Oratoria minora
these things the phalanx-commander more courageous, the leader of the company stronger, the hoplite more ready for the needs of the moment, the one i
This gathering is a symbol of peace, O wise and beloved audience of mine, and, to speak with God, a most accurate stamp of coming peace. But it also h
of the barrier, may he himself also now make peace in our affairs and crush the opposing powers and find a way and a means for the desperate, he who b
through whom corruption has stolen into our souls. But neither are you free from the things of envy for upon your breast and your belly you have walk
None of you is without a share of lily-beds and rose-gardens, nor of other fragrance, what graces would one not enjoy when spring has arrived? But sin
virtues, but these they practiced and pursued, and all, having made the body lean through fasting and having released the soul from the bonds of natur
the heaven, how great, how ever-moving in its revolution, how wonderful in its nature? and the sun, how it is the source of the light here, how it is
is tested by countless signs, but Egypt is punished by darkness and you, the new Israel, have been freed from the clay and the brick-making thence al
has entrusted the rule of all. And having reviewed in his mind everyone, both soldiers and citizens, senators and governors, and all who had gained a
Rejoice and exult at my proclamation which God has shown to be splendid and most illustrious as never another. 6 {1To those who think the philosopher
so as to move the world, not to mention lead it up to heaven, but I am within the great circuit, for these reasons I have not wished to run in the sta
of actions, but you do not act in the proper way, nor do you emulate those ancient orators, Pericles, Cimon, Demosthenes and the others who have under
the pleasure of a matter drawing forth laughter, and the philosopher alone. But here it is the opposite in the case of your creation for you are the
testifying to the sweetness in a philosophical man. And Plato often rebukes Dion for the sullenness and smilelessness of his soul but is not the phil
A second matter is both adorned and set in order. This is the philosophy I too have emulated and if you examine it in one respect, you will count me
are divided into an aristocracy, to be of lesser concern, because it is necessary to adorn the inner nature, while these things superficially beautify
achievements. Aristotle also divided his entire force into cavalry and infantry. and of the infantry, he positioned the light-armed to throw stones an
to judge their customs worthy of comparison to philosophy) those things lift one up above the ether on a whole wing, but this they sink in the sea, ju
dividing and heaping up solids. But I also frequently showed you the images in mirrors and measured their sizes for you optically, having taken their
To those who envied him for the most esteemed honor Neither will an occasion for envy be left for you, nor for me a cause for honor and advancement f
ordained by God. But of the others, some excelled in these things, others in those, and no one in everything, or if anyone did, it was not as I have (
I am called for there are those who give me this name. If, then, I embark on the matter as if it were not permitted or unskillfully, show me this ver
they have imitated my manner for themselves. But look up also to the heavens at night, when all is clear, and see how not all the stars are of equal h
oversights, and the other things of which the tragic daemons are providers for all things are abundant, as if dripping from some spring of evils. The
a more grievous and troublesome evil. How very pleasing to them is the banquet hall. For as if shut up and squeezed together in some narrow place with
he was showing the strength of his words for a prize set before him, but for a matter from which it was not possible to profit from buffoonery and ins
We have known you as one who counterfeits its laws and has not understood even a trace of true wisdom. But O huckster, I have now suddenly changed my
