24

they shut him in a dark little room, and not only that, but they gave him the company of his disciple. And when some days had passed, they brought the just man into the palace with the whole senate sitting in session, and looking at him with a certain murderous and frenzied gaze; and for the time being they entrusted the case against him to the Sacellarius, who happened to be first in rank; a man terrible in speech, terrible at fabricating stories, and in truth, most terrible of all at doing evil. What wickedness did he leave undone? What evil did he not work? respecting neither his honorable old age (for he happened to be then about eighty years old, give or take), nor the grace blooming on his face, nor the propriety of his character, and his otherwise becoming and most venerable state. And this most unjust man, having these things, had no just or reasonable charge to bring for what he was doing, but only, so to speak, showed his own awkwardness, and the insolent and most wicked nature of his character; who, even if he was seen to be so shameless, nevertheless was shown to be stirring up everything in vain, being proven only malevolent and most distinguished in his wickedness. But indeed, the details of what was then said and done, and what sort of slanders those who thought they would be shielded by falsehood attached to the innocent man, the good disciple of the holy man himself will relate in part, having set it forth in his own memoir; from which it will be possible for anyone who wishes to go through everything word for word, and to learn more precisely. Nevertheless, it is not off the mark for us (89) also to say a few things from those accounts, and to include them in the present narrative, so that we may not be completely unmindful of any such things; and intending these things, not as a detailed narrative, but as a summary, as one might say, to go through what was done.

ΙΘ´. When, therefore, that infamous Sacellarius brought the saint into view,

he immediately began to intimidate him with rather harsh words and threats, calling him unjust and a traitor, and an enemy to the emperors, and all the most shameful things. But when he inquired for what reason he was leveling these charges against him, and what treason he had committed, then that man fabricated slanders, such as only he was likely to fabricate, presenting witnesses to an admitted falsehood. And so he talked nonsense against the holy man, that he had betrayed great cities, I mean Alexandria and Egypt and Pentapolis, having torn them away, he said, from our borders, and already added them to those of the Saracens; of whom he also called him a most devoted friend, and very intimate.

Κ´. And when the saint refuted this clumsiness of his with an irrefutable argument,

showing it to be a clear slander and nothing else (for what did he have to do with the capture of the cities, for which he rather wished what was profitable?); the shameless man turned to another, fabricating certain dreams and shadows and phantoms; in which were also echoes of voices, both greater and lesser, and the names of emperors, and the clearer-sounding voice being sent forth more to the West than to the East; displaying and putting forward accusers and slanderers here too. At which the holy man, groaning the more, said, "I thank my God that I am delivered into your hands and am assailed with such accusations; so that through these involuntary things, the things that have voluntarily clung to me may be wiped away, and I may cleanse myself of the stains in my life. Nevertheless, that I may make a brief defense against these things also, I am neither an interpreter of dreams nor knowledgeable in dreams; because I have no leisure to delude my mind with such things. But since you have chosen to accuse me in this way, so as to present witnesses, and these not those who know, but those who have heard from those who know, since those, you say, have departed this

24

καθεῖρξαν ζοφῶδες δωμάτιον, μηδ' αὐτό μόνον, τῆς τοῦ μαθητοῦ μεταδόντες αὐτῷ συνοικήσεως. Καί δή καί ἡμερῶν διαγενομένων, ἄγουσι τόν δίκαιον ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ τῆς συγκλήτου ἁπάσης προκαθημένης, καί φόνιόν τι καί μανικόν πρός αὐτόν ἀποβλεπομένης· καί τέως μεν τῷ Σακελλαρίῳ, πρώτῳ τήν ἀξίαν τυγχάνοντι, τήν κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐπιτρέπουσι δίκην· ἀνδρί δεινῷ μέν εἰπεῖν· δεινῷ δέ λόγους συμπλάσαι· κακουργῆσαι δι' ἀλήθειαν, πάντων οὐχ ἥκιστα δεινοτέρῳ. Ὅς, τί μέν κακίας ἐνέλιπε; τί δέ πονηρίας οὐκ εἴργαστο; μή γῆρας αὐτοῦ τό τίμιον αἰδεσθείς (περί γάρ τά ὀγδοήκοντά που τότε ἐτύγχανεν ἔτη μικροῦ δέοντος), μή τήν ἐπανθοῦσαν τῷ προσώπῳ χάριν, μή τό ἐν ἤθει κόσμιον, καί τήν ἄλλην εὐπρεπῆ, καί σεμνοτάτην κατάστασιν· καί ταῦτ' ἔχων ὁ ἀδικώτατος, δίκαιον μέν οὐδέν οὐδ' εὔλογον ἐφ' οἷς ἔπραττεν ἐγκαλεῖν, μόνην δ' ὡς εἰπεῖν, τήν οἰκείαν ἐμφαίνων σκαιότητα, καί τό ἰταμόν τοῦ τρόπου καί μοχθηρότατον· ὅς, εἰ καί τά τηλικαῦτα ὤφθη ἀναιδευόμενος, ὅμως γοῦν μάτην ἐφάνη πάντα κυκῶν· δύσνους μόνον ἐξελεγχθείς, καί τήν πονηρίαν διασημότατος. Ἀλλά γάρ τά καθ' ἕκαστα τῶν τότε ῥηθέντων καί πραχθέντων, καί οἵας τάς συκοφαντίας τῷ ἀναιτίῳ προσῆψαν οἱ τῷ ψεύδει οἰόμενοι σκεπασθήσεσθαι, αὐτός ὁ καλός τοῦ ὁσίου μαθητής ἐπί μέρους διέξεισιν, ἐν ἰδίῳ ἐκθέμενος ὑπομνήματι· παρ' οὗ καί τῷ βουλομένῳ ἐξέσται πάντα διιέναι πρός ῥῆμα, καί ἀναμαθεῖν ἀκριβέστερον. Πλήν οὐκ ἀπό σκοποῦ καί (89) ἡμῖν βραχέα ἀπ' ἐκείνων ἐρεῖν, καί τῷ παρόντι ἐνθεῖναι λόγῳ, ὡς ἄν μή ὦμεν παντελῶς τῶν τοιούτων μηδενός μεμνημένοι· καί ταῦτα μέλλοντες, οὐ κατά διήγησιν, ἀλλά κατ' ἐπιδρομήν, ὡς ἄν εἴποι τις, περί τῶν πεπραγμένων διεξελθεῖν.

