Compendium chronicum
Gold-bearing, glistening with robes studded with pearls. the fragrant violet shone, the rose shone back. every kind of violet's color smiled from ever
The fine-spun ones. the large-winged, large-hooked-beaked, hooked-clawed, boasting their claws like javelins, having a beak sharper than daggers, for
Having made him a composite of soul and body, and having bestowed the grace of a will moved by itself, and having formed him according to his likeness
Of yours, and you will be called gods, and you will know all things. the woman heard these things, she heeded the flattery, she was conquered by the
Land-born, winged, walking but god, opening the floodgates of heaven, brought down from there whole seas of rain, covered the peaks of the deep-cliff
They stole, they committed adultery, and finally they looked toward idolatry. seruch was the first to begin to use carved images and pillars, being th
Javelin-bowmen, armor-bearers, spearmen, men furious in battle, and having taken an allied force from the nation of the huns, and having made allies o
Chaldeans, and the plaything of fortune and the dice of affairs, having sufficiently mocked others, passed over to others. and when these things were
Mandane, and that the liquid poured forth was so great as to be able to cover the face of the land of asia. this was the first dream, and a second one
Not even among the most famous, like that of the medes and persians, or that of the assyrians. candaules was king of lydia and phrygia, tracing his li
To be contrived by such devices. he, having learned and discerned which mare the horse of darius loved more than all the others, after the two of them
Having heard that joseph, the one born of rachel, was governing the land of egypt for pharaoh, and also contriving to find a release from his sufferin
Was sung. and a light of gladness rose for the hebrews, but the darkness of calamities overshadowed the egyptians. the israelites who fled egypt then
He exposes him in a place called parion after paris himself. he was therefore cast aside carelessly. shepherds found him, pitied him, took him up. the
Because helen had been seized by someone, all fought on her behalf with their own bodies. so after much entreating and importuning, they persuade the
While strong-handed achilles was present, the counsels of the son of laertes were ineffective, and every plot devised and scheme stitched together aga
The swarm of trojans mingled with each other, daring to do nothing. and there was a temple before the walls of beautifully-towered troy, where achille
To proteus, he also finds his consort there in memphis, and having been hosted and honored he receives helen, and after considerable toils he reaches
Flapping its wings, a great-winged bird, fanned the fire into flame with its wings. but a certain cunning fox, vying with these and contending against
To be called, remaining faithful, keepers of the house and guardians of what is within. then taking a clod of earth in his hand from outside, he throw
The most unjust slaughter of his father, and perceiving as a man of sense that he would share the danger with his father and brother and would die wit
Caesar wished to take into the fellowship of marriage a woman who was in the sixth month of her pregnancy, and he urged nero to betroth his wife to hi
And his whole character was lecherous, and worse than others, lusting after women joined to men, and commanding their spouses to serve his abomination
You will cause me pain for those who are sated on my rotten limbs will vex me for a short time, but if others fall upon me, they will cling more viol
Bringing with them a chariot-driver mime, they came upon him to kill him. and nero, knowing this, killed himself, saying this at the end: what an art
Extinguishes it, and dogs, running up and eating the bonds, release the stargazer who was invoking the gods many times. and these things indeed were a
Ravaging and plundering, being in want of money, pressed by need and having no army from anywhere to arm against them, set forth in the marketplace th
