Compendium chronicum
Gold-bearing, glistening with robes studded with pearls. the fragrant violet shone, the rose shone back. every kind of violet's color smiled from ever
The fine-spun ones. the large-winged, large-hooked-beaked, hooked-clawed, boasting their claws like javelins, having a beak sharper than daggers, for
Having made him a composite of soul and body, and having bestowed the grace of a will moved by itself, and having formed him according to his likeness
Of yours, and you will be called gods, and you will know all things. the woman heard these things, she heeded the flattery, she was conquered by the
Land-born, winged, walking but god, opening the floodgates of heaven, brought down from there whole seas of rain, covered the peaks of the deep-cliff
They stole, they committed adultery, and finally they looked toward idolatry. seruch was the first to begin to use carved images and pillars, being th
Javelin-bowmen, armor-bearers, spearmen, men furious in battle, and having taken an allied force from the nation of the huns, and having made allies o
Chaldeans, and the plaything of fortune and the dice of affairs, having sufficiently mocked others, passed over to others. and when these things were
Mandane, and that the liquid poured forth was so great as to be able to cover the face of the land of asia. this was the first dream, and a second one
Not even among the most famous, like that of the medes and persians, or that of the assyrians. candaules was king of lydia and phrygia, tracing his li
To be contrived by such devices. he, having learned and discerned which mare the horse of darius loved more than all the others, after the two of them
Having heard that joseph, the one born of rachel, was governing the land of egypt for pharaoh, and also contriving to find a release from his sufferin
Was sung. and a light of gladness rose for the hebrews, but the darkness of calamities overshadowed the egyptians. the israelites who fled egypt then
He exposes him in a place called parion after paris himself. he was therefore cast aside carelessly. shepherds found him, pitied him, took him up. the
Because helen had been seized by someone, all fought on her behalf with their own bodies. so after much entreating and importuning, they persuade the
While strong-handed achilles was present, the counsels of the son of laertes were ineffective, and every plot devised and scheme stitched together aga
The swarm of trojans mingled with each other, daring to do nothing. and there was a temple before the walls of beautifully-towered troy, where achille
To proteus, he also finds his consort there in memphis, and having been hosted and honored he receives helen, and after considerable toils he reaches
Flapping its wings, a great-winged bird, fanned the fire into flame with its wings. but a certain cunning fox, vying with these and contending against
To be called, remaining faithful, keepers of the house and guardians of what is within. then taking a clod of earth in his hand from outside, he throw
The most unjust slaughter of his father, and perceiving as a man of sense that he would share the danger with his father and brother and would die wit
Caesar wished to take into the fellowship of marriage a woman who was in the sixth month of her pregnancy, and he urged nero to betroth his wife to hi
And his whole character was lecherous, and worse than others, lusting after women joined to men, and commanding their spouses to serve his abomination
You will cause me pain for those who are sated on my rotten limbs will vex me for a short time, but if others fall upon me, they will cling more viol
Bringing with them a chariot-driver mime, they came upon him to kill him. and nero, knowing this, killed himself, saying this at the end: what an art
Extinguishes it, and dogs, running up and eating the bonds, release the stargazer who was invoking the gods many times. and these things indeed were a
Ravaging and plundering, being in want of money, pressed by need and having no army from anywhere to arm against them, set forth in the marketplace th
Of great things, what terror was not present, what was not dared! slaughters and toils everywhere, and pools of blood. and the gloom of the prison hel
Their names were constans and constantine) manages the western parts and rome and the gauls. but these were extinguished rather quickly and before the
But when that woman again added that her husband was plotting against gratian himself, he replied again, what is that to you, woman? and they say th
