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
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 display a wealth of generosity poured out the gold as if it were useless pebbles, and he strengthened what was decayed and having raised what had fallen, he inscribed his own name upon the walls. And these things are indeed worthy of a tongue of praise; but I am exceedingly astonished at his righteous dealing and his impartial judgment in his decisions. And now let a small example of his character be set forth, like a cupful from the sea, like a taste from a jar, and a tiny little spark from a well-wooded furnace. A poor woman approached this Theophilos, crying out against a certain Petronas of high honor; for he was drungarius of the watch, as the Romans would say, and he sprang from the same roots as Theophilos. So she cried out with great feeling and shed tears, begging the emperor to become her defender and to restrain the gigantic hands of Petronas, who was raging from an unjust mind and overshadowing her wretched little room, so that being unable to bear such great darkness, she might abandon the house to the blowing of the winds, as they say. The king heard these things, investigated the matter, and recognized the wicked disposition of the one cried out against. And he tears down the house, which was making a man-made night for the woman, to its very foundations, and leading the man himself to the middle of the highway, he blackens his flesh with raw ox-hides. This is a small proof of the soul of Theophilos, able to make the rest very clear as well; for indeed Bocchoris, they say, the ruler of the Egyptians, discerned the most ancient of all dialects from one lisp of a newborn infant. And his free-heartedness towards sordid gains and his not wishing to have gold from retail trading, the things about to be said will be able to confirm. He happened to be standing above the royal houses, where skillfully carved snow-white marble forms a large-ribbed ox, and shapes a lion leaping upon the ox and drinking of the slaughter; and these carvings have become a name for the place. So there the king, standing and casting his eyes upon the sea (for a calm was smiling) and delighting his gaze with the graces from there, sees a heavily laden ship approaching the land. The west wind was blowing with gentle breaths, and the sails were stretched out, swelling with the breeze, and were urging the vessel towards calm harbors. And one could have guessed, even standing far from the brine, the heavy load of the ship that was coming to anchor; for the weight of the cargo was pressing the sea up to the third strake of the freight-ship. When he looked, he asked what and whose the vessel was. "The ship and its cargo belong to the empress," he heard. And he felt a heart-biting grief in his heart, but having summoned her and learned about the ship he says, "Alas, alas, empress, to what sort of life have I come? What a fortune I have exchanged for a happy one! A seller of cargo and a retailer have I, the emperor of the Romans, become, alas, worse than the merchants." And having said these things, he ordered the ship with its myriad cargo to be devoured, cargo and all, by the jaws of all-consuming fire. This same king, having placed the great Methodios in exile on a certain small island, shut him up in a cave like a corpse in a tomb, like a pearl in an oyster, like a rose among thorns, and with him and along with him, two evil-doing robbers. When one of these robbers departed this life and decomposed from inescapable natural necessity, that patient-minded athlete endured the foul stench and the defilement from it, which not even adamant itself would have had the strength to bear. But the other, having been released, did not wish to come out, but remaining in that gloomy cave and having become an emulator of a divinely inspired way of life, shone forth like the sun with the rays of a holy life. And while the divine Methodios still remained imprisoned, the God-inspired speakers whose holy faces were tattooed, of whom the account has already made mention, being violently driven into exile, a certain net-fisherman, a fish-hunter
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βασιλεὺς τὰς καταμωλωπίσεις καὶ τοὺς πυκνοὺς τραυματισμοὺς ἢ μᾶλλον παραλύσεις, συγκατεσείσθη τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπὶ τῷ γεγονότι, καὶ
θέλων ἐπιδείξασθαι φιλοτιμίας πλοῦτον ὡς κάχληκας ἐκένωσεν ἀχρείους τὸ χρυσίον, καὶ τὸ σαθρὸν ἐνίσχυσε καὶ τὸ πεσὸν ἐγείρας
τοῖς τείχεσιν ἐπέγραψε τὴν κλῆσιν τὴν ἰδίαν. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν κατάξια γλώσσης ὑμνητηρίας· ἐγὼ δ' ὑπερεκπλήττομαι τὴν δικαιοπραγίαν
καὶ τὴν ἀπροσωπόληπτον περὶ τὰς κρίσεις γνώμην. καὶ δὴ παρατιθέσθω μοι δεῖγμα μικρὸν τοῦ τρόπου, ὡς ἐκ θαλάττης κύαθος, ὡς
ἀπὸ πίθου γεῦμα, βραχύ τε σπινθηράκισμα καμίνου πολυξύλου. γυνὴ προσῆλθε πενιχρὰ τούτῳ τῷ Θεοφίλῳ καταβοῶσα Πετρωνᾶ τινὸς
μεγαλοτίμου· βίγλας γὰρ ἦν δρουγγάριος, εἴποιεν ἂν Ῥωμαῖοι, καὶ ῥιζωμάτων τῶν αὐτῶν ἐξέφυ Θεοφίλῳ. ἐφώνει γοῦν περιπαθῶς καὶ
δάκρυον κατῆγεν, ἀμύντορα τὸν κράτορα γενέσθαι λιπαροῦσα καὶ τὰς παλάμας ἐπισχεῖν τὰς γιγαντοπαλάμους τοῦ Πετρωνᾶ, λυττήσαντος
ἐκ φιλαδίκου γνώμης καὶ τὸ λυπρὸν δωμάτιον αὐτῆς ἐπισκοτοῦντος, ὅπως μὴ φέρειν ἔχουσα τὸ τηλικοῦτον σκότος ἀνέμων, ὅ φασι,
πνοαῖς τὸν οἶκον καταλείπῃ. ἤκουσε ταῦθ' ὁ βασιλεύς, ἐζήτησε τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἔγνω τὸ φιλομόχθηρον τοῦ καταβοωμένου. καὶ τὸν μὲν
οἶκον κατασπᾷ μέχρι καὶ θεμελίων τὸν νύκτα χειροποίητον τῇ γυναικὶ ποιοῦντα, αὐτὸν δὲ μέσον ἀγαγὼν τῆς λεωφόρου τρίβου ὠμοῖς
βουνεύροις τὰς αὐτοῦ καταμελαίνει σάρκας. Τοῦτο μικρὸν τεκμήριον ψυχῆς τῆς Θεοφίλου, δυνάμενον κατάδηλα καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ποιῆσαι·
καὶ γὰρ καὶ Βόκχορίς, φασιν, ὁ κράτωρ Αἰγυπτίων ἀπὸ ψελλίσματος ἑνὸς ἀρτιγενοῦς νηπίου τὴν παλαιτέραν ἁπασῶν διάλεκτον ἐπέγνω.
