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

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 small portion of the Russian contingent, and he becomes irresistible in numbers and in military experience. Wherefore he dares the sea, arrives at the borders of the Bulgarians, and immediately obtains a remission of tribute. He engages the general of the west, conquers, returns a trophy-bearer, becomes more arrogant by his success, and imitates the deeds of Capaneus. What followed this? Our regiments are gathered from every nation and city, they stand in close formation, not a successful general Aelius, not Perseus, not Brutus, men high-spirited and bold, but a certain Gerenian Nestor or Odysseus of the resourceful mind, for whom mind is in place of a sword, reason in place of a shield, and the construction of engines in place of a long shield. With these weapons indeed was he armed, with these he was arrayed against the adversary, taking counsel, devising schemes, rousing the army with words of encouragement, riding his horse through the entire host, himself venturing first for the whole. Then what? The enemy steals the attack, appears with myriads of horsemen, he clashes with our forces, both commanding and fighting—for he was ambidextrous in both—he wrought the greatest slaughter, he conquers for the most part. For why must one prolong writing twice about the same things? He rushes against the palisade, he charges toward our counsellor, who had not shrunk from the tide of war, but stood undaunted and unshaken, and was rousing the army. Therefore a paradoxical thing happens; the enemy falls dead, un-struck, as if someone had pushed or struck him most opportunely. And immediately the tide of the battle turns, what was broken is re-formed, what was frightened becomes enraged, what was being defeated conquers. You see, O emperor, what sort of things are yours, not enslaved to consequence, but having a power beyond nature and reason. What would Homer not have said if he were present now? How many Iliads do you think he would have composed for me and uttered the paradoxes more paradoxically? For he who, when Achilles had wounded and killed Hector, as he himself clearly proclaims, did not refrain from attributing the kill to Athena, what paradoxology would he not have set in motion from this? But we, for our part, do not wish to invent from our own resources, nor to introduce certain Athenas to the account and to circle fictions in our writings, but we utter the very things, I suppose, which all both heard and saw. For some saw a certain unusual star poured upon the head of the enemy, which startled him, while the luminary had not yet passed below the western horizon; others heard him crying out, "1I am wounded by a horseman, a horseman is killing me, a horseman struck me a fatal blow and departed; his horse and his clothing are all white."2 But I say the star is nothing other than the horseman, but I posit that what appeared was an angel, and that it provided a twofold appearance, in order both to represent the brilliance of its nature and to show a form appropriate to war. This star, perhaps, was seen by you long ago in the sky and confirmed your reasoning when you were hesitating, this again stood directly over the head of the enemy, proclaiming in a piercing voice the superior alliance. Often, O emperor, have reversals of unexpected events occurred, but not with the superior power so signifying, unless someone should mention the triumphs of the Israelites, to which I would not hesitate to compare yours. The Red Sea was parted for the Israelites, and the impassable was crossed with dry feet, for you too the sea was stirred up with unexpected waves, and an unlooked-for wind was improvised. The Egyptian [force] was covered by the waves <of the deep> with its horses and chariots and weapons of war {of the deep}, and here a vengeful man has become a victim through you. There a pillar of fire, here a star from heaven. There the stretching out of a hand turned myriads, and here a horseman

