Isocrates, To Philip
George Norlin, Ed.

[108] And so it came about, owing to his unique insight in this regard, that his kingship has proved to be quite set apart from that of the generality of kings: for, because he alone among the Hellenes did not claim the right to rule over a people of kindred race, he alone was able to escape the perils incident to one-man power. For history discovers to us the fact that those among the Hellenes who have managed to acquire such authority have not only been destroyed themselves but have been blotted, root and branch, from the face of the earth;¹ while he, on the contrary, lived a long and happy life and left his seed in possession of the same honors which he himself had enjoyed.