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

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 flows on unchecked, and everything beautiful that has happened and is happening in it flows away with it, so that it seems never to have happened at all. And considering it, I have noticed something wonderful: how in times when it seems to be old, having neither noble birth-pangs nor bringing forth anything very new, it introduces Homers and Platos; but in times when it seems to grow young again and have the bloom of youth, and to be the parent of extraordinary deeds, instead of an Aristotle and a Menecrates, it begets weavers and potters, and a people most experienced in practical arts? For if someone takes away the boastfulness of the names and the diversity of meter and rhythm which Homer used in writing the Iliad, he will find the whole to be about Alexander seizing a girl, and a battle joined on account of this, and the rest, certain myths and sophistical fabrications, a heterodox strife of gods, the hurling down and crushing of Cronus, Zeus a patricide and tyrant, Titans again, children of earth, rising up against this greatest god, thunderbolts breaking forth not from clouds but from the aegis, perhaps from which also the thunders, and the other nonsense which the reasoning of vanity has fabricated. For since the deeds were completely confined in a narrow space and did not see a poetic muse, certain paradoxical tales were fabricated, and a certain Calliope was improvised in the story, giving a beautiful voice to the poet. But if Homer were here now, and any other of his time, not even all the Muses would have sufficed to breathe into the writer spontaneous wisdom and to instill the grace of composition; so new are the present things and so incomparable to those that have passed. And I think that time will not be able to bear such things again, like those runners who have exerted themselves once and have slackened the tone of their body so as to be unfit for a second contest. And what are the things it has now brought forth? Many and extraordinary things, and the first beginning and subject is you. But being fortunate in all things and divine, O emperor, in this alone you have had the misfortune of my tongue, moved neither by the Muses nor by any other power. But be of good cheer in this too; for instead of Calliope herself and the Muses' laurel, the novelties of your deeds will be for me, so strengthening the account, that it will not even need wisdom from without. But if it puts forth nothing elegant right away, nor anything proud and exalted, do not find fault, nor accuse the writer of rusticity; for in taking up history he imposes a suitable character, but ending in your praises he will give something of the polished and that which has graceful charm. But now he begins the history. One of the sons of Romanus, in a difficult and violent time, and with a noble nature for whatever he might attempt, having received the imperial rule of the Romans, and having a keen nature, but a spirit such as is able to stand against storm and surge, though his age did not permit it, used certain administrators and regents for the governance of all things. He did not, however, like another, judging and reckoning it a piece of good fortune to have obtained the best overseers of the state, give himself over to amusements and relaxations and to those things by which the royal part of the soul is enslaved, as they say the younger Dionysius formerly did, entrusting the rule to his kinsman Dion. But rather he was vexed, he was discontented, he blamed the immaturity of his age, and, most surprisingly, he was angry that the shoot of his wisdom had not sprouted before its time. For from the beginning he sought a novelty both of nature and of spirit, and he contrived to grow old beyond his years, and before touching an oar he wished, if it were somehow possible, to steer the rudder. But the lack in his reasoning was for him a fulfillment of his spirit. For he did not fulfill his resolutions, but though it was in his power to obtain what he sought, he was unwilling, being ashamed lest he should do something unseemly against an antagonist so very difficult and hard to get rid of as time. For just now two after him

