For I know that under this constitution our ancestors were far superior to the rest of
 the world, and that the Lacedaemonians are the best governed of peoples because they are
 the most democratic; Exclusive of the Perioeci and the
 Helots. See Aristot. Pol. 1294b 18 ff. 
 for in their selection of magistrates, in their daily life, and in their habits in
 general, we may see that the principles of equity and equality have greater influence than
 elsewhere in the world—principles to which oligarchies are hostile, while well-ordered
 democracies practise them continually. Moreover, if we will examine into the history of the most illustrious and the greatest
 of the other states, we shall find that democratic forms of government are more
 advantageous for them than oligarchies. For if we compare our own government—which is
 criticized by everyone See Isoc.
 7.15 . —not with the old democracy which I have described, but with the
 rule which was instituted by the Thirty, The oligarchy of
 the thirty “Tyrants,” instituted with the help of the Spartans at the end of the
 Peloponnesian War, 404 B.C. there is no one who would
 not consider our present democracy a divine creation. And I desire, even though some will complain that I am straying from my subject, to
 expound and to explain how much superior this government is to that of the Thirty, in
 order that I may not be accused of scrutinizing too minutely the mistakes of our
 democracy, while overlooking the many fine things which it has achieved. I promise,
 however, that the story will not be long or without profit to my hearers. When we lost our fleet in the Hellespont At the Battle of Arginusae, 406 B. C., the beginning of the
 end of the Peloponnesian War. and our city was plunged into the disasters of that
 time, who of our older men does not know that the “people’s party,” Many of them had been exiled by the Thirty or had fled for their lives.
 Thrasybulus placed himself at their head, defeated the Thirty in battle, and restored
 the democracy. See Xen. Hell. 2.4.10 ff. as
 they were called, were ready to go to any length of hardship to avoid doing what the enemy
 commanded, deeming it monstrous that anyone should see the city which had ruled over the
 Hellenes in subjection to another state, whereas the partisans of oligarchy were ready
 both to tear down the walls One of the terms insisted on by
 Lysander was that the “long walls” connecting Athens with the Piraeus be
 demolished. and to submit to slavery? Or that at the time when the people were in control of affairs, we placed our garrisons
 in the citadels of other states, whereas when the Thirty took over the government, the
 enemy occupied the Acropolis of Athens ? Lysander kept a Spartan garrison on the Acropolis during the
 rule of the Thirty. See Isoc. 8.92 ; Isoc. 15.319 . Or, again, that during the rule of the Thirty the
 Lacedaemonians were our masters, but that when the exiles returned and dared to fight for
 freedom, and Conon won his naval victory, The Battle of
 Cnidus , 394 B.C. ,
 re-established the power of Athens . 
 ambassadors came from the Lacedaemonians and offered Athens the command of the sea? See Isoc. 9.68 .