being torn away from the laws as if from your own limbs, and clinging to other limbs whose form you did not know nor whose use you had studied? How th
and thus, having harmonized them with the rules of dialectic, you thence winged your way to theology. But you, as if having passed over the vale of th
For such a thing had happened to these men, and Herodotus indeed mentions the story right at the beginning of the first of the Muses. And if you shoul
sitting on the floor, knowing not even as much as mules. But I fear lest one of those standing by, taking hold of your cloak, might say, Friend, how
He forces the nonsense into truth. Do not, therefore, speak with the man, do not touch him, do not share a table, neither of salt nor of other things,
Taking a Megarian jar firmly in his two hands and raising it with both and fitting it to his lips, he drinks without taking a breath just like the oxe
they judge matters by their own life, but not by the rule of truth. For since these men have hated indifference, and they live like bees arranged unde
as you are writing, standing by your life. But we too shall write against our persecutors. For just as the seemliness of hair pleased you, so the unke
sitting and with his fingers harnessing and re-harnessing horses in the shadows but there, one fighting against contrary winds and quickly backing wa
Geometry, having taken its beginning from bodies, ended in the mind, though its nature is not so. For perception does not know how to beget mind, but
he has set down some introductions to the subject, then, as if out of necessity, he turned his argument to what he wanted. And he has not chosen in an
It is interwoven with its arguments and divided by its complexities and turned back upon itself. But if such styles have been assigned to perfect orat
he puts to sleep. But the others have leaped out from here and there, from the dormouse-holes and from the caves, one a palm-breadth tall, another but
changing the parts, preserves the same idea of the sound. But you must also take care for the art concerning the arrangement of the argument and do n
mysteries, and there they were taught the equality of geometry, and when they needed to philosophize, they went to Egypt, and having chosen to study a
but drawing them upon yourselves whence someone might indict you for sacrilege for having most shamelessly plagiarized things dedicated to divine men
and you are zealous but you render the account for your studies just as one of the necessary debts which some are required to pay even unwillingly. A
The birth-pangs of Plato and Aristotle are a bringing forth, by whom I am both born and fashioned. Do you see how from every side the argument has pro
you render to me. And while I seem to neglect other things, your affair is my pursuit and care whence, staying awake far into the nights, as soon as
to have the contemplation concerning these things, but from our wisdom to know the type and the truth, and to break the letter as if it were a shell,
having done no wrong thus you are elegant and sophistic, or rather powerful men and tyrants, and you dance upon a gentle character. But you are still
to the philosophers the technical matters, to learn the introductions, the proofs, the matters concerning demonstrations, how one reminds, how one pro
they might fit a diatonic melody and arrange the strings for it, do they not play a prelude for it and practice beforehand, not just once, but as many
should I enumerate poets and orators, who treated ancient genealogies with myths, from the very foundation basing their own discourse on myth? How the
quality and draws as much as its appetite desired but if it sees the liquid of the water corrupted, it leaves this spring, and goes to another and se
27 Encomium on the Flea They say ‘the gnat as an elephant.’ And so that our discourse may proceed along its path, let us attempt the flea as a leopard
its begetter for it is precisely black, like an eastern Ethiopian having changed his skin color from sun-burning, and it immediately reveals the heat
grieving. For it has appointed two masters of all things for itself, the sun for its birth, and man for its growth for from the one it has come into
