Orationes forenses et acta

 Each one of you has received benefits from him, that having set this forth here with goodwill toward him you might sway the votes, and by showing favo

 Having beset it and stirred herself up to be divinely inspired and worked herself into a bacchic frenzy. now, that the many are deceived by this, i do

 Of her, nor anything else of the things forbidden to me, but which are proclaimed and honored by them. for someone might perhaps excuse him for the fi

 To be enumerated? for divination is for the time being sufficient. but i think, if this had happened before, he would have nobly recorded these things

 Of the difference of theurgies, at the end he adds: one must remove in advance all obstacles to the visitation of the gods and impose a total tranqui

 In these matters i would gladly ask of you, whether it is permitted for a priest to be initiated into such mysteries and to be deemed worthy of such r

 Immediately, therefore, all blushed, or rather, indeed, they shouted with their voices and condemned the leaders of the impiety and named their writin

 Has he discerned? but if indeed the part of the synod has not joined with the senate council nor with the chosen of the nazirites—for this part was no

 Aristotle's theology and the psychogony of plato and the new numbers and the remodeling of doctrines and the expense of the divisible, who of all ever

 What argument is left to you concerning this, or how is it that you dispute with one another over matters of such importance and postpone the decision

 And i gladly admire in you the encomium of the good man in your memorandum. for where he holds on to the whole and bears the burden of common cares, y

 All those, with whom we disagree, have advocated for confusions or divisions. for what do matter and ideas have in common with our doctrines? but sinc

 And of the one who is lifted up and of the one seated on it. know the cherubic and seraphic wings, the perfection of their number, the symbolic coveri

 They have shaken. for if they happened to be uninitiated in our doctrines and completely uninstructed in the mysteries of the spirit, perhaps, having

 For he who receives a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, from the contrary and greater, he who receives an impious man will receive the punishme

 He has despised all things equally, although the law, standing as it were at his ears, cried out: let no one teach or learn profane things. and agai

 He both strung together and vomited up, this twenty-third writing he thinks, or rather he places it between those who were then in every way our own p

 Depicting the madness of nestorian rage. i have left it to you to compare it with the dogmas of the massalians. i brought forth to them from the inner

 The patriarch has acted impiously, clearly and openly. and it is not permitted for any of you who wish, nor for those zealous on his behalf, to defend

 And having brought over certain forces from the west, he stirred them up for war, and they come face to face with each other from both sides. and a fi

 Delaying he is persuaded and is moderate and descends with them. and he dares against two emperors, of whom the one the imperial court held, adorned w

 Being torn apart. but pilate sat judging my divinely-moved emperor, the lord's anointed, who was being considered, not hesitating, not washing his han

 To kill the emperor, unless he came down quickly and bowed his head to him, but he, fearing the tyrannical cruelty and cowering lest he suffer anythin

 An innovative rank and would come to be below. there, then, the morning star raged against the first goodness, but here the evening star has attacked

 Demonic in his life. but again i have turned to you, the judges, and again i ask: has anything been dared by this man or not? you will surely say the

 Then failing to achieve their purpose, they chose to strike and kill. is it not clear to all that, while digging through and breaking into the houses

 Ruin, if he should object saying that he neither urged these things nor wished them, but even punished many of those who dared with all punishments, w

 In the parts on the right, somewhere near the entrance, but you have immediately ascended into heaven on earth itself, as if considering it a terrible

 Disregarding the divine temples, he was destroying them? and he did not cease, piling one on top of another and making them abandoned ruins. for not o

 Leaning together walls collapsed together with their icons and statues. and everything was as if in a great earthquake, the air being darkened, the e

 And the remains of the apostle luke are burned by fire and reduced to dust. i fear that the bodies of martyrs also lay here. i am afraid that some of

 I shall grant you this also. he had no need, it is true, of the burial robes. i admit it, since they had all already decayed. but he did have need of

 Let us not even examine the scene after that, but let these things be considered by him as theaters and hunts. but where the mercy-seat is, and around

