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
they were supplicating, even employing force. But he, not knowing the turn of the balancing scale of fortune, and fearing its wavering will, approaches a divine and God-bearing man, one kindled by the rich rays of the Spirit, reveals what was hidden, recounts everything, the sedition and the turmoil and the violence of the people. He hears these things, the one gray in mind and hair, the swan of the Spirit, the one who sings divine things; he forbids, he admonishes him to attempt no revolution, "lest you be pierced," he says, "in the pupils of your eyes, and you will lose everything besides, you will destroy everything besides." The old man sees Bardanios despondent, sees those pulling his horse by the rein, and summoning the general again he says, "You, most illustrious, thrice-greatest general, will not attain the rule, even if you toil ten thousand times; but some of those ranked under your hand will gird on the belt of command. Do you see those three shield-bearers of yours? Leo, Thomas, and Michael are the names of the men. Of these men, Leo will rule first, and after him the power will come to Michael. But Thomas, the third, will struggle vehemently and will draw the name of kingship to himself, yet he will not have the strength to bring his desire to fulfillment, but he will have the light of his eyes extinguished." And these things came to pass in their own times, as the Spirit-moved trumpet prophesied. But the most miserly emperor Nikephoros, having joined fierce battle with the Bulgars neighboring the Ister, becomes the work of the blade, food for the sword, leaving the scepters to his son Staurakios. But indeed Staurakios too quickly perishes, having appeared spear-wounded in this battle and having become prostrated, bloodless, wounded. But power smiles upon Michael Rhangabe, the husband of Nikephoros' daughter Prokopia. Byzantium then saw a day of freedom, without blood and slaughter, without violent plunder, un-darkened, un-troubled, not obscured by the gloomy and turbulent cloud of manslaughter. Byzantium then saw suns of beneficence and splendors of good things and rays of gifts. For Michael was one flashing with all sorts of fine qualities, and a liberal, calm, and gentle man, not delighting in blood, not rejoicing in murders, but a God-planted grove, a meadow of graces, a garden paradise with God-gushing streams. But again the rose faded before its time, like dew-fed grass it was chilled and passed away, like a fleeting flower, as they say, like smoke, like a dream, having bloomed for four years and nine months, and a wild pear bristling with dense thorns arose, and a