Of great things, what terror was not present, what was not dared! slaughters and toils everywhere, and pools of blood. and the gloom of the prison hel
Their names were constans and constantine) manages the western parts and rome and the gauls. but these were extinguished rather quickly and before the
But when that woman again added that her husband was plotting against gratian himself, he replied again, what is that to you, woman? and they say th
Orestes, and after orestes the son of romulus was the last to take hold of the rule. and the great-named city, the city of the romans, having had romu
They set aside the young woman. athenais the maiden, exceedingly distressed at these things and wounded in her soul, goes to her maternal aunt, she sh
Learning of the emperor, she arrives in the city of jerusalem as quickly as possible, and there, having completed the remainder of her life, she pays
When a fierce battle had broken out and he was leading the romans against the arrogant persians, marcian, seized by a death-threatening illness, remai
A man, a treasure of wisdom, was slandered as a hellene, isocasius by name, a quaestor by rank and from there, stripped of both honor and money, he i
Having reigned over the romans for eighteen years. but this one, having tasted power for a short time, departed from the earth rather quickly, leaving
The poison with the trisagion hymn, and when he saw the whole crowd immediately run wild and drive the eparch from the temple with stones and burn dow
Justin, but being inflamed with zeal for the pious religion, kindled an implacable war against the manichaeans and a persecution more severe than thos
Manly minds for with this man he joined mighty battles, and so terrified chosroes that he wished to exchange peace for man-slaying wars. and rome the
With graces and bear torches for creation, and appear as bright stars to those on earth but the sun leaped up from a most beautiful lake, and the tor
Such power, and being filled with greater zeal, he held to what must be done. and it happened that not long after something like this occurred, worthy
Into the judgments of the judge shook the hearts of all. from there a calm of justice-doing was spread everywhere, instead of a winter and a gloomy te
And by the things that will be said and the khagan, having attacked the garrisons of the romans (the khagan was king of the northern scythians) and h
Of dregs. therefore, he is caught fleeing together with the empress and the purple-born branches sprung from him. but the most god-hated, man-slaying
With golden helmets, delicate, all quiver-bearing, on snorting, gold-phalerad horses. so when the emperor saw it was impossible to engage with the arm
Having embarked in boats, they came on, covering the back of the sea with their dense light boats, with their single-log vessels. thus there were many
But nevertheless he did not long enjoy his fortune, but it quickly grew cold, but appearing he was hidden, just as a rose might spring up and immediat
Him, only one thing troubled, lest the scepter reach justinian again, and he who was formerly deprived of it, and of his nose along with it, might aga
Infancy was subjected to murderous hands for slaughter but here, boys of fifteen, girls in their early bloom, young men, soft-skinned women, little g
You will see a dreadful thing, and he bespattered the ground, flowing away like water. thus it was said well and wisely by the ancients, nothing beyo
But the emperor theodosios, shrinking from the audacity and the beast-like heart of leo, yielded the throne and the crown to his enemy, willingly or u
From the kandys and the torc i will know, and the croaking raven from its blackness. near the precinct of the wisdom of god a splendid house had been
He plundered beauty, he cut out the sacred images from the churches, and in their place with the same colors and mosaics he engraved his beloved hunti
From there he is rolled towards lawless deeds, and he shaves the head of his most temperate consort, and introduces the union with another woman into
