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
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, and this summarily, so that I may assign what is fitting to both the time and the speech. For you, O emperor, both your paternal lineage is distinguished from of old and your [matern]al [no] less vies with it, and, with such examples from your family set be[fore you], you have painted it with more beautiful colors; surpassing them in courage of soul, having become incomparable to others in [great] self-contr[ol], yielding to no one to be surpassed in noble spirit, and with the scale of justice conquering geometric equality. These things showed you to be wonderfully suited for power even before your reign and adorned you magnificently after your reign, like an earthly sun appoint[ing a charioteer] for the universe, not moving and changing place with the body, but with the sharpness of your mind [and] with your conci[se] and intense spirit. For this reason you have traversed the entire inhabited world, that I may not say the [land], against the barbarians, slaying some, imposing immovable boundaries on others, doing something else to others, so that your city might revel in a free state. The Persian shuddered at you, seeing you through your deeds, the Babylonian drew back, the Turk, once driven to madness, has stopped his rage and fears your spear flashing forth from the borders of Persia. The partial beacons have been extinguished and the thundering echo of the barbarians and their great earthquake and the thunderbolt have now suddenly and unexpectedly ceased and been silenced. And I wish to say something more, but the Scythians near the Ister draw me back, flowing against us as a whole nation, and as a whole multitude suddenly slipping into the land. In some way, as you raised your Mosaic hands and did not prefigure the cross, but showed and brandished it from afar as an invincible defense—I will say something of the secrets—your hidden tears became unexpected arrows for them, and being struck they felt it, but they did not know the manner of the blow. And these things are so. And what of the affairs of state? Unexpected resolutions of disputes and more unexpected methods of justice. Now for the first time the palace has been opened, like the Lord's bridal chamber, to rich and poor alike, and he who is otherwise timid is bold only before you and does not shrink from your power, and having obtained justice, he departs rejoicing. For these things God has made you a bountiful seed, and the stalk is fruitful and like no other, and the fruit is ripe and abundant and the harvest golden and truly royal, and your vine is full of goodly branches, and the grape clusters are all beautiful, both the unripe and the ripening. And may you enjoy for the longest time both the stalk and the fruit and the vine and the grape clusters, O emperor incomparable and peerless among all. 11 Encomium to the Empress It was necessary at some point for this prosperous and most brilliant city, O most divine empress, to receive its own adornment whole and complete, and to be made perfectly brilliant by it, and having been sufficiently filled with the splendors from it, to show all others to be partakers of the same brilliance. For neither would the provider of good things and the lord of the salvation of all, the scatterer of sorrows and the introducer and giver of good things, have endured to see for so long those who trust in him being overshadowed by the depth of troubles and being held fast by the multitude of sorrows. For this reason he raised a horn of salvation for his people, according to the divine David, and having driven away the mist and the darkness far from our souls, or rather from this great city, he brought in joy and brightness instead. Now at least for me
εὐφημίας πολὺς καὶ ὅλῳ τῷ χρόνῳ παραμετρούμενος. πῶς ἂν οὖν ἐν ὀλίγῳ τὸ πᾶν συλλάβοιμι; ἐρῶ τοιγαροῦν ὀλίγον τῶν σῶν ἀρετῶν,
καὶ τοῦτο ἐπὶ κεφαλαίῳ, ἵνα καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ καὶ τῷ λόγῳ τὸ εἰκὸς ἀποθῶ. Σοί, βασιλεῦ, καὶ τὸ πατρῷον γένος ἐπίσημον ἄνωθεν καὶ
τὸ [μητρ]ῷον [οὐχ] ἧττον πρὸς τοῦτο ἀνθαμιλλώμενον καί, τοιούτων σοι παραδειγμάτων ἐκ τοῦ γένους ἐφεστ[ηκότων], καλλίοσιν
αὐτοῦ διεζωγράφησας χρώμασιν· ἀνδρείᾳ μὲν ψυχῆς ὑπερβάλλων ἐκεῖνα, μακρ[ᾷ δὲ] σωφροσύ[νῃ] τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀσύγκριτος γεγονώς,
φρονήματι δὲ γενναίῳ μηδενὶ δεδωκὼς ὑπερβάλλειν, δικαιοσύνης δὲ στάθμῃ τὴν γεωμετρικὴν νικήσας ἰσότητα. ταῦτά σε καὶ πρὸ τοῦ
κράτους ὑπερφυῶς τῷ κράτει κατάλληλον ἔδειξε καὶ μετὰ τὸ κράτος ἐκόσμησε μεγαλοπρεπῶς, ὥσπερ ἐπίγειον ἥλιον διφρ[ευτὴν] τῷ
σύμπαντι ἐπιτάξαντα, οὐ τῷ σώματι κινούμενον καὶ μετατιθέμενον, ἀλλὰ τῇ τῆς γνώμης ὀξύτητι [καὶ] τῷ συντ[όμ]ῳ καὶ συντόνῳ
φρονήματι. Ἔνθεν τοι τὴν οἰκουμένην διώδευσας σύμπασαν, ἵνα μὴ λέγω τὴν [γῆν] κατὰ τῶν βαρβάρων, τοὺς μὲν ἀναιρῶν, τοὺς δὲ
ὅρους ἀκινήτους ἐπιτιθείς, τοῖς δ' ἄλλο τι ποιῶν, ἵν' ἡ σὴ πόλις ἐλευθέρῳ τρυφᾷ τῷ σχήματι. ἔφριξέ σε ὁ Πέρσης διὰ τῶν ἔργων
ἰδών, ὑπεστάλη ὁ Βαβυλώνιος, ὁ Τοῦρκος ἅπαξ μανεὶς ἔστη τῆς λύττης καὶ τὴν σὴν αἰχμὴν δέδοικε τῶν τῆς Περσίδος ὀρίων προλάμπουσαν.
