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Come, say, men; and who has seen in another reign such and so great an achievement? Praise her, all you peoples; magnify her with us, rulers and ruled, priests and monks and the whole Christian race. For it is not only that the remission of so many talents of gold has happened that is wonderful, although it is unsurpassed, but that also a much greater source of injustice in such a matter has been most piously cut off. There has been removed from our midst a snare of violent and soul-destroying exactions, which escaped the notice of all those before you, although some had ruled piously; for this was reserved for you. The swearing of oaths, the taking of many oaths, or rather false oaths, on the part of both the exactors and the exacted has ceased, both being destroyed from this as it happened, the one trying to hide what he could, the other extorting by taking many oaths that he might over-press. The oppression of the anxious and impoverished has ceased their cares, not seeking how a remedy to ward off poverty might be found (for that would have been less grievous), but so that they might pay back to the tax-collectors the uncompounded thing that has somehow been introduced from above like an offspring of sin. No longer are the roads tolled, as many as are on land, as many as are on sea. These things are consonant with what was said by the great and holy Chrysostom; no longer are landsmen unjustly forced to pay money in the narrow passages by those sitting upon them as if some savage demon or untamable beast, tasting by all means from the cargo of the impoverished traveler, nor again do the needy remain at home for fear of such shameful gains, occupying neither the places in the city nor the places by the sea; for everywhere the reefs of injustice stood before them. No longer are the sailors, setting out from east and west and north and sailing in, nearly choked, as if they were to pay the toll from their throats in the narrow mouths of the harbor. Those who pursue the method of hunting have been set free, taking this up lightly, O holy-souled Irene. The fisherman, having perhaps pulled up three fish, and this certainly after toiling much for the whole day, does not pay the one back. The archer or the fowler, who hunted perhaps a few birds, from which he gets his necessary food, remaining unaccounted for, might live well. The soldiers' wives, having their own grief from the loss of their husbands, will not bitterly lament the pitiful and inhuman exaction on behalf of the deceased. And I pass over the swineherds, the sheep-merchants, the wine-sellers; I omit to mention the butchers, the weavers, the coppersmiths, the leather-cutters, the dyers, perfumers and architects, and to speak concisely, every method, as much as is observed in goldsmithing, as much as in woodworking, as much as in every other material. So that I may not pay back a long speech in such a piecemeal account, O all-revered mistress, they all clapped their hands and rejoiced with exceeding great joy, having said those things: I will bless you, Lord, for you have had mercy on me and have become my salvation; wherefore I will have confidence in my God-given reign. All these things are full of praise and laudation, Irene, friend of Christ, the sweet thing and name. These things will be spread not only in the dominion of your kingdom, but also to the ends of the inhabited world, and other nations will hear and will marvel and will be awestruck by the success of your wise enterprises; for, he says, even enemies revere the virtue of men, as the most clear-voiced of theologians says. Thus your kingdom is kept unbroken, thus your subject people yields and gladly obeys you; in this way you serve the divine, in this way you delight the chosen angels of God, but also those who live piously and justly, Irene, named of God. In these things your piety shines forth, in these things every mouth and every tongue is opened to your praise; this is truly the glory of the church, this is the seal of what has been acquired for you

