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

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 victories. May the sun not burn you by day, nor the moon by night, but may a pillar of light guide you, and for you may the sea be divided, and may rivers retreat, and may angels of light escort you over all the earth. May we see you returning to us as a trophy-bearer, your head adorned with crowns of valor, O royal image, most worthy spectacle of the state, most worthy luminary of our moon. 20 An address to the emperor Kyrios Romanos Diogenes from the citizens in the Kletorion. Now for the first time I have beheld an emperor in arms, now for the first time I see a general who is also an autocrat. Your head flashes with the golden diadem, and no less does your right hand with the fearsome spear; and you look upon us, the citizens, with a gentle eye, but you terrify the barbarians with a startling gaze. Sweet is your voice to us, but harsh your shout to your adversaries. Cheerful to us is your face, but terrible to your opponents your general's roar. O emperor, and soldier and general, and whatever other most glorious name there is. O mixing-bowl of all virtue, both civic and military. O common good to both citizens and soldiers and great benefit to the queen of cities, which, having been brought to its knees, has now been raised up against all hope and is greatly proud of you, its master and autocrat, and is crowned with your victories, and exults in your achievements and utters such things to you, all but speaking. O torch-bearing luminary, who has illuminated me with boundless light. O most brilliant sun, who has made your motion from the east, and having reached the midday point, has lit up the whole earth with your most brilliant rays. Where then were you again, O beacon of the empire, who after many years have come to me? But you see how you have made me, grown old, to bloom again, and to return to the ancient beauty and greatness of my youth. For these things she kisses your eyes that have often kept vigil for her, she kisses down your hands which you have often bloodied with the slaughter of barbarians, she clings to your breast that still bears the scars of the wounds which you received for her while being struck. And bringing to you those who are her namesakes and nurslings, I mean the citizens, she speaks thus: these I entrust to you as a deposit, O emperor; these I bring to you as suppliants and most beloved alike. Embrace them for me with favor, look upon them gently, honor them kindly; for they will love you and praise you, and you, in turn, give back to them a manifold measure. Such things, most divine emperor, the city addresses to you, but you, raise her who is fallen, change her who has been altered for the worse, to the better, reshape her who has been deprived of her beauty with your contests, make her who has lost her bloom radiant, you her most divine lover and beloved, you who have shown the power <τῶν> of the Romans to be more glorious than the power of the barbarians, you who long ago bound upon yourself the reality of empire, and now have been fortunate also in the name, emperor of emperors and general of generals, and of this great and most illustrious of cities a truly most wondrous reality and name. 21 A valedictory oration to the emperor. The valedictory and departure oration concerning your most philanthropic soul is of such a kind and so wondrous; while that from us to you, our most excellent master and emperor, is thus composed, mixed with prayers and tears. May you flash from the dawn, crossing again into the east, like the sun in its boundless circle, with rich light, and may you illuminate the subject people, and burn up all the barbarian race. In addition to these things, may you extinguish the Babylonian fire, and rein in the assaults of lions and draw down fire from heaven against the hostile phalanx.