ἀπέσβησαν καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ μέρη πυρσοὶ καὶ ἡ βροντῶσα τῶν βαρβάρων ἠχὼ καὶ ὁ πολὺς ἐκείνων σεισμὸς καὶ ὁ κεραυνὸς νῦν ἀθρόον καὶ
παρὰ δόξαν πέπαυται καὶ σεσίγηται. καὶ βούλομαί τι καὶ πλέον ἐρεῖν, ἀλλά με οἱ πρὸς τῷ Ἴστρῳ Σκύθαι ἀνθέλκουσιν, ὅλῳ μὲν ἔθνει
ἐφ' ἡμᾶς συρρέοντες, ὅλῳ δὲ πλήθει τὴν γῆν ἐξάπινα ὑποδύντες. τινὰ τρόπον σοῦ Μωσαϊκὰς χεῖρας ὑψοῦντος καὶ τὸν σταυρὸν οὐ
προτυποῦντος μέν, δεικνύντος δὲ καὶ πόρρωθεν ἐπισείοντος ὡς ἄμαχον ἀμυντήριον-ἐρῶ τι καὶ τῶν ἀπορρήτων- γεγόνασί σοι τὰ κρύφια
δάκρυα βέλη τούτοις ἀπρόοπτα, καὶ πληττόμενοι μὲν ᾐσθάνοντο, τὸν δὲ τῆς πληγῆς τρόπον οὐκ ᾔδεισαν. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὕτως. τὰ
δὲ τῆς πολιτείας ὁποῖα; διαφορῶν λύσεις παράδοξοι καὶ δικῶν τρόποι παραδοξότεροι. νῦν πρώτως ἀνεῴγασι τὰ ἀνάκτορα, ὥσπερ ὁ
τοῦ κυρίου νυμφών, πλουσίοις ἅμα καὶ πένησι, καὶ ὁ τἆλλα δειλός σε μόνον θαρρεῖ καὶ τὸ κράτος οὐχ ὑποστέλλεται καὶ τῆς δικαιοσύνης
τυχὼν ἄπεισι γεγηθώς. διὰ ταῦτά σε θεὸς πολύχουν σπόρον πεποίηκε, καὶ πολύκαρπος μὲν ἡ καλάμη καὶ οἵα οὐκ ἄλλη, ἁδρὸς δὲ καὶ
πολὺς ὁ καρπὸς καὶ τὸ θέρος χρυσοῦν καὶ τῷ ὄντι βασιλικόν, καὶ εὐκληματοῦσα μέν σου ἡ ἄμπελος, οἱ δὲ βότρυες ὡραῖοι ξύμπαντες
καὶ οἱ ὄμφακες καὶ οἱ περκάζοντες. καὶ ὄναιο σὺ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον καὶ τῆς καλάμης καὶ τοῦ καρποῦ καὶ τῆς ἀμπέλου καὶ τῶν βοτρύων,
ἀσύγκριτε πρὸς πάντας καὶ ἀπαράμιλλε βασιλεῦ. 11 Ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὴν δέσποιναν Ἔδει ποτὲ τὴν εὐδαίμονα ταύτην πόλιν καὶ λαμπροτάτην,
ὦ θειοτάτη βασίλισσα, τὸν οἰκεῖον κόσμον ὅλον ὅλην ἀπολαβεῖν καὶ τούτῳ λαμπρυνθῆναι τέλεον καὶ τῶν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ λαμπηδόνων ἱκανῶς
ἐμφορηθεῖσαν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας τῆς αὐτῆς μετόχους ἀναδεῖξαι λαμπρότητος. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν ὁ τῶν ἀγαθῶν παροχεὺς καὶ πρύτανις
τῆς ἁπάντων σωτηρίας καὶ τῶν μὲν λυπηρῶν σκεδαστής, τῶν δ' ἀγαθῶν εἰσαγωγεὺς καὶ δοτὴρ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ὁρᾶν ἠνέσχετο τοὺς αὐτῷ
θαρροῦντας τῷ τῶν χαλεπῶν ἐπηλυγαζομένους βυθῷ καὶ τῇ τῶν λυπηρῶν πληθύϊ κατισχημένους. διὰ τοῦτο κέρας ἤγειρε σωτηρίας ἐπὶ
τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὸν θεῖον φάναι ∆αυίδ, καὶ πόρρω ποι τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν, μᾶλλον δὲ τῆς μεγαλοπόλεως ταύτης, τὴν ἀχλὺν
ἀπελάσας καὶ τὴν σκοτόμαιναν τὴν χαρὰν ἀντεισῆξε καὶ τὴν φαιδρότητα. Ἄρτι γοῦν μοι
