where fellow-countrymen, instead of waging war in defense of their territories against
 strangers, are fighting within their own walls Cf. Xen. Hell. 5.2.1 . against each other; where more
 cities have been captured in war Cf. Isoc. 12.97 . than before we made the peace; and where revolutions
 follow so thickly upon each other that those who are at home in their own countries are
 more dejected than those who have been punished with exile? For the former are in dread of
 what is to come, while the latter live ever in the hope of their return. And so far are the states removed from “freedom” and “autonomy” Freedom and autonomy—a single idea; see General Introd. p xxxii; Isoc. 14.24 ; Isoc. Letter
 8.7 . that some of them are ruled by tyrants, some are controlled by alien
 governors, some have been sacked and razed, See Isoc. 4.126 . and some have become slaves to the
 barbarians—the same barbarians whom we once so chastened for their temerity in crossing
 over into Europe , and for their overweening
 pride, that they not only ceased from making expeditions against us, but even endured to see
 their own territory laid waste; Allusion is to the victory
 of Conon Cimon at the Eurymedon, 466 B.C. and we brought their power so low, for all that they had once
 sailed the sea with twelve hundred ships, that they launched no ship of war this side of
 Phaselis Cf. Isoc. 7.80 .
 There appears to have been a definite treaty setting bounds beyond which neither the sea
 nor land forces of Persia might go: see Isoc. 4.120 and Isoc. 12.59-61 ;
 also Dem. 19.273 ; Lyc. 1.73 .
 This was the so-called Treaty of Callias: see Grote, Hist. v. pp. 192
 ff. but remained inactive and waited on more favorable times rather than trust in
 the forces which they then possessed. And that this state of affairs was due to the valor of our ancestors has been clearly
 shown in the fortunes of our city: for the very moment when we were deprived of our
 dominion marked the beginning of a dominion For this play
 of words— ἀρχή , “beginning,” and ἀρχή , “dominion”—cf. Isoc.
 3.28 , Isoc. 8.101 , Isoc.
 5.61 . of ills for the Hellenes. In fact, after the disaster which befell
 us in the Hellespont , Battle of Aegospotami 
 405 B.C. when our rivals took our place as leaders, the
 barbarians won a naval victory, At the battle of Cnidus , but with the help of Conon. became rulers
 of the sea, occupied most of the islands, See Xen. Hell. 4.8.7 . made a landing in Laconia , took Cythera by storm, and sailed around the whole Peloponnesus , inflicting damage as they went. One may best comprehend how great is the reversal in our circumstances if he will read
 side by side the treaties See Isoc.
 4.115 and note. which were made during our leadership and those which
 have been published recently; for he will find that in those days we were constantly
 setting limits to the empire of the King, Cf. Isoc. 4.118 and note. levying tribute on some of his
 subjects, and barring him from the sea; now, however, it is he who controls the destinies
 of the Hellenes, who dictates Cf. Isoc. 4.175 ; Xen. Hell. 6.3.9 . what
 they must each do, and who all but sets up his viceroys in their cities.