keeping their word more faithfully than men now keep their oaths, and thinking it right
 to abide by their covenants as by the decrees of necessity; they exulted less in the
 exercise of power than they gloried in living with self-control, thinking it their duty to
 feel toward the weaker as they expected the stronger to feel toward themselves; and, while
 they regarded their home cities as their several places of abode, yet they considered
 Hellas to be their common fatherland. Because they were inspired by such sentiments, and educated the young in such habits of
 conduct, they produced in the persons of those who fought against the Asiatic hordes men
 of so great valor that no one, either of the poets or of the sophists, has ever been able
 to speak in a manner worthy of their achievements. And I can well excuse them, for it is
 quite as difficult to praise those who have excelled the exploits of the rest of the world
 as to praise those who have done no good thing at all; for in the case of the latter the
 speaker has no support in deeds, and to describe the former there exist no fitting words.
 For what words can match the measure of such men, who so far surpassed the members of the
 expedition against Troy that, whereas the latter
 consumed ten years beleaguering a single city A favorite
 comparison. Cf. 186, Isoc. 5.111-112 , Isoc. 9.65 . they, in a short space of time, completely defeated the
 forces that had been collected from all Asia , and
 not only saved their own countries but liberated the whole of Hellas as well? And from what deeds or hardships or dangers would they have
 shrunk so as to enjoy men’s praise while living—these men who were so ready to lay down
 their lives for the sake of the glory they would have when dead? Methinks some god out of admiration for their valor brought about this war in order that
 men endowed by nature with such a spirit should not be lost in obscurity nor die without
 renown, but should be deemed worthy of the same honors as are given to those who have
 sprung from the gods and are called demi-gods; for while the gods surrendered the bodies
 even of their own sons to the doom of nature, yet they have made immortal the memory of
 their valor. Sections 85-87 are closely paralleled in Lys. 2.23-26 . Now while our forefathers and the
 Lacedaemonians were always emulous of each other, yet during that time their rivalry was
 for the noblest ends; they did not look upon each other as enemies but as competitors, nor
 did they court the favor of the barbarians for the enslavement of the Hellenes As was done by the Peace of Antalcidas. See 115, note. ;
 on the contrary, they were of one mind when the common safety was in question, and their
 rivalry with each other was solely to see which of them should bring this about. They
 first displayed their valor when Darius sent his troops;