They drive him from the throne and the city as a fugitive. and he, having indicated these things in writing to the empress and having besought to rece
They were supplicating, even employing force. but he, not knowing the turn of the balancing scale of fortune, and fearing its wavering will, approache
And again the tail of the dragon was moved. the abomination, i mean, of iconoclasm, like a great dragon, crept, dreadful and gaping, it rushed to devo
And from there what was being built was overturned from its roots, and having stained his own war-loving hands with murders and having made every spea
The king, on account of the bruises and the numerous wounds, or rather cases of paralysis, was shaken in his soul at what had happened, and wishing to
Finding their catch, they write to the just man while he is fishing with nets a short writing in iambic meter, which, since i have deemed it not right
Having been persuaded and having received complete assurance that theophilos was delivered from the torments there, she became a fellow-diner with the
Of the ancient kings, both the golden trees, and the chattering sparrows, and lions made of hammered gold, and simply every royal thing gleaming in th
By his hand, but the contriver of evils paid the penalty, and the preparer of terrible things drank a cup of wrath. bardas, therefore, while digging a
Scarcely the temple-keeper he immediately makes basil a member of his household, and deems him worthy of fitting care. and basil was handsome, noble,
To earth-born men, and certain innate dooms accompany men. for this one, great in understanding among emperors, having been persuaded by certain serpe
By the transgression of tetragamy. but leo, the most philosophical among emperors, having fallen into the natural necessities of the body and being af
He arms himself on behalf of the one who had been out-generaled with an army drawn from many places, from the lycaonians, from the thracians, from the
Raising him from a lowly state to the summit, he makes him father and guardian of the empire. and drawing romanos further into his affection, he gives
Of unstained rule, and being about to be released from the bonds of nature, he appointed his son romanos as sole ruler. but he, entrusting all strengt
He conveys everything, and says, alas, o general, for the fortune of the romans! until when will woman-souled eunuchs steer the ship of state, resour
Medimni of grain to be sold for a nomisma. thus phocas managed the matter meanly, and this though he was rich in thousand-bushel granaries, laden with
Near the ister cutting down the phalanxes, breaking the scytharchs, killing, pursuing, routing the champions, as if some lion falling upon broad-flank
Slumber to his eyelids, nor sleep to his eyes, until he drove out the wolves, the devourers of sheep. the mighty ones of the bulgars recognized his st
And having been taught by certain people that after him the rule would pass to romanos, one of the senate, surnamed argyropoulos, he compels the man t
Having the care of those in the home for the aged, he managed all other matters of state up and down and was seen openly as the keeper of the ruler. t
Rushing into the inner sanctuary, from there they seize the wretched man, crying out with groans from the heart, with hot tears, and they gouge out hi
Bloody streams, but murderous outpourings. he seized the fortresses, he seized the cities. he went on, roaring in his anger, breathing fire more than
Of the power to comnenus. but those who were allotted to steer the ship of state, wishing not to save it but to sink it and swamp the most wretched th
But suddenly the tempests of the flesh, having grown wild, stirred up a hard-to-calm, wave-tossed wind, they brought on nausea, vomiting, dizziness, t
To sheep-guarded folds. but a winged dove, flying up from somewhere, alighted on his knees with a silent flutter, not like the one before that flew to
Promising down on his temples, using caesar his uncle as a rival and the most powerful men and those in high military command, he at once seats himsel
