thither because he composed treatises against Basil, the bishop of that place. From there he was allowed to live on his own estates; Dacoreni was the name of the estates. And Philostorgius says that he saw him there, having come to Constantinople in his twentieth year. He excessively praises Eunomius, saying that both his intelligence and his virtue were incomparable. But also with his words he beautifies the form and features of his face to the most comely degree. and that the words from his mouth were like pearls; although, as he proceeds, he unwillingly confesses that his tongue was lisping, and not being ashamed of the lisp, he dignifies it into great elegance. But he also insists that the white spots, which both disfigured and marked his face, produced an adornment for his body. And deifying all his writings, he says that his epistles were much superior to the others. 10.7 That, when Placidia died, the emperor Theodosius her husband married Galla, the sister of the younger Valentinian the emperor, and daughter of the great one, whom Justina had borne to him. And she cherished the doctrines of Arius. And by her the daughter Placidia was born to Theodosius. 10.8 That Theodosius, having joined Valentinian at Thessalonica, marches against Maximus the tyrant. For the tyrant, holding the dominion of Gratian, intended to take over that of Valentinian as well. And the emperors sent out against him the generals Timasius and Richomeres and Promotus and Arbogastes. They, having suddenly come upon him, both pulled him down from his throne and stripped him of the imperial insignia and brought him before the emperors as a private citizen; and there Maximus was beheaded, having been tyrant for five years in all. 10.9 That after the victory over Maximus and the return to Rome, when the emperor was about to depart from it, a strange and unusual star was seen in the sky; and it was destined to be a messenger of great evils to the world. It first shone out in the middle of the night near the Morning Star, on the very circle called the zodiac, large and brilliant in its gleams, not much inferior to the Morning Star. Then there was a concourse of stars from all directions gathering upon it (you might compare the sight to a swarm of bees clustering around their leader). And from thence, as if by the force of their pressing against one another, the light of them all, being blended into one, blazed up as a flame; and it presented the appearance of a very great and terrible two-edged sword, shining forth threateningly, with all the other stars having changed into this sight, but the one first seen alone appeared in the place of a sort of root or hilt to the whole figure and, as it were, gave birth to the entire brilliance of the star that was shown, just as a flame rises up from the wick of a lamp. The phenomenon thus presented a wondrous sight. And its motion also differed from the course of every star; for making its beginning of motion from where it was said to have appeared, it at first rose and set with the Morning Star; but then, gradually separating, it went up towards the Bears, moving slowly and deliberately, and making its own path transversely, so to speak, to the left for those who were watching. However, it had the same common revolution as the others among which it happened to be moving. And when its own course had been accomplished for forty days, it entered into the middle of the Great Bear, and having last appeared in the very center of it, it was extinguished there. He relates not only these, but also many other strange things about this sword-shaped star. 10.10 That this author also says that contests were undertaken on behalf of Christians against Porphyry. 10.11 That during the times when the sword-bearing star appeared, two human bodies were also seen, one in Syria exceeding human nature in size, and the other in Egypt ending in incredible shortness. The one therefore
