Orationes forenses et acta

 Each one of you has received benefits from him, that having set this forth here with goodwill toward him you might sway the votes, and by showing favo

 Having beset it and stirred herself up to be divinely inspired and worked herself into a bacchic frenzy. now, that the many are deceived by this, i do

 Of her, nor anything else of the things forbidden to me, but which are proclaimed and honored by them. for someone might perhaps excuse him for the fi

 To be enumerated? for divination is for the time being sufficient. but i think, if this had happened before, he would have nobly recorded these things

 Of the difference of theurgies, at the end he adds: one must remove in advance all obstacles to the visitation of the gods and impose a total tranqui

 In these matters i would gladly ask of you, whether it is permitted for a priest to be initiated into such mysteries and to be deemed worthy of such r

 Immediately, therefore, all blushed, or rather, indeed, they shouted with their voices and condemned the leaders of the impiety and named their writin

 Has he discerned? but if indeed the part of the synod has not joined with the senate council nor with the chosen of the nazirites—for this part was no

 Aristotle's theology and the psychogony of plato and the new numbers and the remodeling of doctrines and the expense of the divisible, who of all ever

 What argument is left to you concerning this, or how is it that you dispute with one another over matters of such importance and postpone the decision

 And i gladly admire in you the encomium of the good man in your memorandum. for where he holds on to the whole and bears the burden of common cares, y

 All those, with whom we disagree, have advocated for confusions or divisions. for what do matter and ideas have in common with our doctrines? but sinc

 And of the one who is lifted up and of the one seated on it. know the cherubic and seraphic wings, the perfection of their number, the symbolic coveri

 They have shaken. for if they happened to be uninitiated in our doctrines and completely uninstructed in the mysteries of the spirit, perhaps, having

 For he who receives a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, from the contrary and greater, he who receives an impious man will receive the punishme

 He has despised all things equally, although the law, standing as it were at his ears, cried out: let no one teach or learn profane things. and agai

 He both strung together and vomited up, this twenty-third writing he thinks, or rather he places it between those who were then in every way our own p

 Depicting the madness of nestorian rage. i have left it to you to compare it with the dogmas of the massalians. i brought forth to them from the inner

 The patriarch has acted impiously, clearly and openly. and it is not permitted for any of you who wish, nor for those zealous on his behalf, to defend

 And having brought over certain forces from the west, he stirred them up for war, and they come face to face with each other from both sides. and a fi

 Delaying he is persuaded and is moderate and descends with them. and he dares against two emperors, of whom the one the imperial court held, adorned w

 Being torn apart. but pilate sat judging my divinely-moved emperor, the lord's anointed, who was being considered, not hesitating, not washing his han

 To kill the emperor, unless he came down quickly and bowed his head to him, but he, fearing the tyrannical cruelty and cowering lest he suffer anythin

 An innovative rank and would come to be below. there, then, the morning star raged against the first goodness, but here the evening star has attacked

 Demonic in his life. but again i have turned to you, the judges, and again i ask: has anything been dared by this man or not? you will surely say the

 Then failing to achieve their purpose, they chose to strike and kill. is it not clear to all that, while digging through and breaking into the houses

 Ruin, if he should object saying that he neither urged these things nor wished them, but even punished many of those who dared with all punishments, w

 In the parts on the right, somewhere near the entrance, but you have immediately ascended into heaven on earth itself, as if considering it a terrible

 Disregarding the divine temples, he was destroying them? and he did not cease, piling one on top of another and making them abandoned ruins. for not o

 Leaning together walls collapsed together with their icons and statues. and everything was as if in a great earthquake, the air being darkened, the e

 And the remains of the apostle luke are burned by fire and reduced to dust. i fear that the bodies of martyrs also lay here. i am afraid that some of

 I shall grant you this also. he had no need, it is true, of the burial robes. i admit it, since they had all already decayed. but he did have need of

 Let us not even examine the scene after that, but let these things be considered by him as theaters and hunts. but where the mercy-seat is, and around

 Seeing what was happening was exulting and rejoicing, like of old the whelp of the beast, i mean the one from isauria. but you consider for me what a