Orestes, and after orestes the son of romulus was the last to take hold of the rule. and the great-named city, the city of the romans, having had romu
They set aside the young woman. athenais the maiden, exceedingly distressed at these things and wounded in her soul, goes to her maternal aunt, she sh
Learning of the emperor, she arrives in the city of jerusalem as quickly as possible, and there, having completed the remainder of her life, she pays
When a fierce battle had broken out and he was leading the romans against the arrogant persians, marcian, seized by a death-threatening illness, remai
A man, a treasure of wisdom, was slandered as a hellene, isocasius by name, a quaestor by rank and from there, stripped of both honor and money, he i
Having reigned over the romans for eighteen years. but this one, having tasted power for a short time, departed from the earth rather quickly, leaving
The poison with the trisagion hymn, and when he saw the whole crowd immediately run wild and drive the eparch from the temple with stones and burn dow
Justin, but being inflamed with zeal for the pious religion, kindled an implacable war against the manichaeans and a persecution more severe than thos
Manly minds for with this man he joined mighty battles, and so terrified chosroes that he wished to exchange peace for man-slaying wars. and rome the
With graces and bear torches for creation, and appear as bright stars to those on earth but the sun leaped up from a most beautiful lake, and the tor
Such power, and being filled with greater zeal, he held to what must be done. and it happened that not long after something like this occurred, worthy
Into the judgments of the judge shook the hearts of all. from there a calm of justice-doing was spread everywhere, instead of a winter and a gloomy te
And by the things that will be said and the khagan, having attacked the garrisons of the romans (the khagan was king of the northern scythians) and h
Of dregs. therefore, he is caught fleeing together with the empress and the purple-born branches sprung from him. but the most god-hated, man-slaying
With golden helmets, delicate, all quiver-bearing, on snorting, gold-phalerad horses. so when the emperor saw it was impossible to engage with the arm
Having embarked in boats, they came on, covering the back of the sea with their dense light boats, with their single-log vessels. thus there were many
But nevertheless he did not long enjoy his fortune, but it quickly grew cold, but appearing he was hidden, just as a rose might spring up and immediat
Him, only one thing troubled, lest the scepter reach justinian again, and he who was formerly deprived of it, and of his nose along with it, might aga
Infancy was subjected to murderous hands for slaughter but here, boys of fifteen, girls in their early bloom, young men, soft-skinned women, little g
You will see a dreadful thing, and he bespattered the ground, flowing away like water. thus it was said well and wisely by the ancients, nothing beyo
But the emperor theodosios, shrinking from the audacity and the beast-like heart of leo, yielded the throne and the crown to his enemy, willingly or u
From the kandys and the torc i will know, and the croaking raven from its blackness. near the precinct of the wisdom of god a splendid house had been
He plundered beauty, he cut out the sacred images from the churches, and in their place with the same colors and mosaics he engraved his beloved hunti
From there he is rolled towards lawless deeds, and he shaves the head of his most temperate consort, and introduces the union with another woman into
They drive him from the throne and the city as a fugitive. and he, having indicated these things in writing to the empress and having besought to rece
They were supplicating, even employing force. but he, not knowing the turn of the balancing scale of fortune, and fearing its wavering will, approache
And again the tail of the dragon was moved. the abomination, i mean, of iconoclasm, like a great dragon, crept, dreadful and gaping, it rushed to devo
And from there what was being built was overturned from its roots, and having stained his own war-loving hands with murders and having made every spea
The king, on account of the bruises and the numerous wounds, or rather cases of paralysis, was shaken in his soul at what had happened, and wishing to
Finding their catch, they write to the just man while he is fishing with nets a short writing in iambic meter, which, since i have deemed it not right
