Panegyric orations

 To run against you from an opposing lot, he endured but the pentathlon was accomplished for you and the pancratium was completed with no one having c

 The votes, i imagine the divine judgment and i refer to the incorruptible tribunal. when i test you in elections, i admire your intelligence and your

 From afar it shines on those landing and extends a hand to those from the sea, escorting them to rome most painlessly. what in addition to these does

 Using it and bending and curving it towards the drooping jaw, i remember the indian's eyebrow at this, how he held it more than a cubit above his head

 And to a rival. let others, then, measure you against and compare you with whomever they wish, but i, though i seem to make a strange and dissimilar c

 In prose, not in meters and poems or perhaps many are present, but they have no account of the matter, as if it were of no account to them. and time

 The hegemony of his father, with kingdoms overthrown and not a few changes having occurred in both, those who, having exchanged their fortune for the

 He took counsel of opposing nations, but by making everything purchasable with gold and royal splendors, from this he gained the goodwill of all, and

 Opened, and flung wide the very gates of the soul, and associated with wicked and corrupt lives. for he did not at once know the whole line of the fam

 To work deeds of injustice for he was angry with those who did wrong and would punish them. but when he began to be sick and his body was wasting awa

 Not a magnificent spirit, not a musical and graceful speech, nothing else of the sort that knows how to beautify the soul and the nature of the body.

 Drives a sphere, and the other the superterrestrial one, so that the one might wind its own zone in a single cycle, and the other in twelve cycles, an

 Defining the virtues by its power, and practicing the higher geometry. for this, as proclus also says, has occupied the middle ground between the indi

 The power of the kingdom came to him, besides these the life of david among the flocks, the pursuit, those many dangers into which he fell but was not

 He locks up the monarchy into a tyranny, having exchanged one evil for another. justice is not quiet, it kindles the coals, it sends the arrow, the wi

 I call it his girdle-and he draws away no small cavalry and infantry force from old rome, he adds to these also the best army of the east, and no smal

 An angel wrought a more manifest victory. i have something more to say than those wonders there the cross was in types and images, a bronze serpent s

 You, o king the more abundantly you pour out benefits upon us, the more you increase by being filled. from this, no one has been left out of such wea

 With the eyes, then poured out and dissolved, but better and higher than all that is visible. but, o emperor—for i repeat the title to you and call it

 You fill the western beacon, neither grudging us your rays nor altering the color of your disk, but the more time increases the distances, the more be

 The rising of the sun, the land upon which it immediately rises, so that, if any of our people wished, having gone there he could, not with geometrica

 I am an unskillful chronicler of your deeds and erring in my timing, and i do not have a nature that strikes out in both directions at once. for you a

 To wish. for you both comprehend the present and conjecture the future and discover the unseen, discerning character from eyebrows and eyelids, so tha

 To speak? -unseemly even in his appearance, made of tin or dipped in bile and altogether counterfeit gold, but since he was in the midst of dangers, t

 With stones lying along each side, so that the conjoined may seem continuous and the well-fitted of one nature. behold for me the heights and beauties

 But here is a distinct hand divided into five rosy branches. but this is a most unerring testimony of that godlike soul. but do you wish to see some t

 Transcending substance and holding the principles of the forms folded together and least of all divided from the one. and you, being such, do you not

 The fountains of good deeds flowed, as if from a sheer rock, having received the impetus for their flowing these proclaimed you by reputation even be

 A guide, so also there an arbiter of the administrations, that i may suit you for both, both speaking your deeds and doing the words of your administr

 P]ortions are deprived of praise, but no one of all men has been suited to all words of praise. but to you so much is granted [against] all in all thi

 To bring to the highest point of keenness, or your soul which was not [shattered by] trials, but also most nobly endured through the magnitude of the

 And they were torn away, and their manner altered their nature [....], and they have remained, and after the separation, being both nourished and fatt

 But the love of art and the care concerning the divine sanctuaries, what demostheneses or the best of the writers could describe and praise? how beau

 Having surpassed in his heroic deeds him and the kings up to you, but in his plans he is recorded as being less than his accomplishments, winning in [

 Less, you have given the first place to reason over passion, and you have established the one like some foundation upon the acropolis, but the other y

 Having considered what is seen, but when i also behold the tomb of the queen, and i behold it often whenever i wish to console some hardship of fortun

 To comprehend in a speech. for to whom could the unattainable be attainable, even if he were rich in the homeric power for speeches, or the herodotan

 Admiring and in return is eager to make an image and someone already having constructed a stele for you inscribed the gentle one. therefore solomon

 Much praise and measured against all of time. how then could i summarize the whole in a few words? i will speak, therefore, a little of your virtues,

