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

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 all things is the uncontainable contained? Will he not also pass through the void of the universe, descending or ascending, he who has filled the universe with himself and stands above the universe by himself? Therefore we do not know him as descending, but we, ascending, receive certain illuminations from him for the knowledge of him; for God dwelling and walking among us, and the Word coming with the Father and making an abode with the more divine, and all the other things that scripture thus condescendingly speaks of, are not a symbol of God's condescension to us, but of our ascent to him. For in substance itself and in reality itself he has once descended to our nature, he who assumed it in an ineffable manner that not even angels could know, neither leaving the Father's bosom and inhabiting the virgin's womb in a new way. If, then, the one praised has seen, he has certainly also been caught up, for this the account has contended; and he was also transported to paradise, where he was also initiated into the ineffable things. For perhaps he is unable to contain the voices in heaven, but the lower transport makes the mysteries smooth for the beholder, and it is necessary for the initiates descending from the heavenly watchtower not to be dragged down immediately to the earth, but as if in a lesser station having passed over into paradise, and there having been deemed worthy of the fitting mysteries, thus to descend to the earth shortly after. Such is our divine high priest, likened to the highest, and having a certain shadow of their form, yet unlike the middling, and superior to those after them. I, therefore, just as I have placed him below Paul, so I bring him to the level of Samuel and place him before those who served as high priests after him. For this one too has been called forth by the Word, and has been deemed worthy of the ephod even before the high priesthood, and has been anointed with the oil of grace, and enters within the veil not once, but many times a year, and sees the ark with unwavering eyes, not in symbols, nor in the golden cherubim, but purely and genuinely attended by the orders from above, I mean the virgin and Theotokos, whose bodily type is this very symbol and prefiguration. And often being fired with divine zeal, he does not draw down heavenly fire upon the more wicked, nor does he thrust the spear through both of the licentious, but he speaks boldly against the impious, and having convicted and shaken their error, he converts them to piety. And he undoes the entanglement of sin and reveals the shame of disgrace in the separation, and those whom the sting of desire entwined in a hateful union, these he separates from there, uniting them to the divine purpose and the law of continence. Are not these things greater than the wonders of old? At least to me as judge, and if anyone else considers instruction through reason to be better than all cutting and burning. Then what, O my honored and revered head? For now I turn the reins of my discourse to you, that I may converse with you more closely and genuinely; and if I should even censure in part, bear the word meekly, and if I should reveal to you the ineffable, do not blush, for it is not that I may publish to you what is hidden, but that I may test your mind, and also to restrain the thought, I will make what was until now ineffable known to the many. For if I knew that what has been resolved has been given to you from above, so that just as you have passed from your former life into the high priesthood, you might now again pass from here to another, better one, I would have accepted the decision as divine, and I would have advised you not even to have deliberated about the matter, but immediately to accomplish what was commanded as coming from above and <ἐκ> the divine council-chamber. But since you have heard nothing divine concerning this