 Fire was burning us and the zeal of the lord was consuming us, long ago the man would have perished, or rather, he would not even have had access to t

 To me the macedonian, to the right the spear, at a walk the half-file leader, captain, wheel around. and nothing new nor incredible for one who has

 I pray with the high priest, but the mixture and the sheath which has grown with us turns the mind, being raised aloft, back toward itself. therefore

 He would trace his genealogy from cronus and rhea and from those even further back, i mean hericapaeus and phanes and that orphic night and he traced

 And the same color over all, none of which moved or influenced him? but never to converse even with the more divine words nor to unroll any tablet, th

 The emperor's treasury is not supplied only from mines nor from the recesses of the earth, nor do tributes alone fill it, nor contributions from land

 And to speak of the audacity, or rather—but how could i speak, intertwining things?—and the diligently pursued plot, through which almost everything w

 Granting that you may meet with more benevolent judges above. and then the drink of deposition here will truly appear to you as a purification. and ma

 Suspicious to many. but if he has nothing in common with the one he has chosen to accuse, nor has anything come between them, it is somehow still unac

 They anticipate my tongue, scattering against me the things they did wrong on account of their own greed, and i confidently awaited the court, as one

 To vote against a priest on the spot the penance exceeds all punishment the examination and the penance must proceed canonically. and, as it seems,

 Of the whole age, an unbeliever, so that i may speak truly, to believe against a believer? for this would be far from reason and thought. for where we

 But i, but what might i say about this? he living the life of a private citizen, but i clothed in the high-priestly vestment. and such a man is agains

 With misfortunes and your example, for the sake of argument, let someone come forward as a condemned man to have his neck cut. and let the sword be ha

 Do you receive? for the pardon testifies that the deposition did not seem so even to himself. for if, according to you, it is like a cutting off, what

 Is the cause the comparison of the matter to a beheading? for from this, one absurdity having been granted, these many nonsensical things were consequ

 An evil tale about me for years, leave me to my former wounds, do not card new ones upon me. so may the lord heal you, if indeed there is anything in

 This is the law of accusation and defense, and from this the precise examination of matters is found. but he introduced a new kind of writing into the

 Of voice, for not even this is unworthy of the art, and with a rhythmic turn of the tongue, you perhaps might only approach him, you who indeed gaped

 Has been debarred from studies? but for you in deep old age, what share is there of education? who of all people has known you, as far as i know, afte

 Which they say came into being of their own accord. but these things are not acceptable to you, and for this reason we shall laugh at you again, havin

 Ever, not in courts, not in counsels, not in public, not in private. for this was not even without accusation, but the speech had some defense. from w

 And the nature of fire did not burn, and the steep rock sent forth springs, and the wood here sweetened the bitterness, and there lightened the heavy

 Did he transcend this time? and it is likely, o best one, for christ possessed a nature more free even according to human standards. whether, then, th

 From himself, having allotted a great portion of reason to his soul this man, therefore, having long ago established for himself a little adopted dau

 A contest, but more brilliant was the victory of elpidius, and he went away having overcome the vestarches by all votes and crowning himself with the

 Receiving. when the most compassionate soul heard this supplication, since she also knew the circumstances concerning the bestarches, and that for man

 I will let my tongue go from forbidden deeds. and first i shame myself relating unspeakable and improper things, since i will also become a stumbling

 The amounts owed will be reckoned against each other, and the fine will be reckoned to elpidios in place of the protospatharios's fee, and the protosp

 Having received a seaside property from him, i give back to him in exchange a mainland one as a permanent dwelling by gift. but the kalai property was

 Most complete, not measured by time, not defined by partial successions nor by these alienations or those, but eternal, sufficient for all successions

 Indicating by the documents, which it is also necessary to go through in order. and so that we may make the summaries concise, and not, by going throu

 At that time for the ruler to ratify to her through a gift of a golden bull the property which he had previously granted to the man, not having been i

 But the rest testified that they themselves were not present at such a sale, but had heard from the subscribing witnesses in the confirmatory document