 Seeing what was happening was exulting and rejoicing, like of old the whelp of the beast, i mean the one from isauria. but you consider for me what a

 Fire was burning us and the zeal of the lord was consuming us, long ago the man would have perished, or rather, he would not even have had access to t

 To me the macedonian, to the right the spear, at a walk the half-file leader, captain, wheel around. and nothing new nor incredible for one who has

 I pray with the high priest, but the mixture and the sheath which has grown with us turns the mind, being raised aloft, back toward itself. therefore

 He would trace his genealogy from cronus and rhea and from those even further back, i mean hericapaeus and phanes and that orphic night and he traced

 And the same color over all, none of which moved or influenced him? but never to converse even with the more divine words nor to unroll any tablet, th

 The emperor's treasury is not supplied only from mines nor from the recesses of the earth, nor do tributes alone fill it, nor contributions from land

 And to speak of the audacity, or rather—but how could i speak, intertwining things?—and the diligently pursued plot, through which almost everything w

 Granting that you may meet with more benevolent judges above. and then the drink of deposition here will truly appear to you as a purification. and ma

 Suspicious to many. but if he has nothing in common with the one he has chosen to accuse, nor has anything come between them, it is somehow still unac

 They anticipate my tongue, scattering against me the things they did wrong on account of their own greed, and i confidently awaited the court, as one

 To vote against a priest on the spot the penance exceeds all punishment the examination and the penance must proceed canonically. and, as it seems,

 Of the whole age, an unbeliever, so that i may speak truly, to believe against a believer? for this would be far from reason and thought. for where we

 But i, but what might i say about this? he living the life of a private citizen, but i clothed in the high-priestly vestment. and such a man is agains

 With misfortunes and your example, for the sake of argument, let someone come forward as a condemned man to have his neck cut. and let the sword be ha

 Do you receive? for the pardon testifies that the deposition did not seem so even to himself. for if, according to you, it is like a cutting off, what

 Is the cause the comparison of the matter to a beheading? for from this, one absurdity having been granted, these many nonsensical things were consequ

 An evil tale about me for years, leave me to my former wounds, do not card new ones upon me. so may the lord heal you, if indeed there is anything in

 This is the law of accusation and defense, and from this the precise examination of matters is found. but he introduced a new kind of writing into the

 Of voice, for not even this is unworthy of the art, and with a rhythmic turn of the tongue, you perhaps might only approach him, you who indeed gaped

 Has been debarred from studies? but for you in deep old age, what share is there of education? who of all people has known you, as far as i know, afte

 Which they say came into being of their own accord. but these things are not acceptable to you, and for this reason we shall laugh at you again, havin

 Ever, not in courts, not in counsels, not in public, not in private. for this was not even without accusation, but the speech had some defense. from w

 And the nature of fire did not burn, and the steep rock sent forth springs, and the wood here sweetened the bitterness, and there lightened the heavy

 Did he transcend this time? and it is likely, o best one, for christ possessed a nature more free even according to human standards. whether, then, th

 From himself, having allotted a great portion of reason to his soul this man, therefore, having long ago established for himself a little adopted dau

 A contest, but more brilliant was the victory of elpidius, and he went away having overcome the vestarches by all votes and crowning himself with the

 Receiving. when the most compassionate soul heard this supplication, since she also knew the circumstances concerning the bestarches, and that for man

 I will let my tongue go from forbidden deeds. and first i shame myself relating unspeakable and improper things, since i will also become a stumbling

 The amounts owed will be reckoned against each other, and the fine will be reckoned to elpidios in place of the protospatharios's fee, and the protosp

 Having received a seaside property from him, i give back to him in exchange a mainland one as a permanent dwelling by gift. but the kalai property was

 Most complete, not measured by time, not defined by partial successions nor by these alienations or those, but eternal, sufficient for all successions

 Indicating by the documents, which it is also necessary to go through in order. and so that we may make the summaries concise, and not, by going throu

 At that time for the ruler to ratify to her through a gift of a golden bull the property which he had previously granted to the man, not having been i