lest it produce apoplexy, nature has cut the skull into various sutures but it also divided the entire bone of the suture with certain small holes, t
the awns guard, so also do the hairs of the louse ward off every attack. And even if the hunt should get close to the skin, it, just as they say spong
So indeed this creature has received its natural power in all the parts of its body. Now, the other beasts, being ambushed from behind, are by nature
from every side, equality bestows youth on nature. For men, when they grow old, and especially those who are graceful and tall in body, are filled wit
He was being plotted against by those revolting within him because of the absence of the regulator and shield-bearer of health and adversary of diseas
This is clear from the fact that it is possible to live without it and be well in the other senses, but the inactivity of these begets sickness and de
shouting like a Bacchant and acclaiming the son of Zeus and Semele. And from where did this good thing come to you, he says, O blessed one? Did you
let your communion with one another not be from habit and the opinion of the many, but let its principle be knowledge, and let the wandering and disor
souls? Far from it. But the body does not work against the spermatic logos (for this reason it is formed according to what that logos wishes), but the
working for just as the most drinkable of waters and the most temperate of airs dispose bodies well and generate a similar disposition, so also the c
But let the one who fails take pride that his brother happens to be better than he. Agesilaus happened to be the first among the Lacedaemonians even b
Let us summarize, by virtue, by reason, and by ancestral goods, using these three things for the best ends, you will be left behind in no part of eter
All things are mixed. But she fails in her plan, as the hero draws his sword against her, whence she almost breathed her last for her form is changed
by reason for see how the limbs have been fitted to nature. or rather, I shall marvel at the artist even from the stone for he did not place the var
being brought up, was he not turned away? Was not the compassionate one pricked to the heart over you? For this reason he shall be un-sacrificed and u
Nothing that exists is above Olympus. and so that I might make the last things of my discourse first, heaven is indeed adorned with stars, but these a
they have been hollowed out spontaneously, he will find how he might live luxuriously. For if he should go under the shade of a tree, immediately soft
pleasing, but all things were full of all things- the first tabernacle, the mercy-seat, the veil, the temple, the side-scenes, the vestibules, the out
discerning that man is an animal, which he did not know, and whatever else belongs to this, lest I make a further example of the foolish, or of the on
Intently and from every side examining subtleties, I was investigating the extensions, the releases, the intonations, the transitions, the displacemen
he has come, nor has he arrived to gather spiritual fruits, but only for the sake of this man whom you see reading with pleasure. For just as one who
Who will relate your magadis upon the breast and the songs and warblings upon your tongue, that all-harmonious melody, the pleasure that knows no sati
and himself, but what kind the others are, I do not know. For I see a form above human nature, and a look in one way cherubic, in another leonine, in
an ineffable sympathy and in turn feels a contrary passion, as the cosmos happens to be one living being, and how Plato, having posited the elements a
I have not heard of him rising up against anyone nor boasting for the whole time, but just as they say that the very learned accuse themselves of a te
to know what sort of thing your grandfather had become in life and what command of language he had. But I shall praise you, not by bringing in falseho
to revel. But whenever your bond was loosened and you shed the swaddling clothes, you did not know what to do with yourself, looking more cheerful, sm
