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

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 worse, and instead of their due honor suffering and enduring the utmost dishonors, and most of all those who traced their lineage to Nikephoros Phokas, men mindful of Ares and of impetuous valor, were both reckless in their designs and were clearly plotting against the rule of the Romans. The emperor, therefore, having flourished in such times, while a boy in age, placed the affairs of the Romans under others, but upon reaching puberty, and considering this a secure foundation for him for supervision and governance, he himself took care of all things, removing all regents and administrators. But having encountered strange and unexpected fortunes, from this he rather obtained surpassing glory and honor. For not, when he had achieved this or won an unexpected victory, and another contest immediately rose up more fiercely than the one conquered, did he seek respite from the former labors, so that, being fresh, he might again attack the second contests, but attacking immediately, he would obtain a greater victory from a victory. And often, while he was fighting against others, another war fell upon him, and just like some ambidextrous athlete with each of his two hands he checked those striking from either side, as when, while warring with Skleros, Phokas fell upon him, and while harrying and enslaving the land of the Scythians, his offspring brought forth its customary thorn for him. Having joined, then, strategic experience with royal magnificence, and having enveloped both with the genius of his wisdom, in those things where it was necessary to be a general, he excelled most royally in making war, but in those where it was necessary to display the ambition of royalty, he was rather resplendent as a general, flashing with gilded arms and attended by a bodyguard, not with harmless scepters, but with shields and long spears. And thus he successfully employed every kind of strategy, both open and secret, or rather he discovered and devised it, so that there was nothing one could conceive of that was more strategic. From this comes for you, O New Rome, the ruling of many nations, the mastery of many cities, and superiority over the famed provinces. from this the pride of the Abasgians was enslaved for you, and that of the Scythians has submitted, and the rest, not to speak of each one, have either become an addition for you, and pay tribute, or yield to you as the stronger. But not formerly so, far from it, but you were plundered daily, and some part of the whole was always being torn away and you were confined to a narrower space. Thus from narrow you have become broad, from war-torn you have become free from war, and you have earned the name of New Rome by the deeds in which you excel, having eclipsed the old one. And you, O king, being ranked under such a king, were not unperceived by his profound and lofty mind, but you were understood from signs, and you stirred his royal soul to the grace of prophecy, and indeed many are present now who were hearers of the prophecy and will bear witness to my words. And no wonder. For great natures draw conjectures of unseen things from what is apparent; and they say, you know, that signs of hidden matters sit both on the eyebrows and in the eyes, unknown to the many, but understood by the exceptional. And if this is so, who more than you was so adorned with signs of both body and soul? And who was sharper than he to discern these things? But he, having thus exercised his rule most magnificently, and having also prophesied at the end, paid the final debt of nature, leaving the rudders of the empire to his brother Constantine. But he, being advanced in age, for he was younger than his brother by more or less two years, and not being strong of body, and having received the palace full of boundless wealth, did not think to contend with his brother's struggles, nor indeed to wage wars against the

τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς ἡγεμονίαν βασιλειῶν καταστραφεισῶν καὶ γεγονυιῶν οὐκ ὀλίγων ἐν ἀμφοτέραις μεταβολῶν, οἳ τὴν τύχην ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον μεταλλαξάμενοι καὶ ἀντὶ τῆς προσηκούσης τιμῆς τὰς ἐσχάτας ἀτιμίας πάσχοντές τε καὶ ὑφιστάμενοι, καὶ μάλιστα πάντων οἱ τὸ γένος τῷ Φωκᾷ Νικηφόρῳ προσανάπτοντες, ἄνδρες Ἄρεος καὶ θούριδος ἀλκῆς μνήμονες, παράβολοί τε ἦσαν τοῖς λογισμοῖς καὶ δῆλοι πάντως τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἐπιβουλεῦσαι ἀρχῇ. ἐν οὖν τοιούτοις ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀνθήσας καιροῖς, παῖς μὲν ὢν τὴν ἡλικίαν, ὑπ' ἄλλοις τὰ Ῥωμαίων ἔθετο πράγματα, ἥβης δ' ἁψάμενος καὶ ταύτην αὐτῷ ὑποβάθραν ἀσφαλῆ ἐπιστασίας καὶ κυβερνήσεως λογισάμενος, αὐτὸς τῶν ὅλων ἐπεμελεῖτο πάντας ἐπιτρόπους καὶ οἰκονόμους ἐκ ποδῶν θέμενος. τύχαις δὲ ἀλλοκότοις καὶ παραδόξοις προσεντυχών, ἐντεῦθεν μᾶλλον εὐκλείας ὑπερβαλλούσης καὶ τιμῆς ἔτυχεν. οὐ γάρ, ἐπεὶ τόδε κατώρθωκεν ἢ νενίκηκεν ὡς οὐκ ᾤετο, ἄλλο δ' εὐθὺς ἐπανέστη σφοδρότερον τοῦ νικηθέντος ἀγώνισμα, ἄνεσιν τῶν προτέρων ἀέθλων ἐζήτει, ἵν' ἀκμάζων αὖθις τοῖς δευτέροις ἀγῶσιν ἐπίθοιτο, ἀλλ' εὐθὺς ἐπιθέμενος, νίκην ἐκ νίκης ἐλάμβανε μείζονα. πολλάκις δ' αὐτῷ πρὸς ἑτέρους ἀγωνιζομένῳ ἄλλος ἀντέπιπτε πόλεμος, καὶ ὥσπερ τις ἀθλητὴς ἀμφιδέξιος ἑκατέρᾳ χειρὶ τοὺς ἑκατέρωθεν ἀμφοτέραις ἀνέστελλε βάλλοντας, ὥς που τῷ Σκληρῷ πολεμῶν, ἀντέπεσεν ὁ Φωκᾶς, καὶ τὴν Σκυθῶν κακῶς ποιῶν καὶ δουλούμενος, ὁ ἐκείνου βλαστὸς τὴν συνήθη αὐτῷ ἐξήνεγκεν ἄκανθαν. Βασιλικῇ δὴ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ στρατηγικὴν ἐμπειρίαν συνάψας, ἀμφότερά τε φρονήσεως μεγαλοφυΐᾳ περιβαλών, ἐν οἷς μὲν στρατηγεῖν ἔδει βασιλικώτατα τῷ πολεμεῖν διέπρεπεν, ἐν οἷς δὲ τὸ φιλότιμον τῆς βασιλείας ἐνδείκνυσθαι, τῷ στρατηγῷ μᾶλλον ἐνεφαιδρύνετο, ὅπλοις ἐπιχρύσοις ἀστράπτων καὶ δορυφορούμενος, οὐ σκήπτροις ἀπλήκτοις, ἀλλ' ἀσπίσι καὶ ἐπιμήκεσι δόρασιν. οὕτω δὲ πᾶν εἶδος στρατηγίας κατώρθωσε φανερᾶς τε καὶ ἀφανοῦς, ἢ μᾶλλον ἐφεῦρε καὶ ἐπενόησεν, ὡς μηδ' εἶναι ὅ τι ἄν τις στρατηγικώτερον ἐννοήσειεν. Ἐντεῦθέν σοι, ὢ νέα Ῥώμη, τὸ πολλῶν μὲν ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν, πολλῶν δ' ἐπικρατεῖν πόλεων καὶ τῶν θρυλλουμένων ὑπερκεῖσθαι ἐπαρχιῶν. ἐντεῦθέν σοι τὰ Ἀβασγῶν κατεδουλώθη φρονήματα, καὶ ἡ Σκυθῶν ὑποπέπτωκε, καὶ τἆλλα, ἵνα μὴ καθ' ἕκαστον λέγω, ἢ ἐν μοίρᾳ προσθήκης σοι γέγονε, καὶ φόρους ὑποτελεῖ, ἢ παραχωρεῖ σοι τοῦ κρείττονος. ἀλλ' οὐ πρῴην οὕτως, πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ, ἀλλ' ἐληΐζου μὲν ὅσαι ἡμέραι, αἰεὶ δέ τι τοῦ παντὸς ὑπέσπω καὶ συνηλαύνου πρὸς τὸ στενότερον. οὕτως ἐκ στενῆς πλατεῖα, ἐκ πολεμίας ἀπολέμητος γέγονας, καὶ τὸ νέα Ῥώμη κεκλῆσθαι ἐδέξω τοῖς πράγμασιν οἷς ἐμπρέπεις, τὴν παλαιὰν ἀποκρύψασα. Ὑπὸ τοιούτῳ καὶ σὺ βασιλεῦ ταττόμενος βασιλεῖ, οὐκ ἀθήρατος ἦσθα βαθείᾳ γνώμῃ καὶ ὑψηλῇ, ἀλλ' ἐκ συμβόλων κατελαμβάνου, καὶ βασιλικὴν ψυχὴν εἰς χάριν προφητικὴν ἀνεκίνεις, καὶ πάρεισί γε πολλοὶ νῦν τῆς προφητείας ἀκροαταὶ καὶ τῷ λόγῳ μοι μαρτυρήσουσι. καὶ θαυμαστὸν οὐδέν. αἱ γὰρ μεγάλαι φύσεις ἐκ τῶν φαινομένων λαμβάνουσιν εἰκασίας τῶν ἀφανῶν· φασὶ δέ τοι καθῆσθαι καὶ ἐν ὀφρύσι καὶ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἀδήλων πραγμάτων τεκμήρια, τοῖς μὲν πολλοῖς ἀγνοούμενα, τοῖς ἄκροις δὲ καταλαμβανόμενα. εἰ δὲ τοῦτο οὕτως ἔχον ἐστί, τίς μὲν σοῦ συμβόλοις οὕτω πλέον ἐπεκοσμήθη καὶ σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς; τίς δ' ἐκείνου διαγνῶναι ταῦτα μᾶλλον ὀξύτερος; Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὕτω μεγαλοπρεπέστατα χρησάμενος τῇ ἀρχῇ, ἐπὶ τέλει δὲ καὶ προφητευσάμενος, τὸ τελευταῖον τῆς φύσεως χρέος ἀπέδοτο, τῷ ἀδελφῷ Κωνσταντίνῳ τοὺς τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐγκαταλιπὼν οἴακας. ὁ δὲ καὶ ἡλικίας ὢν πρόσω, δυεῖν γὰρ πλέον ἢ ἔλαττον τῶν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ χρόνων ἀπελιμπάνετο, καὶ μήτ' ἐρρωμένως ἔχων τοῦ σώματος, πλούτου τε ἀπείρου τὰ βασίλεια παραλαβὼν ἔμπλεα, οὐ τοῖς τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ἐπαγωνίσασθαι ἐδοκίμασεν ἀγωνίσμασιν, οὔτε μὴν πολέμους κροτεῖν κατὰ τῶν