 But the rest testified that they themselves were not present at such a sale, but had heard from the subscribing witnesses in the confirmatory document

 He marveled at our western setting sun as a morning sunrise, and with the unspeakable pangs of his soul he discerned the ineffable will of god concern

 On both sides the gift is valid for those who received it from there. for the estate was perhaps of the daughters of nicholas’s wife through paternal

 Harmony, who of all could dissolve such a great bond, or rather these wonderful and in reality altogether indissoluble connections? for the first and

 He has made known by an agreement to whom indeed you also entrusted everything under oath and, whatever they themselves should do, you have promised

 Emperor of the romans, doukas. konstantinos, in christ the god faithful emperor of the romans, doukas. ioannes, most humble archbishop of constantinop

of her, nor anything else of the things forbidden to me, but which are proclaimed and honored by them. For someone might perhaps excuse him for the first transgressions, because their dogma had not yet been publicly condemned; but concerning the second ones, who, attempting to defend him, would not be convicted by all votes? Then did so great a matter escape his notice, as to think that everyone was unaware, on the one hand that they have been impious, and on the other that he consented to their impieties? But the deceit of prophecies ensnared him, and the hope of future things blinded him not only concerning the things he loved, but also to the consideration and discernment of what was expedient. And so great a love of impiety seized him, that he did not consecrate his association with them at intervals, but clung to them tightly in processions, in entrances, wherever he would go, from whence he would exit, in the temples, in the sacrifices, everywhere. I, therefore, think that no one at all will contradict these things, unless he would have the high priest be openly impious or invent some contradiction to this most manifest truth. If, then, there is such a one, let him appear, let him utter a public voice, let him defend the deceit, and against him we will take our stand again, but as for those who doubt that they have been manifestly impious, but have been deceived, since the error has neither been brought into a specific heresy nor yet has it been condemned by the whole synod, to these things I make this defense, either in parts or in sequence, that her opinion is manifestly both Hellenism and Chaldaism; and if someone were to say that they Nestorize, he would not be wrong. That divining, then, is a Hellenic doctrine, we have already said; and Hellenism is an ancient and third heresy, and the things believed by them have been forbidden by the church. And now again let us examine a few things from them, so that you may know, that they, dishonoring the one and only God, the ever-shining sun in three rays, and positing a multitude of gods and daemons, have both dedicated temples to them, and have constructed oracles and have established elaborate rites and have invented preparations and have brought together certain priestesses and attendants of Hestia; and they appointed oracle-singers and possessed persons, entrusting the inspiration of the seer and god to them in female souls and tender bodies. And so that we may pass over the other supporters of our argument and witnesses, we take up in our discourse the one who is the first principle for them and from whom they all depend, Plato I mean, the wise. For everywhere in his dialogues he divinizes the discourse about the gods and their possession, but he demonstrates it especially in the Phaedrus. For while drawing out the arguments of Lysias the orator, as many as he fashioned for the handsome Phaedrus—showing the lover to be mad, but the non-lover to be of sound mind—since he did not distinguish the homonymy of madness, he says something like this in the dialogue: "For if it were a simple thing that madness is an evil, it would be well said; but as it is, the greatest of good things come to us through madness, when it is given as a divine gift. For indeed the prophetess at Delphi and the priestesses at Dodona, when mad, have done many and fine things for Greece both in private and in public, but when in their right minds, few or none. And if we were to speak of the Sibyl and others who, using inspired prophecy, have correctly foretold many things to many people about the future, we would be prolonging our speech by saying things obvious to everyone." Then, after saying a few things about augury, he adds this: "But indeed of the greatest sicknesses and troubles, which arose in certain families from some ancient wrath, madness, arising and prophesying to those who needed it, found a deliverance by taking refuge in the prayers and services of the gods; from which, having obtained purifications and rites, it made the one who had these things whole, having found for the one rightly mad and possessed a release from present evils." Such, then, are the words of Plato. For why is it necessary the four madnesses