 He marveled at our western setting sun as a morning sunrise, and with the unspeakable pangs of his soul he discerned the ineffable will of god concern

 On both sides the gift is valid for those who received it from there. for the estate was perhaps of the daughters of nicholas’s wife through paternal

 Harmony, who of all could dissolve such a great bond, or rather these wonderful and in reality altogether indissoluble connections? for the first and

 He has made known by an agreement to whom indeed you also entrusted everything under oath and, whatever they themselves should do, you have promised

 Emperor of the romans, doukas. konstantinos, in christ the god faithful emperor of the romans, doukas. ioannes, most humble archbishop of constantinop

they anticipate my tongue, scattering against me the things they did wrong on account of their own greed, and I confidently awaited the court, as one who would refute them from the very first line. For what else could I have reckoned, a man both doing and saying the opposite of what these men have accused me of, and from these things thinking I would rather be crowned, by those at whose hands I now suffer the worst things? So the appointed day came, and I myself arrived, splendid and graceful in appearance to those who knew the accusers’ charges but were not aware that I myself knew nothing. Immediately I was an object of ridicule, and a taunt of shamelessness was instantly hurled at me, and I entered with nothing but the public executioner at one of my sides. But they stood there—and what or how could I speak to you who know?—having arranged everything plausibly and captivating the listener by their demeanor. And oh, the circuitousness of their preambles, as if they were happening in the present moment, as if they were discussing other, usual matters with me, and finally, how, with no logical sequence, I had scoffed at the emperor, having insulted him with this and that, things which not even one tongue would say. But may those who first uttered these things be broken. So they heaped one thing upon another; but I for my part stood there, immediately stunned and speechless—and how could I not be, I who now, just remembering, am filled with giddiness and dizziness. But they did not blush, repeating the same things many times. But my mouth was tied, and I was shut off from both voice and breath, having prepared one kind of defense, but being forced into another. And immediately my silence was the beginning of belief, and my not knowing was taken as if I did know, but had no defense to make; and having been forced with difficulty to speak, I said nothing except that I objected that the words were false and I sought proof and that they should not accuse me idly. But they themselves anticipated me, becoming at once both accusers and witnesses, as if they were other people, and confirming their own words, which anyone acting as arbitrator could have easily refuted. But they were truly skilled at concocting a slander and at adding the judge to their own side by the things they rehearsed that I had dared to say against him. For these reasons I am utterly astounded at both their cleverness and the judge's mildness. For they did not even allow him to judge, but spurred him on to act as my adversary, and at the same time they implanted this idea in people's minds, that they had no quarrel with me, but had taken up their enmity against me for his sake. And "if you do not now," they say, "cut out the evil by the root, many offshoots of the evil will blossom forth again," not saying it thus, but suggesting these things, with which they added others. And he stood in the middle of both judgment and anger, the one because of the ways he was wronged, as he thought, the other because of the tribunal over which he presided. And you know the rest, you who both shared my pain and feigned that the misfortune was common, and you above all, O priestly head, who amid the very terrors defended me in some things, pleaded for me in others, fell back in others, in every way supporting me. And yet the slanderers did not even refrain from this, from slandering me to you as well; so from all sides they hunted the judge. Even if they won over the listener against me, you yourself remained unhunted then. But now alone and against all hope you have been hunted, and everything for me is endangered and has been turned upside down, and I myself far surpass all who from the beginning have lived a wicked life; for in those things in which I ought to enjoy fair weather I am storm-tossed, and even in the harbor I encounter worse shipwrecks. But my hopes are refuted and everything turns back upon my own head: if an accuser slanders, he is believed. Where can I turn? What refuge shall I find for myself? I am sinking in the sea; and if that should be calmed for me, the harbor meets me more violently; and if I should get out of this, the land opposes me. If you who long advocated for me now take on the role of accuser, in vain then did you weep for me, in vain did you pity me, in vain did you seek to appease the emperor for me, in vain did you put forth these solemn words for me: "It is not right from the

