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

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 before your reign, and after your reign they showed you by the deeds themselves. Whence, what good thing was not hoped for? What was not present? Or rather, what terrible thing was not absent? For who so restrained unjust hands and suppressed greed and softened power? Who so honored the good more, or justly punished the wicked? Where have your written edicts not gone, exposing the inhumanity of tax collectors and stopping the lawlessness of judges, commanding the former to make the proper collection, and legislating for the latter to weigh the scales of justice with their own proper weights and to deal with small matters? And to speak concisely, who has so hated injustice or loved righteousness? Because of these things, all your subjects exceedingly glorify you and are amazed and raise applause and form choirs; and one is struck by the keenness of your nature in the magnificence and steadiness of your mind, another by the fairness and moderation of your character, another by your gentleness and forbearance, this one by the grace and beauty that blossoms upon you, that one by the sweetness in your words, all by the harmony and symphony in all good things. And who could worthily admire your solicitude and compassion? For no sooner did one make known his fortune, than your heart was immediately moved. And you have honored one for his lineage, another for his strength in words, another for his courage and vigor in battle; thus through all things toward all men the rays of your good deeds have shone forth. What else must I say? But change the order for me, Hesiod, and transfer the golden race, if ever, to the present times. Now old age is young, now youth leaps, now honors and powers and heights of thrones and distributions of dignities; now poverty retreats and wealth abounds; now the constructions of houses are unparalleled by those that came before in all respects in the beauty and size of their sanctuaries, in the harmony of their materials; now splendid feasts and receptions of strangers and healing of wounds, and the provision of necessities for these is as abundant; now new and beneficial rains and rivers converging toward one ravine. And what of our affairs? Now the Muses, having made philosophy a certain skilled circle, both dance around it and delight its votaries; now analyses and combinations of syllogisms, now dialectical and artful demonstrations in words which until now were hidden in a cloud, but have at last cast off their mist, analogies of numbers, harmonies of music, theories of magnitudes existing nowhere, knowledge of celestial motions; now a most perfect discernment of theological dogmas and an accurate understanding of what was formerly unknown to many; of all these things we have come to know a most ready interpreter, this common teacher of the world, through your wisdom, O king; for you belong to all, and we were the first to make the man our own and have named him from our own. So be it. But what you wisely managed during the difficulties of the times, shall we pass over in silence? And you will grant this, O greatest emperor, and will yourself philosophize about the silence. And when indeed shall we be further adorned with words? For who so considered what was needed in a time of distress and found a remedy for famine and filled the poor with bread and strengthened the souls of the hungry, supplying some things himself from home, and others with much gold, opening the storehouses of those who have and feeding a people, not grumbling and ungrateful, but rather obedient and very thankful? And so that it would not be possible for those engaged in this matter to profit from the want and to reap the misfortunes of others, you also appointed overseers for the distributions. But, if it is not too great a thing for me to say, I too have become a by-product of your care in these matters; for you have me along with the others, just as here of your advantages