ἐγὼ τὴν ἐκείνου ζώνην καλῶ-ὑποσπᾷ δὲ καὶ τῆς παλαιᾶς Ῥώμης οὐκ ὀλίγην ἱππικήν τε καὶ πεζικὴν δύναμιν, συνάπτει τούτοις καὶ τῆς ἑῴας τὸ κράτιστον στράτευμα, καὶ τῆς Ῥωσικῆς μοίρας οὐκ ἐλάχιστον, καὶ ἀνυπόστατος τοῖς πλήθεσι γίνεται καὶ ταῖς εἰς τὸ πολεμεῖν ἐμπειρίαις. ὅθεν κατατολμᾷ τοῦ πελάγους, ἐν τοῖς τῶν Βουλγάρων ὁρίοις γίνεται, καὶ φόρων ἀνέσεις εὐθὺς πρυτανεύεται. συμβάλλει τῷ τῆς δύσεως στρατηγῷ, νικᾷ, τροπαιοφόρος ἐπάνεισι, σοβαρώτερος τῷ εὐτυχήματι γίνεται, καὶ τὰ τοῦ Καπανέως μιμεῖται. τί τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις; συλλέγεται τὰ ἡμέτερα τάγματα ἐκ παντὸς ἔθνους καὶ πόλεως, ἵσταται εἰς συνασπισμόν, οὐκ Αἴλιον εὐτυχοῦντα στρατηγόν, οὐ Περσέα, οὐ Βροῦτον, ἄνδρας θυμοειδεῖς καὶ θρασεῖς, ἀλλά τινα Γερήνιον Νέστορα ἢ Ὀδυσσέα τὸν ποικιλόφρονα, οἷς ἀντὶ ξίφους ὁ νοῦς, ἀντ' ἀσπίδος ὁ λογισμός, ἀντὶ θυρεοῦ τῶν μηχανῶν αἱ κατασκευαί. ταῦτα δὴ τὰ ὅπλα ἐκεῖνος ὥπλιστο, τούτοις πρὸς τὸ ἀντίπαλον ἀντετάττετο, βουλευόμενος, μηχανώμενος, διεγείρων λόγοις παρακλητικοῖς τὸ στρατόπεδον, ἐλαύνων τὸν ἵππον διὰ παντὸς τοῦ στρατεύματος, αὐτὸς τῶν ὅλων προκινδυνεύων. Εἶτα τί; κλέπτει τὴν ἔφοδον ὁ ἐχθρός, ἀναφαίνεται σὺν μυριάσιν ἱππέων, συρρήγνυται ταῖς ἡμετέραις δυνάμεσιν αὐτὸς καὶ στρατηγῶν καὶ μαχόμενος- καὶ γὰρ ἦν κατ' ἀμφότερα ἀμφιδέξιος-φόνον πλεῖστον εἰργάζετο, νικᾷ τῷ πλείονι μέρει. τί γὰρ δεῖ μηκύνειν δὶς περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐγγράφοντας; κατὰ τοῦ χάρακος ἵεται, ἐπὶ τὸν ἡμέτερον βουληφόρον ὁρμᾷ, οὐ τὴν τοῦ πολέμου ῥοπὴν ὑποπτήξαντα, ἀλλ' ἀπτόητον ἑστηκότα καὶ ἄτρεστον, καὶ τὸν στρατὸν διεγείροντα. γίνεται οὖν πρᾶγμα παράδοξον· πίπτει νεκρὸς ἄβλητος ὁ ἐχθρός, ὥς τινος ὤσαντος ἢ καιριώτατα πλήξαντος. καὶ παρευθὺ κλίνει τὰ τῆς μάχης, συνίσταται τὸ διαρραγέν, θυμοῦται τὸ φοβηθέν, νικᾷ τὸ ἡττώμενον. Ὁρᾷς, ὦ βασιλεῦ, οἷα τὰ σά, οὐκ ἀκολουθίᾳ δουλεύοντα, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ φύσιν καὶ λόγου τυγχάνοντα δύναμιν. τί οὐκ ἂν εἶπεν εἰ παρῆν Ὅμηρος νῦν; πόσας ἄν μοι δοκῇς Ἰλιάδας συνθεῖναι καὶ παραδοξότερον φθέγξασθαι τὰ παράδοξα; ὃς γὰρ Ἀχιλλέως τὸν Ἕκτορα τρώσαντός τε καὶ κτείναντος, ὡς αὐτὸς διαρρήδην βοᾷ, τῇ Ἀθηνᾷ τὸν φόνον χαρίσασθαι οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ποίαν οὐκ ἂν ἐντεῦθεν παραδοξολογίαν ἐκίνησεν; ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς γε οὐκ οἴκοθεν ἀναπλάττειν βουλόμεθα, οὐδ' Ἀθηνᾶς τινας προσάγειν τῷ λόγῳ καὶ πλάνας ἐπικυκλεῖν τοῖς συγγράμμασιν, ἀλλ' αὐτὰ δή που φθεγγόμεθα ἃ πάντες ἤκουσάν τε καὶ ἐθεάσαντο. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄστρον τι τῶν ἀσυνήθων ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν εἶδον χυθὲν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ καὶ θροῆσαν αὐτόν, τοῦ φωστῆρος ἀκμὴν τὸν δυτικὸν οὐχ ὑπελθόντος ὁρίζοντα· οἱ δ' αὐτοῦ βοῶντος ἐπῄσθοντο, "1ὑφ' ἱππότου τέτρωμαι, ἱππότης με ἀναιρεῖ, ἱππότης με πλήξας καιρίως ἀπῆλθεν· ἵππος αὐτῷ καὶ ἐσθὴς τὰ πάντα λευκά."2 ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ ἄλλο παρὰ τὸν ἱππότην τὸ ἄστρον φημί, ἀλλ' ἄγγελον μὲν εἶναι τὸ φανὲν τίθεμαι, διττὴν δὲ παρασχεῖν φαντασίαν, ἵνα καὶ τὸ λαμπρὸν παραστήσῃ τῆς φύσεως καὶ τὸ οἰκεῖον σχῆμα τῷ πολέμῳ ἐνδείξηται. τοῦτό σοι τάχα τὸ ἄστρον καὶ πάλαι ἐθεᾶτο ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ διστάζοντί σοι ἐπιστοῦτο τὸν λογισμόν, τοῦτο καὶ αὖθις κατ' εὐθεῖαν τοῦ δυσμενοῦς ἔστη τῆς κεφαλῆς, διαπρυσίως τὴν κρείττω συμμαχίαν φθεγγόμενον. Γεγόνασι πολλάκις, ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἀνελπίστων πραγμάτων μεταβολαί, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπισημήναντος οὕτω τοῦ κρείττονος, εἰ μή πού τις τὰ Ἰσραηλιτικὰ φήσειε κατορθώματα, οἷς ἐγὼ τὰ σὰ ἀντιθεῖναι οὐκ ἂν ὀκνήσαιμι. διέστη τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις ἡ Ἐρυθρά, καὶ ποσὶν ἀβρόχοις ἐπεζεύθη ἡ ἄβατος, ἐταράχθη καὶ διά σε κύμασιν ἀνελπίστοις ἡ θάλασσα, καὶ ἄνεμος ἐσχεδιάσθη μὴ προσδοκώμενος. συνεκαλύφθη τοῖς <τοῦ βυθοῦ> κύμασι τὸ Αἰγύπτιον αὐτοῖς ἵπποις καὶ ἅρμασι καὶ ὅπλοις πολεμικοῖς {βυθοῦ}, κἀνταῦθα γέγονεν ἀνὴρ διὰ σοῦ τιμωρὸς παρανάλωμα. στῦλος ἐκεῖ πυρός, ἄστρον ὧδε ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. χειρὸς ἐκεῖ ἔκτασις μυριάδας ἐτρέπετο, καὶ ὧδε ἱππεύων