and that we still remain faithful to the customs and ways of life which we established
 here in the very beginning, while the rest of the Hellenes are not able to stand even
 their good fortune, but have become completely demoralized, some of them seizing the
 cities of their allies, That is, those of the Theban
 league. Isocrates is here describing Thebes 
 and especially her allies in the Peloponnesus . others opposing them in this; some disputing with
 their neighbors about territory, others, again, indulging their envy of one another See note a, p. 352. Xen. Hell.
 7.1.32 , says that the Thebans and Eleans were no less pleased at the defeat of
 their allies, the Arcadians, in the “tearless” battle of 367
 B.C. than were the Lacedaemonians. rather than making war against us.
 Therefore I wonder at those who look for a stronger ally than is found in the blundering
 of our enemies. But if I must also speak of aid from the outside, I think that many will be disposed to
 assist us. For Athens see Isoc. 8.105 and Isoc. 5.44 . Among the states in Peloponnesus , Phlius, Heraea ,
 and Orchomenus in Arcadia were still true to Sparta . ( Xen. Hell. 7.2.1 , Xen. Hell. 6.5.22 , and Xen.
 Hell. 6.5.11 .) The reference is to Dionysius the younger, who began to reign
 367-366 B.C. His father had given aid to
 Sparta on various occasions. See
 Underhill’s note on Xen. Hell. 5.1.28 ( Oxford edition). Nectanebos ( 378-364 B.C. ) was king of Egypt at this time. Egypt 
 generally supported those who fought against the Persians, and now the Theban enemies of
 Sparta were in league with Persia . As to the dynasts of Asia see Isoc. 4.162 and Isoc. 5.103 .
 Probably such powerful rulers as Mausolus of Caria, who revolted from Persia in 362 B.C. , are here
 meant, as well as the rulers of Cyprus . See
 Isoc. 5.102 and Isoc.
 4.134 . For I know, in the first place, that the Athenians, although they
 may not hold with us in everything, yet if our existence were at stake would go to any
 length to save us; in the second place, that some of the other states would consult our
 interest as if it were their very own; again, that the tyrant Dionysius, and the king of Egypt , and the various dynasts throughout Asia, each so far as he has the
 power, would willingly lend us aid; and, furthermore, that the Hellenes who rank first in
 wealth and stand foremost in reputation and who desire the best of governments, Those who sympathize with an oligarchy such as the Spartan
 government. οἱ βέλτιστοι is almost technical for
 “the aristocratic party.” as τὰ βέλτιστα for an
 aristocratic government. Cf. Xen. Hell. 5.2.6 . Such
 people might be expected to form a conspiracy to set up an oligarchy favorable to
 Sparta . even though they have not
 yet allied themselves with us, are with us at least to the extent of wishing us well, and
 that upon them we have good reason to rest great hopes for the future. Also I think that not only the people of the Peloponnesus in general but even the adherents of democracy, Those in Peloponnesus 
 who are not definitely committed to an oligarchic government. whom we consider to
 be especially unfriendly to us, are already yearning for our protection. For by revolting
 from us they have gained nothing of what they anticipated; on the contrary, they have got
 just the opposite of freedom; for having slain the best of their citizens, they are now in
 the power of the worst; instead of securing self-government, they have been plunged into
 misgovernment of many terrible kinds; accustomed as they have been in the past to march with us against others, they now behold
 the rest taking the field against themselves; and the war of factions, of whose existence
 in other territories they used to know only by report, they now see waged almost every day
 in their own states. They have been so levelled by their misfortunes that no man can
 discern who among them are the most wretched;