 Everyone rejoices and exults with the one who has taken up your encomiums and because i did not weave the words of praise sooner, he is rather vexed

 Gracefulness, the maturity of your thought, the symmetry of your greatness, the quick-wittedness, the stability of your mind, the unmarried life, the

 At once for us the lord and most skilled in command and pleasing to all, o most excellent foresight, o wise consideration, o most noble counsel, o div

 Of virtues? you, beyond any kings who ever were, honored justice and preferred philanthropy, and having attained the height of prudence, you appeared

 Accomplishments? o the arrows from heaven against the barbarians, o the unseen bowshots, o the angelic powers in the air, o the divine armies against

 The greatest part of character. for as many as have become of a civic disposition, if they have descended to this willingly, they seemed both prudent

 Of civil administration and of divine hearing. if therefore, being engaged in one, he also holds to the other, let this for now be a secret to many. b

 Of wise men going to ammon's shrine or being within the delphic tripod suddenly transferred their apparent wisdom to the more divine and greater, how

 We have taken starting points, and yet more absurd, if we render praises to the good and noble men who have died, for what they have said concerning w

 And not many months after the sowing, but immediately reaping the harvest and so that i might say what is from the gospel, the two were running toget

 If we should set about to build him up, this marvelous man, both in nature and in diligence, has received much contribution toward his eloquence from

 For having embraced one of these, they might neglect the rest, or putting ears before mind, they have an unintelligible tongue, or having drawn up spr

 Pleases the petty and the overly artful. therefore, of these enumerated wise men, the one now honored in this discourse wishes to imitate gregory, and

 I knew not only what the greeks knew, nor what the chaldeans or egyptians knew, but i had also condemned them, though not all of them, nor has my refu

 With magnanimity, he who was both namesake and like-minded with the great constantine, and who alone nobly contended against all, and taking his name-

 Regulates the state of the church, no less than moses who constructed the tabernacle below according to the pattern shown to him for whether melodies

 Concerning which things, before his high-priesthood, at a time when he did not even have many resources of money, he constructed brilliantly and accom

 And to impart to others. and perhaps he did not endure the waves of the sea, but in his toils on land he might in some way be compared to paul. and co

 One of two things happening, either god descending into the mind, or the mind ascending to god. but what is the place of god's rest, or by which of al

 Of a voice, nor were you instructed by any of the higher powers, to lay aside the symbols of the priesthood, and to transfer yourself to another life,

 Nothing unpleasant would happen to those handling these things but for you, who happen to be a philosopher, what harm will come from these affairs? j

 Of words but you, o king, will both speak publicly among the armies and bring an impulse with your speech and will rouse them together for the deed.

 May you be crowned on the head with glorious trophies. may you be adorned with deeds of valor against the barbarians, and be escorted by many victorie

 May you rend the sea and stop the river and vanquish amalek. may a cloud, giving shade over your head, take away your burning heat, and a pillar of li

to run against you from an opposing lot, he endured; but the pentathlon was accomplished for you and the pancratium was completed with no one having come down with you into the contest. This for you is the prelude of your power, this for you is the proclamation of your rule, this for you is the prologue of the kingly art. then, offering the victory sacrifices, you have by far surpassed Empedocles in the costliness of the sacrifice. For he, since being a Pythagorean he abstained from animate things, having fashioned an ox out of spices, then placing it on the pyre, filled the Attic land with Indian fragrance. And now the philosopher is a new kind of sacrificer in the Hellenic odes. But you, having brought the whole inhabited world inside the festival, offered to God as first-fruits of your power your own soul, offering in return the bloodless slaughter to the fatted calf that was sacrificed for you. And indeed, having celebrated the festival with those who entered in a fitting manner, you open for all the springs of happiness, and you open up all the choked veins of gold, and you unblock whole rivers from the royal springs, flooding them with gentle streams, and having commanded the clouds to produce again, like some Elijah you opened the closed heaven, and having created a new sea of pure graces, there is no one whom you did not purify with its streams. Thus then having completed this public festival, you also began on second mixing-bowls, much more solemn and partaking of much nectar, from which indeed I myself have drunk my fill and have been numbered among the blessed; and what sort it is I will declare. It seemed of old that the source of good fortune and misfortune proceeded by lot, and children receiving from their fathers the differing streams of fortune diverted them to their grandsons. But you first confused this most wicked division, and having weighed the scales of good fortune by character rather than by birth, you have changed our lots. And one might see many of those who were long wingless now able to fly, and flying very near your light. For there is no one from any science or art or any other faculty who has excellence whom you have not honored. You have indeed revered the first philosopher because he does not need first principles, and the mathematician because he is a contemplator of forms, and the natural philosopher because he discovered the first principles of the elements of the body, and the demonstrator because he uses essentials, and the dialectician because he proceeds ambidextrously with syllogisms, and the sophist because he reasons fallaciously with skill, and the musician because he knows the ratios of mixtures, and the metrician because he understands the proportion of times. You have also adorned the legislative art because it is the order of states and the form-giver of infinite matter, placing limits, as it were particular times, around things. And you have desired rhetoric, because it argues skillfully from both sides and is varied in its forms and mixtures. you have also praised the archer shooting at targets, and the javelin-thrower sending his spear accurately, and the general holding together the shield-wall of the phalanx, and the front-rank soldier being brave, and the rear-guard protecting the company. You have also admired strength of body and courage of soul and the invention of contrivances and command of language and beauty of speech and power of art and greatness of knowledge and the architecture of materials and a keen nature and a steadfast mind and the flower of modesty and the frankness of an elder and a reasonable silence and speech more opportune than silence, and having emulated all things fittingly, you have composed yourself from all of them. For thus has God made your soul a soft mold, so as to adapt skillfully to all things, and to receive every form of power, and to be easily reshaped to every kind of discourse. Whenever I see you dealing with embassies from the nations and apply my mind to the form of your administration, I consider you art itself and a method of cleverness. whenever you assign cases by lot and arbitrate lawsuits and elect

