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

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 beautiful are your houses," O king, "your tents," O spiritual Israel, "as a paradise by a river and as tents," which the Lord pitched, truly as paradises by a river. For all things have blossomed in the unchangeable season and have rejoiced, the earth exults in its own produce. And they are fixed like the tents of the Lord, resembling them not only in their unchangeable nature, but also in their multifaceted and proportionate delight; for as if you yourself, having prepared various dwellings on earth, have assigned the low ones to the more low-minded, and the high ones to those more lofty in mind. Why? Because you have carried our inhabited world up to the north and brought it near to the eternal mountains and made it a conspicuous watchtower, or perhaps also by this wondrous symbol moving us towards the kingdom above, and leading up the one on earth, and transferring us to the first fatherland from which we have fallen. Stand for me on the summit of your mountain, a living and hammer-wrought statue, casting your eye around you in a circle and illuminating all with your gaze, and perhaps you might even draw near to God, like that leader of Israel. To you as you ascend <and> as you descend with, you will also receive a twofold law, both of the letter and of the spirit, and you would reveal to us the secrets, us whom "by a pillar of fire and cloud" you have transferred from the evils of Egypt to the good things of the land of Jerusalem. But these things must be allotted to types and riddles; for now the truth has shone clearly and all things dance together and with all things, the words, and the [lamp] of wisdom somehow extinguished long ago now has been kindled more brightly. Do you see, most divine king, this sacred and philosophical assembly, all of them the fruits of my husbandry, all have drunk from my streams and from my spring has drawn [.....]. They have indeed sharpe[ned] their tongue for rhetoric, not only so as to attempt to divide and elaborate and adorn speech with various figures, but also so as to formulate compositions of problems, having these four archetypal principles, matter and form and compositions and theorems, and to l[ea]n o[ver] the forms with rhetorical arguments, and to know the making of words, for both the quality of the harmony and the variety of the figure and the [..]ments upon these things, and how one must use the selection of [......] and the trope and to hand[le] a soft phras[e] with the tongue and to make a phrase from a nou[n], then to bring the phrase into a noun, and to make ver[bs] nouns, and those nouns verbs. And why should I enumerate the most precise points of the art and the things that escape the notice of the many? And of the streams of philosophy they do not drink so as to draw with the tips of their lips, but as soon as they drink, they gush forth again. Not its much-talked-of things, indeed, the categories and declarative sentences and figures, but also what [the fi]rst philosophy is and about what principles and about what causes it is wisdom, and how it commands and is not commanded, and what are the ruling [......]s and how and into how many they are divided? Thus I have educated these men, O king, or rather, I gave birth to them with such labor pains and having offered them the breast of reason I led them to more solid food. And I myself rekindled philosophy when it was extinguished—for one must also speak freely at the right time—but she, having suffered I know not what from me, was not grateful, nor did she win your soul over for me, perhaps trying to make me a philosopher in deeds as well. But you yourself will cure this, rising up as the cure for the disease, but for me, who would be adequate for comparison with you? The accounts of writers sing of Alexander the Macedonian, and the races of poets proclaim him; for he was truly both most skilled in generalship and most courageous in facing danger and of those before