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δεῦρο, εἴπατε, ἄνδρες· καὶ τίς ἑώρακεν ἐπ' ἄλλης βασιλείας τοιοῦτον καὶ τοσοῦτον κατόρθωμα; ἐπαινέσατε αὐτὴν πάντες οἱ λαοί· μεγαλύνατε αὐτὴν σὺν ἡμῖν, ἄρχοντές τε καὶ ἀρχόμενοι, ἱερεῖς τε καὶ μονασταὶ καὶ πᾶν τὸ χριστιανικὸν φῦλον. οὐδὲ γὰρ ὅτι τῶν τοσούτων τοῦ χρυσίου ταλάντων ἡ ἄφεσις γέγονε θαυμαστὸν μόνον, καίπερ ὂν ἀνυπέρβλητον, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ πόρος ἀδικίας πολυπλάσιος ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ ὑποθέσει συνεξεκόπη ὁσιώτατον. ἤρθη ἐκ μέσου στραγγαλιὰ βιαίων καὶ ψυχοφθόρων ἀπαιτημάτων λαθοῦσα τοὺς πρὸ σοῦ ἅπαντας, καίπερ τινὰς εὐσεβῶς βεβασιλευκότας· τοῦτο γὰρ σοὶ ἀπέκειτο. πέπαυται ἐφομοσία, πολυορκία, μᾶλλον δὲ ψευδορκία ἐπί τε τῶν ἀπαιτούντων καὶ ἀπαιτουμένων, ἀμφοτέρων ἐντεῦθεν ὡς τὸ συμβὰν ἀπολλυμένων, τοῦ μὲν ὅ τι ἀποκρύψειεν πειρωμένου, τοῦ δὲ ὅτι ὑπερπιάσειεν καταπολυορκοῦντος. πέπαυται ἔκθλιψις στενοχωρουμένων καὶ πενομένων φροντιστήρια, οὐχ ὅπως τῆς πτωχείας φάρμακον ἀλεξιτήριον ἐξευρεθείη ζητούντων (ἧττον γὰρ ἂν ἦν τὸ λυπηρόν), ἀλλ' ἵνα τὸ ἀσύνθετον καὶ ἄνωθέν πως ὡς ἁμαρτίας γέννημα ἐπεισφρῆσαν ἀποτίσωνται τοῖς πράκτορσιν. οὐκέτι αἱ ὁδοὶ τελωνοῦνται, ὅσαι κατὰ γῆς, ὅσαι κατὰ θάλασσαν. ἀντίφθογγα ταῦτα τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ μεγάλου καὶ ἱεροῦ Χρυσοστόμου εἰρημένων· οὐκέτι ἠπειρῶται ἐξαργυρίζονται ἄδικα κατὰ τοὺς στενωποὺς ἐκ τῶν ἐπικαθημένων ὡσανεὶ ἀγρίου τινὸς δαίμονος ἢ ἀτιθάσσου θηρός, ἀπογευομένου πάντως ἐκ τῆς τοῦ πενομένου ὁδίτου ἐπιφορτώσεως, οὐδ' αὖ δέει τῶν τοιούτων αἰσχρῶν λημμάτων οἴκοι μένουσιν οἱ ἀπορούμενοι, μήτε τὰ ἐν ἄστει μήτε τοὺς παραθαλασσίους τόπους καταλαμβάνοντες· πανταχοῦ γὰρ οἱ τῆς ἀδικίας σκόπελοι προεστήκασιν. οὐκέτι οἱ πλωτῆρες ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν καὶ δυσμῶν καὶ βορρᾶ ἐξορμώμενοι καὶ καταπλέοντες ὑποπνίγονται, ὡς ἂν ἐκ λαιμοῦ τοῖς στενοῖς στομίοις τὸ τελωνούμενον ἀποδώσοντες. ἀφείθησαν οἱ τὴν ἀγρευτικὴν μέθοδον μετερχόμενοι, κούφως ταύτην διαλαμβάνοντες, Εἰρήνη ἱερόψυχε. ὁ ἁλιεὺς τυχὸν τρεῖς ἰχθύας ἀν ελκύσας καὶ τοῦτο πάντως πολλὰ κεκοπιακὼς δι' ὅλης ἡμέρας τὸν ἕνα οὐκ ἀποτίννυσιν. ὁ τοξότης ἢ ὁ ἰξευτής, οὕσπερ ἐθήρευσεν ὀλίγους τάχα ὄρνεις, ἐξ ὧν αὐτῷ ἡ ἀναγκαία τροφή, ἀλογοθέτητος διαμένων εὐζωήσειεν. αἱ στρατιώτιδες, τὸ οἰκεῖον πένθος ἔχουσαι τῆς ἀνδρικῆς ἀποβολῆς, οὐκ ἐπιθρηνήσουσι πικρῶς τὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ θανέντος ἐλεεινὴν καὶ ἀπάνθρωπον ἐξαπαίτησιν. καὶ πάρειμι τοὺς συβότας, τοὺς προβατεμπόρους, τοὺς οἰνοπράτας· ἐῶ λέγειν τοὺς κρεοπώλας, τοὺς ἱστουργοῦντας, τοὺς χαλκετύπους, τοὺς σκυτοτόμους, τοὺς δευσοποιούς, ἀρωματοπράτας τε καὶ ἀρχιτέκτονας, καὶ συλλήβδην εἰπεῖν ἅπασαν μέθοδον, ὅση κατὰ χρυσουργίαν, ὅση κατὰ ξυλουργίαν, ὅση κατὰ πᾶσαν ἄλλην ὕλην ἐπιθεωρεῖται. Ἵνα μὴ μακρὸν ἀποτίννυμι λόγον ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ κατακερμασίᾳ, ὦ πανάγαστε δέσποινα, ἐπεκρότησαν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν ἅπαντες καὶ ἐχάρησαν χαρὰν μεγάλην σφόδρα, ἐκεῖνα εἰρηκότες· εὐλογήσω σε, Κύριε, ὅτι ἠλέησάς με καὶ ἐγένου μοι εἰς σωτηρίαν· διὸ πεποιθὼς ἔσομαι ἐπὶ τῇ θεοσδότῳ μου βασιλείᾳ. ταῦτα πάντα αἰνέσεως πλήρης καὶ ἐξυμνήσεως, Εἰρήνη φίλη Χριστοῦ, τὸ γλυκὺ καὶ πρᾶγμα καὶ ὄνομα. ταῦτα οὐ μόνον ἐν τῇ ἐπικρατείᾳ τῆς βασιλείας σου, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέχρι τερμάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης διαδοθήσονται, καὶ ἀκούσονται ἀλλοεθνεῖς καὶ θαυμάσονται καὶ πτοηθήσονται ἀπὸ τῆς εὐπραξίας τῶν σοφῶν σου ἐπιτηδευμάτων· αἰδοῦνται γάρ, φησίν, ἀνδρῶν ἀρετὴν καὶ πολέμιοι, ὡς ὁ τῶν θεολόγων διαπρύσιος. οὕτω φυλάττεταί σου ἀρραγὲς τὸ βασίλειον, οὕτω εἴκει καὶ πείθεταί σοι ἀσμένως τὸ ὑπήκοον· ταύτῃ θεραπεύεις τὸ θεῖον, ταύτῃ ἐπευφραίνεις τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς θεοῦ ἀγγέλους, ἀλλ' οὖν καὶ τοὺς ὁσίως καὶ δικαίως πολιτευομένους, Εἰρήνη θεονόμαστε. ἐν τούτοις ἡ εὐσέβειά σου διαλάμπει, ἐν τούτοις πᾶν στόμα καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα πρὸς αἴνεσίν σου ἐξανοίγεται· αὕτη ὡς ἀληθῶς ἡ δόξα τῆς ἐκκλησίας, αὕτη ἡ σφραγὶς τῆς περιποιηθείσης σοι