Having been persuaded and having received complete assurance that theophilos was delivered from the torments there, she became a fellow-diner with the
Of the ancient kings, both the golden trees, and the chattering sparrows, and lions made of hammered gold, and simply every royal thing gleaming in th
By his hand, but the contriver of evils paid the penalty, and the preparer of terrible things drank a cup of wrath. bardas, therefore, while digging a
Scarcely the temple-keeper he immediately makes basil a member of his household, and deems him worthy of fitting care. and basil was handsome, noble,
To earth-born men, and certain innate dooms accompany men. for this one, great in understanding among emperors, having been persuaded by certain serpe
By the transgression of tetragamy. but leo, the most philosophical among emperors, having fallen into the natural necessities of the body and being af
He arms himself on behalf of the one who had been out-generaled with an army drawn from many places, from the lycaonians, from the thracians, from the
Raising him from a lowly state to the summit, he makes him father and guardian of the empire. and drawing romanos further into his affection, he gives
Of unstained rule, and being about to be released from the bonds of nature, he appointed his son romanos as sole ruler. but he, entrusting all strengt
He conveys everything, and says, alas, o general, for the fortune of the romans! until when will woman-souled eunuchs steer the ship of state, resour
Medimni of grain to be sold for a nomisma. thus phocas managed the matter meanly, and this though he was rich in thousand-bushel granaries, laden with
Near the ister cutting down the phalanxes, breaking the scytharchs, killing, pursuing, routing the champions, as if some lion falling upon broad-flank
Slumber to his eyelids, nor sleep to his eyes, until he drove out the wolves, the devourers of sheep. the mighty ones of the bulgars recognized his st
And having been taught by certain people that after him the rule would pass to romanos, one of the senate, surnamed argyropoulos, he compels the man t
Having the care of those in the home for the aged, he managed all other matters of state up and down and was seen openly as the keeper of the ruler. t
Rushing into the inner sanctuary, from there they seize the wretched man, crying out with groans from the heart, with hot tears, and they gouge out hi
Bloody streams, but murderous outpourings. he seized the fortresses, he seized the cities. he went on, roaring in his anger, breathing fire more than
Of the power to comnenus. but those who were allotted to steer the ship of state, wishing not to save it but to sink it and swamp the most wretched th
But suddenly the tempests of the flesh, having grown wild, stirred up a hard-to-calm, wave-tossed wind, they brought on nausea, vomiting, dizziness, t
To sheep-guarded folds. but a winged dove, flying up from somewhere, alighted on his knees with a silent flutter, not like the one before that flew to
Promising down on his temples, using caesar his uncle as a rival and the most powerful men and those in high military command, he at once seats himsel
Shining with purple dye and gold, and using in turn overlapping garments, he sat upon high, silver-studded thrones, adorning with dignities all who ca
such power, and being filled with greater zeal, he held to what must be done. And it happened that not long after something like this occurred, worthy of word and memory and fitting to be recorded. A poor woman approached, enduring widowhood, with wailing, with shouting, with great passion, crying out against one of the illustrious and most glorious men, being a kinsman to the emperor, a magister in rank, and accusing his unjust character as having plundered all her property. That zealot for justice heard these things, he paid attention to the wailings, he pitied the woman, he sends to summon the magister for judgment. The magister does not obey, he scorns the court, he mocks the judge, he turns his nose up at the judgment. And while the ruler was holding a sumptuous banquet, he arrives to dine with him along with others. After this what and how? The judge is angered, he goes to the palace, he appears before the ruler, he sees a rich-tabled feast in their midst, he sees that man reclining with the feasters, the one stinking of the filth of greed. When he saw him, his heart was inflamed with zeal, and speaking boldly he says to Justin, "If you abide, O Emperor, by what has been decreed and wish for the rapacious to be subject to justice, I too am ready to do for you