66

having been deemed worthy of good things, we honored the festival with various public discourses, at one time delivering interpretations of the expressions philosophized by the emperor in his writing, and at another delivering interpretations of the prophetic contemplations that were timely and suited to the symbols before us. Thus the festival of the dedication was celebrated with rejoicings in the very thirtieth anniversary of the emperor. 4.46.1 What a temple of the Savior, what a cave of salvation, and what love of beauty on the part of the emperor, and the multitudes of votive offerings made of gold and silver and precious stones, we have described to the best of our ability in a special work, which we addressed to the emperor himself. This discourse we shall publish at a suitable time after the present subject of our writing, joining with it his tricennial oration, which a little later, having made the journey to the city named after the emperor, we delivered in the hearing of the emperor himself, this being the second time we glorified in the palace God, the King of all, while listening to which the friend of God seemed to be filled with joy. This very thing he showed after the hearing, banqueting with the bishops who were present and treating them with every kind of honor. This synod, the greatest we know of, the emperor convened as a second one in Jerusalem after that first one, which he had famously held in the city of the Bithynians. But that one was a triumphal one, fulfilling in the twentieth anniversary of his reign the prayer against his enemies and foes in Nicaea itself, while this one adorned the period of the third decade, with the emperor dedicating the martyrium as a votive offering of peace to God, the giver of all good things, around the monument of salvation. And indeed, when these things were being accomplished by the emperor, and his virtue according to God was being praised by the mouth of all, one of the ministers of God, daring to do so, declared him blessed to his face, because he had been deemed worthy of the universal imperial rule in the present life, and in the future was destined to reign with the Son of God. But he, hearing the voice with displeasure, advised him not to dare to utter such things, but rather to ask in prayer for him both in the present and in the future to be found worthy of the service of God. And when the thirtieth year of his reign was being completed, he celebrated the marriage of his second son, having long ago done the same for the eldest in age. Festivities and banquets were held, with the emperor himself leading the bridegroom and feasting magnificently, and banqueting here with companies of men, and elsewhere with separate companies of women, and rich distributions of gifts were bestowed upon the people and the cities. At this time also ambassadors from the Indians toward the rising sun came bringing gifts, and there were all kinds of gleaming, costly stones and animals of a nature different from those known among us, which they brought to the emperor, signifying his power extending to the Ocean itself, and how the rulers of the land of the Indians, honoring him with painted portraits and dedications of statues, confessed to recognize him as emperor and king. For indeed, when he began his reign, the Britons in the Ocean toward the setting sun were the first to be subdued by him, and now the Indians who inhabit the land toward the rising sun. Since, therefore, he held sway over both extremities of the whole inhabited world, he divided the entire government of the empire among his three sons, bequeathing it as a kind of paternal inheritance to his beloved ones. So he assigned the portion of his grandfather to the eldest, the government of the East to the second, and the part between these to the third. 4.51.2 And providing for them a good and soul-saving inheritance, he instilled in them the seeds of piety, bringing them to divine studies, and appointing as their teachers men approved for their piety, and he also appointed for them other instructors of secular learning who had reached the height of education; others presided over their military studies, others made them inspectors 4.51.3 of political affairs, while others made them skilled in the laws

