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

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 against me, but I am an equal against an equal. Or do the oak and the airy and unsubstantial figures of others speak the truth, but my character always lies, and will you believe me neither when I defend myself nor when I accuse? But to have doubted the acceptance and to have been of two minds until now, even if this was not noble or priestly, nevertheless had some defense, and the emperor, being angry, colored it plausibly. But what now? Goodness has returned to itself, the fence has been lifted, the dividing wall has been torn down, what you all longed for has happened of its own accord. The emperor has let go his anger, he has changed his mind, he has made a truce with me, who had offended and blasphemed him (as it seemed) based on suspicions, and the order has been reversed. For he in turn beseeches you who beseeched him on my behalf, and he does not look to the scepter, nor to the throne on which he sits, but where it is necessary to show mercy and to gain something for his soul, he bows down, and he speaks contrary to his dignity, seeking for himself a height reaching to heaven from his humility, and, though it is in his power to do anything that might occur to him as an act of tyranny, he does not wish to; and yet this is far from tyranny to grant remission for sins and to cut short the penalties. And he, doing something more than a king, summons you also as partners in his good deed, all but saying: "Behold, I make a truce with the enemy, behold, I become merciful to him, for whom you raised every voice to me, behold, I dissolve the enmity, and look upon him with a gentle eye. Become partners with me in this grace and rejoice with me in the good deeds I delight in, and leap for joy with him who has now been forgiven. Let what has gone before be covered by what comes after, and let the things of misfortune be silenced by the good fortunes." Thus the good-loving emperor, as if to those who would celebrate with him at my recall and join in the dance. But you, alas for your precision and the canon and your gloominess in a good cause, alas for your frown and for not rejoicing with him, but for being dejected by yourselves and straining your face, alas for the stern and unsympathetic judges, and may you not meet with such yourselves. "It is not lawful," he says, "to recall him after the deposition." What deposition, O blessed ones? Where was it composed? By what canons did it proceed? And I now pass over the false voices of the accusers and the other things that have been additionally refuted in my speech. But the matter itself must be examined on its own. What deposition, then, O wonderful ones, at which soldiers, holding the sword at one of their sides, shouted aloud, while you turned away without moving your lips at all? What deposition, at which no investigation, no discussion, nor any canonical definition proceeded? Over how much time did it take place? Was not the same moment the beginning of the accusation and the end of the, as you say, deposition? And where did the deposition take place? Was it where I was also ordained? But was it at the holy bema, or in the second tabernacle, or in the holy place of the world, or far from it, but in a temple nonetheless? Did all of you vote together? Did each of you write his own opinion, and did you affix them to the signatures? Did you not oppose the accusers? Did you not disagree with the emperor for a long time? What deposition, then, are you talking about? Because, he says, the matter of deposition is like that of beheading, and just as there, after the cutting, there is no healing, whether it happened this way or that, the same indeed must be considered here, and let the priest, once cut, be considered cut—that is, me, supposedly—whoever the cutter might be. Oh, what an image and lofty example! But examine the argument carefully and you will find it in some ways similar, in other ways dissimilar; there a neck and a cutting, here a priesthood and a removal. But add two to two, the cutting sword itself and the beheading man to the deposing word and the father of the word. And that I may also make sport with my own