Shining with purple dye and gold, and using in turn overlapping garments, he sat upon high, silver-studded thrones, adorning with dignities all who ca
they stole, they committed adultery, and finally they looked toward idolatry. Seruch was the first to begin to use carved images and pillars, being the eighth descendant of Noah the just. This Seruch, then, was the first, honoring the ancients as inventors of good things, as strong in battles, as leaders of wisdom, as experienced in war, to make likenesses, statues, and pillars, supposedly as a remembrance of the good things from them. Not knowing this, many of the later generations, not perceiving Seruch's intention, honored the lifeless pillars as gods and worshipped images made by human hands. From there, having turned aside to a strange religion, they conceived of worshipping other, different gods. But the Egyptians went further astray than all others, and led their religion even to ridiculous things. From there were worshipped cats and monkeys, ibises and goats and oxen, dogs and crocodiles and the other abominations of their madness. But more than all other cults, they worshipped Apis, a multicolored bull. For whenever such a bull was born among them, bearing marks on its tongue and near its tail and on its forehead an image of a half moon, they danced, they feasted, they held festivals as if a most novel god had come to dwell among them. And that one they stabled with lavish banquets, while they themselves spent their days in drinking and dancing. And as the madness for idols advanced further, it drove the whole race into the utmost error. But I must return to the subject of kingship. Among the Egyptians a king was the first of all; and a saying of the divine scripture testifies to this matter. For when a famine seized the land of the Chaldeans, the divine, the great Abram became a sojourner and, leaving his kindred, removed to Egypt, so that he might turn aside the destructive blaze of famine, having found more abundant means of subsistence there. And with him as he journeyed to a foreign land was his wife Sarra, of graceful countenance and most beautiful. Then those who served the king there (and Abimelech was king of the Egyptians at that time), seeing Sarra shining with incomparable beauty and surpassing the women of Egypt as much as the rose surpasses all flowers, brought her to the love-smitten king. And Abimelech, upon seeing her, was completely captivated by her, and he would have soon defiled the bed of the just man, if God, honoring his own servant, had not afflicted the king by night with severe plagues, and with him his relatives and his bodyguards. And not many generations after the beginning of the Egyptians in the days of Abraham, Belus, a strong man, a giant of mighty hand, ruled the Assyrians, whom the deluded honored as a god and renamed Cronus. This Cronus had a wife, Semiramis, who was called Rhea. Therefore, the dominion of the Egyptians and the royal power and the authority lasted for a full thousand years and in addition six hundred and sixty-three. And again, the kingdom of the Assyrian race measured a thousand years, and with it passed three hundred years until Sardanapalus. Cronus, therefore, cohabiting with his wife Rhea, besides many other sons, also begot Ninyas, whom they say was the founder of the famed Nineveh. And after a short time, Cronus, leaving Assyria, ran to the western country of the Africans. But Ninyas took his own mother as his wife and consort out of love-madness, being sick with a licentious and unnatural love, and with Semiramis herself consenting to this. From which it also became a law among the Assyrians to marry their mothers and to confound the bonds of nature. And this foul and abominable practice, having originated from the Assyrians, passed also to the Persians. But Sesostris, king of Egypt, having at that time been magnified and strengthened beyond all his predecessors, did not consider it sufficient to rule Egypt alone. And so, having gathered an army from every tribe, spearmen and peltasts,