ἐκείνης οὔτ' ἄλλο τι τῶν ἀπειρημένων ἐμοί, ἐκείνοις δὲ διαβεβοημένων καὶ τιμωμένων. τῶν μὲν γὰρ πρώτων ἀτοπημάτων τάχ' ἄν τις αὐτὸν παραιτήσηται, ὅτι μήπω δημοσίᾳ τὸ ἐκείνων δόγμα κατέγνωστο· ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν δευτέρων τίς ἂν ἐκείνου ὑπεραπολογήσασθαι ἐπιχειρήσας οὐκ ἂν πάσαις ψήφοις ἁλοίη; εἶτα καὶ τοσοῦτον αὐτὸν πρᾶγμα διέλαθεν, ὡς οἴεσθαι πάντας ἀγνοεῖν ἐκείνους μὲν ὅτι ἠσεβήκασι, τοῦτον δὲ ὅτι ταῖς αὐτῶν ἀσεβείαις συνέθετο; ἀλλ' ἡ τῶν προρρήσεων τοῦτον ἀπάτη θηράσασα, καὶ ἡ τῶν μελλόντων ἐλπὶς οὐ περὶ τὰ φιλούμενα μόνον ἐτύφλωσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ συμφέροντος σκέψιν τε καὶ διάγνωσιν. καὶ τοσοῦτον αὐτὸν ὁ τῆς ἀσεβείας ἔρως κατέσχεν, ὡς μὴ ἐκ διαστημάτων τὴν ὁμιλίαν τούτοις ἀφοσιοῦν, ἀλλ' εἴχετο τούτων ἀπρὶξ ἐν ταῖς προόδοις, ἐν ταῖς εἰσόδοις, ὅπου δ' ἂν φοιτῴη, ὅθεν ἐξέλθοι, ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς, ἐν ταῖς θυσίαις, ἁπανταχοῦ. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὐδένα τῶν πάντων οἴομαι τούτοις ἀντερεῖν εἰ μὴ προφανῶς ἀσεβεῖν τὸν ἀρχιερέα ἢ ἀντιλογίαν τινὰ πρὸς τὴν προφανεστάτην ταύτην πλάττειν ἀλήθειαν. εἰ οὖν ἔστι, φανήτω, ῥηξάτω δημοσίᾳ φωνήν, ὑπεραπολογησάσθω τῆς ἀπάτης, καὶ πρὸς τοῦτον αὖθις ἀντιστησόμεθα, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἀμφιβάλλοντας ὡς οὐ φανερῶς ἠσεβήκασιν, ἀλλ' ἐξηπάτηνται, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ εἰς εἰδικὴν ἡ πλάνη ἐνήνεκται αἵρεσιν μήτε μὴν τῇ πάσῃ συνόδῳ καθῄρηται, πρὸς ταῦτα διῃρημένως ἢ καθεξῆς ἀπολογοῦμαι ταυτί, ὅτι καὶ ἑλληνισμὸς ἄντικρυς καὶ χαλδαϊσμὸς ἡ ἐκείνης δόξα καθέστηκε· κἂν νεστοριάζειν αὐτούς τις φαίη, οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν τὸ ἐνθεάζειν Ἑλληνικῆς δόξης, εἰρήκαμεν φθάσαντες· ὁ δέ γε ἑλληνισμὸς ἀρχαία τις καὶ τρίτη καθέστηκεν αἵρεσις καὶ τὰ ἐκείνοις δόξαντα τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀπείρηται. καὶ νῦν δὲ αὖθις σμικρὰ ἄττα τῶν παρ' ἐκείνοις παρεξετάσωμεν, ὅπως ἂν γνοίητε, ὅτι τὸν ἕνα καὶ μόνον