ἐγὼ δέ, ἀλλὰ τί ἂν περὶ τούτου λέγοιμι; ὁ μὲν τὸν ἰδιώτην ἐλαύνων βίον, ἐγὼ δ' ἀρχιερατικὴν στολὴν περικείμενος. καὶ ὁ μὲν τοιοῦτος κατ' ἐμοῦ, ἐγὼ δ' ἶσος πρὸς ἶσον. ἢ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ἡ δρῦς ἀληθεύει καὶ τὰ ἀερώδη καὶ ἀνυπόστατα σχήματα, ὁ δὲ ἐμὸς τρόπος ἀεὶ ψεύδεται, καὶ οὔτ' ἀπολογουμένῳ οὔτε κατηγοροῦντι πιστεύσετε; Ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἄχρι τοῦ νῦν τὴν καταδοχὴν ἀμφιβάλλειν καὶ ἀμφιγνωμονεῖν, εἰ καὶ μηδὲ τοῦτο γενναῖον καὶ ἱερατικόν, εἶχεν ὅμως ἀπολογίαν τινὰ καὶ πιθανῶς αὐτὴν ὁ βασιλεὺς ὀργιζόμενος ἔχρωζε. Νῦν δὲ τί; Επανελήλυθεν ἡ χρηστότης πρὸς ἑαυτήν, ὁ φραγμὸς ἤρθη, τὸ μεσότοιχον καταλέλυται, ὃ πάντες ἐποθεῖτε γέγονεν αὐτόματον. ἀαφῆκεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τὴν ὀργήν, μετεβάλετο τὴν προαίρεσιν, ἐσπίσατό μοι τῷ ὅσον ἐπὶ ταῖς ὑπονοίαις προσκρούσαντι τούτῳ καὶ βλασφημήσαντι, καὶ ἡ τάξις ἀντέστραπται. ἀντιλιπαρεῖ γὰρ οὗτος ὑμᾶς τοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ λιπαρήσαντας, καὶ οὐ πρὸς τὸ σκῆπτρον ὁρᾷ, οὐδὲ πρὸς τὸν θρόνον, ἐν ᾧ καθέζεται, ἀλλ' οὖ ἐλεῆσαι χρὴ καὶ ψυχῇ τι περιποιήσασθαι ὑποκάτω κλίνεται, καὶ παρὰ τὸ ἀξίωμα φθέγγεται, ὕψος ἑαυτῷ οὐρανόμηκες ἐκ τῆς ταπεινώσεως μνηστευόμενος, καί, ἐξὸν αὐτῷ πᾶν ποιεῖν, ὃ ἐὰν παραστῇ ὡς τυραννίδος ἔργον, οὐ βούλεται· καίτοι γε πόρρω τοῦτο τυραννίδος ἀφιέναι τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι καὶ ἐκκόπτειν τὰ ἐπιτίμια. ὁ δὲ καὶ πλέον τι βασιλέως ποιῶν κοινωνοὺς καὶ ὑμᾶς συγκαλεῖ τοῦ εὐεργετήματος μονονουχὶ λέγων· "ἰδοὺ πρὸς τὸν πολέμιον σπένδομαι, ἰδοὺ φιλάνθρωπος αὐτῷ γίνομαι, ὑπὲρ οὗ πᾶσαν πρός με φωνὴν ἀφήκατε, ἰδοὺ διαλύομαι τὴν ἔχθραν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἥμερον βλέπω. γίνεσθέ μοι τῆς χάριτος κοινωνοὶ καὶ συναγαλλιάσθητε οἷς χαίρω εὐεργετῶν καὶ τῷ ἀφεθέντι νῦν συσκιρτήσατε. καλυπτέσθω τὰ προβάντα τοῖς ὕστερον καὶ σιγάσθω τὰ τῆς ἀτχίας τοῖς εὐτυχήμασιν." Οὕτω μὲν ὁ φιλάγαθος βασιλεὺς ὡς πρὸς συμπανηγυρίσοντας ἐπὶ τῇ ἐμῇ ἀνακλήσει καὶ συγχορεύσοντας. ὑμεῖς δέ, βαβαὶ τῆς ἀκριβείας καὶ τοῦ κανόνος καὶ τῆς ἐν τῷ καλῷ σκυθρωπότητος, βαβαὶ τῆς ὀφρύος καὶ τοῦ μὴ συγγεγηθέναι, ἀλλ' ἐφ' ἑαυτῶν κατηφιᾶν καὶ συντείνειν τὸ πρόσωπον, βαβαὶ τῶν αὐστηρῶν δικαστῶν καὶ ἀσυμπαθῶν καὶ οἵων μὴ αὐτοὶ τύχοιτε. "οὐκ ἔννομον", φησίν, "ἀνακαλέσασθαι μετὰ τὴν καθαίρεσιν." ποίαν καθαίρεσιν, ὦ μακάριοι; ποῦ συντεθεῖσαν; ποίοις κανόσι προβᾶσαν; καὶ ἀφίημι νῦν τὰς ψευδεῖς τῶν κατηγορῶν φωνὰς καὶ τἆλλα ἃ τῷ λόγῳ προσεξελήλεγκται. αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐξεταστέον καθ' ἑαυτό. ποίαν οὖν καθαίρεσιν, ὦ θαυμάσιοι, ἐφ' ᾗ στρατιῶται μὲν τὸ ξίφος ἐν θατέρᾳ τῶν πλευρῶν ἔχοντες ἀνωλόλυξαν, ὑμεῖς δ' ἐπεστράφητε μηδόλως τὰ χείλη παρακινήσαντες; ποίαν καθαίρεσιν, ἐφ' ᾗ μηδεμία προέβη σκέψις, μηδεμία συζήτησις, μηδέ τις ὅρος κανονικός; διὰ πόσου γεγονυῖαν καιροῦ; οὐχ ὁ αὐτὸς ἀρχή τε τῆς κατηγορίας ἦν καὶ τέλος τῆς, ὡς ὑμεῖς φατε, καθαιρέσεως; ποῦ δὲ γέγονεν ἡ καθαίρεσις; ἆρ' ἐφ' οὗ καὶ κεχειροτόνημαι; ἀλλὰ πρὸς τῷ ἱερῷ βήματι, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ σκηνῇ, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ κοσμικῷ, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ πόρρω τούτου, ναῷ δὲ ὅμως; συνεψηφίσασθε δὲ πάντες ὑμεῖς; ἐγράψατε καὶ τὰς ἑαυτοῦ γνώμας ἕκαστος, ἐπεστήσατε δὲ ταῖς ὑπογραφαῖς; οὐχ ὑμεῖς ἀντεπίπτετε τοῖς κατηγόροις; οὐ μέχρι πολλοῦ τῷ βασιλεῖ διεφέρεσθε; ποίαν οὖν κάθαρσιν λέγετε; ὃτι, φησίν, τὸ τῆς καθαιρέσεως τῷ τῆς καρατομῆς ἔοικε, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ μετὰ τὴν τομὴν οὐκ ἔστι συνούλωσις, εἴθ' οὕτως, εἴτ' ἄλλως ἐγένετο, ταὐτὸ δὴ λογιστέον κἀνταῦθα, καὶ τετμημένος ἔστω ἅπαξ τμηθεὶς ὁ ἱερεύς, δῆθεν ἐγώ, ὅστις ἂν ὁ τεμὼν εἴη. παπαῖ τῆς εἰκόνος καὶ τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ παραδείγματος. ἀλλ' ἐξέτασον ἀκριβῶς τὸν λόγον καὶ εὑρήσεις πῇ μὲν ὅμοιον, πῇ δὲ ἀνόμοιον· ἐκεῖ αὐχὴν καὶ τομή, ἐνταῦθα ἱερωσύνη καὶ κάθαρσις. ἀλλὰ πρόσθες καὶ δύο δυσίν, αὐτὸ δὴ τὸ τέμνον ξίφος καὶ τὸν καρατόμον ἄνθρωπον τῷ καθαιροῦντι λόγῳ καὶ τῷ τοῦ λόγου γεννητόρι. καὶ ἵνα δὴ προσπαίζω καὶ τοῖς ἐμοῖς