ἐκεῖσε διότι λόγους κατὰ Βασιλείου τοῦ ταύτης ἐπισκόπου συνετάξατο. ἐκεῖθεν δὲ εἰς τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ διάγειν ἀγροὺς ἀφείθη· ∆ακοροηνοὶ δὲ τοῖς ἀγροῖς τὸ ὄνομα. ἐνταῦθα δὲ αὐτόν φησι καὶ Φιλοστόργιος, εἰκοστὸν ἔτος ἄγων ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει παραγεγονώς, θεάσασθαι. ὑπερθειάζει τὸν Εὐνόμιον τήν τε σύνεσιν λέγων αὐτὸν εἶναι καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἀπαράβλητον. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ προσώπου τὸ σχῆμα καὶ τὰ μέρη εἰς τὸ εὐπρεπέστατον τοῖς λόγοις ἐξωραΐζει. καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ στόματος λόγους μαργαρίσιν ἐοικέναι· καίτοι προϊὼν τραυλὴν αὐτοῦ τὴν γλῶτταν καὶ μὴ θέλων συνομολογεῖ, οὐδὲ τὴν τραυλότητα ἐπαισχυνθεὶς εἰς πολλὴν ἀποσεμνύνειν γλαφυρότητα. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀλφούς, οἳ τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ κατεμάστιζόν τε καὶ κατέστιζον, κόσμον ἐμποιεῖν τῷ σώματι διατείνεται. τοὺς δὲ λόγους αὐτοῦ πάντας ἀποθειάζων. διαφέρειν τῶν ἄλλων ἐπὶ μᾶλλον λέγει τὰς ἐπιστολάς. 10.7 Ὅτι, Πλακιδίας ἀποβιούσης, ὁ βασιλεὺς Θεοδόσιος ὁ ταύτης ἀνὴρ Γάλλαν ἄγεται γυναῖκα, ἀδελφὴν μὲν τοῦ νεωτέρου Οὐαλεντινιανοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως, θυγατέρα δὲ τοῦ μεγάλου, ἣν αὐτῷ Ἰουστῖνα ἐγείνατο. αὕτη δὲ τὰ Ἀρείου ἔστεργεν. ἐξ αὐτῆς δὲ τῷ Θεοδοσίῳ καὶ ἡ θυγάτηρ Πλακιδία τίκτεται. 10.8 Ὅτι Θεοδόσιος κατὰ Θεσσαλονίκην τῷ Οὐαλεντινιανῷ συναφθεὶς στρατεύει κατὰ Μαξίμου τοῦ τυράννου. καὶ γὰρ ὁ τύραννος, τὴν Γρατιανοῦ κατέχων ἀρχήν, διενοεῖτο προσλαβεῖν καὶ τὴν Οὐαλεντινιανοῦ. ἐκπέμπουσι δὲ οἱ βασιλεῖς κατ' αὐτοῦ Τιμάσιον καὶ Ῥοχόμηριν καὶ Πρόμοτον καὶ Ἀρβαγάστην τοὺς στρατηγούς. οἱ δὲ παραστάντες αὐτὸν ἐξαπιναίως τοῦ τε θρόνου κατασπῶσι καὶ τῶν τῆς βασιλείας ἐπισήμων ἀποδύουσι καὶ τοῖς βασιλεῦσι κατὰ ἰδιώτην προσάγουσι· κἀνταῦθα Μάξιμος τῆς κεφαλῆς ἀποτέμνεται, τυραννήσας πέντε τὰ σύμπαντα ἔτη. 10.9 Ὅτι μετὰ τὴν κατὰ Μαξίμου νίκην καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ Ῥώμην ἐπάνοδον, ἐξελαύνειν αὐτῆς μέλλοντος τοῦ βασιλέως, ἀστὴρ κατὰ τὸν οὐρανὸν ὤφθη παράδοξος καὶ ἀήθης· μεγάλων δ' ἄρα κακῶν ἄγγελος τῇ οἰκουμένῃ γενήσεσθαι ἔμελλεν. ἐξέλαμψεν δὲ πρῶτον κατὰ μέσας νύκτας πλησίον τοῦ Ἑωσφόρου κατ' αὐτὸν δὴ τὸν καλούμενον ζῳδιακὸν κύκλον, μέγας δὲ καὶ ἐκφεγγὴς ταῖς μαρμαρυγαῖς οὐ πολλῷ τοῦ Ἑωσφόρου λειπόμενος. Ἔπειτα συνδρομὴ πανταχόθεν ἀστέρων ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἀθροιζομένων ἐγίνετο (εἰκάσαις ἂν σμήνῃ μελιττῶν περὶ τὸν ἡγούμενον σφαιρουμένων τὸ θέαμα). κἀντεῦθεν, οἱονεὶ τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους συνθλίψεως βιασαμένης, τὸ τῶν ἁπάντων φῶς εἰς μίαν τινὰ συγκραθὲν ἀνέλαμπεν φλόγα· καὶ μαχαίρας ἄντικρυς ἀμφήκους μεγάλης καὶ φοβερᾶς ἀπετέλεσεν εἶδος πληκτικῶς ἐξαυγαζομένης, τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἀστέρων εἰς τοῦτο μεταπεσόντων τῆς θέας, ἑνὸς δὲ καὶ μόνου τοῦ πρώτου θεωρηθέντος ἐν τάξει ῥίζης τινὸς ἢ λαβῆς τῷ παντὶ σχήματι ὑποφαινομένου καὶ οἷον τὸ πᾶν τοῦ δειχθέντος ἀστέρος ἀποτίκτοντος σέλας, ὡς ἂν ἐκ λύχνου τινὸς θρυαλλίδος τῆς φλογὸς πρὸς ὕψος ἐξαιρομένης. τὸ μὲν φανὲν οὕτω παράδοξον παρεῖχεν τὴν θέαν. Καὶ ἡ κίνησις δὲ πρὸς πάντα παρήλλαττεν ἀστέρος δρόμον· τὴν γὰρ ἀρχὴν ὅθεν εἴρηται φανῆναι καὶ τῆς κινήσεως ποιησάμενος, συνανίσχετο μὲν τὰ πρῶτα τῷ Ἑωσφόρῳ καὶ συγκατεδύετο· ἔπειτα δὲ κατ' ὀλίγον διιστάμενος ἐπὶ τὰς ἄρκτους ἀνῄει σχολῇ τε καὶ βάδην κινούμενος, καὶ ἐγκαρσίως ὡς ἐπ' ἀριστερᾶς πρὸς τοὺς θεωμένους εἰπεῖν τὴν ἰδίαν πορείαν ποιούμενος. τὴν μέντοι γε κοινὴν περίοδον τὴν αὐτὴν εἶχεν τοῖς ἄλλοις καθ' οὓς ἂν γίνοιτο πορευόμενος. ἐπὶ τεσσαράκοντα δὲ ἡμέρας τῆς ἰδίας αὐτοῦ πορείας ἐπιτελουμένης, εἰς μέσην τὴν μεγάλην ἄρκτον ἐνέβαλεν, κἀν τῷ μεσαιτάτῳ αὐτῆς τὰ τελευταῖα φανεὶς αὐτοῦ που ἀπέσβη. οὐ ταῦτα δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ παράδοξα περὶ τοῦ ξιφοειδοῦς τούτου δίεισιν ἀστέρος. 10.10 Ὅτι κατὰ Πορφυρίου φησὶ καὶ οὗτος ὁ συγγραφεὺς ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν ἀγῶνας καταθέσθαι. 10.11 Ὅτι καθ' οὓς χρόνους ὁ μαχαιροφόρος ἀστὴρ ἐφάνη, καὶ σώματα ἀνθρώπων ὤφθη δύο, ἓν μὲν ἐν τῇ Συρίᾳ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν εἰς μέγεθος ἐκβαῖνον, θάτερον δὲ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ εἰς ἄπιστον βραχύτητα καταλῆγον. ὁ μὲν οὖν