104
And yet it has been shown clearly that it has this effect; for anyone can see that those who have been in the strongest position to do whatever they pleased have been involved in the greatest disasters, ourselves and the Lacedaemonians first of all. For when these states, which in time past had governed themselves with the utmost sobriety and enjoyed the highest esteem,See Isoc. 4.80-81. attained to this license and seized the empire, they differed in no respect from each other, but, as is natural in the case of those who have been depraved by the same passions and the same malady, they attempted the same deeds and indulged in similar crimes and, finally, fell into like disasters.
105
For we, being hated by our allies and standing in peril of being enslaved, were saved by the Lacedaemonians;See 78. and just so they, when all the rest wanted to destroy them, came to us for refuge and were saved through us.See Isoc. 5.44, note; Isoc. 7.7, note. And yet how can we praise a dominion which subjects us to so miserable an end? How can we fail to abhor and shun a power which has incited these two cities both to do and to suffer many abominable things?
106
But, after all, we should not be surprised that in the past all men have failed to see that this power is the cause of so many ills to those who hold it, nor should we wonder that it has been the bone of contention between us and the Lacedaemonians. For you will find that the great majority of mankind go astray in choosing a course of action and, being possessed of more desires for things evil than for things good, take counsel more in the interest of their foes than of themselves. You can observe this in matters of the greatest importance.
