[7]
Likewise the Lacedaemonians, after having set out in ancient times from obscure and humble cities, made themselves, because they lived temperately and under military discipline, masters of the Peloponnesus;1 whereas later, when they grew overweening and seized the empire both of the sea and of the land, they fell into the same dangers as ourselves.2
1 See Isoc. 4.61; Isoc. 12.253 ff.
2 The Spartan supremacy began with the triumph over Athens in 404 B.C. and ended with the defeat at Leuctra, 371 B.C. See Vol I. p. 402, footnote. Cf. Isoc. 5.47. After Leuctra, Athens, in her turn, saved Sparta from destruction. See Isoc. 5.44 and note.