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

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 away or rather had swollen and was enlarged with alien tumors, they were not ashamed to do evil publicly, fearing lest their good fortune might cease along with the emperor, they dug trenches from afar and secured themselves with enclosures, as if surrounding the Roman borders in a line and establishing themselves as guardians of all things. And since they happened to be eunuchs, they sought the leadership for one of their relatives, and having invested him with the dignity of caesar, they set him before the palace gates so that he might be a counter-flow to the one who was ebbing away. But you, O Lord who dwells in heaven, mocked their counsels, but you did not rebuke them, as is your custom, nor did you employ punishment, but forbearance. But they, thinking your forbearance a lack of governance over the universe, proceeded according to their own wicked thoughts, and they attributed the results of your providence to their own counsel and deliberation. So it was. And the emperor had fallen into dropsy; but yet—for what must be hidden by those who narrate, not praise?—he also suffered from periodic attacks of madness, whether by the enchantment of some evil demon turning about the very governing part of the soul, or by the blacker and more earthy humor rising to his head and obscuring his reason, as is often wont to happen. So then he was suffering from both, and the active power of the empire had been stripped away by the disease. But they preserved the name of emperor for him, while they themselves held onto affairs and gambled them away wherever they wished. And one, the elder of the whole family, having changed his mind about what he had done concerning the caesar, was shifting his votes toward another of the relatives, but the other was content with what had once been decided and was not inclined to change. At this time a certain man, of the most worthless appearance and of an obscure family, acts insolently against the leader of the Bulgarians, and having attributed to him some noble lineage, and having suggested a pretext of freedom, incites him to revolt, and an unseen spark is kindled into a fire. For having taken the whole nation in agreement, and being emboldened by the unanimity of the people, he wished to make innovations upon our borders. Hereupon a zeal, being extinguished by the disease, inflames the emperor, and he, having considered none of the things that are wont to cause weakness, not the twofold wasting of his body, not the length of the journey, not the hopelessness of the war, nor anything else, goes out of the city and marches against the revolted nation, and—O your judgments, Lord—he makes plans, he draws up his battle lines, he rides on his horse, a corpse. For what else must be said? He who needs the hands of others for movement dares to face narrow passes and mountains, he conquers the adversary, he returns again, it being disbelieved that he is alive, he revels in the processions of the captured, he is made splendid by the trophies today, and tomorrow he is surrounded by funeral rites, he is stripped of the insignia of his rule, he changes into the purple robe of the spirit, he casts off the dead part of his hair and insensate is crucified to the world, he arms himself with the spiritual weapons, he girds on the sword, he is covered with the helmet, and as a bloodless trophy-bearer he goes to his own master. And so he departed, but for the electors of the empire there was from this point a certain uncertainty and discord, as to whom the scepter of the Romans should be entrusted. For the one, suspecting something about the caesar's future, was afraid and was secretly plotting something, but the other, having long in advance bestowed many favors on him, hastened to do what he had always done, and finally he prevails, and girds himself with the imperial rule, not an Antiochus nor a Seleucus, men most terrible in war and most shrewd in discerning what is needful, but a man who yesterday and the day before was fitting and fastening together ships, and putting pitch on the bolts and being filled with soot, not having a tyrannical appearance,

