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

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 divinely inspired decree. For you alone both analyzed the matter with reason and introduced consideration and took the best counsel and decreed what was most advantageous for us. This alone is sufficient for you in place of any other encomium, in place of all praise, in place of [..........], since you have gathered all the virtues in your one soul. And first, as for the general virtues of prudence, who of all could dispute them with you? By abiding by temperate laws, you hold the prize of victory over all passions, in courage of soul you do not yield the first place even to the noblest of men. Indeed, you have kept the standard of justice unwavering for all in equality of judgment. And all your other virtues follow these general and primary ones. For you have made these a chariot to God, and because of this you have been established beyond all encomium and comparison. And I wish to say something more, but my tongue has been shackled and my heart has been plunged in despondency; for the resources of my life have failed me like the breaths of life, and I am in danger of dying both a spiritual and a physical death, for I have been robbed of life's necessary treasure and deprived of the drop of fortune, and my tongue is utterly dry and my heart is without moisture and I am undergoing the mythical punishment; in the midst of the earth, wretched man that I am, I am tormented by thirst. You then are the spring, the spring of the abysses, and I am the one who thirsts and is intoxicated with misfortune. Since many rivers flow from you, but the channel of the one is blocked for me, open for me another river, or if you wish, a stream, or if you do not wish, a squeezed-out drop. For even the most burdensome is sufficient for me, yes, by your most sympathetic soul, by your royal life, by God's manifold recompense for this. 13 An address to the lord Michael Doukas My tongue has been loosed from speechlessness, my mind has been freed from despondency. I have been completely liberated from the bonds of cowardice. Leaping beyond my age, dancing beyond hope has come to me. Yesterday I was gloomy, downcast in the cloud of slander; today I exult and rejoice, brightened by the light of your philanthropy. The gloomy things have departed, the joyous things have returned; the things that pained my soul to its depths have departed, in their place have returned the things that prepare one to leap and rejoice. The cloud was dispersed, you appeared to me again as a brilliant light, you appeared to me again as the brilliant sun, the great luminary of the world, with your bright rays, with your customary gleams, with your pure radiance. O how many times I groaned and filled the ground with tears and lamented in my soul, because that slanderous and wicked tongue deprived me for a short time of your scintillations. But since the memory of painful things has passed away, and the experience of good things is at hand, I will again sing the customary words and I will release both my soul and my voice toward the infinite abyss of your praises. You alone, most divine emperor, beyond nature and reason, have united two contrary things, royal height and greatness and a truly moderate spirit, or rather, by this new mixture you have shown both to be more venerable, mixing your power with moderation as with some drug and transforming it for the better, while lifting up the humility of your soul with your royal spirit, and showing virtue to be lofty by the majesty of your reign, and making your power more venerable by the moderation of your virtue. But why do I touch upon your qualities part by part