is tested by countless signs, but Egypt is punished by darkness and you, the new Israel, have been freed from the clay and the brick-making; thence also the sea is parted and the Pharaonic forces are drowned and Amalek is defeated in battle and a rock pours forth streams and bitter water is sweetened and heavenly bread is rained down and hostile powers retreat and wondrous mysteries are performed. I have something even greater to say than the wonders through Moses (but do not be indignant with me, O leader of the ancient Israel, for my speech will be addressed to you). Where for you did you make a double spring in your years and hold back the mist of the air in winter and dissolve the darkness of the surrounding atmosphere? But with us, in the midst of such a season, the sun is clearer, the air is more balmy, the flowers cover the earth, the furrow yields up the ear of corn, the leaves of the roses have opened and the petals luxuriate in the zephyr; cicadas also seem to me to sing with a soft voice and swallows to build their nests. And the sea, as if forgetting its nature and ignoring the season, gently ripples with smooth waves on the shores and kindly embraces the neighboring land. But since I have mentioned the wonders according to Moses, I will also add this fittingly to the discourse: a new Moses addressing my people; God promises to be seen by us, not on a high and inaccessible mountain nor with a cloud and a storm, but in a most gentle and pure light; let us then draw near ourselves and choose not a three-day, but a forty-day fast. And if eight are added to the forty, do not be amazed. For the forty are a symbol of the perfection of the body; for from four elements composed into one, it is multiplied by the perfect number and becomes perfect in spiritual age and flourishes with suitable powers. But the eight signify to us the age to come; which is indeed the eighth and is by nature stable and eternal; for we must from this weekly affliction and motion arrive at the eighth state, which is stable and indestructible. Let us therefore purify both body and soul, that we may behold God, as it is possible for a human to see. and let us run back to the land of promise (I do not mean the earthly Jerusalem but that which the feet of the meek tread, in which the fountains of honey and of milk gush forth); this is a gift of God and better than a prayer. And may we obtain the promise which the Lord God swore to our forefather Abraham, the progenitor of the nations, to give to his seed, which we are, his special and chosen people. Would that I myself could lead you thither, would that, beloved children and fellow heirs of the divine promise; but if not, may the Lord himself lead us in, the great Jesus and the angel of the great counsel of the Father, to whom be glory for ever. Amen. 5 {1Rescript as from the Emperor Lord Constantine Doukas} By an ineffable dispensation and unspeakable love for mankind, the King of the ages and Lord <raised me up> to the high and mighty empire of the Romans. And the manner of the elevation was wondrous; for since I never occupied myself with this matter, nor took into my mind any ruling power, but entrusted everything to divine providence, God, who arranges all things for the best, and who cares most precisely for the order and state of the Romans, calmly and without turmoil, administering as he knows how, adorned me with the imperial crown, having preferred me over others and having honored and chosen me above all. For the most excellent and greatest emperor of the Romans, Lord Isaac, being suddenly seized by a disease threatening danger and manifest destruction, when he recognized this, with a better and truly most imperial judgment entrusted the affairs concerning himself, and having made God the author of the plan, he was considering to which of the
μὲν σημείοις ἀπείροις ἐτάζεται, Αἴγυπτος δὲ σκότῳ κολάζεται καὶ ὁ νέος ὑμεῖς Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ πηλοῦ καὶ τῆς πλινθείας ἠλευθερώθητε·
ἐντεῦθεν καὶ θάλασσα τέμνεται καὶ Φαραωνιτικαὶ δυνάμεις βυθίζονται καὶ Ἀμαλὴκ καταπολεμεῖται καὶ πέτρα πηγάζει νάματα καὶ
