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

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 are sung among the seraphim, or hymned among the cherubim, or harmonized by the thrones, or composed by the succeeding orders, or made into music by the divine souls, one might see all these things sent up with unceasing voices to the Greater One in his metropolis; he has added to the choirs the circles of singers, he has augmented the melodies with melodies, and to the rhythms he has brought rhythms. He has set certain six-winged and many-eyed ones around the holy table; he has regulated the stations in succession with measures of distances. He has made public to all the spirit from the letter; he has solved the riddles, uncovered the passwords, explained the symbols, he has presented to all the naked grace of the spirit. He has gathered every nation, every craft, every occupation; he has gathered all within the sanctuary, and has regulated the rustic tongues for the hymnody of the Greater One. O the wonder, neither the carpenter, nor the shoemaker, nor the coppersmith, nor any other manual laborer or craftsman is uninitiated in the mysteries nor without a share in the sweet music for the divine, but he who shortly before had leather in his hands, this one, having come inside the temple, is suddenly transformed, and both makes his voice resound with the angelic trumpets, and directs his fingers to the symphony of the choir. Nor is the female sex far from the t[emple.....] but for these too there are certain melodies echoing with the greater choirs; for they do not contribute spun scarlet, nor goats' hair to the tabernacle of God, far from it; but these things they leave somewhere outside the temple as not contributing to the greater sacred service, but they bring a harmony of soul and a good rhythm of tongue and a spiritual work of hands. Such then are the things concerning the church for him and so well-ordered, but let us consider what sort of things are also outside the temple. Remissions of public taxes, cessations from agricultural works which cause trouble from without, suspensions of judges, submissions and reverences of rulers concerning the divine high priest, generous hands and minds of kings concerning the church. Waves roar, rising up to the heavens and again flowing down together to the abysses, but they do not flood this divine metropolis, but when they touch the enclosure of the temple, they turn back and are calm; winds bursting from the clouds, typhoons and tempests dragging the very cloud along, and sweeping away whatever they encounter, disturb this church alone not at all. Thunders and lightnings and earthquakes fear it. And kings breathing fire do not burn this alone, out of respect for the high priest and fear of his dignity. For they fear his hands raised to God, both the manifest and the unseen prayers, and the flow of tears, and the subtle groans, and the calluses of his knees; they have shuddered at the bending of his back in the sanctuary. And because of these things no harsh tax-collector is there, or, that I may speak in riddles, neither does blight trouble the fruits of the Euchaites, no beetle has invaded, no locust alights, no caterpillar descends, nor anything else of the more bitter things that either destroys the stalk, or shows the husks empty of their fruits, nor does the hail destroy the vines, but the olive trees have blossomed, and the trees are heavy with their own fruits, and everything is harvested in its season. Thus the high priest is for all a phylactery in place of another, like some brazen wall encompassing the whole church, and burning every barbarian thing from there, not as Archimedes of Sicily with certain machines flashing lightning bolts from there, but consuming with divine fire those who are like wood and brush in both mind and will. Perhaps, then, someone will say of all these things, that these are of a wealthy hand, but not of a generous soul. But what might one say

τὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας ῥυθμίζει κατάστασιν, οὐχ ἧττόν γε ἢ Μωϋσῆς τὴν κάτω σκηνὴν συμπηγνὺς κατὰ τὸ δειχθὲν ἐκείνῳ παράδειγμα· εἴτε γὰρ ἐν σεραφὶμ μέλη ὑμνούμενα, εἴτε ἐν χερουβὶμ προσᾳδόμενα, εἴτε παρὰ τῶν θρόνων συναρμοζόμενα, εἴτε παρὰ τῶν ἐφεξῆς τάξεων μελουργούμενα, εἴτε παρὰ τῶν θείων ψυχῶν μουσουργούμενα, πάντα ἄν τις ἴδῃ ἐν τῇ κατ' αὐτὸν μητροπόλει τῷ κρείττονι φωναῖς ἀσιγήτοις ἀναπεμπόμενα· προστέθεικε ταῖς χοροστασίαις τοὺς κύκλους τῶν ψαλλόντων, ἐπηύξησε τοῖς μέλεσι μέλη, καὶ τοῖς ῥυθμοῖς ῥυθμοὺς προσενήνοχεν. ἑξαπτέρυγά τινα καὶ πολυόμματα περὶ τὴν ἱερὰν ἔστησε τράπεζαν· τὰς στάσεις ἐφεξῆς ἐν μέτροις ἐρρύθμισεν ἀποστάσεων. ἐδημοσίευσε πᾶσι τὸ πνεῦμα ἀπὸ τοῦ γράμματος· διέλυσε τὰ αἰνίγματα, ἀνεκάλυψε τὰ συνθήματα, διεῖλε τὰ σύμβολα, γυμνὴν πᾶσι παρέστησε τὴν χάριν τοῦ πνεύματος. πᾶν ἔθνος ἐπισυνήγαγε, πᾶσαν τέχνην, πᾶν ἐπιτήδευμα· ἔνδον τοῦ ἱεροῦ πάντας συνήγαγε, καὶ τὰς ἀγροίκους γλώσσας πρὸς τὴν τοῦ κρείττονος ὑμνῳδίαν ἐρρύθμισεν. ὢ τοῦ θαύματος, οὔθ' ὁ τέκτων, οὔθ' ὁ σκυτοτόμος, οὔθ' ὁ χαλκεύς, οὐδ' εἴ τις ἕτερος χειρώναξ ἢ βάναυσος τῶν μυστηρίων ἀτέλεστος οὐδὲ τῆς πρὸς τὸ θεῖον ἐμμελείας ἀμέτοχος, ἀλλ' ᾧ πρὸ βραχέος τὸ σκύτος ἐν ταῖς χερσίν, οὗτος ἔνδον γενόμενος τοῦ νεὼ ἀθρόον μεταπεποίηται, καὶ τήν τε φωνὴν συνηχεῖ ταῖς ἀγγελικαῖς σάλπιγξι, τούς τε δακτύλους ῥυθμίζει πρὸς τὴν τοῦ χοροῦ συμφωνίαν. οὐδὲ τὸ θῆλυ πόρρω τ[οῦ νεὼ.....] ἀλλὰ καὶ ταύταις ἔστι τινὰ μέλη τοῖς μείζοσι συνυπηχοῦντα χοροῖς· οὐ γὰρ κόκκινον νενησμένον, οὐδὲ τρίχας αἰγείας τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ σκηνῇ συνεισφέρουσι, πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ· ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἔξω που τοῦ ναοῦ ἀφιᾶσιν ὡς ἀσυντελῇ πρὸς τὴν κρείττω ἱερουργίαν, ψυχῆς δὲ ἁρμονίαν προσάγουσι καὶ γλώττης εὐρυθμίαν καὶ χειρῶν ἐργασίαν πνευματικήν. Τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν αὐτῷ τοιαῦτα καὶ οὕτως εὖ ἔχοντα, ποδαπὰ δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐκτὸς τοῦ νεὼ θεωρήσωμεν. δημοσίων τελῶν ἐκκοπαί, γεωργικῶν ἔργων τῶν ἔξωθεν ἐπηρεαζόντων σχολαί, δικαστῶν ἐποχαί, δυναστῶν περὶ τὸν θεῖον ἀρχιερέα ὑποπτώσεις τε καὶ εὐλάβειαι, βασιλέων περὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν χεῖρες καὶ γνῶμαι φιλότιμοι. ἐπωρύονται κύματα ἕως τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀναβαίνοντα καὶ αὖθις μέχρι τῶν ἀβύσσων συγκαταρρέοντα, ἀλλὰ τὴν θείαν ταύτην οὐκ ἐπικλύζει μητρόπολιν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὰν ἅψηται τῆς περιβολῆς τοῦ νεώ, ὑποστρέφει καὶ ἠρεμεῖ· πνεύματα ἐκ τῶν νεφῶν συρρηγνύμενα, τυφῶνες καὶ ἐκνεφίαι αὐτὸ δὴ τὸ νέφος ἐπισυρόμενοι, καὶ τὸ προστυχὸν παρασύροντα, ταύτην μόνην τὴν ἐκκλησίαν οὐ θορυβεῖ. δεδίασιν αὐτὴν καὶ βρονταὶ καὶ ἀστραπαὶ καὶ σεισμοί. καὶ βασιλεῖς πῦρ πνέοντες ταύτην μόνην οὐκ ἐμπιπρῶσιν αἰδοῖ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως καὶ φόβῳ τοῦ κατ' αὐτὸν ἀξιώματος. δεδίασι γὰρ τούτου καὶ χεῖρας ἐπαιρομένας πρὸς τὸν θεόν, τάς τε προφανεῖς εὐχὰς καὶ τὰς ἀφανεῖς, καὶ τὴν τῶν δακρύων ἐπιρροήν, καὶ τοὺς λεπτοὺς στεναγμούς, καὶ τοὺς τῶν γονάτων τύλους· πεφρίκασι τὴν τῶν νώτων ἐν ἀδύτοις κάμψιν. καὶ διὰ ταῦτα οὔτε τις πράκτωρ ἐκεῖσε βαρύς, ἢ ἵνα αἰνιττόμενος εἴπω, οὔτ' ἐρυσίβη τοῖς τῶν Εὐχαΐτων καρποῖς ἐνοχλεῖ, οὐ βροῦχος ἐμβέβηκεν, οὐκ ἀκρὶς καθίπταται, οὐ κάμπη συγκαταρρεῖ, οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν πικροτέρων ἢ τὴν καλάμην διαλυμαίνεται, ἢ τὰς θήκας κενὰς δείκνυσι τῶν καρπῶν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τὰς ἀμπέλους διολλύει ἡ χάλαζα, ἀλλ' αἵ γε ἐλαῖαι τεθήλασι, καὶ τὰ δένδρα βρίθουσι τοῖς οἰκείοις καρποῖς, καὶ καθ' ὥραν πάντα τετρύγηται. οὕτως ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς ἀντ' ἄλλου φυλακτηρίου πᾶσιν ἐστίν, οἷα δή τι χάλκεον τεῖχος ὅλην τὴν ἐκκλησίαν περιλαμβάνων, καὶ πᾶν ἐκεῖθεν τὸ βάρβαρον ἐμπιπρῶν, οὐχ ὡς ὁ ἐκ Σικελῶν Ἀρχιμήδης μηχαναῖς τισιν ἀστραπὰς ἐκεῖθεν ἐκπυρρηνίζων, ἀλλὰ θείῳ πυρὶ καταφλέγων τοὺς προσύλους καὶ φρυγανώδεις καὶ τὴν γνώμην καὶ τὴν προαίρεσιν. Ἴσως μὲν οὖν τις τῶν πάντων ἐρεῖ, ὅτι χειρὸς εὐπορούσης ταῦτα, ἀλλ' οὐ φιλοτίμου ψυχῆς. τί δ' ἄν τις εἴπῃ