ΙΘ´. Ὡς οὖν ὁ δυσώνυμος ἐκεῖνος Σακελλάριος εἰς ὄψιν τόν ἅγιον παρεστήσατο,

λόγοις αὐτόν τραχυτέροις καί ἀπειλαῖς εὐθύς προκατασείειν ἤρχετο· ἄδικον καί προδότην, καί τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ἐχθρόν, καί τά πάτων ἀποκαλῶν αἴσχιστα.Ὡς δ' ἐπύθετο οὗτος, ὅτου χάριν εἴη ταῦτα καταλέγων αὐτοῦ, καί τίς ἥν εἴργαστο προδοσίαν· τότ' ἐκεῖνος συμπλάττει διαβολάς, ἅς ἐκεῖνον μόνον συμπλάσσειν εἰκός, παριστῶν ἐφ' ὁμολογουμένῳ τῷ ψεύδει καί μάρτυρας. Καί δή κατεφλυάρει τοῦ ὁσίου, ὡς εἴη πόλεις μεγάλας προσεδωκώς, Ἀλεξάνδρειαν φημί καί Αἴγυπτον καί Πεντάπολιν, τῶν ἡμετέρων μέν, φησίν, ἀποσπάσας ὁρίων, τοῖς δέ Τῶν Σαρακηνῶν ἤδη προσθέμενος· ὧν καί τά μάλιστα εὔνουν αὐτόν ἐκάλει, καί οἰκειότατον.

Κ´. Ὡς δέ ταύτην αὐτοῦ τήν σκαιωρίαν λόγῳ ἀναντιῤῥήτῳ ὁ ἅγιος ἀπεκρούσατο,

συκοφαντίαν σαφῆ καί οὐδέν ἄλλο οὖσαν δείξας (τί γάρ αὐτῷ καί τῇ ἁλώσει τῶν πόλεων, αἷς μᾶλλον τά λυσιτελῆ ἐβούλετο;)· ἑτέραν ὁ ἀναιδής ἐτράπετο, ὀνείρους τινάς πλάττων καί σκιάς καί φαντάσματα· ἐν οἷς καί φωνῶν ἀπηχήσεις μειζόνων τε καί ἐλαττόνων, καί βασιλέων προσηγορίας, καί τῷ τῆς Ἑσπέρας μᾶλλον, ἤ τῷ τῆς Ἑῴας, τήν τρανοτέραν φωνήν ἐπαφιεμένην ἀπήχησιν· κατηγόρους κἀνταῦθα, καί συκοφάντας ἐμφανίζων καί προβαλλόμενος. Ἐφ' ᾧ καί μᾶλλον ὁ ὅσιος ἐπιστενάξας, "Εὐχαριστῶ τῷ Θεῷ μου, εἶπεν, ὅτι εἰς χεῖρας ὑμῶν παραδέδομαι, καί τοιούτοις αἰτιάμασι βάλλομαι· ὡς ἄν διά τῶν ἀκουσίων τουτωνί, τά ἑκουσίως μοι προστριβέντα ἀπαλιφῇ, καί κηλίδων τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ ἐμαυτόν ἀποσμήξαιμι. Πλήν ἵνα μικρόν καί πρός ταῦτα ἀπολογήσωμαι, οὔτε ὀνειροσκόπος ἐγώ, οὔτε ἐπιίστωρ ὀνείρων· ὅτι μηδέ σχολή ἐμοί τοῖς τοιούτοις καταφαντάζειν τόν νοῦν. Ἐπεί δ' οὕτω μου κατηγορεῖν εἴλεσθε, ὡς καί μάρτυρας παριστᾷν· καί τούτους οὐ τούς εἰδότας, ἀλλά τούς παρά τῶν εἰδότων ἀκηκοότας, ὡς ἐκείνων, φατέ, ἀπολελοιπότων τόν