δυοῖν θατέρου συμβαίνοντος, εἴτε τοῦ θεοῦ καταβαίνοντος εἰς τὸν νοῦν, εἴτε τοῦ νοῦ πρὸς θεὸν ἀναβαίνοντος. ἀλλὰ τίς τόπος τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἀναπαύσεως, ἢ τίνι τῶν πάντων χωρητὸς ὁ ἀχώρητος; οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ διὰ κενοῦ τοῦ παντὸς χωρήσει, κατιὼν ἢ ἀνιών, ὅς γε δὴ ἑαυτοῦ τὸ πᾶν συμπεπλήρωκε καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸ πᾶν ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ ἕστηκεν; οὔκουν ἐκεῖνον γινώσκομεν καταβαίνοντα, ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς ἀναβαίνοντες, ἐλλάμψεις τινὰς παρ' αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ἐκείνου γνῶσιν δεχόμεθα· καὶ τὸ ἐνοικεῖν γὰρ τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἐμπεριπατεῖν ἡμῖν, καὶ τὸ σὺν τῷ πατρὶ δὲ τὸν λόγον συνιέναι καὶ μονὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς θειοτέροις ποιεῖν, καὶ τἆλλα ὅσα οὕτως ἡ γραφὴ συγκαταβαίνουσα διαλέγεται, οὐ συγκαταβάσεώς ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς ἡμᾶς σύμβολον, ἀλλὰ τῆς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἡμῶν ἀναβάσεως. αὐτῇ γὰρ οὐσίᾳ καὶ αὐτῷ πράγματι ἅπαξ καταβέβηκε πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν φύσιν ὁ ταύτην προσειληφὼς ἀπορρήτῳ τρόπῳ καὶ ὃν οὐδ' ἂν γνοῖεν οὐδ' ἄγγελοι, οὔτε τὸν πατρῷον κόλπον ἀφεὶς καὶ τὴν τῆς παρθένου νηδὺν οἰκήσας καινοπρεπῶς. εἰ γοῦν τεθεώρηκεν ὁ εὐφημούμενος, πάντως καὶ ἥρπασται, τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ λόγος διηγωνίσατο· μετετέθη δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸν παράδεισον, ἔνθα καὶ μεμύηται τὰ ἀπόρρητα. τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἐν οὐρανῷ φωνῶν ἴσως ἀχώρητος, ἡ δὲ χθαμαλωτέρα μετάθεσις διομαλίζει τῷ θεωρῷ τὰ μυστήρια, καὶ δεῖ καταβαίνοντας τοὺς μύστας ἐκ τῆς οὐρανίας περιωπῆς, μὴ εὐθὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν καθέλκεσθαι, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐν ἐλάττονι σταθμῷ μεταβάντας εἰς τὸν παράδεισον, κἀκεῖ τῶν προσφυῶν μυστηρίων ἀξιωθέντας, οὕτως ἐξ ὑπογύου πρὸς τὴν γῆν κατιέναι. Τοιοῦτος ἡμῖν ὁ θεῖος ἀρχιερεύς, τοῖς μὲν ἄκροις ἀπεικασμένος, καί τινα σκιὰν ἔχων τῆς ἐκείνων μορφῆς, τοῖς δὲ μέσοις ἀφωμοιωμένος, τῶν δὲ μετὰ τούτους ὑπερανέχων. ἔγωγ' οὖν αὐτὸν ὥσπερ καθυφῆκα τοῦ Παύλου, οὕτως εἰς ἶσον ἄγω τῷ Σαμουὴλ καὶ τῶν μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἀρχιερατευσάντων προτίθημι. προκέκληται γὰρ καὶ οὗτος ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου, καὶ τῆς ἐπωμίδος καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης ἠξίωται, καὶ κέχρισται τῷ ἐλαίῳ τῆς χάριτος, ἐντὸς δὲ τοῦ καταπετάσματος οὐχ ἅπαξ, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις τοῦ ἔτους γίνεται, καὶ τὴν κιβωτὸν ὁρᾷ ἀτρεμίζουσιν ὄμμασιν, οὐκ ἐν συμβόλοις, οὐδ' ἐν τοῖς χρυσοῖς χερουβίμ, ἀλλὰ καθαρῶς καὶ γνησίως δορυφορουμένην ὑπὸ τῶν ἄνωθεν τάξεων, φημὶ δὴ τὴν παρθένον καὶ θεοτόκον, ἧς ὁ σωματικὸς τύπος αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο σύμβολον καὶ προχάραγμα. Ζήλῳ δὲ πολλάκις θείῳ πυρούμενος, πῦρ μὲν οὐκ ἐφέλκεται ἐπὶ τοὺς πονηροτέρους οὐράνιον, οὐδὲ δι' ἀμφοῖν τῶν ἀσελγαινόντων τὸν σειρομάστην ὠθεῖ, ἀλλὰ παρρησιάζεται κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβούντων, καὶ τὴν πλάνην αὐτοῖς ἐλέγξας καὶ διασείσας μετατίθησι πρὸς εὐσέβειαν. ἀναλύει τε τὴν τῆς ἁμαρτίας πλοκὴν καὶ τὸ τῆς αἰσχύνης αἶσχος ἐν τῇ διαιρέσει προδείκνυσι, καὶ οὓς ὁ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας οἶστρος εἰς μισουμένην μίξιν συνέπλεξε, τούτους ἐντεῦθεν ἀποδιελών, ἑνοῖ τῷ θείῳ σκοπῷ καὶ τῷ τῆς σωφροσύνης θεσμῷ. οὐ ταῦτα μείζω τῶν πάλαι θαυμαζομένων; ἔμοι γοῦν κριτῇ, καὶ εἴ τις ἕτερος τὴν διὰ λόγου παιδαγωγίαν κρείττονα πάσης ἡγεῖται τομῆς τε καὶ καύσεως. Εἶτα τί, ὦ τιμία μοι καὶ αἰδέσιμος κεφαλή; πρὸς σὲ γὰρ ἤδη τὰς τοῦ λόγου μεταβάλλω ἡνίας, ἵνα σοι ἐγγύτερον καὶ γνησιώτερον διαλέξωμαι, εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐν μέρει καθάψωμαι, πρᾴως τὸν λόγον ὑπένεγκαι, κἂν εἴ σοι τὸ ἀπόρρητον ἐκκαλύψω, μὴ ἐρυθριάσῃς, οὐ γὰρ ἵνα σοι δημοσιεύσω τὸ κεκρυμμένον, ἀλλ' ἵνα σοι τὴν γνώμην ἐλέγξω, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ἐπίσχω τοῦ ἐνθυμήματος, ἔκφορον τοῖς πολλοῖς ποιήσομαι τὸ τέως ἀπόρρητον. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ᾔδειν ἄνωθέν σοι τὸ βεβουλευμένον δεδόσθαι, ἵν' ὥσπερ εἰς τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην ἐκ τῆς προτέρας ζωῆς μετελήλυθας, οὕτω δὴ πάλιν ἐντεῦθεν εἰς ἑτέραν μεταχωρήσειας κρείττονα, ἐδεξάμην ἂν ὡς θεῖον τὸ βούλευμα, καὶ συνεβούλευσα ἄν σοι μὴ δὲ βεβουλεῦσθαι περὶ τοῦ πράγματος, ἀλλ' αὐτίκα καταπράξασθαι τὸ ἐντεταλμένον ὡς ἄνωθεν ἧκον καὶ <ἐκ> τοῦ θείου βουλευτηρίου. ἐπεὶ δέ, οὔτε θείας περὶ τούτου ἠκηκόεις