τὸ δ' ἐλευθεροκάρδιον πρὸς τὰς αἰσχροκερδείας καὶ τὸ μὴ βούλεσθαι χρυσὸν ἔχειν ἐκ καπηλείας ἰσχύσουσι πιστώσασθαι τὰ μέλλοντα
ῥηθῆναι. Ἔτυχεν ἄνωθεν ἑστὼς τῶν βασιλείων οἴκων, ἔνθα γλυφεῖσα δεξιῶς μάρμαρος χιονόχρους βοῦν μεγαλόπλευρον τυποῖ, καὶ λέοντα
μορφάζει ἐπιπηδῶντα τῇ βοῒ καὶ πίνοντα τοῦ φόνου· καὶ γέγονε τὰ γλύμματα ταῦτα τῷ τόπῳ κλῆσις. ἐνταῦθα γοῦν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἑστὼς
καὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐπαφιεὶς (γαλήνη γὰρ ἐγέλα) καὶ ταῖς ἐκεῖθεν χάρισι ψυχαγωγῶν τὰς ὄψεις πλοῖον ὁρᾷ κατάφορτον
τῇ χέρσῳ πλησιάζον. ἐπέπνει μὲν ὁ ζέφυρος πνοαῖς ἁπαλοπνόοις, ἐτέτατο τὰ λαίφη δὲ κολπούμενα τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ πρὸς λιμένας ἤπειγον
τὸ σκάφος εὐγαλήνους. εἴκασε δ' ἄν τις καὶ μακρὰν ἀφεστηκὼς τῆς ἅλμης τοῦ πλοίου τὸ κατάφορτον τοῦ προσορμιζομένου· ἐπὶ γὰρ
τρίτον τῆς νηὸς τῆς φορτηγοῦ ζωστῆρα τὴν θάλασσαν ἀνέθλιβε τῶν ἀγωγίμων βάρος. ὡς ἔβλεψεν, ἐπύθετο τίς καὶ τίνος ἡ σκάφη.
"τῆς βασιλίδος" ἤκουσεν "ἡ ναῦς καὶ τὰ φορτία." καὶ λύπην μὲν δακέθυμον ἔσχε κατὰ καρδίας, μεταστειλάμενος δ' αὐτὴν καὶ γνοὺς
περὶ τοῦ πλοίου "αἲ αἲ βασίλισσα" φησίν, "εἰς οἷον φθάνω βίον; οἵαν ἀνθ' οἵας εὐτυχοῦς ἀντηλλαξάμην τύχην! φορτίων ἀπεμπολητὴς
ὁ τῶν Ῥωμαίων κράτωρ καὶ κάπηλος γεγένημαι φεῦ τῶν ἐμπόρων χείρων." καὶ ταῦτ' εἰπὼν ἐκέλευσε γνάθοις πυρὸς παμφάγου τὴν ναῦν
τὴν μυριόφορτον αὐτόφορτον βρωθῆναι. Οὗτος αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς Μεθόδιον τὸν πάνυ θέμενος ὑπερόριον ἔν τινι νησιδίῳ εἰς σπήλαιον
κατέκλεισεν ὡς εἰς μνημεῖον νέκυν, ὡς ἐν ὀστράκῳ μάργαρον, ὡς ἐν ἀκάνθῃ ῥόδον, καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ καὶ μετ' αὐτοῦ δύο λῃστὰς κακούργους.
τούτων θατέρου τῶν λῃστῶν τὸν βίον ἐκλιπόντος καὶ ῥεύσαντος ἐκ φυσικῆς ἀφύκτου κατ' ἀνάγκης τὴν δύσοσμον ἀποφορὰν καὶ τὴν
ἐκεῖθεν λύμην ὁ καρτερόνους ἀθλητὴς ἐκεῖνος ἐκαρτέρει, ἣν οὐδ' αὐτὸς ἂν ἴσχυσεν ὑπενεγκεῖν ἀδάμας. ὁ δ' ἕτερος ἀπολυθεὶς οὐκ
ἤθελεν ἐκβῆναι, ἀλλ' ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ζοφερῷ σπηλαίῳ καταμείνας καὶ ζηλωτὴς γενόμενος ἐνθέου πολιτείας ὡς ἥλιος ἀπήστραψεν ἀκτῖνας
σεμνοῦ βίου. ἔτι δ' ἐμφρούρου μένοντος τοῦ θείου Μεθοδίου οἱ κεντηθέντες τὰ σεπτὰ πρόσωπα θεηγόροι, ὧνπερ καὶ μνήμην ἔθετο
φθάσας ὁ λόγος ἤδη, βιαίως ἐλαυνόμενοι πρὸς τὴν ὑπερορίαν, ἄνδρα τινὰ σαγηνευτὴν ἰχθυοθήραν
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