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
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 things, that the boasts from your lineage and those from which your choice is separated suffice [......] to conquer the virtues of others, so that even if nothing came to you from your own judgment, you would conquer every hyperbole of encomia by the ambition of your fathers at least. But the wealth of things flowing around me reduces me to speechlessness, so that it is not possible to speak where it is necessary to s[peak] much. For [just as] those who attempt to count the stars proceed to the infinity of enumeration and hold back the first number, so indeed must I too of necessity hold back my speech, because it is not possible to go through all the encomia for you, not so as to extol each one, but even merely to enumerate them. And for other praisers of certain men, their rather unsuccessful fatherlands and the ailing circumstances of their fathers are established for a display of greater art; for whatever they might hunt for a word of praise, this by all means seemed to have the power of rhetoric. But for me, your qualities, having a hyperbole of greater praise, rather expose my art and reduce my speech to perplexity. For whatever I might collect and say about your father will be seen to be less than the truth. But his fatherland surpasses all lofty speech, not because it drinks from wonderful springs, nor because it smiles with the most beautiful zephyrs, but because it is established as a sub-colo[ny] of the metropolis above. For one must dare to say this also, whence your father, in turn not content with the colony, moved to the ruling city; and it was necessary by all means for him to be dependent on it, and for your nature to be dependent on him, and for him to surpass it, and for you to surpass them both. But may the philosopher bear my speech gently; for the one praising must speak the truth and speak freely what is necessary. And the metropolis of both is the city of God; for my speech has shown this to be a colony, but my speech has passed over the birth. But it has something paradoxical; for it is necessary to touch upon all things just on the surface, so as to reveal something to those uninitiated in the narratives; with proph[ec]y the conception, with symbols [the pre]gnancy, and the symbol brighter than the sun, perhaps being formed on the forehead from the more divine rays. This is for you the prelude of the future, this the clearest sign of things to come. This is the silent proclamation of the leadership among us, from here our better fate is pre-established for us, and the things from here, as if by a certain golden chain, are [today] it seems both somehow continuous and dependent, having a suitable interweaving with one another; for neither did nature [...........] show magnificence, nor the prime of youth surging and changing, but upon a[...] from[....] of bulk resting its foundation on the stable and with its sharpness having firmness, so that [............] both your judgment sketched out your hand in advance, one might say, and the blushing face your future good fortune with its ga[zes], and your character was both seemly and moderate, for having previously taken hold of the lofty and unattainable in the operations and movements of your mind, you acted with moderation in your character and mixed them wonderfully [.........] so that neither the [hu]mble, deprived of loftiness, be carried down into cheapness, nor the lofty, without the [admixture] from there, be [carri]ed up to arrogance. Thus also your [...of] sounds, but having tuned it according to the octave scale so that there is no [..], you composed divine sounds. [You ...] therefore thought it right to be moved and struck by the divine like some s[of]t and ensouled instrument, which indeed, according to the harmonists, by ti[ghten]ing and slackening, he so [or]ganized with musical principles that the same one is most euphonious and most m[elod]ious, and the sound concerning you has resounded to all the ends of the earth. But how could I speak of the things of its intensity? What should I admire first, the artistic Logos so [......] ambitious of concords, that to
μ]ερίδων εὐφημίας ἐστέρηνται, οὐδεὶς δὲ τῶν πάντων ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἐπαινοῦσι λόγοις ἐφήρμοσε. σοὶ δὲ τοσοῦτον [κατὰ] πάντων ἐν
ἅπασι συγκεχωρηκὸς ὡς ἀρκεῖν τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους σεμνολογήμασι καὶ ὧν κεχώρισται ἡ προαίρεσις [......] τὰς τῶν ἄλλων νικᾶν
ἀρετάς, ὡς εἰ καὶ μηδέν σοι ἀπὸ γνώμης ἐπῆν τῇ γε τῶν πατέρων φιλοτιμίᾳ πᾶσαν ὑπερβολὴν ἐγκωμίων νικᾶν. Περιΐσταται δέ μοι
εἰς ἀφωνίαν τῶν περιρρεόντων ὁ πλοῦτος, ὥστ' οὐκ εἶναι λέγειν ἔνθα δεῖ πολλὰ λ[έγειν. ὥσπερ] γὰρ οἱ τοὺς ἀστέρας ἐπιχειροῦντας
ἀπαριθμήσασθαι προχωροῦσιν εἰς τὸ ἄπειρον τῆς ἀπαριθμήσεως καὶ τὸν πρῶτον ἐπέχουσιν ἀριθμόν, οὕτω δὴ δεῖ κἀμοὶ τὸν λόγον ἐπέχειν
ἀνάγκῃ, ὅτι μὴ δυνατὸν διὰ πάντων σοι τῶν ἐγκωμίων ἐλθεῖν, οὐχ ὥστε καθένα ἐπᾶραι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ψιλῶς διαριθμήσασθαι. καὶ τοῖς
μὲν ἄλλοις τινῶν ἐπαινέταις αἱ ἀποτυχοῦσαι μᾶλλον πατρίδες καὶ τὰ τῶν πατέρων νοσοῦντα εἰς ἐπίδειξιν τέχνης καθεστήκασι μείζονος·
ὃ γὰρ ἂν εἰς ἐπαίνου λόγον θηράσωνται, τοῦτο πάντως ἔδοξε τῆς λογικῆς ἔχειν δυνάμεως. ἐμοὶ δὲ τὰ σὰ μᾶλλον ὑπερβολὴν ἐπαίνου
μείζονος ἔχοντα ἐλέγχει τὴν τέχνην καὶ εἰς ἀπορίαν τὸν λόγον περιϊστᾷ. ὃ γὰρ ἂν συλλέξας περὶ τοῦ σοῦ πατρὸς εἴποιμι τοῦ ἀληθοῦς
ὀφθήσεται ἔλαττον. ἡ δὲ τῆς πατρίδος πάντα λόγον ὑπερβάλλει μετέωρον οὐχ ὅτι θαυμασίων πίνει πηγῶν, οὐδ' ὅτι καλλίστοις ζεφύροις
γελᾷ, ἀλλ' ὅτι τῆς ἄνωθεν μητροπόλεως ὑποικ[οῦσα] καθέστηκε. δεῖ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο τολμήσαντα εἰπεῖν ὅθεν ὁ σὸς ἐφέξυ πατὴρ καὶ
τὴν ἀποικίαν μὴ στέρξας πρὸς τὴν ἡγεμόνα πόλιν μετεσκευάσατο· ἔδει δὲ πάντως ταύτης μὲν ἐκεῖνον, ἐκείνου δὲ τὴν σὴν ἠρτῇσθαι
φύσιν, καὶ τοῦτον μὲν ἐκείνην, σὲ δὲ ἄμφω νικᾶν. ἀλλὰ πρᾴως μοι τὸν λόγον ὁ φιλόσοφος ἔνεγκαι· δεῖ γὰρ τἀληθῆ λέγειν τὸν ἐπαινοῦντα
καὶ τὸ δέον παρρησιάζεσθαι. μητρόπολις δὲ ἀμφοῖν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ πόλις ἐστί· ταύτην γὰρ ἀποικίαν ὁ λόγος ἀπέδειξεν, ἀλλὰ παρέδραμεν
ὁ λόγος τὴν γέννησιν. ἡ δὲ ἔχει τι καὶ παράδοξον· δεῖ γὰρ ἀκροθιγῶς πάντων ἐφάψασθαι ὅσον ἐμφῆναί τι τοῖς ἀμυήτοις τῶν διηγήσεων·
μετὰ προφητ[εί]ας ἡ σύλληψις, μετὰ συμβόλων [ἡ κύ]ησις καὶ τὸ σύμβολον ἡλίου λαμπρότερον, τάχα που ἐκ τῶν θειοτέρων ἀκτίνων
τῷ μετώπῳ σχηματιζόμενον. τοῦτό σοι τοῦ μέλλοντος τὸ προοίμιον, τοῦτο τῶν ἐσομένων ἐναργεστάτη σημείωσις. Αὕτη τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς
ἡγεμονίας σιωπῶσα προκήρυξις, ἐντεῦθεν ἡ κρείττων ἡμῖν ἡ μοίρα προκαταβάλλεται, τὰ δ' ἐντεῦθεν σειρᾷ τινι χρυσῇ ὡς [τήμερον]
ἔοικε καὶ συνεχῆ πως καὶ ἠρτημένα, ἀλλήλων κατάλληλον τὴν πλοκὴν ἔχοντα· οὔτε γὰρ φύσις [...........] ἐδείκνυ μεγαλοπρεπείαν,
οὐ νεότητος ἀκμὴ κυμαινομένη καὶ μεταπίπτουσα, ἀλλ' ἐπ' ἀ[...]γεῖθεν[....ὀγ]κήματος σταθηρῷ τὴν βάσιν ἐρείδουσα καὶ μετὰ τῆς
ὀξύτητος τὸ πάγιον ἔχουσα, ὥστε [............νύνεσθαι] ἥ τε γνώμη τὴν χεῖρα προεζωγράφει, εἴποι τις ἄν, καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν
εὐτυχίαν τοῖ[ς βλέμ]μασιν ἡ ἐ[ρυθ]ριάζουσα, τὸ δὲ ἦθος ἐπιεικές τε καὶ μέτριον, τοῖς γὰρ κατὰ διάνοιαν ἐνεργήμασι καὶ κινήμασι
τὸ ὑψηλὸν προλαβὼν καὶ ἀνέφικτον, τοῖς ἤθεσιν ἐμετρίαζες καὶ συνέκιρνας θαυμασίως [.........] μήτε τὸ [τα]πεινὸν ἐστερημένον
τοῦ ὕψους εἰς εὐτέλειαν καταφέρεσθαι, μήτε τὸ ὑψηλὸν τῆς ἐκεῖθεν ἄτερ συνανακρα[θείσης] ὄγκον [ἀναφέρ]εσθαι. οὕτω δὲ τὴν [σὴν
...ν] τι φθόγγων, ἀλλ' ἁρμοσάμενος κατὰ τὸν διὰ πασῶν λόγον ὡς μηδεμίαν εἶ[ναι π··υ]σιν, τὰς θείας ἐμελούργεις φθογγάς. [σὺ
...] μὲν οὖν π[αρὰ] τοῦ θείου ἠξίους καὶ κινεῖσθαι καὶ κρούεσθαι ὥσπερ τι μ[αλα]κὸν καὶ ἔμψυχον ὄργανον, ὃ δὴ κατὰ τοὺς ἁρμονικοὺς
ἐντεί[νων] καὶ ὑποχαλῶν, οὕτω τοῖς μουσικοῖς λόγοις διω[ρ]γανώσατο ὡς τὸν αὐτὸν εὐφωνότατόν τε εἶναι καὶ ἐμμ[ελέ]στατον καὶ
τὸν κατά σε φθόγγον εἰς πάντα τῆς γῆς περιηχηθῆναι τὰ πέρατα. ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν τῆς ἐντάσεως πῶς ἂν λέγοιμι; τί πρῶτον θαυμάσαιμι,
τὸν τεχνίτην λόγον οὕτω [......] τῶν συμφωνιῶν φιλοτιμησάμενον, ὡς εἰς