ἐμὴν γλῶσσαν προφθάνουσιν, ἐμοῦ κατασκεδαννύντες ἃ τῆς αὐτῶν ἀπληστίας ἕνεχ' ἡμάρτανον, καὶ θαρρῶν προσεδόκων τὸ δικαστήριον ὡς ἀπὸ πρώτης ἐλέγξων γραμμῆς. τί γὰρ ἄλλο εἶχον λογίσασθαι, ἄνθρωπος τὴν ἐναντίαν οἷς οὗτοι κατηγορήκασι καὶ πράττων καὶ λέγων κἀκ τούτων οἰόμενος μᾶλλον στεφανωθήσεσθαι, ὑφ' ὧν νῦν πάσχω τὰ ἔσχατα; Ἧκεν οὖν ἡ κυρία, καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπήντων λαμπρὸς καὶ χαρίεις τῷ σχήματι τοῖς εἰδόσι τὰ τῶν κατηγορούντων ἐγκλήματα καὶ μὴ συνειδόσιν ὅτι αὐτὸς εἰδείην οὐδέν. εὐθὺς καταγέλαστος καὶ ἀναισχυντίας μοι σκῶμμα παραυτὰ προσετρίβετο καὶ εἰσῄειν οὐδὲν ὅτι μὴ τὸν δήμιον ἐν θατέρᾳ τῶν πλευρῶν ἔχων. οἱ δὲ εἱστήκεισαν-καὶ τί ἂν ἢ πῶς εἰδόσιν ὑμῖν διαλέγοιμι; -πάντα συγκείμενοι πιθανῶς καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ σχήματος θηρώμενοι τὸν ἀκροατήν. καὶ βαβαὶ τοῦ κύκλου τῶν προοιμίων, ὡς ἐν τῷ νῦν γένοιντο, ὡς τὰ συνήθη πρὸς ἐμὲ διαλέγοιντο τἆλλα, καὶ τελευταῖον ὡς ἀπ' οὐδεμιᾶς ἀκολουθίας εἰς βασιλέα ἀπέσκωψα, τὰ ἐξυβρίσας καὶ τά, ἃ μηδ' ἂν μία εἴποι γλῶττα. ἀλλὰ ῥαγεῖεν οἱ πρώτως ταῦτα φθεγξάμενοι. ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν ἄλλο συνεφόρουν ἐπ' ἄλλῳ· ἐγὼ δ' αὖ εἱστήκειν εὐθὺς καὶ ἀπόπληκτος, καὶ πῶς γὰρ οὔ, ὃς νῦν μεμνημένος ἰλίγγου καὶ σκοτοδίνης πληροῦμαι. οἱ δ' οὐκ ἠρυθρίων πολλάκις ἀνακυκλοῦντες ταὐτά. ἐδέδετο δέ μοι τὸ στόμα, ἀπεκεκλείσμην δὲ καὶ φωνῆς καὶ πνοῆς, ἑτέραν μὲν παρεσκευακὼς ἀπολογίαν, εἰς ἑτέραν δ' ἀναγκαζόμενος. καὶ εὐθὺς ἡ σιωπὴ ἀρχὴ πίστεως ἦν, καὶ τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι ὡς εἰδείην μέν, οὐκ ἔχω δ' ἀπολογήσασθαι· μόλις δ' ἐκβιασθεὶς εἰπεῖν οὐδὲν ὅτι μὴ παρεγραφόμην ὡς ψευδεῖς τὰς φωνὰς καὶ τὰς ἀποδείξεις ἐζήτουν καὶ μὴ τηνάλλως κατηγορεῖν. οἱ δ' αὐτοί μοι παρέφθασαν, κατήγοροί τε ἅμα καὶ μάρτυρες ὥσπερ ἄλλοι τινὲς γινόμενοι καὶ τοὺς οἰκείους λόγους πιστούμενοι, οὓς ῥᾳδίως ἄν τις ἐξήλεγξε διαιτῶν. ἀλλ' ἧσαν ὄντως δεινοὶ συνθέσθαι συκοφαντίαν καὶ προσθεῖναι τῷ ἑαυτῶν μέρει τὸν δικαστὴν οἷς κατ' αὐτοῦ με τολμῆσαι συνεμελέτησαν. διὰ ταῦτα λίαν ἐγὼ κἀκείνων ἐκπέπληγμαι τὴν δεινότητα καὶ τοῦ δικαστοῦ τὴν πραότητα. οἱ μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲ κρίνειν αὐτὸν εἴων, ἀλλὰ συναντιδικεῖν μοι παρώξυνον, καὶ ἅμα τοῦτο ταῖς γνώμαις ἐτίθουν ὡς οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς πρᾶγμα πρός με τυγχάνει διάφορον, ἐκείνου δὲ χάριν τὴν πρὸς ἐμὲ ἔχθραν ἐπανῃρήκασι. καὶ "εἴ γε μὴ νῦν", φασί, "τὸ κακὸν ῥιζόθεν ἐκκόψειας, πολλὰ πάλιν παραβλαστήσειε τοῦ κακοῦ ἐξανθήματα", οὐχ οὕτως λέγοντες, ταῦτα δὲ παριστῶντες, οἷς ἐτίθουν ἕτερα. ὁ δὲ μέσος εἱστήκει κρίσεως ὁμοῦ καὶ θυμοῦ, τὸ μὲν οἷς ἠδικεῖτο, ὡς ᾤετο, τὸδ' οἷς τοῦ βήματος προὐκαθέζετο. καὶ σύνιστέ μοι τἆλλα, οἵ γε καὶ συναλγήσατε καὶ κοινὴν τὴν συμφορὰν ὑπεκρίνεσθε, καὶ σύ μοι πρὸ πάντων, ἡ ἱερατικὴ κεφαλή, ὃς καὶ παρ' αὐτὰ τὰ δεινὰ τὰ μὲν ἀπελογοῦ, τὰ δ' ἱκέτευες, τὰ δ' ἀνέπιπτες, τὰ δὲ πάντα τρόπον ἐμοὶ συνιστάμενος. καίτοι οὐδὲ τούτου ἀπέσχοντο οἱ συκοφαντήσαντες, τοῦ μὴ καὶ πρὸς σέ με διαβαλεῖν· οὕτω πανταχόθεν ἐθήρευον τὸν κριτήν. εἰ καὶ τὸν ἀκροατὴν ἐλάμβανον ἐπ' ἐμέ, ἀλλ' ἀθήρατος αὐτὸς τότε διέμεινας. νῦν δὲ μόνον καὶ παρ' ἐλπίδας τεθήρασαι, καὶ πάντα μοι κινδυνεύεται καὶ ἀντέστραπται, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἀνέκαθεν πονηρῷ χρησαμένους τῷ βίῳ αὐτὸς ὑπερβάλλω μακρῷ· ἐν οἷς γὰρ εὐδίας ἀπολαύειν ἐχρῆν χειμάζομαι, κἀν τῷ λιμένι δὲ ναυαγίοις περιπίπτω χείροσιν. Ἐλέγχεται δέ μοι τὰ τῶν ἐλπίδων καὶ πάντα μοι εἰς κεφαλὴν περιΐστανται· ἂν κατήγορος συκοφαντήσῃ, πιστεύεται. ποῖ τράπωμαι; ποίαν ἐμαυτῷ εὑρήσω καταφυγήν; ἐν τῷ πελάγει βυθίζομαι· κἂν ἐκεῖνο μοι κατευνασθῇ, ὁ λιμὴν σφοδρότερος ἀπαντᾷ· κἂν τοῦτον ἐξέλθω, ἡ γῆ μοι προσίσταται. εἰ πάλαι μοι συνηγοροῦντες ὑμεῖς κατηγόρου σχῆμα λαμβάνετε, μάτην μοι τότε ἐπεδακρύετε, μάτην ᾠκτίζεσθε, μάτην μοι ἐξιλεοῦσθε τὸν αὐτοκράτορα, μάτην μοι τὰ σεμνὰ ταῦτα προεβάλλεσθε ῥήματα· "οὐ χρή γε ἐκ τοῦ