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

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 and enumerated them with the frenzied women in Delphi, placing the Erythraean Sibyl as one who uttered her oracles in almost hexameter verse. I also suspect the phrase "by a divine gift" found in Plato, lest Dosithea got her name from this. Can anyone, then, state a difference between the Greek follies and the rites performed among them? For both their prophetess was frenzied and this woman was deranged. The rite is equal, the Bacchic frenzy similar, the derangement, the possession, the inspiration, is identical; all things are of equal weight and equal measure. Except that the one in Delphi and Dodona performed her rites in the time of Croesus the Lydian, in the time of Laius son of Labdacus, in the time of Solon, but this one was frenzied in our holy places, in the Lord's inner sanctuaries, in the time of the great high priest. How much more frenzied and more Bacchic are these things than those? But no more of the Greeks' affairs; for I am silent about the rest, as you know it. I also measure my discourse to the audience, so that I may not seem burdensome and offensive to you. But concerning the Chaldean hieratic art, I know that most of you are uninformed. For this is an ancient and older philosophy, and unknown to most; for its worship is both mysterious and secret. A certain man Julian, in the time of the emperor Trajan, set forth their dogmas in epic verses, which indeed those who revere their traditions call oracles. The philosopher Proclus, then, having encountered these—a man endowed with a superior nature, who had mastered all philosophy, but was an out-and-out Hellene—suddenly Chaldaized and adopted their views, and having called the Greek proofs "storms of words," as Procopius of Gaza relates, he inclined with all sails toward that hieratic art. This man, having perfected his exegetical power to the utmost, breaks down the composition of the epic verses and sets forth their dogmas in prose. I will now, therefore, set beside the things being accused a few of these, so that you may know that the great luminary of the church and new dogmatist has brought into the gospels an ancient impiety that has been silenced for many ages. For this man, having spoken about the difference of the so-called divine powers—that some are more material, others more immaterial, and some are cheerful, others stern, and some come with demons, while others appear purely—immediately adds about the times at which they are invoked, and about the places in which, and about the men or women who see the divine light, and about their figures and divine tokens, and thus proceeds to the enthusiastic theurgies. "Of which," he says, "some are upon inanimate things, and others upon animate things; and of these, some are upon rational beings, others upon irrational beings. For inanimate things too," he says, "are often filled with divine light, just as the oracular statues, by the inspiration of some god or good demons. And men also become possessed and receive a divine spirit, some spontaneously, just like the so-called divinely-possessed who suffer this at certain periods and indefinitely, whenever it may happen, but others having stirred themselves to enthusiasm by some voluntary action, as the prophetess at Delphi sitting over the orifice and others having drunk mantic water." Then, having said what they must do, he adds: "and when these things happen, the theurgy must be activated and an inspiration must occur and an alteration of the mind. But also of these enthusiasms, some occur when the possessed are completely out of their minds and in no way conscious of themselves, but others in a certain wonderful way with consciousness, where indeed one is able to use the theurgy on himself and, having received the inspiration himself, to know both what he is doing and what he is uttering and from where he must release the moving power; for when the ecstasy is complete, there is altogether a need for another who is sober and presides over the possessed." Then indeed, having said many things about