τὰ τῆς ἀδικίας ἐργάζεσαι· ἐχαλέπαινέ τε γὰρ ἀδικοῦσιν ἐκεῖνος καὶ ἐπεξήρχετο. ἐπεὶ δὲ νοσεῖν ἤρξατο καὶ τὰ τοῦ σώματος ὑπέρρει ἢ μᾶλλον ὄγκοις ἀλλοτρίοις διῳδήκει τε καὶ ἐπηύξηται, δημοσίᾳ πράττειν τὸ κακὸν οὐκ ᾐσχύνοντο, δεδοικότες δὲ μὴ συνεξαπολήξῃ τῷ βασιλεῖ τὰ τῆς εὐτυχίας αὐτῶν, τάφρους τε πόρρωθεν ἀπεχώννυσαν καὶ ἑρκίοις ἑαυτοὺς ἐπελάμβανον, τὰ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὅρια στοιχηδὸν ὥσπερ περικυκλοῦντες καὶ πάντων φροντισταὶ καθιστάμενοι. ἐπεὶ δ' ἐκτομίαι ὄντες ἐτύγχανον, ἑνὶ τῶν συγγενῶν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἐμνῶντο, καὶ τὸ τοῦ καίσαρος περιβαλόντες ἀξίωμα, πρὸ τῶν βασιλείων πυλῶν ἔστησαν ἵν' ἀντεπιρρεύσοι τῷ ὑπορρεύσαντι. σὺ δὲ κύριε ὁ ἐν οὐρανοῖς κατοικῶν ἐμυκτήριζες μὲν τὰς βουλὰς αὐτῶν, οὐκ ἤλεγχες δέ, ὅσπερ σὸς νόμος, οὐδ' ἐχρῶ τῷ κολάζειν, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἀνέχεσθαι. οἱ δὲ τὴν σὴν ἀνοχὴν ἀκυβερνησίαν τοῦ παντὸς οἰόμενοι, κατὰ τὰς ἐνθυμήσεις αὐτῶν τὰς πονηρὰς ἐπορεύοντο, καὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἐξήρτων βουλῆς τε καὶ σκέψεως τὰ τῆς σῆς προνοίας ἀποτελέσματα. Εἶχε ταῦτα. καὶ ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς ὑδέρῳ περιπεπτώκει· οὐ μὴν ἀλλά-τί γὰρ δεῖ κρύπτειν ἱστοροῦντας, οὐκ ἐπαινοῦντας; - καὶ περιοδικαῖς φρενίτισιν ἔκαμνεν, εἴτε τινὸς βασκανίᾳ δαίμονος πονηροῦ αὐτὸ δὴ τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡγεμονικὸν περιτρέποντος, εἴτε τοῦ μελαντέρου καὶ γεωδεστέρου χυμοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀνιόντος καὶ τὸ φρονοῦν ἀμαυροῦντος, οἷα δὴ τὰ πολλὰ γίνεσθαι εἴωθεν. ὁ μὲν οὖν ἀμφοτέρωθεν ἔκαμνε, καὶ τὸ ἐνεργὸν τῆς βασιλείας διὰ τῆς νόσου ἀποσεσύλητο. οἱ δὲ ἐκείνῳ μὲν τὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ἔσωζον ὄνομα, αὐτοὶ δὲ τῶν πραγμάτων εἴχοντο καὶ μετεκύβευον ὅποι βούλοιντο. καὶ ἅτερος μέν, ὁ τῆς ὅλης πρεσβεύων γενεᾶς, μεταγνοὺς ἐφ' οἷς ἐπεπράχει περὶ τοῦ καίσαρος, πρὸς ἕτερον τῶν συγγενῶν ταῖς ψήφοις μετέπιπτεν, ἅτερος δὲ τοῖς ἅπαξ ἠγάπα δόξασι καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἑτεροκλινής. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ἀνήρ τις, τό τε εἶδος τῶν φαυλοτάτων καὶ τὸ γένος τῶν ἀκλεῶν, τοῦ τῶν Βουλγάρων κορυφαίου κατατρυφᾷ, καί τινα αὐτῷ ἐπιφημίσας εὐγένειαν, καὶ λόγον ἐλευθερίας ὑποβαλόμενος πρὸς ἀποστασίαν ἐπαίρει, καὶ σπινθὴρ ἀφανὴς εἰς πῦρ ἀνακαίεται. ὅλον γὰρ τὸ ἔθνος συμφρονῆσαν λαβών, καὶ ταῖς ὁμοφροσύναις τοῦ πλήθους θαρρήσας, τὰ ἡμέτερα καινοτομεῖν ἐβούλετο ὅρια. ζῆλος ἐντεῦθεν τῇ νόσῳ σβεννύμενος ἀνάπτει τὸν αὐτοκράτορα, καὶ ὃς μηδὲν ἐννοήσας τῶν ὅσα μαλακίζειν εἴωθε, μὴ τὴν διπλῆν δαπάνην τοῦ σώματος, μὴ τὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ μῆκος, μὴ τὸ τοῦ πολέμου δύσελπι, μηδ' ἄλλο μηδέν, τῆς πόλεως ἔξεισι καὶ κατὰ τοῦ ἀποστατήσαντος ἔθνους στρατεύεται, καί-ὢ τῶν κριμάτων σου κύριε-λογίζεται, παρατάττεται, ἐλαύνει ἐφ' ἵππου νεκρός. τί γὰρ ἄλλο δεῖ λέγειν; στενοχωρίας καὶ ὀρέων κατατολμᾷ ὁ χειρῶν ἀλλοτρίων δεόμενος πρὸς τὴν κίνησιν, νικᾷ τὸ ἀντίπαλον, ἐπάνεισιν αὖθις ἀπιστούμενος ὅτι ζῇ, ἐπεντρυφᾷ ταῖς τῶν ἑαλωκότων πομπαῖς, λαμπρύνεται τοῖς τροπαίοις τὴν τήμερον, καὶ τὴν αὔριον τοῖς ἐξοδίοις περιστοιχίζεται, ἀπαμφιέννυται τὰ παράσημα τῆς ἀρχῆς, μεταμφιέννυται τὴν ἁλουργίδα τοῦ πνεύματος, τὸ νεκρὸν ἀποβάλλεται τῶν τριχῶν καὶ ἀναίσθητον σταυροῦται τῷ κόσμῳ, ὁπλίζεται τὰ νοητὰ ὅπλα, ζώννυται τὴν μάχαιραν, τῇ περικεφαλαίᾳ σκέπεται, καὶ τροπαιοφόρος ἀναίμακτος πρὸς τὸν οἰκεῖον δεσπότην χωρεῖ. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀπῆλθε, τοῖς δὲ τῶν βασιλείων χειροτονηταῖς ἐντεῦθεν ἀμφιδοξία τις ἦν καὶ διχόνοια, ᾧτινι χρὴ τὰ σκῆπτρα Ῥωμαίων ἐπιτραπῆναι. ὁ μὲν γάρ, ὑποπτεύσας τι πρὸς τὸν καίσαρα τὸ ἐσόμενον, ἐδεδίει καὶ λάθρα τι ἐσκέπτετο, ὁ δέ, πολλὰς ἐκείνῳ πόρρωθεν προκαταβαλλόμενος χάριτας, δι' ὃ πάντοτε ἔπραττεν, ἔσπευδε, καὶ τέλος νικᾷ, καὶ τὴν βασίλειον ἀρχὴν περιζώννυται, οὐκ Ἀντίοχος οὐδὲ Σέλευκος, ἄνδρες καὶ πολεμῆσαι δεινότατοι καὶ τὸ δέον φρονῆσαι ὀξύτατοι, ἀλλ' ἀνὴρ χθές τε καὶ πρῴην νῆας ἁρμόττων καὶ συμπηγνύμενος, καὶ πίτταν ἐπεμβάλλων τοῖς γόμφοις καὶ τῆς ἀσβόλης πληρούμενος, οὐκ εἶδος ἔχων τυραννικόν,