ἐρρύησαν αἱ τῶν εὐεργετημάτων πηγαὶ ὥσπερ ἐξ ἀκροτόμου πέτρας τὸ ἐνδόσιμον εἰληφυῖαι τῆς ῥύσεως· αὗταί σε καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῇ φήμῃ διήγγελλον καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτοῖς τοῖς πράγμασι παρεδείκνυον. ὅθεν τί μὲν οὐκ ἠλπίζετο τῶν καλῶν; τί δ' οὐ παρῆν; μᾶλλον δὲ τί τῶν δεινῶν οὐκ ἀπῆν; τίς γὰρ οὕτως ἀδίκους χεῖρας συνέστειλε καὶ πλεονεξίαν κατέστειλε καὶ δυναστείαν ἐμάλαξε; τίς δ' οὕτως ἢ ἀγαθοὺς μᾶλλον ἐτίμησεν ἢ πονηροὺς ἐνδίκως ἐκόλασε; ποῖ μὴ τὰ σὰ ἔγγραφα διατάγματα φορολόγων ἀπανθρωπίαν ἐλέγχοντα καὶ δικαστῶν παρανομίαν ἱστῶντα, καὶ τοῖς μὲν τὴν προσήκουσαν εἴσπραξιν ἐπιτάττοντα, τοῖς δὲ τοῖς οἰκείοις σταθμοῖς ταλαντεύειν νομοθετοῦντα τὰ τῆς δίκης ζυγὰ καὶ μικρὰ χρηματίζεσθαι; καὶ συνελόντα φάναι, τίς οὕτως ἀδικίαν ἐμίσησεν ἢ δικαιοσύνην ἠγάπησε; διὰ ταῦτά σε καὶ τὸ ὑπήκοον ἅπαν ὑπεκθειάζει καὶ τέθηπε καὶ κρότους συνεγείρει καὶ χοροὺς συνιστᾷ· καὶ ὃς μὲν τὸ ὀξὺ τῆς φύσεως ἐν τῷ μεγαλοπρεπεῖ καὶ σταθηρῷ τοῦ φρονήματος καταπλήττεται, ἕτερος τὸ ἐπιεικὲς τοῦ ἤθους καὶ μέτριον, ἄλλος τὸ πρᾶον καὶ ἀνεξίκακον, οὗτος τὴν ἐπανθοῦσάν σοι χάριν καὶ ὡραιότητα, ἐκεῖνος τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσι μελιχρότητα, πάντες τὴν ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς καλοῖς εὐαρμοστίαν καὶ συμφωνίαν. τὸ δ' αὖ κηδεμονικόν σου καὶ συμπαθὲς τίς ἂν ἀξίως ἀγάσαιτο; οὐκ ἔφθη γάρ τις τὴν τύχην γνωρίσας καὶ ἄνετά σοι τὰ σπλάγχνα εὐθύς. καὶ ὃν μὲν διὰ τὸ γένος τετίμηκας, ὃν δὲ διὰ τὴν περὶ τοὺς λόγους ἰσχύν, ἄλλον διὰ τὸ πρὸς τὰς μάχας θαρραλέον καὶ εὔτονον, οὕτω σοι διὰ πάντων πρὸς ἅπαντας αἱ τῶν εὐεργετημάτων ἀκτῖνες ἐξέλαμψαν. Τί τἆλλα χρὴ λέγειν; ἀλλ' ἐνάλλαττέ μοι τὴν τάξιν, Ἡσίοδε, καὶ τοῖς νῦν χρόνοις εἴπερ ποτὲ τὸ χρυσοῦν γένος μετάταττε. νῦν γῆρας ἡβᾷ, νῦν νεότης σκιρτᾷ, νῦν τιμαί τε καὶ δυναστεῖαι καὶ θρόνων ὕψη καὶ ἀξιωμάτων διανομαί· νῦν πενία ὑποχωρεῖ καὶ πλοῦτος πλεονεκτεῖ· νῦν οἰκιῶν κατασκευαὶ ἱερῶν κάλλει τε καὶ μεγέθει, τῇ τῶν ὑλῶν ἁρμονίᾳ τοῖς προγεγενημένοις ἐφ' ἅπασιν ἀπαράμιλλοι· νῦν ἑστίαι λαμπραὶ καὶ ξένων ὑποδοχαὶ καὶ τραυμάτων ἀποβολαί, καὶ ἡ χορηγία τούτοις τῶν ἀναγκαίων ὡς δαψιλής· νῦν ὄμβροι καινοὶ καὶ ἀγώγιμοι καὶ ποταμοὶ πρὸς μίαν χαράδραν συγκλείοντες. τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερα; νῦν αἱ Μοῦσαι τεχνικόν τινα κύκλον τὴν φιλοσοφίαν πεποιημέναι χορεύουσί τε περὶ ταύτην καὶ τοὺς θιασώτας εὐφραίνουσι· νῦν συλλογισμῶν ἀναλύσεις καὶ μίξεις, νῦν λόγοις διαλεκτικοί τε καὶ ἔντεχνοι ἀποδείξεις αἱ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν νέφει κρυπτόμεναι, ὀψὲ δέ ποτε τὴν ἀχλὺν ἀποθέμεναι, ἀριθμῶν ἀναλογίαι, μουσικῶν ἁρμονίαι, μεγεθῶν θεωρίαι τῶν μηδαμοῦ κειμένων, οὐρανίων ἐπιστήμη κινήσεων· νῦν θεολογικῶν δογμάτων ἐντελεστάτη διάγνωσις καὶ τῶν πολλοῖς τέως ἀγνοουμένων ἀκριβὴς κατανόησις· τούτων ἁπάντων ἐξηγητὴν ἑτοιμότατον, τὸν κοινὸν τόνδε τῆς οἰκουμένης διδάσκαλον ταῖς σαῖς ἐπιφροσύναις, ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἡμεῖς ἐγνωρίσαμεν· κοινὸς γὰρ εἶ, καὶ πρῶτοι τὸν ἄνδρα ᾠκειωσάμεθα καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμετέρας ὠνομάκαμεν. εἶεν. Ἃ δέ σοι παρὰ τὰς τῶν καιρῶν δυσκολίας σοφῶς ᾠκονόμητο, σιγῇ παραδράμωμεν; καὶ τοῦτο δώσεις, ὦ μέγιστε αὐτοκράτορ, αὐτὸς καὶ φιλοσοφήσεις τὴν σιωπήν. καὶ πότε δὴ πλέον τοῖς λόγοις καλλωπισόμεθα; τίς γὰρ οὕτως τὸ δέον τοῦ καιροῦ στενοχωροῦντος ἐσκέψατο καὶ λιμοῦ φάρμακον εὕρατο καὶ πτωχοὺς ἄρτων ἐχόρτασε καὶ ψυχὰς πεινώντων ἐστήριξε, τὰ μὲν οἴκοθεν αὐτὸς ἐπιχορηγῶν, τὰ δὲ χρυσίῳ πολλῷ, τὰς τῶν ἐχόντων ἀποθήκας ἀνοίγων καὶ τρέφων λαόν, οὐ γογγυστὴν καὶ ἀγνώμονα, εὐπειθῆ δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ λίαν εὐχάριστον; καὶ ἵνα μηδὲ τοῖς περὶ τοῦτο πραγματευομένοις ἐξῇ καταπραγματεύσασθαι τῆς ἐνδείας καὶ τὰς ἀλλοτρίας καρπίζεσθαι συμφοράς, καὶ ταῖς χορηγίαις ἐφόρους προσεφιστᾷς. Ἀλλ', εἰ μὴ μέγα ἐμοὶ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν, κἀγώ σοι τῆς περὶ ταῦτα φροντίδος πάρεργον γέγονα· ἔχεις γὰρ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων κἀμέ, ὥσπερ ἐνταῦθα τῶν σῶν πλεονεκτημάτων