ἀπαριθμεῖσθαι; ἀρκεῖ γὰρ τέως ἡ μαντική. ἐγὼ δ' ὡς οἶμαι, εἴ γε προεγεγόνει τοῦτο, καὶ ταῦτ' ἂν γενναίως ἀπεμνημόνευσε καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἐν ∆ελφοῖς ἀπηρίθμησε μανεισῶν γυναικῶν, Σίβυλλαν Ἐρυθραίαν τιθεὶς μόνον οὐχ ἑξατόνῳ μέτρῳ τοὺς λόγους ἐντείνουσαν. ὑποπτεύω δὲ καὶ τὸ δόσει θείᾳ παρὰ Πλάτωνι κείμενον, μὴ ἐντεῦθεν ἡ ∆οσιθέα τὸ ὄνομα εὕρατο. ἆρ' οὖν ἔχει τις εἰπεῖν διαφορὰν τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν ὕθλων πρὸς τὰ παρ' ἐκείνοις τελούμενα; ἥ τε γὰρ παρ' ἐκείνοις ἐμεμήνει προφῆτις καὶ αὔτη παρήλλακτο. ἡ τελετὴ ἴση, ἡ βακχεία ὁμοία, ἀπαράλλακτος ἡ παραφορά, ἡ κατοχή, ἡ ἐπίπνοια· ἰσόσταθμα πάντα καὶ ἰσομέτρητα. πλὴν ὅσον ἡ μὲν ἐν ∆ελφοῖς καὶ ἐν ∆ωδώνῃ ὠργίαζε παρὰ Κροίσῳ τῷ Λυδῷ, παρὰ τῷ τοῦ Λαβδάκου Λαΐῳ, παρὰ Σόλωνι, ἡ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἡμῶν ἐμεμήνει, ἐν τοῖς δεσποτικοῖς ἀδύτοις, παρὰ τῷ μεγάλῳ ἀρχιερεῖ. πόσῳ ταῦτ' ἐκείνων μανιωδέστερά τε καὶ βακχικώτερα; Ἀλλὰ μὴ πλείω τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων· ὡς γὰρ εἰδότων ὑμῶν τἆλλα σιγῶ. μετρῶ δὲ καὶ τὸν λόγον πρὸς τὴν ἀκρόασιν, ἵνα μὴ φορτικὸς ὑμῖν δόξω καὶ πλημμελής. τῆς δέ γε Χαλδαίων ἱερατικῆς τέχνης οἶδα μὲν ὡς οἱ πλείους ὑμῶν ἀνήκοοι καθεστήκατε. ἀρχαία γὰρ αὕτη καὶ πρεσβυτέρα φιλοσοφία καὶ τοῖς πλείοσιν ἄγνωστος· τὸ γὰρ σέβας τούτων μυστηριῶδές τε καὶ ἀπόρρητον. Ἰουλιανὸς δέ τις ἀνὴρ ἐπὶ Τραϊανοῦ βασιλέως ἐν ἔπεσι τὰ τούτων ἐξέθετο δόγματα, ἃ δὴ καὶ λόγιά φασιν οἱ τὰ ἐκείνων σεμνύνοντες. τούτοις οὖν ὁ φιλόσοφος ἐντυχὼν Πρόκλος, ἀνὴρ κρείττονος μὲν τετυχηκὼς φύσεως, πᾶσαν δὲ φιλοσοφίαν ἠκριβωκώς, Ἕλλην δ' ἄντικρυς, χαλδαΐσας ἀθρόον τὰ ἐκείνων ἐπρέσβευσε καὶ τὰς Ἑλληνικὰς ἀποδείξεις "λόγων καταιγίδας" ὠνομακώς, ὡς ὁ Γαζαῖος Προκόπιος ἱστορεῖ, ἐπὶ τὴν ἱερατικὴν ἐκείνην τέχνην ὅλοις ἱστίοις ἀπένευσεν. οὗτος τὴν ἐξηγητικὴν εἰς ἄκρον ἀκριβωσάμενος δύναμιν τὴν τῶν ἐπῶν διαλύει συνθήκην καὶ λόγῳ πεζῷ τὰ ἐκείνων ἐκτίθησι δόγματα. τούτων οὖν ὀλίγ' ἄττα τοῖς κατηγορουμένοις νυνὶ παραθήσομαι, ὅπως ἂν γνοίητε, ὅτι παλαιὰν καὶ πολλοῖς χρόνοις κατασιγασθεῖσαν ἀσέβειαν ὁ μέγας τῆς ἐκκλησίας φωστὴρ καὶ νέος δογματιστὴς τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις συνήνεγκεν. Εἰρηκὼς γὰρ οὗτος περὶ διαφορᾶς τῶν καλουμένων θείων δυνάμεων, ὡς αἱ μὲν ὑλικώτεραι, αἱ δὲ ἀϋλότεραι, καὶ αἱ μὲν ἱλαραί, αἱ δὲ ἐμβριθεῖς, καὶ αἱ μὲν μετὰ δαιμόνων, αἱ δὲ καθαρῶς παραγίνονται, εὐθὺς ἐπιφέρει περὶ καιρῶν καθ' οὓς καλοῦνται, καὶ περὶ τόπων ἐν οἷς, καὶ περὶ τῶν ὁρώντων τὸ θεῖον φῶς ἀνδρῶν ἢ γυναικῶν, σχημάτων τε τούτων καὶ θείων συνθημάτων, καὶ μέτεισιν οὔτως ἐπὶ τὰς ἐνθεαστικὰς θεαγωγίας. "Ὧν", φησίν, "αἱ μὲν ἐπὶ ἀψύχων εἰσίν, αἱ δὲ ἐπὶ ἐμψύχων, καὶ τούτων αἱ μὲν ἐπὶ λογικῶν, αἱ δὲ ἐπὶ ἀλόγων. καὶ γὰρ ἄψυχα," φησί, "πολλάκις πληροῦνται θείου φωτὸς ὥσπερ τὰ χρησμῳδοῦντα τῶν ἀγαλμάτων ἐξ ἐπιπνοίας θεῶν τινος ἢ δαιμόνων ἀγαθῶν. καὶ ἄνθρωποι δὲ κάτοχοι γίνονται καὶ δέχονται πνεῦμα θεῖον, οἱ μὲν ἐκ ταὐτομάτου καθάπερ οἱ λεγόμενοι θεόληπτοι κατά τινας περιόδους τοῦτο πάσχοντες καὶ ἀορίστως, ὁπότε τύχοιεν, οἱ δὲ ἀνακινήσαντες ἑαυτοὺς πρὸς τὸν ἐνθεασμὸν ἔκ τινος προαιρετικῆς ἐνεργείας ὥσπερ ἐν ∆ελφοῖς ἡ προφῆτις περικαθίσασα τῷ στομίῳ καὶ ἄλλοι μαντικοῦ πιόντες ὕδατος." Εἶτα εἰπὼν ἃ δεῖ ποιεῖν αὐτούς, ἐπάγει· "καὶ τούτων προσγινομένων ἐνεργῆσαι δεῖ τὴν θεαγωγίαν καὶ ἐπίπνοιαν γενέσθαι καὶ παράλλαξιν τῆς διανοίας. ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων τῶν ἐνθεασμῶν οἱ μὲν γίνονται παντελῶς ἐξισταμένων τῶν κατόχων καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἑαυτοῖς παρακολουθούντων, οἱ δὲ θαυμαστόν τινα τρόπον μετὰ παρακολουθήσεως, ὅπου γε δὴ καὶ εἰς ἑαυτὸν δύναται τῇ θεαγωγίᾳ χρῆσθαι καὶ αὐτὸν εἰσδεξάμενον τὴν ἐπίπνοιαν εἰδέναι, τίνα τε ἐνεργεῖ καὶ τί φθέγγεται καὶ πόθεν δεῖ ἀπολύειν τὸ κινοῦν· παντελοῦς γὰρ τῆς ἐκστάσεως γινομένης ἄλλου πάντως χρεία τοῦ ἐφεστῶτος τοῖς κατόχοις καὶ νήφοντος." Εἶτα δὴ πολλὰ εἰρηκὼς περὶ