ἀντιθέειν ἐξ ἀντιπάλου μοίρας ἠνέσχετο· ἀλλὰ κατώρθετό σοι ὁ πένταθλος καὶ ἤνυστο τὸ παγκράτιον μηδενός σοι συγκαταβάντος εἰς τὸν ἀγῶνα. Τοῦτό σοι τοῦ κράτους προοίμιον, αὕτη σοι τῆς ἀρχῆς ἡ ἀνάρρησις, οὗτός σοι τῆς βασιλείου τέχνης ὁ πρόλογος. εἶτα θύων τὰ ἐπινίκια, μακρῷ τὸν Ἐμπεδοκλέα τῷ πολυτελεῖ τῆς θυσίας νενίκηκας. ἐκεῖνος γάρ, ἐπειδὴ Πυθαγορικὸς ὢν ἐμψύχων ἀπείχετο, βοῦν ἐξ ἀρωμάτων πλασάμενος, εἶτα τῇ πυρᾷ θέμενος, ἀποφορᾶς Ἰνδικῆς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἐπλήρωσε γῆν. καὶ νῦν καινὸς θύτης ἐν ταῖς Ἑλληνικαῖς ᾠδαῖς ὁ φιλόσοφος. αὐτὸς δὲ πᾶσαν εἴσω τῆς πανηγύρεως τὴν οἰκουμένην πεποιηκώς, θεῷ μὲν ἀπαρχὰς τοῦ κράτους τὴν σεαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἐσφαγίασας, τῷ σιτευτῷ μόσχῳ τῷ καὶ διά σε τυθέντι τὴν ἀναίμακτον σφαγὴν ἀντεπενεγκών. καὶ δῆτα συμπανηγυρίσας τοῖς εἰσελθοῦσιν ἅττα εἰκός, ἀνοίγεις μὲν τοῖς πᾶσι τὰς τῆς εὐδαιμονίας πηγάς, καὶ πάσας φλέβας χρυσίτιδας συγκεχωσμένας ἀναστομοῖς, καὶ ποταμοὺς ὅλους ἡμέροις ἐπικλύζοντας ῥεύμασι τῶν βασιλείων ἐκφράττεις πηγῶν, τοῖς τε νέφεσιν ἐπιτάξας αὖθις γεννᾶν ὥσπερ τις Ἠλίας τὸν οὐρανὸν κεκλεισμένον ἠνέῳξας, καὶ θάλασσαν νέαν χαρίτων ἀκηράτων δημιουργήσας, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅντινα τοῖς νάμασιν οὐκ ἐκάθηρας. Οὕτω δὲ δὴ τὴν πάνδημον ταύτην τετελεκὼς ἑορτήν, καὶ δευτέρων ἀπήρξω κρατήρων μάλα σεμνοτέρων καὶ πολλοῦ μετεχόντων τοῦ νέκταρος, οὗ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς εἰς κόρον πέπωκα καὶ μετὰ τῶν μακαρίων ἠρίθμημαι· τὸ δὲ ὁποῖόν ἐστι δηλώσω. Ἐδόκει πάλαι κατὰ κλῆρον προϊέναι ἡ τῆς εὐδαιμονίας καὶ δυσπραξίας πηγή, καὶ παῖδες παρὰ πατέρων τὰ διάφορα τῆς τύχης δεχόμενοι ῥεύματα εἰς υἱωνοὺς μετωχέτευον. ἀλλὰ σὺ πρῶτος τὴν κακίστην ταύτην σύγχεας διαίρεσιν, καὶ τῷ τρόπῳ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ γένει τὰ τῆς εὐτυχίας ταλαντεύσας ζυγά, τοὺς κλήρους ἡμῖν μετεκίνησας. καὶ πολλοὺς ἂν ἴδοι τις τῶν ἀπτέρων πάλαι γεγονότας