wild-spined buckthorn, making hearts bleed. Leo of ill-omen leaps upon the power, the dreadful flesh-eater of the sheep of Christ. Therefore the emperor Michael, having learned of the tyrant's audacity and impulse and apostasy, himself willingly withdraws from the much-coveted throne, fulfilling in this too the divine laws of Christ, and appearing to his pursuer as a veritable beaver. For the old books of the zoologists say that there is an amphibious animal named beaver, and its testicles are useful for warding off pitiful, intractable ailments; which many of the hunters knowing, pursue the animal with linen-woven nets, and using swift hounds as helpers. The beaver, therefore, perceiving the cause of the fight, and seeing that the hunters' snares are inescapable, bites off its seed-producing and child-making testicles and offers them to those who want them, and it runs away fleeing, and thenceforth all is in vain, both the running and the pursuits, both the weaving of the nets and the swiftness of the dogs. Thus Michael too willingly yields the crown to the beast-like Leo of ill-omen, who was an evil-sprouted shoot from the borders of the Armenians. Again the bitter root of the former thorn lived again, again it brought forth shoots more prickly than before and threatened to choke the golden field,
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καθικέτευον, προσφέροντες καὶ βίαν. ὁ δ' οὐ γινώσκων τὴν ῥοπὴν τῆς ταλαντούχου τύχης, καὶ τὴν ἀμφίρροπον αὐτῆς θέλησιν ὑποτρέσας,
ἀνθρώπῳ θείῳ προσφοιτᾷ καὶ θεοφορουμένῳ καὶ ταῖς τοῦ πνεύματος αὐγαῖς πλουσίαις πυρσουμένῳ, ἐκφαίνει τὸ κρυπτόμενον, ἅπαντα
καταλέγει, τὴν στάσιν καὶ τὸν τάραχον καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τὴν βίαν. ἀκούει ταῦθ' ὁ πολιὸς τὰς φρένας καὶ τὰς τρίχας, ὁ κύκνος ὁ τοῦ
πνεύματος, ὁ κελαδῶν τὰ θεῖα· ἀπαγορεύει, νουθετεῖ μηδὲν νεωτερίζειν, "μὴ καὶ τὰς κόρας κεντηθῇς" φησὶ "τὰς τῶν ὀμμάτων, καὶ
πάντα προσαποβαλεῖς, πάντα προσαπολέσεις." βλέπει βαρυθυμήσαντα Βαρδάνιον ὁ γέρων, βλέπει τοὺς ἕλκοντας αὐτοῦ τὸν ἵππον τῷ
ῥυτῆρι, καὶ μετακαλεσάμενος αὖθις τὸν στρατηγέτην "σὺ μέν, λαμπρότατέ" φησι, "τρισμέγιστε στρατάρχα, οὐκ ἐπιτεύξῃ τῆς ἀρχῆς,
εἰ καὶ μυρία κάμῃς· τῶν ταττομένων δέ τινες ὑπὸ τὴν σὴν παλάμην τὴν ζώνην ἀναζώσονται τὴν τῆς ἡγεμονίας. ὁρᾷς τοὺς σοὺς ὑπασπιστὰς
ἐκείνους τοὺς τρεῖς ἄνδρας; Λέων Θωμᾶς καὶ Μιχαὴλ αἱ κλήσεις τοῖς ἀνδράσι. τούτων ὁ Λέων τῶν ἀνδρῶν πρῶτος ἀρχηγετήσει, καὶ
μετ' αὐτὸν τῷ Μιχαὴλ τὸ κράτος προσφοιτήσει. ὁ δὲ Θωμᾶς ὁ τρίτατος σφαδάσει μὲν ἐκθύμως καὶ βασιλείας ὄνομα πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἑλκύσει,