πεζῷ, οὐ μέτροις τε καὶ ποιήμασιν· ἢ πάρεισί γε ἴσως πολλοί, ἀλλ' οὐ λόγος αὐτοῖς τοῦ πράγματος, ὡς μηδὲ λόγου αὐτοῖς ὄντος. καὶ ῥέει μὲν ὁ χρόνος ἀκάθεκτα, συρρεῖ δὲ πᾶν εἴ τι καλὸν ἐν αὐτῷ γέγονέ τε καὶ γίνεται, ὡς μηδὲ δόξαι γεγονέναι ποτέ. καὶ θαυμαστόν γε σκοπῶν κατενόησα, πῶς ἐν οἷς μὲν γηραιῷ τινι ἔοικε μήτ' ὠδῖνας γενναίας ἔχοντι, μήτε τι καινότατον ἀποτίκτοντι, Ὁμήρους εἰσάγει καὶ Πλάτωνας, ἐν οἷς δ' ἀνηβᾶν δοκεῖ καὶ ἀκμὴν ἔχειν νεότητος, καὶ παραδόξων πραγμάτων εἶναι τοκεύς, ἀντ' Ἀριστοτέλους καὶ Μενεκράτους, ὑφάντας ἀπογεννᾷ καὶ χυτρέας, καὶ δῆμόν τινα τεχνῶν πρακτικῶν ἐμπειρότατον; εἰ γάρ τις ἀφέλῃ τὸν κόμπον τῶν ὀνομάτων καὶ τὸ πολυειδὲς τοῦ μέτρου καὶ τοῦ ῥυθμοῦ οἷς Ὅμηρος τὴν Ἰλιάδα συγγράφων ἐχρήσατο, εὑρήσει τὸ ὅλον Ἀλέξανδρον κόρην ἁρπάσαντα, καὶ μάχην ἐπὶ τούτῳ συγκροτηθεῖσαν, τὰ δ' ἄλλα, μύθους τινὰς καὶ σοφιστικὰ πλάσματα, ἔριν θεῶν ἑτερόδοξον, Κρόνου ῥίψιν καὶ σύντριψιν, ∆ῖα πατροφόνον καὶ τύραννον, Τιτᾶνας αὖθις γῆς παῖδας τῷ μεγίστῳ τούτῳ ἐπανισταμένους θεῷ, κεραυνοὺς οὐκ ἐκ νεφῶν ῥηγνυμένους ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς αἰγίδος, ἴσως ἀφ' ἧς καὶ αἱ βρονταί, καὶ τὸν ἄλλον λῆρον ὃν ὁ τῆς ματαιότητος ἀνέπλασε λογισμός. ἐν στενῷ γὰρ κομιδῇ τῶν πραγμάτων καθεστηκότων καὶ τὴν ποιητικὴν οὐχ ὁρώντων μοῦσαν, παραδοξολογίαι τινὲς ἀνεπλάσθησαν, καὶ Καλλιόπη τις ἐσχεδιάσθη τῷ λόγῳ καλλιόπην διδοῦσα τῷ ποιητῇ. Εἰ δὲ παρῆν Ὅμηρος νῦν, καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος τῶν κατ' ἐκεῖνον, οὐδὲ πᾶσαι ἂν ἤρκεσαν μοῦσαι ἐμπνέουσαι τῷ συγγραφεῖ τὴν σοφίαν αὐτόματον καὶ χάριν τῆς συγγραφῆς ἐνσταλάζουσαι· οὕτως καινὰ τὰ παρόντα καὶ πρὸς τὰ παρῳχηκότα τὸ ἀσύγκριτον ἔχοντα· καὶ οἶμαι μήδ' ἂν ἔτι τὸν χρόνον τοιαῦτα δυνηθῆναι τεκεῖν, κατὰ τοὺς ἅπαξ ἑαυτοὺς τῶν δρομικῶν ἐπιτείναντας καὶ τὸν τόνον τοῦ σώματος παραλύσαντας ὡς πρὸς δευτέρους ἀγῶνας μὴ ἐνεργεῖν. τίνα δ' εἰσὶν ἃ τέτοκε νῦν; πολλὰ μὲν καὶ παράδοξα, ἀρχὴ δὲ πρώτη καὶ ὑπόθεσις, σύ. Εὐτυχὴς δὲ ὢν πάντα καὶ θεῖος, ὦ βασιλεῦ, τοῦτο μόνον τὴν ἐμὴν γλῶτταν ἠτύχησας, οὔθ' ὑπὸ μουσῶν κινουμένην, οὔτε τινὸς ἄλλης δυνάμεως. ἀλλὰ θάρσει κἀνταῦθα· ἀντὶ γὰρ Καλλιόπης αὐτῆς καὶ μουσικῆς δάφνης αἱ τῶν παρὰ σοῦ πραγμάτων ἔσονταί μοι καινότητες, οὕτω τὸν λόγον ῥωννύουσαι, ὡς μηδὲ σοφίας δεῖσθαι τῆς ἔξωθεν. εἰ δὲ μηδέν τι κομψὸν εὐθὺς προβάλλεται, μηδέ τι γαῦρον καὶ ἐπηρμένον, μὴ κάκιζε, μηδ' ἀγροικίαν ἐγκάλει τῷ γράψαντι· ἱστορίας γὰρ ἁπτόμενος χαρακτῆρα ἐπεμβάλλει κατάλληλον, τελευτῶν δὲ εἰς τοὺς σοὺς ἐπαίνους δώσει τι καὶ τῶν γλαφυρῶν καὶ ὥραν ἐχόντων χαρίεσσαν. ἀλλὰ νῦν τῆς ἱστορίας ἀπάρχεται. Τῶν τοῦ Ῥωμανοῦ παίδων ἅτερος ἐν βαρεῖ καὶ βιαίῳ καιρῷ, καὶ φύσεσι γενναίαις πρὸς ἅπερ ὁρμήσειε, τὴν αὐτοκράτορα Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν εἰληφώς, καὶ φύσιν μὲν ἔχων ὀξεῖαν, φρόνημα δ' οἷον ἀντιστῆναι δυνάμενον πρὸς χειμῶνα καὶ κλύδωνα, μὴ διδούσης τῆς ἡλικίας, οἰκονόμοις τισὶν ἐχρῆτο καὶ ἐπιτρόποις πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὅλων κυβέρνησιν. οὐ μὴν ὥσπερ ἕτερος ἐν εὐτυχίας μέρει τὸ τυχεῖν ἀρίστων τῆς πολιτείας ἐφόρων κρίνων καὶ λογιζόμενος, ψυχαγωγίαις ἐδίδου ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀνέσεσι καὶ οἷς καταδουλοῦται τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ βασίλειον, ὥς πού φασι τὸν νεώτερον ∆ιονύσιον τῷ συγγενεῖ ∆ίωνι καταπιστεύσαντα τὴν ἀρχὴν τὸ πρότερον. ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον ἤσχαλλεν, ἐδυσφόρει, τῷ ἀτελεῖ τῆς ἡλικίας ἐμέμφετο, καὶ ὅτι μὴ παρ' ὥραν ὁ τῆς φρονήσεως αὐτῷ ἀνεφύη βλαστὸς ἐθυμοῦτο παραδοξότατα. καινότητα γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐζήτει καὶ φύσεως καὶ φρονήματος, καὶ παρ' ἡλικίαν γηράσκειν ἐμηχανᾶτο, καὶ πρὶν ἢ κώπης ἅψασθαι οἰακοστροφεῖν, εἴ πως ἐνῆν, ἤθελεν. ἀλλ' ἦν αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ ἐνδέον τοῦ λογισμοῦ, συμπλήρωσις τοῦ φρονήματος. οὐ γὰρ ἐπλήρου τὰ ἐνθυμήματα, ἀλλ' ἐξὸν αὐτῷ ὧν ἐζήτει τυχεῖν, οὐκ ἐβούλετο, μή τι παρὰ τὸ εἰκὸς πράξειν αἰσχυνόμενος πρὸς ἀνταγωνιστὴν οὕτω χρόνον βαρύτατόν τε καὶ δυσαπάλλακτον. ἄρτι γὰρ αὐτῷ δύο μετὰ