Then again you are doubtless well aware that possessions, whether private or public,
 when they have remained for a long time in the hands of their owner, are by all men
 acknowledged to be hereditary and incontestable. Now we took Messene before the Persians acquired their
 kingdom In 559 B.C. , when Cyrus
 became ruler of Persia . and became
 masters of the continent, in fact before a number of the Hellenic cities were even
 founded. And yet notwithstanding that we hold these titles, the Thebans would on the one hand
 restore Asia as his ancestral right to the barbarian, By
 the peace terms of Pelopidas. See introduction to this oration. who has not yet
 held sway over it for two hundred years, while on the other hand they would rob us of
 Messene , which we have held for more than
 twice that length of time; Messene was not actually subdued until 724-723 B.C. Perhaps Isocrates is speaking loosely, or perhaps he follows
 another source than Pausanias, who is almost our sole authority for this period.
 However, the conquests of Alcamenes took place about 786 B.C. ,
 and Isocrates perhaps refers to this or a similar event. See Paus.
 4.4.3 . Dinarchus ( Din. 1.73 ) gives the same figure
 as lsocrates. and although it was only the other day that they razed both
 Thespiae and Plataea to the ground, Plataea was destroyed about 372
 B.C. , and Thespiae shortly after. See
 Dio. Sic. 15.46.4 and Xen.
 Hell. 6.3.1 . Others give the date as 374 B.C. 
 yet now, after a lapse of four hundred years, they propose to settle their colonists in
 Messene acting in both cases contrary to
 the oaths and covenants. Cf. the Peace of Antalcidas. See
 Isoc. 4.115 ff. and note. 
 Were they restoring those who are truly Messenians, they would still be acting unjustly,
 but at least they would have a more plausible pretext for wronging us; but as the case
 stands, it is the Helots whom they are trying to settle on our frontier, See introduction. so that the worst fate which
 threatens us is not that we shall be robbed of our land contrary to justice, but that we
 shall see our slaves made masters of it. You will perceive still more clearly from what follows both that we are now dealt with
 most unfairly and that in the past we held Messene justly. For in the many wars which have befallen us we have before
 this at times been forced to make peace when we were in much worse case than our
 foes. such were the Peace of Nicias ( 421 B.C. , Thucyd. v. 18), the Peace of Antalcidas, and the separate peace
 between Athens and Sparta ( Xen. Hell.
 6.2.1 ). But, although our treaties were concluded under circumstances in
 which it was impossible for us to seek any advantage, yet, while there were other matters about which differences arose, neither the Great King
 nor the city of Athens ever charged us with
 having acquired Messene unjustly. And yet how
 could we find a more thoroughgoing judgement on the justice of our case than this, which
 was rendered by our enemies and made at a time when we were beset with misfortunes?