πλὴν οὐκ εἰς τέλος ἐνεγκεῖν τὸ θελητὸν ἰσχύσει, τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν δὲ τὰς αὐγὰς ἀπεσβεσμένας ἕξει." Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἀπέβησαν ἐν χρόνοις
τοῖς ἰδίοις, ὡς ἡ πνευματοκίνητος ἐθεσπιῴδει σάλπιγξ. ὁ δὲ σμικρολογώτατος αὐτάναξ Νικηφόρος Βουλγάροις ἰστρογείτοσι μάχην
στερρὰν συνάψας ἔργον μαχαίρας γίνεται, βρωματισμὸς ῥομφαίας, τῷ Σταυρακίῳ τῷ παιδὶ καταλιπὼν τὰ σκῆπτρα. ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ Σταυράκιος
τάχιον ἀποφθίνει ἐν ταύτῃ δορατότρωτος ἀναφανεὶς τῇ μάχῃ καταβελής τε γεγονώς, ἔξαιμος, τραυματίας. τῷ Μιχαὴλ δὲ προσγελᾷ
τῷ Ῥαγγαβὲ τὸ κράτος, τῆς Νικηφόρου θυγατρὸς γαμέτῃ Προκοπίας. ἔβλεψε τότε Βυζαντὶς ἡμέραν ἐλευθέραν, ἄτερ αἱμάτων καὶ σφαγῶν,
βιαίων ἁρπαγμάτων, ἀσκότωτον, ἀθόλωτον, οὐκ ἐξαμαυρουμένην ἀνδροκτασίας ζοφερῷ καὶ ταραχώδει νέφει. ἔβλεψε τότε Βυζαντὶς ἡλίους
εὐποιίας καὶ στιλβηδόνας ἀγαθῶν καὶ δωρεῶν ἀκτῖνας. ἦν γὰρ καλοῖς ὁ Μιχαὴλ παντοίοις ἀπαστράπτων, καὶ φιλελεύθερος ἀνὴρ καὶ
γαληνὸς καὶ πρᾶος, οὐχ αἵμασι τερπόμενος, οὐκ ἐπιχαίρων φόνοις, ἀλλ' ἄλσος θεοφύτευτον, ἀλλὰ λειμὼν χαρίτων, παράδεισος κηπεύσιμος
νάμασι θεοβρύτοις. Ἀλλὰ καὶ πάλιν ἔρρευσε τὸ ῥόδον πρὸ τῆς ὥρας, ὡς ἄγρωστις δροσότροφος ἐψύγη καὶ παρῆλθεν, ὡς ἄνθος, ὅ φασι,
λοκρόν, ὡσεὶ καπνός, ὡς ὄναρ, ἀνθῆσαν ἐπὶ τέσσαρσιν χρόνοις μῆνας ἐννέα, ἀνέβη δ' ἄχερδος πυκναῖς φρίσσουσα ταῖς ἀκάνθαις
καὶ ῥάμνος ἀγριόκεντρος αἱμάσσουσα καρδίας. ὁ Λέων ὁ δυσώνυμος ἐπιπηδᾷ τῷ κράτει, ὁ κρεωβόρος ὁ δεινὸς τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ προβάτων.
ὁ τοίνυν κράτωρ Μιχαὴλ τὴν τόλμαν τοῦ τυράννου καὶ τὴν ὁρμὴν ἀναμαθὼν καὶ τὴν ἀποστασίαν αὐτὸς ἑκὼν ἐξίσταται τοῦ πολυζήλου
θρόνου, πληρῶν κἀν τούτῳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τοὺς νόμους τοὺς ἐνθέους, καὶ τῷ διώκτῃ πεφηνὼς ἄντικρυς ἄλλος κάστωρ. λέγουσι γὰρ αἱ
παλαιαὶ τῶν ζῳογράφων βίβλοι ὡς ἔστι ζῷον χέρσυδρον κάστωρ ὠνομασμένον, καὶ τούτου χρησιμεύουσιν οἱ κύλινδροι τοῦ γόνου πρὸς
ἀποσόβησιν οἰκτρῶν παθῶν δυσαπαλλάκτων· ὅπερ εἰδότες οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν θηροδιωκτούντων τὸ ζῷον μεταθέουσι δικτύοις λινοπλόκοις,
καὶ τοῖς κυσὶ τοῖς δρομικοῖς χρώμενοι συνεργάταις. ὁ κάστωρ τοίνυν συνιδὼν τῆς μάχης τὴν αἰτίαν, καὶ κατιδὼν ὡς ἄφυκτοι τῶν
θηρατῶν αἱ πάγαι, τοὺς σπερμογόνους ἐνδακὼν καὶ παιδουργοὺς κυλίνδρους χαρίζεται τοῖς θέλουσιν, ὁ δ' ἀποτρέχει φεύγων, κἀντεῦθεν
πάντα περιττά, καὶ δρόμοι καὶ διώξεις, καὶ τῶν δικτύων αἱ πλοκαὶ καὶ τῶν κυνῶν τὸ τάχος. οὕτως ἑκὼν καὶ Μιχαὴλ παραχωρεῖ τοῦ
στέφους τῷ θηροτρόπῳ Λέοντι, τῷ δυσωνυμουμένῳ, ὃς ἦν βλαστὸς κακόβλαστος ἐξ ὅρων Ἀρμενίων. πάλιν ἀνέζησε πικρὰ ῥίζα τῆς πρὶν
ἀκάνθης, πάλιν ἐξήνεγκε βλαστοὺς τῶν πρὶν κεντρωδεστέρους καὶ τὸ χρυσοῦν γεώργιον ἠπείλησε συμπνῖξαι,
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