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ἔκλεπτον, ἐμοιχῶντο, καὶ τελευταῖον ἔβλεψαν πρὸς εἰδωλολατρείαν. Σεροὺχ δὲ πρῶτος ἤρξατο χρῆσθαι γλυπτοῖς καὶ στήλαις, ὄγδοος
ὢν ἀπόγονος τοῦ Νῶε τοῦ δικαίου. οὗτος οὖν πρῶτος ὁ Σεροὺχ τιμῶν τοὺς παλαιτέρους ὡς ἀγαθῶν ἐφευρετάς, ὡς ἰσχυροὺς ἐν μάχαις,
ὡς τῆς σοφίας ἀρχηγούς, ὡς ἐμπειροπολέμους, εἰκόνας κατεσκεύασεν, ἀγάλματα καὶ στήλας, δῆθεν ὡς εἰς ἀνάμνησιν καλῶν τῶν ἐξ
ἐκείνων. ὅπερ μὴ γνόντες οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν μεταγενεστέρων, μὴ καταστοχασάμενοι Σεροὺχ τῆς διανοίας, ὥσπερ θεοὺς ἐτίμησαν τὰς στήλας
τὰς ἀψύχους καὶ προσεκύνησαν γλυπτοῖς ἀνθρώπων χειροκμήτοις. ἐντεῦθεν εἰς ἀλλόκοτον θρησκείαν ἐκτραπέντες θρησκεύειν ἐπενόησαν
ἄλλοι θεοῖς ἀλλοίοις. Αἰγύπτιοι δ' ἐξώκειλαν πάντων τῶν ἄλλων πλέον, καὶ τὴν θρησκείαν ἤγαγον ἄχρι καὶ τῶν γελοίων. ἐντεῦθεν
ἐσεβάσθησαν αἰλούρους καὶ πιθήκους, ἴβεις καὶ τράγους βόας τε, κύνας καὶ κροκοδείλους καὶ τἆλλα προσοχθίσματα τῆς σφῶν φρενοβλαβείας.
πάντων δ' ὑπερφερέστερον τῶν ἄλλων θρησκευμάτων τὸν Ἆπιν ἐσεβάζοντο, βοῦν τελοῦντα πολύχρουν. ἡνίκα γὰρ ἐγίνετο βοῦς παρ'
αὐτοῖς τοιοῦτος, ἐπὶ τῇ γλώττῃ σήμαντρα φέρων καὶ πρὸς τῇ κέρκῳ κἀν τῷ μετώπῳ μίμημα σελήνης διχοτόμου, ἐχόρευον, ἑόρταζον,
ἐτέλουν πανηγύρεις ὡς ἐνδημήσαντος θεοῦ τοῦ καινοπρεπεστέρου. κἀκεῖνον μὲν ἐφάτνιζον ἀφθόνοις πανδαισίαις, αὐτοὶ δὲ διημέρευον
ἐν πότοις καὶ χορείαις. εἰς πλέον προκοπτούσης δὲ τῆς εἰδωλομανίας καὶ σύμπαν γένος ἤλασεν εἰς πλάνην τὴν ἐσχάτην. ἀλλ' ἐπαναληπτέον
μοι τὰ περὶ βασιλείας. Παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις βασιλεὺς πρώτοις ὑπῆρξε πάντων· καὶ μαρτυρεῖ τῷ πράγματι ῥῆσις γραφῆς τῆς θείας. λιμοῦ
καταλαβόντος γὰρ τὴν χώραν τὴν Χαλδαίων Ἀβρὰμ ὁ θεῖος ὁ πολὺς γέγονε μετανάστης καὶ τὴν συγγένειαν λιπὼν εἰς Αἴγυπτον μετῆρεν,
ὡς ἀποτρέψαιτο λιμοῦ τὴν φθαρτικὴν πυράγραν, τοῖς ζωαρκέσιν ἐντυχὼν ἐκεῖ δαψιλεστέροις. συνῆν δ' αὐτῷ καὶ γαμετὴ πρὸς ξένην
στελλομένῳ Σάρρα χαριτοπρόσωπος καὶ περικαλλεστάτη. οἱ τοίνυν θεραπεύοντες ἐκεῖ τὸν βασιλέα (ἦν δ' Ἀβιμέλεχ βασιλεὺς τότε
τῶν Αἰγυπτίων) ἰδόντες κάλλει λάμπουσαν τὴν Σάρραν ἀσυγκρίτῳ καὶ τόσον ὑπερέχουσαν γυναίων Αἰγυπτίων ὅσον ἁπάντων τῶν ἀνθῶν
τὸ ῥόδον ὑπερφέρει, τῷ βασιλεῖ προσήνεγκαν ἐρωτοληπτουμένῳ. ὁ δ' Ἀβιμέλεχ κατιδὼν ὅλως ἑάλω ταύτης, καὶ τάχ' ἂν ἐβεβήλωσε
τὸ λέχος τοῦ δικαίου, εἰ μὴ θεὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θεράποντα τιμήσας πληγαῖς βαρείαις ἤτασε νύκτωρ τὸν βασιλέα καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ τοὺς
προσγενεῖς καὶ τοὺς δορυφοροῦντας. μετ' οὐ πολλὰς δὲ γενεὰς ἀρχῆς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἀβραὰμ ἦρξε τῶν Ἀσσυρίων Βῆλος
ἀνὴρ ὁ βριαρός, ὁ κραταιόχειρ γίγας, ὃν ὡς θεὸν ἐτίμησαν οἱ πεφενακισμένοι καὶ Κρόνον μετωνόμασαν. οὗτος δ' ὁ Κρόνος ἔσχε
γυναῖκα τὴν Σεμίραμιν τὴν λεγομένην Ῥέαν. τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τοιγαροῦν ἡ καταδυναστεία καὶ κράτος τὸ βασίλειον καὶ τὰ τῆς ἐξουσίας
μέχρις ἐτῶν διήρκεσε χιλίων πληρεστάτων καὶ πρὸς τρισὶν ἑξήκοντα πρὸς τοῖς ἑξακοσίοις. τὴν βασιλείαν πάλιν δὲ τοῦ γένους Ἀσσυρίων
χίλι' ἔτη ἐμέτρησαν, καὶ σὺν αὐτῇ παρῆλθον τρὶς ἑκατὸν ἐνιαυτοὶ μέχρι Σαρδαναπάλου. Ὁ Κρόνος τοίνυν συνοικῶν τῇ γαμετῇ τῇ
Ῥέᾳ σὺν ἄλλοις ἔτεκε πολλοῖς υἱοῖς καὶ τὸν Νινύαν, ὃν Νινευὶ δομήτορα φασὶ τῆς θρυλουμένης. μετὰ μικρὸν ὁ Κρόνος δὲ λιπὼν
τὴν Ἀσσυρίαν πρὸς τὴν τῶν Ἄφρων ἔδραμε χώραν τὴν ἑσπερίαν. ὁ δὲ Νινύας ἔλαβε τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μητέρα εἰς γαμετὴν καὶ σύνοικον ἐξ
ἐρωτομανίας, ἔρον νοσήσας ἀσελγῆ καὶ παρὰ φύσιν ἔρον, καὶ Σεμιράμιδος αὐτῆς τοῦτο συνθελησάσης· ἐξ οὗ καὶ νόμος γέγονε παρὰ
τοῖς Ἀσσυρίοις μητρογαμεῖν καὶ τοὺς δεσμοὺς τῆς φύσεως συγχέειν. τὸ πρᾶγμα δὲ τὸ μυσαρὸν τοῦτο καὶ βδελυκτέον ἐξ Ἀσσυρίων
ὁρμηθὲν μετέβη καὶ πρὸς Πέρσας. Ὁ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου δὲ Σέσωστρις ἐν τοῖς τότε μεγαλυνθεὶς καὶ κρατυνθεὶς ὑπὲρ τοὺς πρώην πάντας
οὐχ ἱκανὸν ἐνόμισεν ἄρχειν Αἰγύπτου μόνης. καὶ δὴ στρατὸν συναγαγὼν ἐκ πάσης φυλαρχίας, δορατιστὰς καὶ πελταστάς,
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