στεφανωθείης τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπὶ τροπαίοις λαμπροῖς. κοσμηθείης τοῖς κατὰ τῶν βαρβάρων ἀριστεύμασι, καὶ νίκαις δορυφορηθείης πολλαῖς. μὴ συγκαύσαι σε ἡμέρας ὁ ἥλιος, μηδὲ ἡ σελήνη τὴν νύκτα, ἀλλά σε στῦλος ὁδηγήσοι φωτός, καί σοι διαιρεθείη μὲν θάλασσα, ὑπαναχωρήσαιεν δὲ ποταμοί, καὶ ἄγγελοί σε φωτὸς ἐπὶ πᾶσαν γῆν παραπέμψαιεν. ἴδοιμέν σε τροπαιοφόρον ἐπαναστρέφοντα πρὸς ἡμᾶς, στεφάνοις ἀριστείοις κατακεκοσμημένον τὴν κεφαλήν, ὦ βασίλειον ἄγαλμα, πολιτείας ἀξιοπρεπέστατον θέαμα, τῆς ἡμετέρας σελήνης φωστὴρ ἀξιώτατε. 20 Προσφώνησις πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα κῦρ Ῥωμανὸν τὸν ∆ιογένην παρὰ τῶν πολιτῶν ἐν κλητορίῳ. Νῦν πρῶτον ὁπλίτην βασιλέα τεθέαμαι, νῦν πρῶτον ὁρῶ στρατηγὸν ἅμα καὶ αὐτοκράτορα. ἀστράπτει μέν σου ἡ κεφαλὴ τῷ χρυσῷ στέμματι, οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον καὶ ἡ δεξιὰ φοβερῷ δόρατι· καὶ προσηνεῖ μὲν ἡμᾶς τοὺς πολίτας ὁρᾷς ὄμματι, καταπληκτικῷ δὲ τοὺς βαρβάρους καταδειμαίνεις βλέμματι. γλυκεῖα μὲν ἡ πρὸς ἡμᾶς σου φωνή, δριμεῖα δὲ ἡ πρὸς τοὺς ἀντικειμένους βοή. ἱλαρὸν μὲν ἡμῖν σου τὸ πρόσωπον, φοβερὸν δὲ τοῖς ἀντιμαχομένοις τὸ στρατηγικόν σου ἐμβρίμημα. Ὦ βασιλεῦ, καὶ στρατιῶτα καὶ στρατηγέ, καὶ πᾶν εἴ τι ἄλλο ὑπέρλαμπρον ὄνομα. ὦ κρατὴρ πάσης ἀρετῆς, ὅση τε πολιτικὴ καὶ ὅση στρατηγική. ὦ κοινὸν ἀγαθὸν καὶ πολίταις καὶ στρατιώταις καὶ μέγα ὄφελος τῇ βασιλίδι τῶν πόλεων, ἥτις εἰς γόνυ κλιθεῖσα, νῦν παρ' ἐλπίδα ἀνώρθωται καὶ μέγα φρονεῖ ἐπί σοι τῷ δεσπότῃ καὶ αὐτοκράτορι, καὶ στεφανηφορεῖ σου ταῖς νίκαις, καὶ τοῖς κατορθώμασιν ἐπαγάλλεται καὶ τοιαῦτα πρός σε μονονουχὶ φθέγγεται. ὦ δᾳδοῦχε φωστήρ, ἀπείρῳ με καταυγάσας φωτί. ὦ φαεινότατε ἥλιε, ἐξ ἑῴας μὲν τὴν κίνησιν ποιησάμενος, πρὸς δὲ τὸ μεσημβρινὸν φθάσας κέντρον καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ταῖς ὑπερλάμπροις καταστράψας μαρμαρυγαῖς. Ποῦ ποτε καὶ πάλιν ἦσθα, ὁ τῆς βασιλείας πυρσός, ὃς διὰ χρόνων μοι προσπεφοίτηκας; ἀλλ' ὁρᾷς ὡς γηράσασαν ἀναθηλῆσαι αὖθις πεποίηκας, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἐπανελθεῖν τῆς νεότητος κάλλος καὶ μέγεθος. ἐπὶ τούτοις κατασπάζεταί σου τὰ ὄμματα τὰ πολλάκις ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἀγρυπνήσαντα, καταφιλεῖ σου τὰς χεῖρας ἃς πολλάκις τῷ φόνῳ τῶν βαρβάρων ἐξῄμαξας, προσφύεταί σου τῷ στήθει ἔτι τὰς ὠτειλὰς τῶν πληγῶν ἔχοντι ἃς ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἐδέξω βαλλόμενος. καί σοι τοὺς ἐπωνύμους αὐτῇ καὶ τροφίμους εἰσάγουσα, φημὶ δὴ τοὺς πολίτας, τοιαῦτα φωνεῖ· τούτους σοι παρακαταθήκην, βασιλεῦ, ἐγὼ παρατίθημι, τούτους σοι προσάγω ἱκέτας ὁμοῦ καὶ φιλτάτους. ἀγκάλισαί μοι αὐτοὺς εὐμένως, ἰδὲ προσηνῶς, φιλοτίμησαι δεξιῶς· οὗτοι μὲν οὖν ἀγαπήσουσί σε καὶ ἐπαινέσουσι, σὺ δὲ πολυπλασίονα τούτοις ἀντίδος τὴν μέτρησιν. Τοιαῦτα μέν, θειότατε βασιλεῦ, ἡ πόλις σοι προσφωνεῖ, σὺ δὲ κειμένην ἀνάστησον, ἀλλοιωθεῖσαν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον, ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον μετάβαλε, ἀφαιρεθεῖσαν τὸ κάλλος, τοῖς σοῖς ἀγωνίσμασι καταμόρφωσον, ἀπανθήσασαν φαίδρυνον ὁ θειότατος αὐτῆς ἐραστὴς καὶ ἐρώμενος, ὁ τὸ κράτος <τῶν> Ῥωμαίων τοῦ τῶν βαρβάρων κράτους δείξας λαμπρότερον, ὁ τὸ πρᾶγμα πάλαι τῆς βασιλείας ἀναδησάμενος, νῦν δὲ εὐμοιρήσας καὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος, βασιλεῦ βασιλέων καὶ στρατηγὲ στρατηγῶν, καὶ τῆς μεγάλης ταύτης καὶ περιφανεστάτης τῶν πόλεων θαυμασιώτατον ὄντως καὶ πρᾶγμα καὶ ὄνομα. 21 Συντακτήριος πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα. Ὁ μὲν δὴ περὶ τῆς σῆς φιλανθρωποτάτης ψυχῆς συντακτήριος λόγος καὶ ἐξιτήριος τοιοῦτος καὶ οὕτω θαυμάσιος· ὁ δὲ παρ' ἡμῶν πρός σε τὸν χρηστότατον δεσπότην καὶ βασιλέα οὕτω συγκείμενος εὐχαῖς καὶ δάκρυσι σύμμικτος. Ἀστράψαις ἐκ τῆς ἑῷας εἰς τὴν ἀνατολὴν αὖθις διαβαίνων, ὡς ἥλιος ἀπείρῳ κύκλῳ, πλουσίῳ φωτί, καὶ καταλάμψαις μὲν καὶ τὸ ὑπήκοον, καταφλέξαις δὲ καὶ σύμπαν τὸ βάρβαρον. ἐπὶ τούτοις κατασβέσαις μὲν πῦρ Βαβυλώνιον, χαλινώσαις δὲ λεόντων ὁρμὰς καὶ πῦρ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐφελκύσαις κατὰ τῆς δυσμενοῦς φάλαγγος.