ἐκπετασίμους καὶ ἐγγύτατα τοῦ σου περιϊπταμένους φωτός. οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ὅντινα τῶν ἐξ ἑκάστης ἐπιστήμης ἢ τέχνης ἤ τινος ἄλλης δυνάμεως τὸ ἐξαίρετον ἔχοντα οὐ τετίμηκας. σύ γε καὶ τὸν πρῶτον ἐσεβάσθης φιλόσοφον ὅτι μὴ δεῖται ἀρχῶν, καὶ τὸν ἐν μαθήμασιν ὅτι τῶν εἰδῶν ἐστι θεωρός, καὶ τὸν φυσικὸν ὅτι τὰς ἀπαρχὰς ἐφεῦρε τῶν στοιχείων τοῦ σώματος, καὶ τὸν ἀποδεικτικὸν ὅτι χρῆται τοῖς οὐσιώδεσι, καὶ τὸν διαλεκτικὸν ὅτι συλλογισμοῖς ἐφοδεύει ἀμφιδεξίως, καὶ τὸν σοφιζόμενον ὅτι παραλογίζεται εὐφυῶς, καὶ τὸν ἁρμονικὸν ὅτι τοὺς λόγους οἶδε τῶν κράσεων, καὶ τὸν ῥυθμικὸν ὅτι τὴν τῶν χρόνων ἀναλογίαν ἐπίσταται. Σὺ καὶ τὴν νομοθετικὴν κεκόσμηκας ὅτι πολιτειῶν κόσμος ἐστὶ καὶ τῆς ἀπείρου ὕλης εἰδοποιός, πέρατα ὡσανεὶ τοὺς μερικοὺς χρόνους περιτιθεῖσα τοῖς πράγμασι. καὶ τὴν ῥητορικὴν ἐπόθησας, ὅτι ἑκατέρωθεν ἐπιχειρεῖ δεξιῶς καὶ ποικίλλεται τοῖς εἴδεσι καὶ ταῖς κράσεσι. σὺ καὶ τὸν τοξότην ἐπῄνεσας κατὰ σκοπῶν ἀφιέντα, καὶ τὸν ἀκοντιστὴν εὔστοχα πέμποντα, καὶ τὸν στρατηγὸν τὴν τῆς φάλαγγος ἀσπίδα συνέχοντα, καὶ τὸν πρωτοστάτην θαρροῦντα, καὶ τὸν οὐραγὸν τὸν λόχον φυλάττοντα. σὺ καὶ ῥώμην ἐθαύμασας σώματος καὶ ἀνδρείαν ψυχῆς καὶ μηχανημάτων ἐπίνοιαν καὶ γλώττης περιβολὴν καὶ λόγου κάλλος καὶ τέχνης δύναμιν καὶ μέγεθος ἐπιστήμης καὶ ὑλῶν ἀρχιτεκτονίαν καὶ φύσιν ὀξεῖαν καὶ φρόνημα βεβηκὸς καὶ αἰδοῦς ἄνθος καὶ παρρησίαν πρεσβυτικὴν καὶ σιωπὴν εὔλογον καὶ λόγον σιωπῆς εὐκαιρότερον καὶ πάντα ζηλώσας προσφυῶς, ἐκ πάντων συντέθεικας σεαυτόν. οὕτω γάρ σου τὴν ψυχὴν ἁπαλὸν ἐκμαγεῖον πεποίηκεν ὁ θεός, ὡς πρὸς πάντα μεθαρμόζεσθαι εὐφυῶς, καὶ πᾶν μὲν εἶδος δυνάμεως ἀναδέχεσθαι, πρὸς πάντα δὲ λόγον εὐκόλως μεταρρυθμίζεσθαι. Ὅταν σε ταῖς ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν πρεσβείαις θεάσωμαι χρηματίζοντα καὶ πρὸς τὸ τῆς οἰκονομίας εἶδος ἐμβιβάσω τὸν νοῦν, αὐτόχρημά σε τέχνην λογίζομαι καὶ δεινότητος μέθοδον. ὅταν κληροῦντα τὰς ὑποθέσεις καὶ διαιτῶντα ταῖς δίκαις καὶ χειροτονοῦντα