ἀθ[ρόον] ἡμῖν τὸν κύρ[ιον] καὶ στρατηγικώτατον καὶ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἀρέσκοντα, ὢ φροντίδος ἀρίστης, ὢ συνετοῦ σκέμματος, ὢ γενναιοτάτου βουλεύματος, ὢ ἐνθέου ψηφίσματος. μόνη γὰρ καὶ διεῖλες τὸ πρᾶγμα τ[ῷ λ]ογισμῷ καὶ σκέψιν εἰσήνεγκας καὶ ἐβουλεύσω τὰ κάλλιστα καὶ ἐψηφίσω τὰ ἡμῖν συμφορώτατα. ἀρκεῖ σοι τοῦτο καὶ μόνον ἀντ' ἄλλου τινὸς ἐγκωμίου, ἀντὶ παντὸς ἐπαίνου, ἀντὶ [..........], ὁπότε καὶ πάσας τὰς ἀρετὰς ἔχεις ἐν μιᾷ τῇ σῇ συλλαβοῦσα ψυχῇ. καὶ πρῶτόν γε τὰς γενικὰς αὐτίκα φρονήσεώς σοι, τίς τῶν πάντων ἀμφισβητήσειε; τῷ νόμοις ἐμμένειν σωφρονικοῖς κατὰ πασῶν ἔχεις τὰ νικητήρια, ἀνδρείᾳ ψυχῆς οὐδὲ τοῖς γενναιοτάτοις τῶν ἀνδρῶν τοῦ πρωτείου παραχωρεῖς. τὴν μέντοι γε τῆς δικαιοσύνης στάθμην ἐν ἰσότητι γνώμης ἀρρεπῆ πάσιν ἐτήρησας. ταύταις δὲ ταῖς γενικαῖς καὶ πρώταις τῶν ἀρετῶν αἱ λοιπαί σου πᾶσαι συνέπονται. ὄχημα γοῦν ταύτας πεποίησαι πρὸς θεόν, καὶ διὰ ταῦτα παντὸς ἐγκωμίου καὶ συγκρίσεως ὑπερτέρα καθέστηκας. Καὶ βούλομαί τι καὶ πλέον ἐρεῖν, ἀλλά μοι ἡ γλῶσσα πεπέδηται καὶ ἡ καρδία τῇ ἀθυμίᾳ βεβάπτισται· αἱ γάρ μοι τοῦ βίου ἐπέλιπον ἀφορμαὶ ὥσπερ ζωῆς ἀναπνοαί, καὶ κινδυνεύω τεθνάναι καὶ τὸν ψυχικὸν καὶ τὸν σωματικὸν θάνατον, τὸν γὰρ ἀναγκαῖον τοῦ βίου προσεσύλημαι θησαυρὸν καὶ τὴν ῥανίδα τῆς τύχης ἀφῄρημαι, καί μοι ξηρὰ ἡ γλῶσσα παντάπασι καὶ ἄνικμος ἡ καρδία καὶ τὴν μυθικὴν ὑφίσταμαι τιμωρίαν· ἐν μέσῃ τῇ γῇ, ὁ ταλαίπωρος, δίψει κολάζομαι. ἡ μὲν οὖ[ν π]ηγὴ σύ, ἡ τῶν ἀβύσσων πηγή, ἐγὼ δὲ ὁ διψῶν καὶ μεθύων τῷ δυστυχήματι. ἐπεὶ δέ σοι ποταμοὶ πολλοὶ ἀπορρέουσιν, ἐμπέφρακται δέ μοι ἡ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀποχέτευσις, ἄνοιξόν μοι ποταμὸν ἕτερο[ν], εἰ δὲ βούλει, [κρ]ουνόν, εἰ δὲ μὴ [βούλει], πεπιεσμένην ῥανίδα. ἀποχρῶν γάρ μοι καὶ τὸ βαρύτατον, ναὶ πρὸς τῆς σῆς συμπαθεστάτης ψυχῆς, πρὸς τῆς σῆς βασιλ[ικῆς] ζωῆς, πρὸς τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἕνεκεν τούτου πολλαπλασίου ἀνταμοιβῆς. 13 Λόγος προσφωνηματικὸς πρὸς τὸν κῦρ Μιχαὴλ τὸν ∆ούκαν Λέλυταί μοι τῆς ἀφωνίας ἡ γλῶττα, ἀπήλλακταί μοι τῆς ἀθυμίας ἡ γνώμη. τῶν τῆς δειλίας δεσμῶν καθαρῶς ἠλευθέρωμαι. παρ' ἡλικίαν τὸ σκίρτημα, παρ' ἐλπίδα τὸ χορεύειν μοι περιγέγονε. χθὲς ἐσκυθρώπαζον τῷ τῆς συκοφαντίας νέφει κατηφιῶν, σήμερον ἀγαλλιῶμαι καὶ γέγηθα τῷ τῆς σῆς φιλανθρωπίας φωτὶ λαμπρυνόμενος. ἀπῆλθε τὰ σκυθρωπά, ἐπανῆλθε τὰ χαροπά· ἀπῆλθε τὰ τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχὴν εἰς βάθος ἀλγύνοντα, ἀντεπανῆλθε τὰ σκιρτᾶν καὶ γεγηθέναι παρασκευάζοντα. ἐλύθη τὸ νέφος, τὸ λαμπρὸν ἐπανεφάνης μοι φῶς, ὁ λαμπρὸς ἐπανεφάνης μοι ἥλιος, ὁ τῆς οἰκουμένης μέγας φωστήρ, μετὰ τῶν φαιδρῶν ἀκτίνων, μετὰ τῶν συνήθων αὐγῶν, μετὰ τῆς ἀκηράτου μαρμαρυγῆς. Ὢ ποσάκις ἐστέναξα καὶ τὸ ἔδαφος δακρύων ἐπλήρωσα καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπωλοφυράμην, ὅτι με ἡ συκοφάντις ἐκείνη γλῶσσα καὶ πονηρὰ τῶν σῶν πρὸς βραχὺ ἀμαρυγμάτων ἐστέρησεν. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τῶν λυπηρῶν ἡ μνήμη παρῆλθε, τῶν δ' ἀγαθῶν ἡ πεῖρα ἐφέστηκε, τὰ συνήθη καὶ πάλιν μέλψομαι ῥήματα καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν σῶν ἐγκωμίων ἄπειρον ἄβυσσον τὴν ἐμὴν ἀφήσω καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ φωνήν. Σὺ μόνος, θειότατε βασιλεῦ, ὑπὲρ φύσιν καὶ λόγον δύο ἐναντία συνήνωσας πράγματα, βασίλειον ὕψος καὶ μέγεθος καὶ μέτριον ὡς ἀληθῶς φρόνημα, μᾶλλον δὲ τῇ καινῇ ταύτῃ μίξει ἀμφότερα σεμνότερα ἔδειξας, τὸ μὲν κράτος οἷον φαρμάκῳ τινὶ τῇ μετριοφροσύνῃ κεράσας καὶ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον μεταποιήσας, τὸ δέ γε ταπεινὸν τῆς ψυχῆς τῷ βασιλικῷ ἐπάρας φρονήματι καὶ τὴν μὲν ἀρετὴν τῷ ὄγκῳ τῆς βασιλείας ὑψηλὴν ἀποδείξας, τὸ δὲ κράτος τῷ μετρίῳ τῆς ἀρετῆς κατασκευάσας σεμνότερον. Ἀλλὰ τί κατὰ μέρος τῶν σῶν ἅπτομαι