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
from himself, having allotted a great portion of reason to his soul; This man, therefore, having long ago established for himself a little adopted daughter, Euphemia, changed the adoption into nature, and in reality preserved a fatherly and natural disposition toward her. For since he had no offspring from another source, he stirred up all the ambition of his soul for the girl, not only arranging present matters well for her, but also providing from afar how she might fare best in the future. For indeed, not waiting for the age of puberty at which marriages and legal unions are accustomed to take place, while she was still of an incomplete age and not yet of marriageable age, he betrothed to her Elpidios, the son of the protospatharios John Kengres, who was just passing the age of a youth, and had lived twice the years of his betrothed. This, however, had happened and happens to many others, and the law knows the practice and does not disapprove of the choice of those making the contract. For the fact that each person does not know how many years he will live, and if he will live with his children as they grow up, casts into the soul the need to care for one's own from afar and to arrange the marriages. But something else had also befallen the vestarches; for standing near the then reigning lord Constantine Monomachos, and distinguishing himself in the senatorial council, he decided it was necessary, in those times in which matters of what is called fortune by the many stood well for him, to make use of it for the care of his daughter, so that, if a change occurred, he would not be behind in his affairs and repent in vain. For he knew, as a wise man, that our affairs are not static, but that things which seem to be standing still are moving and turning over, escaping the notice of the many; and it is necessary before the final overturning both for the ship's helmsman to handle the rudders and for the one in charge of affairs to arrange them for what seems to be to his advantage. But one might make this defense for the man and acquit him of the charge. Wherefore, having refused many of those in authority, and not a few of those whose family foundation was glorious from of old, he betroths Elpidios to his adopted daughter, and begins his disposition toward him from the very starting line, as they say. For he enrolls him among the protospatharioi, and assigns him to the minor imperial notaries in the sekreton of the Antiphonetes, and moreover, he approves him among the judges for the hippodrome. But the rank of protospatharios was reckoned to Elpidios as part of the dowry, while the others had the character of an honor. For having promised fifty pounds to his daughter, he gave ten in stamped gold, he counts out twenty in various goods, and the remaining twenty he fulfilled for the amount of his promise through the value of the rank of protospatharios. Now before this, the one who received these things was a spatharios receiving a salary of twelve nomismata, but the vestarches added another sixty to these, multiplying the previous by the subsequent. But it was necessary, then, not to adorn him at once with external things, nor to decorate him with ornaments, but from the foundation, as they say, of the temple of that one's soul to show his affection for him, and first to lay down the keel, then to fasten the ribs on either side. But he—I know not in what way—began from the body to the soul, making first things second. But Elpidios, at least, having marveled at the external flash and having loved the beauty of apparent glory, shut his eyes to the light of learning. And the vestarches labored to plow his soul, but he labored against it, not receiving what was sown. And the one gave him books to hold and to be occupied with learning, but the other demanded a well-reined horse and to live with mimes and charioteers. And each vied with the other, the one, that he might become good, the other, that he might turn out wicked. And both were fighting against each other concerning different dispositions and habits; and splendid on the one hand was the
παρ' ἑαυτοῦ, πολλήν τινα μοῖραν τοῦ λόγου νειμάμενος τῇ ψυχῇ· οὗτος τοιγαροῦν ὁ ἀνὴρ θυγάτριόν τι ἑαυτῷ εἰσποιητὸν τὴν εὐφημίαν
πρὸ πολλοῦ θέμενος, τὴν θέσιν εἰς φύσιν μετήλλαξε, καὶ τῷ ὄντι πατρῴαν καὶ φυσικὴν περὶ αὐτὸ διάθεσιν ἔσωζε. μὴ γὰρ ὑπούσης
αὐτῷ γονῆς ἄλλοθεν, περὶ τὴν παῖδα τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἅπαν ἐκίνει φιλότιμον, οὐ τὰ παρόντα μόνον ταύτῃ διατιθέμενος εὖ, ἀλλ' ὅπως
ἂν καὶ τῶν μελλόντων κάλλιστα ἕξει πόρρωθεν προνοούμενος. μὴ γάρ τοι τὸν τῆς ἐφηβείας ἀναμείνας χρόνον καθ' ὃν γάμοι καὶ συνάφειαι
νόμιμοι πεφύκασι γίνεσθαι, ἐν ἀτελεῖ ἔτι τῇ ἡλικίᾳ καὶ μήπω γάμου ἔτι ὥραν ἀγούσῃ, κατεγγυᾶται αὐτῇ τὸν τοῦ πρωτοσπαθαρίου
Ἰωάννου τοῦ Κεγχρῆ υἱὸν Ἐλπίδιον, ἄρτι που τὸν ἔφηβον παραλλάττοντα χρόνον, καὶ διπλᾶ τῇ μνηστῇ ἔτη βιώσαντα. τοῦτο μέντοι
καὶ πολλοῖς ἑτέροις ἐγεγόνει καὶ γίνεται, καὶ ὁ νόμος οἶδε τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ οὐκ ἀποδοκιμάζει τῶν συναλλαττόντων τὴν αἵρεσιν.