what was promised before. But if some regret for what you have done has come upon you, you who have given this office of prefect to me, behold, it is possible for you to take it back again. For I am without blame if you make friends of the most accursed and wicked and rascally, and take as fellow-drinkers and dinner-companions malevolent and most villainous men." At this the most serene and gentle Justin, groaning with passion and heavily and from the depths, says, "If I myself have done something unjust, immediately cast me down from the imperial throne; but if it is one of my fellow-drinkers and dinner-companions, it is possible for you to do that which you long ago considered." Oh, the serenity and goodness of you, O best of emperors, gentle guardian of justice. The emperor had spoken, and the magister was immediately seized by the judge with violent dragging from the symposium and luxury, from the midst of his dinner-companions, from the costly and extravagant tables, he was led to the tribunal, about to suffer justice. He stood before the tribunal, trembling, terrified, he who was before so arrogant, the pompous, the haughty. And again the poor woman, as before, accused him and brought forth the plunder, she exposed his wickedness. But he was muzzled and had an ox on his tongue, he who was before of pompous face, who was formerly a snorter. Thus is the mouth of an evil-doer unable to speak freely. And so when the great-minded judge and guardian of justice, having investigated accurately and busily, found that she who had approached him had suffered the most grievous misfortunes, having been robbed by unjust hands, he tortures that illustrious man with raw ox-hides and bruises him with the hailstorms of thick whips, and shows his whole body tattooed with the blows, then he shaves his beard to the skin, and shears the hair of his head, he disgraces his face, he mounts him backwards on an animal, he publicizes the evil in the middle of the main roads, and leads him in an inglorious triumph and denounces him, and he makes mistress of his property the one who had suffered many terrible things by him and been embittered. Thus nothing is a match for a freedom-loving mind. Thus a man who is not a lover of money and not enslaved speaks freely, does not show partiality, does not fear the high and mighty, shrinks from no one, a winged creature, you might say, an eagle, swift-winged, walking on high, overcome by none of the things on earth. If you have a pure mind, higher than profit, if you do not stain your soul with the deceptions of gain, you will not be frightened by emperors, you will not be ashamed before the people, you will not shrink from your superiors, nor the greatly powerful. But I must return to the matters of the history. This terrified many, this restrained many; from this many were curbed in their intention for injustice and their impulse toward greed. for the inexorable and also the terrible
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τοιαύτην δυναστείαν, καὶ ζήλου πλείονος πλησθεὶς εἴχετο τῶν πρακτέων· συνέβη δὲ μετ' οὐ πολὺ γενέσθαι τι τοιοῦτον, λόγου καὶ
μνήμης ἄξιον καὶ πρέπον ἱστορεῖσθαι. γυνὴ προσῆλθε πενιχρά, χηρείαν ἀνατλᾶσα, μετ' οἰμωγῆς, μετὰ βοῆς, μετὰ περιπαθείας, καταβοῶσα
τῶν λαμπρῶν τινὸς καὶ περιδόξων, πρὸς γένους ὄντος βασιλεῖ, μαγίστρου τὴν ἀξίαν, καὶ τὸν φιλάδικον αὐτοῦ τρόπον αἰτιωμένη
ὡς τὴν οὐσίαν τὴν αὐτῆς πᾶσαν διηρπακότος. ἤκουσε ταῦθ' ὁ ζηλωτὴς ἐκεῖνος τοῦ δικαίου, προσέσχε τοῖς οἰμώγμασιν, ᾤκτειρε τὴν
γυναῖκα, πέμπει μετακαλούμενος τὸν μάγιστρον εἰς κρίσιν. ὁ μάγιστρος οὐ πείθεται, καταφρονεῖ τῆς δίκης, καταγελᾷ τοῦ δικαστοῦ,
τὴν κρίσιν μυκτηρίζει. καὶ δεῖπνον ἁβροτράπεζον τελοῦντος τοῦ κρατοῦντος συμποσιάζων μετ' αὐτοῦ σὺν ἄλλοις ἀφικνεῖται. τὸ
μετὰ τοῦτο τί καὶ πῶς; ὁ δικαστὴς θυμοῦται, φοιτᾷ πρὸς τὰ βασίλεια, φαίνεται τῷ κρατοῦντι, βλέπει λιπαροτράπεζαν ἐν μέσῳ πανδαισίαν,
ὁρᾷ συνανακείμενον μετὰ τῶν δαιτυμόνων ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἀπόζοντα πλεονεξίας μύσους. ὡς εἶδεν, ἀναφλέγεται τῷ ζήλῳ τὴν καρδίαν,
καὶ παρρησιασάμενος φησὶ πρὸς Ἰουστῖνον "εἰ μὲν ἐμμένεις, βασιλεῦ, τοῖς προτεθεσπισμένοις καὶ βούλει τοὺς φιλάρπαγας ὑπάγεσθαι
ταῖς δίκαις, κἀγώ σοι πρόθυμος ποιεῖν τὰ προϋπεσχημένα· εἰ δέ σοί τις μετάμελος ὧν ἔπραξας ἐπῆλθε, ἐμοὶ τὴν ἔπαρχον ἀρχὴν
ταύτην παρεσχηκότι, ἰδού σοι πάρεστιν αὐτὴν πάλιν ἀπολαμβάνειν. ἐγὼ γὰρ ἀναιτίατος σοῦ ποιουμένου φίλους τοὺς ἐξαγίστους καὶ
σκαιοὺς καὶ τοὺς ὑπομοχθήρους, καὶ συμπαραλαμβάνοντος συμπότας ὁμοδείπνους ἀνθρώπους κακογνώμονας καὶ κακεντρεχεστάτους."
