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
by the transgression of tetragamy. But Leo, the most philosophical among emperors, having fallen into the natural necessities of the body and being afflicted by a disease that threatened danger, having already for the twenty-sixth year directed the imperial power and the fortune of the Romans, and perceiving his death and the dissolution of his tabernacle, he appoints as absolute and autocratic sovereigns his brother Alexander and his son Constantine, saying only this with his last breaths, "I see also Alexander as a giver of evil for a period of thirteen months," plainly saying this, that Alexander's reign will be so long. And indeed the word did not fail, nor was it mistaken. For Alexander, having devoted himself to luxuries and drinking bouts and caring only for the titillation of the body, and having done nothing else worthy of so great an empire, nor spoken, nor held in his heart, flowed away like a moist flower withered by the sun, and quickly departed, wasted away by consumptive diseases. And Constantine becomes sole monarch, sole ruler, being still a soft and delicate little boy and not yet strong enough to steer the ship of the empire; for he was in the seventh year of his age. This also became the cause of many evils, and made the emperor drink the brine of afflictions, even if the outcome of the trials turned out to be favorable. For just like a newly-grafted, newly-planted little tree, not strong enough to endure a chilly winter, nor the assaults of fierce, ill winds, nor torrential rains, nor scorching heat, not hailstones nor the freezing of ice, some heavy-sounding blasts blowing from somewhere or stones of hail hurled from the clouds batter it and bend it and bow it to its knee, and they bruise its tenderness, and attack from all sides as in a siege, striving to uproot the plant from its very foundation. But if it is able to escape the ill-blowing squalls and the harsh winter and the violence from them, it becomes more tested, having wrestled much and been battered by bitter and mischievous seasons; for a plant nurtured by the wind and exercised by the winds brings with it, as they say, by nature much sturdiness. So also that lord, short in age, the purple-born child of Leo, Constantine, having barely at last, after long circuits of the sun, escaped the successions of misfortunes and the onsets of trials and soul-biting afflictions, reaped an understanding much more solid, like a sailor tossed by the squalls of many waves and barely reaching a calm harbor. For first, that strong Constantine, whose father they say was Andronikos Doukas, having gathered a large, well-armed, and equipped force, suddenly attacks the purple-born, utterly despising his infancy. But "a horse is a false thing for safety," as David sings, a high-necked, well-leaping, winged-footed, snorting horse. And so he, being thrown from his horse's seat, falls, brought down to the ground, and straightway the sword tastes his flesh and is dipped in his blood. And just as this terrible storm had passed, another arises, heavier than that one, much more bitter than the one before and the former squall. For Phokas the magistros (his name was Leo), a man