2

children, not offspring of concubines, did he not have a strong body? Was not bread his food and water his drink? Was not his fasting constant? Was not his dinner stricter than abstinence from food? Abel likewise, having died, contended with Cain; and the earth had his body, but heaven his mouth, hades his tongue, the judge his voice, the clay the clay, the merchant the pearl, yet having died he contended with Cain. But Procopius not so, but on behalf of his enemies he petitions God and commends them, he acts as an ambassador for the Greeks, he entreats for the Jews, he hastens to mediate for the Samaritans and benefits his enemies after death and forges anew the ears of their deaf, he makes new the sun for the blind, he stretches out the feet of the lame, and those who before were unable to move their fingers are seen running; for lepers do not approach his relics, but before they draw near their scales are flayed off, and having been cleansed, like dancers in a bridal chamber, like attendants of the bride, they stand beside the bridegroom.

4 But who is able to praise Procopius in order? Which of his labors shall we take up first? Which shall we rank second? Which shall we fit in third? And where will the fourth lie? What fitting place will the fifth find? What sixth crown shall we complete for him? What seventh prize shall we weave among the awards? What eighth ladder of praise shall we ascend? What ninth tower of encomiums shall we forge? Which of the accounts will we be able to run through as the last? Error held the human race captive; Adam was deceived, but he had no perception of the deception; God was not God to him, but stones were gods, the creator not the creator, but creators were the works of hands, the carvings of fingers, the forms of iron which the smith blew and the furnace purified, of which the anvil hollowed out the belly, the hammer broadened the back, crowned the shoulder and raised the neck, forged the head and set on the skull, of which the chisel deepened the ear and curved the nostrils, outlined the lips, engraved the eyes, formed the pupils, plaited the locks, rounded the brows and put together the eyelids. Thence the enemy leaped about in life; "You shall not murder" was made a game, "You shall not commit adultery" was laughed at, "You shall not steal" was hung up, "You shall not bear false witness" was considered to be nonsense and a myth, "You shall not covet whatever belongs to your neighbor" was a hostile commandment to life, and the law was alien to the state.

5 But Procopius, coming into their midst, reveals a common exhortation to those who are drunk: "Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another? For what reason are you ignorant, being slain by each other's swords? And for what reason do you not know that you are each being shot by your own arrows or by those of your neighbor? Give me your eyes, you who are blind in judgment, or rather, first entrust to me your feet, you who are lame in mind. Why do you compare the divine to idols and liken the creator of all to beasts and compare him who breathes life into creation to lifeless things, and place the planter of reason among the unreasoning? And why, having abandoned virtue, are you drunk with pleasures? Gold is not ours, but of the earth, which we received to trample underfoot. Silver is a possession of the clay; but how will clay be able to benefit the rational soul? The wealth of garments is food for moths and a deception of the eyes, idly creating illusions and beguiling man. Was not the much-talked-of rich man clothed in fine linen? But a furnace and a melting-pot of limbs and a fire-blazing frying pan for his tongue succeeded the fine linen. Was not Herod clothed in royal apparel? But worms along with his flesh also dined on his robe. How many tunics of gold and purple did Pharaoh possess? But he is buried naked in the Red Sea. But if you desire purple, practice self-control. If you care for fine linen,

2

τέκνα, μὴ παλλακίδων ἔκγονα, μὴ τὸ σῶμα εὐρω στοῦν εἶχεν; Οὐκ ἄρτος ἦν αὐτῷ τροφὴ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ποτόν; Οὐχ ἡ νηστεία συνεχής; Οὐ τὸ δεῖπνον ἀσιτίας στενότερον; Ἄβελ ὡσαύτως ἀποθανὼν τῷ Κάϊν ἐδικάζετο· καὶ τὸ σῶμα μὲν εἶχεν ἡ γῆ, ὁ οὐρανὸς δὲ τὸ στόμα, ὁ ᾅδης τὴν γλῶτταν, ὁ κριτὴς τὴν φωνήν, ὁ πηλὸς τὸν πηλόν, τὸν μαργαρίτην ὁ ἔμπορος, πλὴν ἀποθανὼν τῷ Κάϊν ἐδικάζετο. Προκόπιος δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐντυγχάνει τῷ θεῷ καὶ συνίσταται, ὑπὲρ Ἑλλήνων πρεσβεύει, ὑπὲρ Ἰουδαίων παρακαλεῖ, ὑπὲρ Σαμαριτῶν μεσι τεύειν ἐπείγεται καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους εὐεργετεῖ μετὰ θάνατον καὶ τῶν παρ' αὐτοῖς κωφῶν ἀναχαλκεύει τὰ ὦτα, τοῖς τυφλοῖς καινοποιεῖ τὸν ἥλιον, τῶν χωλῶν τοὺς πόδας ἐκτείνει, καὶ θεω ροῦνται τρέχοντες οἱ τοὺς δακτύλους μὴ κινεῖν δυνάμενοι πρό τερον· λεπροὶ γὰρ ταῖς θήκαις οὐκ ἐγγίζουσιν, ἀλλὰ πρὶν μὲν προσελθεῖν τὰς φολίδας ἐκδέρονται, καθαρθέντες δὲ ὡς νυμφῶνι χορευταί, ὡς νυμφαγωγοὶ τῷ νυμφίῳ παρίστανται.