δὲ περὶ τοὺς θείους σηκοὺς φιλοτεχνίαν τε καὶ ἐπιμέλειαν τίνες ἂν ∆ημοσθένεις ἢ τῶν συγγραφέων οἱ ἄριστοι διαγράψειάν τε καὶ ἐξυμνήσειαν; "ὡς καλοί σου οἱ οἴκοι", βασιλεῦ, "αἱ σκηναί σου", νοητὲ Ἰσραήλ, "ὡσεὶ παράδεισος ἐπὶ ποταμὸν καὶ ὡσεὶ σκηναί", ἃς ἔπηξεν ὁ κύριος, ὄντως ὡσεὶ παράδεισοι ἐπὶ ποταμόν. τέθηλε γὰρ πάντα τῇ ἀμετακινήτῳ ὥρᾳ καὶ γέγηθε, τοῖς οἰκείοις ἡ γῆ γεννήμασι γάνυται. πεπήγασι δὲ ὡς αἱ σκηναὶ τοῦ κυρίου, οὐ τῷ ἀπεριτρέπτῳ μόνῳ ἐκείναις προσομοιούμενοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ πολυειδεῖ καὶ ἀναλόγῳ τῆς τέρψεως· ὥσπερ γάρ τινες διαφόρους μονὰς ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ αὐτὸς κατασκευασάμενος, τὰς μὲν χθαμαλὰς τοῖς χαμαιζηλοτέροις ἀπένειμας, τὰς δὲ ὑψηλὰς τοῖς μετεωροτέροις τὸν νοῦν. τί; ὅτι ἀνήνεγκας πρὸς βορρᾶν τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένην καὶ ὄρεσιν αἰωνίοις αὐτὴν προσεπέλασας καὶ ἄποπτον εἰργάσω περιωπήν, ἢ τάχα καὶ τῷ θαυμαστῷ τούτῳ συμβόλῳ πρὸς τὴν ἄνω μετακινῶν ἡμᾶς βασιλείαν, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ γῆς ἀνάγων, καὶ πρὸς τὴν πρώτην πατρίδα μεταβιβάζων ὅθεν ἀποπεπτώκαμεν. στῆθί μοι ἐν τῇ τοῦ σοῦ ὄρους ἀκρότητι ἔμψυχος ἀνδριὰς καὶ σφυρήλατος, κύκλῳ σε περιάγων τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν καὶ πάντας περιλάμπων τῷ βλέμματι, καὶ τάχα καὶ τῷ θεῷ προσεγγίσειας, ὡς ὁ δημαγωγὸς ἐκεῖνος τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. ἀνιόντι σοι <καὶ> συγκαταβαίνον[τι] καὶ νομοθεσίαν δέξῃ διττήν, τοῦ τε γράμματος καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος, καὶ ἡμῖν ἀποκαλύψειας τὰ ἀπόρρητα, οὓς "στύλῳ πυρὸς καὶ νεφέλῃ" ἀπὸ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων κακῶν πρὸς τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ μεταβίβασας. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἀποκληρωτέον τοῖς τύποις καὶ τοῖς αἰνίγμασι· νῦν γὰρ καθαρῶς ἔλαμψεν ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ συγχορεύει τὰ πάντα καὶ μετὰ πάντων οἱ λόγοι καὶ ὁ τῆς σοφίας πάλαι πως σβεσθεὶς [λύχν]ος νῦν ἀνῆψε λαμπρότερον. Ὁρᾷς, ὦ θειότατε βασιλεῦ, τὸν ἱερὸν τοῦτον καὶ φιλόσοφον σύλλογον, τῆς ἐμῆς γεωργίας γεννήματα σύμπαντες, πάντες ἐκ τῶν ἐμῶν ναμάτων πεπώκασι καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς πηγῆς ἀπηρύσατο [.....]. ἠκόνη[σαν] μὲν καὶ πρὸς ῥητορείαν τὴν γλῶτταν, οὐχ ὥστε μόνον διαιρεῖν ἐπιχειρεῖν τε καὶ ἐπεργάζεσθαι καὶ διαφόροις ἰδέαις τὸν λόγον κατακοσμεῖν, ἀλλ' ὥστε καὶ πράττειν συστάσεις προβλημάτων, ἀρχετύπους τέτταρας ἀρχὰς ταύτας ἔχοντες, ὕλην καὶ ἰδέαν καὶ συγγράμματα καὶ θεωρήματα, ἰδεῶν τε λόγοις [ἐπ]ικύ[π]τειν ῥητορικοῖς, καὶ γινώσκειν μὲν τῶν ὀνομάτων τὴν ποίησιν, τό τε γὰρ ποιὸν τῆς ἁρμονίας καὶ τοῦ σχήματος τὸ διάφορον καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις [..]ώματα, πῶς τε δεῖ χρήσασθαι τῇ ἐκλογῇ τω[......] τήν τε τροπὴν καὶ γλώττῃ μαλακὴν λέξ[ιν] μεταχειρίζε[σθαι] καὶ τὸν μὲν λόγον ποιεῖν ἐξ ὀνόμ[ατος], τότε εἰς ὄνομα συνάγειν τὸν λόγον, καὶ τὰ μὲν ῥή[ματα] ποιεῖν ὀνόματα, ἐκεῖνα δὲ ῥήματα. καὶ τί ἂν τὰ τῆς τέχνης ἀκριβέστατα καταλέγοιμι καὶ λανθάνοντα τοὺς πολλούς; τῶν δὲ τῆς φιλοσοφίας ναμάτων οὐχ οὕτω πίνουσι ὡς ἀρύεσθαι ἄκροις τοῖς χείλεσιν, ἀλλ' ἅμα τῷ πιεῖν αὖθις πηγάζουσιν. οὐ ταύτης δὴ τὰ θρυλλούμενα κατηγορίας καὶ ἀποφαντικὸν λόγον καὶ σχήματα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τίς [ἡ π]ρώτη φιλοσοφία καὶ περὶ ποίας ἀρχὰς καὶ περὶ ποίας αἰτίας σοφία ἐστί, καὶ ὡς ἐπιτάττει καὶ οὐκ ἐπιτάττεται, τίνες τε οἱ ἀρχικοὶ [......]μοι καὶ ὅπως καὶ εἰς πόσα διῄρηνται; οὕτως ἐγὼ τούτους ἐπαίδευσα, βασιλεῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ τοιαύταις ὠδῖσιν ἐγεννησάμην καὶ τὸν λογικὸν μαζὸν ὑποθεὶς ἐπὶ τὴν στερροτέραν τροφὴν ἤγαγον. καὶ τὴν μὲν φιλοσοφίαν σβεσθεῖσαν αὐτὸς ἀνῆψα-δεῖ γὰρ ἐν καιρῷ καὶ παρρησιάζεσθαι-ἡ δέ μοι οὐκ οἶδ' ὅτι παθοῦσα οὐκ εὐγνωμόνησεν, οὐδὲ τὴν σὴν ψυχὴν ἐπ' ἐμοὶ ἐθηράσατο, τάχα με πειρωμένη ποιῆσαι φιλόσοφον καὶ τοῖς πράγμασιν. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν αὐτὸς ἰάσῃ τῆς νόσου τὸ φάρμακον ἀνιστάμενος, ἐμοὶ δὲ τίς ἂν εἴη πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἀποχρῶν σύγκρισιν; Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν Μακεδόνα ᾄδουσι μὲν συγγραφέων λόγοι, βοῶσι δὲ ποιητῶν γένη· καὶ γὰρ ἦν ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ στρατηγῆσαι δεινότατος καὶ προκινδυνεῦσαι θαρραλεώτατος καὶ τῶν πρὸ