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 anotherSee 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.