πρὸς ταῦθ' ὁ γαληνότατος καὶ πρᾶος Ἰουστῖνος περιπαθές τι καὶ βαρὺ καὶ βύθιον οἰμώξας "εἰ μὲν ἐγώ" φησιν "αὐτὸς ἄδικον εἴργασμαί
τι, αὐτίκα με κατάρραξον τοῦ βασιλείου θρόνου· εἰ δέ τίς μοι τῶν συμποτῶν καὶ συνανακειμένων, τοῦτό σοι πάρεστι ποιεῖν ὃ πάλαι
διεσκέψω." βαβαὶ τῆς γαληνότητος καὶ τῆς χρηστότητός σου, αὐτοκρατόρων ἄριστε, δικαιοφύλαξ πρᾶε. εἴρηκε μὲν ὁ βασιλεύς, ὁ
μάγιστρος δ' αὐτίκα ἀναρπαγεὶς πρὸς τοῦ κριτοῦ σὺν ἑλκυσμοῖς βιαίοις ἐκ συμποσίου καὶ τρυφῆς, ἐκ μέσων ὁμοδείπνων, ἐκ τραπεζῶν
πολυτελῶν καὶ μεγαλοδαπάνων, ἤγετο πρὸς κριτήριον δίκας ὑφέξειν μέλλων. ἐστάθη πρὸ τοῦ βήματος τρέμων πεφοβημένος ὁ πρὶν ὑπεραιρόμενος,
ὁ σοβαρός, ὁ γαῦρος. καὶ πάλιν τὸ μὲν γύναιον ὡς πρώην κατηγόρει καὶ προύφερε τὴν ἁρπαγήν, ἤλεγχε τὴν κακίαν· ὁ δὲ πεφίμωτο
καὶ βοῦν ἐπὶ τῆς γλώττης εἶχεν, ὁ πρὶν σοβαροπρόσωπος, ὁ πρώην φρυακτίας. οὕτως ἀπαρρησίαστον κακομηχάνου στόμα. ὡς οὖν ζητήσας
ἀκριβῶς καὶ πολυπραγμονήσας ὁ μεγαλόνους δικαστὴς καὶ τοῦ δικαίου φύλαξ εὗρε παθοῦσαν συμφορὰς βαρυσυμφορωτάτας τὴν προσελθοῦσαν
ὡς χερσὶν ἀδίκοις λῃστευθεῖσαν, ὠμοῖς βουνεύροις τὸν λαμπρὸν ἐκεῖνον καταικίζει καὶ ταῖς χαλάζαις τῶν πυκνῶν μαστίγων μωλωπίζει,
καὶ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα ταῖς πληγαῖς κατάστικτον δεικνύει, εἶτα ψιλοῖ τὸ γένειον ἕως ἐπιδερμίδος, κείρει καὶ τρίχας κεφαλῆς, τὸ πρόσωπον
αἰσχύνει, παλιμπετῆ παλίνστροφον ἐπιβιβάζει κτήνους, δημοσιεύει τὸ κακὸν ἐν μέσοις λεωφόροις, καὶ θριαμβεύει δυσκλεῶς τοῦτον
καὶ στηλιτεύει, καὶ τῆς οὐσίας τῆς αὐτοῦ δεσπότην καθιστάνει τὴν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ πολλὰ δεινὰ τλᾶσαν καὶ πικρανθεῖσαν. οὕτως οὐδὲν
ἐφάμιλλον φιλελευθέρῳ γνώμῃ· οὕτως ἀφιλοχρήματος καὶ μὴ δεδουλωμένος εὐπαρρησίαστος ἀνὴρ οὐ πρόσωπα λαμβάνει, οὐ δειλιᾷ τοὺς
ὑψηλούς, οὐδένα καταπτήσσει, πτηνός, ἂν εἴπῃς, ἀετός, εὔπτερος, ὑψιβάμων, ὑπ' οὐδενὸς κρατούμενος τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς πραγμάτων. ἂν
ἔχῃς γνώμην καθαρὰν κερδῶν ὑψηλοτέραν, ἂν μὴ ῥυπαίνῃς τὴν ψυχὴν λημμάτων κιβδηλίαις, οὐ πτοηθήσῃ βασιλεῖς, οὐκ αἰσχυνθήσῃ
δῆμον, οὐ πτήξεις ὑπερέχοντας, οὐ μεγαλοδυνάμους. Ἀλλ' ἐπανακαμπτέον μοι πρὸς τὰ τῆς ἱστορίας. τοῦτο πολλοὺς ἐφόβησε, τοῦτο
πολλοὺς ἐπέσχεν· ἐντεῦθεν συνεστάλησαν πολλοὶ τῆς ἀδικίας τὴν πρόθεσιν καὶ τὴν ὁρμὴν τὴν εἰς πλεονεξίαν· τὸ δυσπαράκλητον
καὶ γὰρ καὶ φοβερὸν
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