4 Ἀλλὰ τίς ἱκανὸς κατὰ τάξιν ἐπαινεῖν τὸν Προκόπιον; Ποῖον αὐτοῦ πρῶτον τῶν ἄθλων ἀναλάβωμεν; Ποῖον δεύτερον τάξωμεν; Ποῖον τρίτον ἁρμόσωμεν; Ποῦ δὲ ὁ τέταρτος κεί σεται; Ποίαν χώραν πέμπτος εὑρήσει τὴν προσήκουσαν; Ἕκ τον αὐτῷ ποῖον ἀπαρτίσομεν στέφανον; Ποῖον ἕβδομον ἐν τοῖς βραβείοις πλέξομεν; Ὄγδοον τίνα τῆς εὐφημίας ἀναβησόμεθα κλίμακα; Ποῖον ἔνατον πύργον ἐγκωμίων χαλκεύσομεν; Τίνα τῶν λόγων δυνησόμεθα παραδραμεῖν ὡς ἔσχατον; Αἰχμάλωτον εἶχεν ἡ πλάνη τὸ γένος τὸ ἀνθρώπινον· ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἠπάτητο, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀπάτης αἴσθησιν οὐκ ἐλάμβανεν· ὁ θεὸς οὐ θεὸς παρ' αὐτῷ, οἱ λίθοι δὲ θεοί, ὁ ποιητὴς οὐ ποιητής, ποιηταὶ δὲ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν, τὰ τῶν δακτύλων γλύμματα, τὰ τοῦ σιδήρου μορφώματα ὅσα ἐφύσησεν ὁ χαλκεὺς καὶ ἡ χωνεία ἐκάθηρεν, ὧν ὁ ἄκμων τὴν γαστέρα ἐκοίλανεν, ἐπλάτυνεν ἡ σφῦρα τὰ νῶτα, τὸν ὦμον ἐκορύφωσεν καὶ τὸν τράχηλον ὕψωσεν, τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐχάλκευσεν καὶ κρανίον ἐπέθηκεν, ὧν ἡ γραφὶς τὴν ἀκοὴν ἐβάθυνεν καὶ τὰς ῥῖνας ἐκύρτωσε, τὰ χείλη περιέγραψε, τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐπέγλυψε, τὰς κόρας ἐσχημάτισεν, ἔπλεξε πλοκάμους, ἐκύκλωσεν ὀφρῦς καὶ συνέθηκε βλέφαρα. Ἔνθεν ὁ ἐχθρὸς κατεσκίρτα τοῦ βίου· τὸ «Οὐ φονεύσεις» ἐπαίζετο, τὸ «Οὐ μοιχεύσεις» ἐγε λᾶτο, τὸ «Οὐ κλέψεις» ἤρτητο, τὸ «Οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις» λῆρος εἶναι καὶ μῦθος ἐνομίζετο, τὸ «Οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις ὅσα τῷ πλησίον σου ἐστὶν» ἐχθρά τις ἦν ἐντολὴ τῷ βίῳ, καὶ ὁ νόμος ὑπῆρχε τῆς πολιτείας ἀλλότριος.

5 Προκόπιος δὲ εἰς μέσον παρελθὼν κοινὴν παραίνεσιν ὑπο φαίνει τοῖς μεθύουσιν· «Ἄνδρες, ἀδελφοί ἐστε. Ἵνα τί ἀδικεῖτε ἀλλήλους; Τίνος χάριν ἀγνοεῖτε τοῖς ἀλλήλων ἀναιρούμενοι ξί φεσιν; Ἀνθ' ὅτου δὲ οὐκ ἴστε τοῖς οἰκείοις ἕκαστος ἢ τοῖς τοῦ γείτονος τοξευόμενοι βέλεσιν; ∆ότε μοι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς οἱ κα τὰ γνώμην τυφλοί, μᾶλλον δὲ τοὺς πόδας οἱ τὴν διάνοιαν χωλοὶ πρῶτον ἐπιτρέψατε. Ἵνα τί τὸ θεῖον εἰδώλοις παραβάλλετε καὶ τὸν πάντων ποιητὴν ἐξομοιοῦτε τοῖς κτήνεσιν καὶ τὸν ἐμπνέοντα τὴν κτίσιν ἀψύχοις παραβάλλετε, τὸν τοῦ λόγου φυτευτὴν ἐν τοῖς ἀλόγοις τάττετε; Ἵνα τί δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἀφέντες ταῖς ἡδοναῖς μεθύσκεσθε; Τὸ χρυσίον οὐχ ἡμῶν, ἀλλὰ τῆς γῆς ἣν ἐλάβομεν, καταπατεῖν εἴχομεν. Ὁ ἄργυρος κτῆμα τοῦ πηλοῦ· τί δὲ πηλὸς τὴν ψυχὴν εὐεργετεῖν τὴν λογικὴν δυνήσεται; Ὁ τῶν ἐσθημά των πλοῦτος σητῶν ἐστι τροφὴ καὶ ὀφθαλμῶν ἀπάτη εἰκῇ φαν τάζουσα καὶ βουκολοῦσα τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Οὐχὶ βύσσον ἦν ὁ πολυ θρύλητος ἐνδεδυμένος πλούσιος; Ἀλλὰ κάμινος καὶ χωνεία μελῶν καὶ τήγανον πυριφλεγὲς τῆς γλώττης τὴν βύσσον διεδέ ξατο. Οὐκ ἐσθῆτα βασιλικὴν Ἡρῴδης ἠμφίεστο; Ἀλλὰ σκώληκες μετὰ τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τὴν στολὴν ἐδείπνησαν. Πόσους ὁ Φαραὼ χιτῶνας χρυσοπορφύρους ἐκέκτητο; Ἀλλὰ γυμνὸς ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῷ ἐρυθραίῳ θάπτεται. Σὺ δὲ εἰ πορφύ ρας ἐπιθυμεῖς, τὴν σωφροσύνην ἄσκησον. Εἰ μέλει σοι βύσσου,