promises so great. This self-confidence is something more than Isocratean vanity. It is a
 conscious device to enhance the greatness of this theme. At the beginning he is exalted
 by its magnitude; at the end, 187, he is cast down by his failure to measure up to it.
 See Havet’s interesting remarks in Cartelier’s Antidosis , p. lxv. 
 So much, by way of introduction, as to my personal claims. But as to our public interests, the speakers who no sooner come before us than they
 inform us that we must compose our enmities against each other and turn against the
 barbarian, Artaxerxes II., king of Persia , 404-359
 B.C. rehearsing the misfortunes which have come upon us from our
 mutual warfare and the advantages which will result from a campaign against our natural
 enemy—these men do speak the truth, but they do not start at the point from which they
 could best bring these things to pass.