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And so far are the states removed from “freedom” and “autonomy”Freedom and autonomy—a single idea; see General Introd. p xxxii; Isoc. 14.24; Isoc. Letter 8.7. that some of them are ruled by tyrants, some are controlled by alien governors, some have been sacked and razed,See Isoc. 4.126. and some have become slaves to the barbarians—the same barbarians whom we once so chastened for their temerity in crossing over into Europe, and for their overweening pride,
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that they not only ceased from making expeditions against us, but even endured to see their own territory laid waste;Allusion is to the victory of Conon Cimon at the Eurymedon, 466 B.C. and we brought their power so low, for all that they had once sailed the sea with twelve hundred ships, that they launched no ship of war this side of PhaselisCf. Isoc. 7.80. There appears to have been a definite treaty setting bounds beyond which neither the sea nor land forces of Persia might go: see Isoc. 4.120 and Isoc. 12.59-61; also Dem. 19.273; Lyc. 1.73. This was the so-called Treaty of Callias: see Grote, Hist. v. pp. 192 ff. but remained inactive and waited on more favorable times rather than trust in the forces which they then possessed.
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And that this state of affairs was due to the valor of our ancestors has been clearly shown in the fortunes of our city: for the very moment when we were deprived of our dominion marked the beginning of a dominionFor this play of words— ἀρχή, “beginning,” and ἀρχή, “dominion”—cf. Isoc. 3.28, Isoc. 8.101, Isoc. 5.61. of ills for the Hellenes. In fact, after the disaster which befell us in the Hellespont,Battle of Aegospotami 405 B.C. when our rivals took our place as leaders, the barbarians won a naval victory,At the battle of Cnidus, but with the help of Conon. became rulers of the sea, occupied most of the islands,See Xen. Hell. 4.8.7. made a landing in Laconia, took Cythera by storm, and sailed around the whole Peloponnesus, inflicting damage as they went.