66

ἀγαθῶν ἠξιωμένοι ποικίλαις ταῖς εἰς τὸ κοινὸν διαλέξεσι τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐτιμῶμεν, τοτὲ μὲν διὰ γράμματος τῶν βασιλεῖ πεφιλοσοφημένων τὰς ἐκφράσεις ἑρμηνεύοντες ποιούμενοι, τοτὲ δὲ καιρίους καὶ τοῖς προκειμένοις συμβόλοις τὰς προφητικὰς ποιούμενοι ἑρμηνεύοντες θεωρίας. οὕτω μὲν ἡ τῆς ἀφιερώσεως ἑορτὴ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ βασιλέως τριακονταετηρίδι σὺν εὐφροσύναις ἐπετελεῖτο. 4.46.1 Οἷος δ' ὁ τοῦ σωτῆρος νεώς, οἷον τὸ σωτήριον ἄντρον, οἷαί τε αἱ βασιλέως φιλοκαλίαι ἀναθημάτων τε πλήθη ἐν χρυσῷ τε καὶ ἀργύρῳ καὶ λίθοις τιμίοις πεποιημένων, κατὰ δύναμιν ἐν οἰκείῳ συγγράμματι παραδόντες αὐτῷ βασιλεῖ προσεφωνήσαμεν· ὃν δὴ λόγον κατὰ καιρὸν μετὰ τὴν παροῦσαν τῆς γραφῆς ὑπόθεσιν ἐκθησόμεθα, ὁμοῦ καὶ τὸν τριακονταετηρικὸν αὐτῷ συζευγνύντες, ὃν σμικρὸν ὕστερον, ἐπὶ τῆς βασιλέως ἐπωνύμου πόλεως τὴν πορείαν στειλάμενοι, εἰς ἐπήκοον αὐτοῦ βασιλέως διήλθομεν, τοῦτο δεύτερον ἐν αὐτοῖς βασιλείοις τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων βασιλέα θεὸν δοξάσαντες, οὗ δὴ κατακροώμενος ὁ τῷ θεῷ φίλος γαννυμένῳ ἐῴκει. τοῦτο δ' οὖν αὐτὸ μετὰ τὴν ἀκρόασιν ἐξέφηνε, συμποσιάζων μὲν παροῦσι τοῖς ἐπισκόποις παντοίᾳ τ' αὐτοὺς τιμῇ φιλοφρονούμενος. Ταύτην μεγίστην ὧν ἴσμεν σύνοδον δευτέραν συνεκρότει βασιλεὺς ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις μετὰ τὴν πρώτην ἐκείνην, ἣν ἐπὶ τῆς Βιθυνῶν διαφανῶς πεποίητο πόλεως. ἀλλ' ἡ μὲν ἐπινίκιος ἦν, ἐν εἰκοσαετηρίδι τῆς βασιλείας τὴν κατ' ἐχθρῶν καὶ πολεμίων εὐχὴν ἐπ' αὐτῆς Νικαίας ἐκτελοῦσα, ἡ δὲ τῆς τρίτης δεκάδος τὴν περίοδον ἐκόσμει, τῷ πάντων ἀγαθῶν δοτῆρι θεῷ ἀμφὶ τὸ μνῆμα τὸ σωτήριον εἰρήνης ἀνάθημα τὸ μαρτύριον βασιλέως ἀφιεροῦντος. Καὶ δὴ τούτων βασιλεῖ συντελουμένων, ἀνὰ στόμα τε πάντων ἀνυμνουμένης αὐτοῦ τῆς κατὰ θεὸν ἀρετῆς, τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ λειτουργῶν τις ἀποτολμήσας εἰς αὐτοῦ πρόσωπον μακάριον αὐτὸν ἀπέφαινεν, ὅτι δὴ κἀν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ τῆς κατὰ πάντων αὐτοκρατορικῆς βασιλείας ἠξιωμένος εἴη κἀν τῷ μέλλοντι συμβασιλεύειν μέλλοι τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ. ὁ δὲ ἀπεχθῶς τῆς φωνῆς ἐπακούσας μὴ τοιαῦτα τολμᾶν παρῄνει φθέγγεσθαι, μᾶλλον δὲ δι' εὐχῆς αἰτεῖσθαι αὐτῷ κἀν τῷ παρόντι κἀν τῷ μέλλοντι τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ δουλείας ἀξίῳ φανῆναι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ ὁ τριακονταέτης αὐτῷ τῆς βασιλείας διεπεραίνετο χρόνος, τῷ δευτέρῳ τῶν παίδων συνετέλει γάμους, πάλαι ταὐτὸ κἀπὶ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου τὴν ἡλικίαν διαπραξάμενος. θαλίαι δὴ καὶ ἑστιάσεις ἤγοντο, νυμφοστολοῦντος αὐτοῦ βασιλέως τὸν παῖδα ἑστιῶντός τε λαμπρῶς καὶ συμποσιάζοντος ὧδε μὲν ἀνδρῶν θιάσοις, γυναικῶν δ' ἀφωρισμένοις ἀλλαχόθι χοροῖς, διαδόσεις τε πλούσιαι χαρισμάτων δήμοις ἅμα καὶ πόλεσιν ἐδωροῦντο. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ Ἰνδῶν τῶν πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον πρέσβεις ἀπήντων δῶρα κομίζοντες, γένη δ' ἦν παντοῖα ἐξαστραπτόντων πολυτελῶν λίθων ζῷά τε τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν ἐγνωσμένων ἐναλλάττοντα τὴν φύσιν, ἃ δὴ προσῆγον τῷ βασιλεῖ, τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν Ὠκεανὸν δηλοῦντες αὐτοῦ κράτησιν, καὶ ὡς οἱ τῆς Ἰνδῶν χώρας καθηγεμόνες εἰκόνων γραφαῖς ἀνδριάντων τ' αὐτὸν ἀναθήμασι τιμῶντες αὐτοκράτορα καὶ βασιλέα γνωρίζειν ὡμολόγουν. ἀρχομένῳ μὲν οὖν τῆς βασιλείας αὐτῷ οἱ πρὸς ἥλιον δύοντα ἐν Ὠκεανῷ Βρεττανοὶ πρῶτοι καθυπετάττοντο, νῦν δ' Ἰνδῶν οἱ τὴν πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον λαχόντες. Ὡς οὖν ἑκατέρων τῶν ἄκρων τῆς ὅλης οἰκουμένης ἐκράτει, τὴν σύμπασαν τῆς βασιλείας ἀρχὴν τρισὶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ διῄρει παισίν, οἷά τινα πατρῴαν οὐσίαν τοῖς αὐτοῦ κληροδοτῶν φιλτάτοις. τὴν μὲν οὖν παππῴαν λῆξιν τῷ μείζονι, τὴν δὲ τῆς ἑῴας ἀρχὴν τῷ δευτέρῳ, τὴν δὲ τούτων μέσην τῷ τρίτῳ διένεμε. 4.51.2 Κλῆρον δ' ἀγαθὸν καὶ ψυχῆς σωτήριον τοῖς αὐτοῖς ποριζόμενος τὰ θεοσεβείας αὐτοῖς ἐνίει σπέρματα, θείοις μὲν προσάγων μαθήμασι, διδασκάλους δ' ἐφιστὰς εὐσεβείᾳ δεδοκιμασμένους ἄνδρας, καὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν δὲ λόγων καθηγητὰς ἑτέρους εἰς ἄκρον ἥκοντας παιδεύσεως τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐφίστη· ἄλλοι πολεμικῶν αὐτοῖς ἐξῆρχον μαθημάτων, ἕτεροι τῶν πολιτικῶν ἐπιγνώμονας 4.51.3 αὐτοὺς καθίστων, οἱ δὲ νόμων ἐμπείρους αὐτοὺς