τὸ γὰρ μὴ εἰδέναι ἕκαστον ὁπόσα ἔτη βιώσεται, καὶ εἰ τοῖς παισὶν αὐξανομένοις συζήσεται, ἐμβάλλει τῇ ψυχῇ πόρρωθεν φροντίζειν
τῆς φύσεως καὶ τὰς συζυγίας ἁρμόζεσθαι. τῷ δὲ γε βεστάρχῃ καὶ ἄλλο τι ἐπισυμβεβήκει· ἀγχοῦ γὰρ τοῦ τηνικαῦτα βασιλεύοντος
κῦρ Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ Μονομάχου ἑστῶς, κἀν τῇ συγκλήτῳ διαπρέπων βουλῇ, δεῖν ἔγνω τοῖς καιροῖς ἐν οἷς αὐτῷ τὰ τῆς λεγομένης
παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς τύχης εὖ ἵστατο, εἰς φροντίδα τῆς παιδὸς ἀποχρήσασθαι, ἵνα μὴ μεταβολῆς γενομένης, κατόπιν τε τῶν πραγμάτων
γένοιτο καὶ μεταμελοῖτο ἀνόνητα. ᾔδει γάρ, οἷα σοφός, ὡς οὐκ ἐν στάσει τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς, ἀλλὰ λανθάνει τοὺς πολλοὺς τὰ δοκοῦντα
ἑστηκέναι κινούμενα καὶ περιτρεπόμενα· καὶ δεῖ πρὸ τῆς ἐσχάτης περιτροπῆς καὶ τὸν τῆς νεὼς κυβερνήτην μεταχειρίζεσθαι τὰ πηδάλια
καὶ τὸν ἐφεστηκότα πράγμασι πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν συμφέρον αὐτὰ διατίθεσθαι. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα ἂν τις ὑπεραπολογήσαιτο τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ ἀπολύσαιτο
αὐτὸν αἰτιάματος. Ὅθεν καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν τῶν ἐν τέλει παραιτησάμενος, οὐκ ὀλίγους δὲ καὶ τῶν οἷς ἡ κρηπὶς τοῦ γένους ἀνωθεν
εὐκλεής, τῇ εἰσποιήτῳ θυγατρὶ μνηστεύεται τὸν Ἐλπίδιον, καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῆς ὅ φασι γραμμῆς τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν διαθέσεως ἄρχεται. τοῖς
τε γὰρ πρωτοσπαθαρίοις τοῦτον ἐγκαταλέγει, καὶ τοῖς ἐς τὸ τοῦ Ἀντιφωνητοῦ σέκρετον μικροῖς βασιλικοῖς νοταρίοις ἐγκατατάττει,
ἔτι γε μὴν καὶ τοῖς ἐς τὸν ἱππόδρομον ἐγκρίνει κριταῖς. ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν πρωτοσπαθαράτον εἰς μέρος προικὸς τῷ Ἐλπιδίῳ λελόγισται,
τὰ δ' ἄλλα φιλοτιμίας λόγον ἐπέχει. πεντήκοντα γὰρ λίτρας τῇ θυγατρὶ ὑποσχόμενος, τὰς μὲν δέκα διὰ κεχαραγμένου χρυσίου δέδωκε,
τὰς δὲ εἴκοσιν εἴδεσι διαφόροις ἀπαριθμεῖται, τὰς δέ γε λοιπὰς εἴκοσι διὰ τῆς τοῦ πρωτοσπαθαράτου τιμῆς τῇ ποσότητι τῆς ὑποσχέσεως
ἀνεπλήρωσεν. ἦν δ' ἄρα πρὸ τούτων ὁ ταῦτα εἰληφὼς σπαθάριος δυοκαίδεκα νομίσματα ῥογευόμενος, ὁ δέ γε βεστάρχης ἑξήκοντα ἕτερα
τούτοις προστέθεικε, πολλαπλασιάσας τοῖς ἑπομένοις τὰ προηγούμενα. Ἔδει δὲ ἄρα μὴ τοῖς ἐκτὸς αὐτὸν εὐθὺς καλλωπίζειν, μηδὲ
περιάπτοις κατακοσμεῖν, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ κρηπίδος ὅ φασι τοῦ νεὼ τῆς ἐκείνου ψυχῆς τὸ εἰς αὐτὸν φίλτρον ἐνδείκνυσθαι, καὶ τὴν τρόπιν
πρῶτον ὑποτιθέναι, εἶτα τὰς ἑκατέρωθεν συμπηγνῦναι πλευράς. ὁ δέ-οὐκ οἶδ' ὅντινα τρόπον-ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος εἰς τὴν ψυχὴν ἤρξατο
τὰ πρῶτα ποιούμενος δεύτερα. ἀλλ' ὅ γε Ἐλπίδιος τὴν ἔξωθεν τεθαυμακὼς ἀστραπὴν καὶ τὸ τῆς φαινομένης δόξης κάλλος ἠγαπηκώς,
πρὸς τὸ τῶν λόγων ἀπέμυσε φῶς. καὶ ὁ μὲν βεστάρχης ἐπόνει ἀροτριῶν τὴν ἐκείνου ψυχήν, ὁ δὲ ἀντεπόνει μὴ δεχόμενος τὰ βαλλόμενα.
καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐδίδου βιβλία κρατεῖν καὶ πρὸς λόγοις εἶναι, ὁ δὲ ἵππον ἀντῄτει εὐήνιον καὶ μίμοις καὶ ἡνιόχοις συζῇν. καὶ ἀντεφιλοτιμοῦντο
ἑκάτεροι, ὁ μὲν ὅπως ἂν ἀγαθὸς γένοιτο, ὁ δὲ ὅπως ἂν πονηρὸς ἀποβαίη. καὶ ἤστην ἄμφω διαμαχομένω ἀλλήλοιν περὶ διαφόρων διαθέσεών
τε καὶ ἕξεων· καὶ λαμπρὰ μὲν ἡ