ἐκεῖνοι θεὸν ἀτιμάσαντες τὸν ἐν τρισὶν ἀκτῖσιν ἀειφανῆ ἥλιον, θεῶν δὲ καὶ δαιμόνων πλῆθος ὑποστησάμενοι νεώς τε αὐτοῖς ἀφιδρύσαντο, καὶ μαντεῖα κατεσκευάκασι τελετάς τε περιέργους νενομίκασι καὶ παρασκευὰς ἐφευρήκασιν ἱερείας τέ τινας καὶ τῆς Ἑστίας προπόλους συνηγηόχασι· καὶ μαντῳδοὺς καὶ κατόχους ἐπέστησαν θηλείαις ψυχαῖς καὶ ἁπαλοῖς σώμασι τὴν ἐπίπνοιαν πιστεύσαντες τοῦ μάντεως αὐτοῖς καὶ θεοῦ. καὶ ἵνα δὴ τοὺς ἄλλους παρῶμεν συλλήπτορας ἡμῖν τοῦ λόγου καὶ μάρτυρας, αὐτὸν δὴ τὸν πρῶτον ἐκείνοις θεσμὸν καὶ οὗ πάντες ἐξήρτηνται, Πλάτωνά φημι τὸν σοφόν, τῷ λόγῳ παραληφόμεθα. ἐκεῖνος γὰρ καὶ πανταχοῦ μὲν τῶν ἑαυτοῦ διαλόγων τὸν περὶ τῶν θεῶν καὶ τῆς αὐτῶν διακατοχῆς ἐκθειάζει λόγον, ἐν δὲ τῷ Φαίδρῳ καὶ μάλιστα ἐπιδείκνυσι. τὰ γὰρ τοῦ Λυσίου παραξέων τοῦ ῥήτορος, ὁπόσα ἐκεῖνος τὸν καλὸν Φαῖδρον ἐσχηματίσατο-μεμηνότα μὲν τὸν ἐρῶντα δεικνύς, σωφρονοῦντα δὲ τὸν μὴ ἐρῶντα-ἐπειδὴ μὴ διέστειλε τὴν τῆς μανίας ὁμωνυμίαν, καὶ οὕτω που ἐν τῷ διαλόγῳ φησίν· "εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἦν ἁπλοῦν τὸ μανίαν κακὸν εἶναι, καλῶς ἂν ἐλέγετο· νῦν δὲ τὰ μέγιστα τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἡμῖν γίγνεται διὰ μανίας, θείᾳ μέντοι δόσει διδομένης· ἥ τε γὰρ δὴ ἐν ∆ελφοῖς προφῆτις αἵ τ' ἐν ∆ωδώνῃ ἱέρειαι μανεῖσαι μὲν πολλὰ δὴ καὶ καλὰ ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ τὴν Ἑλλάδα εἰργάσαντο, σωφρονοῦσαι δὲ βραχέα ἢ οὐδέν. κἂν δὴ λέγωμεν Σίβυλλάν τε καὶ ἄλλους, ὅσοι μαντικῇ χρώμενοι ἐνθέῳ πολλὰ δὴ πολλοῖς προὔλεγον εἰς τὸ μέλλον ὀρθώς, μηκύνοιμεν ἂν δῆλα παντὶ λέγοντες." εἶτα δὴ βραχέα περὶ οἰωνιστικῆς εἰρηκὼς ἐπιφέρει ταυτί· "ἀλλὰ μὴν νόσων τε καὶ πόνων τῶν μεγίστων, ἃ δὴ παλαιῶν ἐκ μηνιμάτων ποθὲν ἔν τισι τῶν γενῶν, ἡ μανία ἐγγενομένη καὶ προφητεύσασα οἷς ἔδει ἀπαλλαγὴν εὕρατο, καταφυγοῦσα πρὸς θεῶν εὐχάς τε καὶ λατρείας· ὅθεν δὴ καθαρμῶν τε καὶ τελετῶν τυχοῦσα ἐξάντη ἐποίησε τὸν ταῦτα ἔχοντα, λύσιν τῷ ὀρθῶς μανέντι καὶ κατασχομένῳ τῶν παρόντων κακῶν εὑραμένη." τὰ μὲν οὖν τοῦ Πλάτωνος ταῦτα. τί γὰρ δεῖ τὰς τέσσαρας μανίας