πικρὸν ὕδωρ γλυκαίνεται καὶ ἄρτος οὐράνιος ὕεται καὶ δυνάμεις ὑποχωροῦσιν ἀντίπαλοι καὶ παράδοξα τελεῖται μυστήρια. ἔχω τι
καὶ πλέον τῶν διὰ Μωσέως θαυμάτων εἰπεῖν (ἀλλά μοι μὴ νεμεσῴης ὁ δημαγωγὸς τοῦ παλαιοῦ Ἰσραήλ, πρὸς σὲ γάρ μοι ὁ λόγος εἰρήσεται).
ποῦ σοι διπλοῦν ἔαρ ἐν τοῖς σοῖς ἐποίησας ἔτεσι καὶ χειμῶνος τὴν τοῦ ἀέρος ἐπέσχες ἀχλὺν καὶ τὴν σκοτόμαιναν τοῦ περιέχοντος
ἔλυσας; παρ' ἡμῖν δὲ μέσου τοιούτου καιροῦ ὁ ἥλιος διαυγέστερος, εὐπνούστερος ὁ ἀήρ, τὰ ἄνθη πυκάζει τὴν γῆν, ἡ αὖλαξ τὸν
στάχυν ὑπαναδίδωσι, τὰ φύλλα τῶν ῥόδων ἀνέῳκται καὶ τῷ ζεφύρῳ τρυφῶσι τὰ πέταλα· δοκοῦσί μοι καὶ τέττιγες ᾄδειν ἁπαλῇ τῇ φωνῇ
καὶ χελιδόνες πηγνύειν τὴν καλιάν· ἡ δὲ θάλασσα ὥσπερ ἐπιλαθομένη τῆς φύσεως καὶ τὸν καιρὸν ἀγνοήσασα ἠρέμα λειοκυμονεῖ ταῖς
ἀκταῖς καὶ τὴν γείτονα χέρσον προσηνῶς κατασπάζεται. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τῶν κατὰ Μωσέα θαυμάτων ἐμνήσθην, καὶ τοῦτο καταλ λήλως τῷ
λόγῳ προσθήσω νέος Μωσῆς τῷ ἐμῷ χρηματίζων λαῷ· ὀφθήσεσθαι θεὸς ἡμῖν ἐπαγγέλλεται, οὐκ ἐπ' ὄρους ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἀβάτου οὐδὲ μετὰ
νεφέλης καὶ λαίλαπος ἀλλ' ἐν προσηνεστάτῳ καὶ καθαρωτάτῳ φωτί· ἐγγίσωμεν οὖν ἑαυτοὺς καὶ νηστείαν οὐ τριήμερον, ἀλλὰ τεσσαρα
κονθήμερον ἕλωμεν. εἰ δὲ ταῖς τεσσαράκοντα καὶ ὀκτὼ προστέθεινται, μὴ θαυμάσητε. αἱ μὲν γὰρ τεσσαράκοντα τῆς τοῦ σώματος τελειώσεώς
εἰσι σύμβολον· ἐκ τεσσάρων γὰρ στοιχείων εἰς ἓν συγκείμενον τῷ τελείῳ πολλαπλασιάζεται ἀριθμῷ καὶ γίνεται τέλειον τὴν πνευματικὴν
ἡλικίαν καὶ ταῖς προσφόροις ἀκμάζει δυνάμεσιν. αἱ δὲ ὀκτὼ τὸν μέλλοντα ἡμῖν δηλοῦσιν αἰῶνα· ὃς δὴ καὶ ὄγδοός ἐστι καὶ τὴν
φύσιν ἑστὼς καὶ αἰώνιος· δεῖ γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς ἑβδοματικῆς ταύτης κακώσεως καὶ κινήσεως εἰς τὴν ὀγδόην καταλῆξαι κατάστασιν
τὴν ἑστῶσαν καὶ ἀκατάλυτον. καθάρω μεν οὖν καὶ τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν ψυχήν, ἵνα θεὸν θεασώμεθα, ὡς ἀνθρώπῳ ἰδεῖν δυνατόν. καὶ πρὸς
τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἐπαναδράμωμεν (οὐ τὴν κάτω φημὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀλλ' ἣν πατοῦσι πόδες πραέων, ἐν ᾗ αἱ τοῦ μέλιτος πηγαὶ
βλυστάνουσι καὶ τοῦ γάλακτος)· τοῦτο δῶρον θεοῦ καὶ κρεῖττον εὐχῆς. καὶ τύχοιμεν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἣν ὤμοσε κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ
προπάτορι ἡμῶν Ἀβραὰμ καὶ γεννήτορι τῶν ἐθνῶν δοῦναι τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ, ἅπερ ἐσμὲν ἡμεῖς ὁ περιούσιος ἐκείνου λαὸς καὶ ἐπίλεκτος.
αἴθε δυναίμην αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς ἐκεῖσε εἰσαγαγεῖν, αἴθε, τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ καὶ τῆς θείας ἐπαγγελίας συγκληρονόμα· εἰ δὲ μή, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς
ἡμᾶς εἰσαγάγοι ὁ κύριος, ὁ μέγας Ἰησοῦς καὶ τῆς μεγάλης βουλῆς τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς ἄγγελος, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν. 5 {1Ἐπαναγνωστικὸν
ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος τοῦ ∆ούκα κῦρ Κωνσταντίνου Ἀρρήτῳ οἰκονομίᾳ καὶ ἀφάτῳ φιλανθρωπίᾳ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων καὶ κύριος
ἐπὶ τὴν ὑψηλὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων καὶ κραταιὰν βασιλείαν <ἐμὲ ἀνήγαγεν>. ὁ δὲ τρόπος τῆς ἀναγωγῆς ὡς θαυμάσιος· ἐμοῦ γὰρ μηδὲν περὶ
τούτου πραγματευσαμένου ποτὲ μηδ' εἰς νοῦν βαλλομένου τι ἀρχικὸν κράτος, ἀλλὰ τῇ θείᾳ προνοίᾳ πάντως ἀνατιθέντος, ὁ πάντα
πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον οἰκονομῶν θεὸς καὶ κηδόμενος τῆς τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἀκρι βέστατα τάξεώς τε καὶ καταστάσεως ἀταράχως καὶ ἀκυμάντως
ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος οἶδεν οἰκονομῶν τῷ βασιλείῳ με κατεκόσμησε στέμματι τῶν ἄλλων προκρίνας καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων προτιμήσας καὶ ἐκλεξάμενος.
Ὁ γὰρ κράτιστος καὶ μέγιστος βασιλεὺς τῶν Ῥωμαίων κῦρ Ἰσαάκιος, νοσήματι ἀθρόον κατασχεθεὶς κίνδυνον ἀπειλοῦντι καὶ προφανῆ
ὄλεθρον, ὡς τοῦτο ἔγνω, κρίσει βελτίονι καὶ τῷ ὄντι βασιλικωτάτῃ τὰ περὶ αὐτὸν ἐπέτρεψε, καὶ τοῦ σκέμματος ἀρχηγὸν πεποιηκὼς
τὸν θεὸν διεσκοπεῖτο τίνι τῶν