distinguished by the size of his body and by his strength, and at that time entrusted with the entire generalship of the Romans, seeing that the old Romanos from Lakape, who was at that time droungarios of the fleet, was being taken on by the emperor, and although for a long time he had been in the throes of an unnatural tyranny and was plotting rebellion by himself, nevertheless holding back his impulse (for the time was not calling), then seizing what he thought was a favorable opportunity, he burst forth the weight of the difficult birth and brought forth the viper from his belly into the light, and having long nourished within himself a spark of hostility, he then kindled a pyre of a fire-belching furnace. And so, pretending to be eager and to do everything for the emperor and for his benefit, as if by Romanos
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παρανομήματι τῷ τῆς τετραγαμίας. Ὁ δὲ φιλοσοφώτατος ἐν βασιλεῦσι Λέων περιπεσὼν ταῖς φυσικαῖς τοῦ σώματος ἀνάγκαις καὶ νόσῳ
χειμαζόμενος κίνδυνον ἀπειλούσῃ, ἤδη πρὸς ἔτος εἰκοστὸν σὺν ἕκτῳ διιθύνας τὸ κράτος τὸ βασίλειον καὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων τύχην, καὶ
συνιδὼν τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὴν τοῦ σκήνους λύσιν, κράτορας ἀναδείκνυσιν αὐτάνακτας αὐτάρχους Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν ἀδελφὸν καὶ παῖδα
Κωνσταντῖνον, τοῦτο καὶ μόνον προειπὼν πνοαῖς ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις "βλέπω καὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ὡς κακοδότην χρόνον κατὰ τρισκαίδεκα
μηνῶν," ἄντικρυς τοῦτο λέγων, ὅτι τοσοῦτον ἔσσεται τὸ κράτος Ἀλεξάνδρου. Καὶ γοῦν οὐ διαπέπτωκεν ὁ λόγος, οὐδ' ἐσφάλη. ὁ γὰρ
Ἀλέξανδρος τρυφαῖς ἐσχολακὼς καὶ πότοις καὶ μόνον τὸν γαργαλισμὸν τοῦ σώματος φροντίσας, ἄλλο δ' οὐδὲν κατάξιον τοῦ τηλικούτου
κράτους οὐ δράσας, οὐ φθεγξάμενος, οὐ σχὼν κατὰ καρδίαν, ὡς ἄνθος ἔρρευσεν ὑγρὸν ἐκμαρανθὲν ἡλίῳ, καὶ τάχιον ἐξέλιπε νόσοις
τακεὶς φθινάσι. καὶ Κωνσταντῖνος γίνεται μόναρχος μονοκράτωρ, ἔτι παιδίσκος ἁπαλὸς καὶ τρυφερὸς ὑπάρχων καὶ βασιλείας κυβερνᾶν
τὸ σκάφος οὔπω σθένων· τῆς γὰρ ἡλικιώσεως ἕβδομον ἦγεν ἔτος. ὃ καὶ πολλῶν παραίτιον γέγονε κακοτήτων, καὶ θλίψεων ἐπότισεν
ἅλμην τὸν βασιλέα, εἰ καὶ τὸ τέλος αἴσιον τῶν πειρασμῶν ἀπέβη. ὥσπερ γὰρ νεομόσχευτον ἀρτίφυτον δενδρίον, μήτε χειμῶνα κρυερὸν
ὑπενεγκεῖν ἰσχύον μήτε πνευμάτων προσβολὰς ἀγρίων δυσανέμων μήτε ῥαγδαίους ὑετοὺς μήτε καυσώδη θάλψιν, μὴ χαλαζῶν σφαιρώματα
μηδὲ κρυστάλλου πῆξιν, πνοαί ποθεν βαρυηχεῖς τινὲς ἐκφυσηθεῖσαι ἢ χαλαζῶν πετρώματα νεφόθεν δισκευθέντα χειμάζουσι καὶ κάμπτουσι
καὶ κλίνουσιν εἰς γόνυ, καὶ καταμωλωπίζουσιν αὐτοῦ τὴν τρυφερίαν, καὶ πάντοθεν προσβάλλουσιν ὡς ἐν πολιορκίᾳ, φιλονεικοῦσαι
τὸ φυτὸν προθέλυμνον ἐκτρῖψαι. ἂν δὲ τὰς ζάλας δυνηθῇ φυγεῖν τὰς κακοπνόους καὶ τὸν χειμῶνα τὸν βαρὺν καὶ τὴν ἐκεῖθεν βίαν,
γίνεται δοκιμώτερον ἅτε πολλὰ παλαῖσαν καὶ χειμασθὲν πικροποιοῖς καὶ κακωτρίαις ὥραις· φυτὸν γὰρ ἀνεμοτρεφὲς καὶ γυμνασθὲν
ἀνέμοις πολύ τι τὸ στερέμνιον, ὡς φασί, φύσει φέρει. οὕτω κἀκεῖνος ὁ βραχὺς τὴν ἡλικίαν ἄναξ, ὁ παῖς ὁ πορφυρόφυτος Λέοντος
Κωνσταντῖνος μόλις ποτὲ μετὰ μακροὺς ἡλίου περιδρόμους τῶν συμφορῶν ἀποφυγὼν τὰς ἀλλεπαλληλίας καὶ πειρασμῶν ἐπαγωγὰς καὶ
θλίψεις δακεθύμους, σύνεσιν ἐκαρπώσατο πολλῷ παγιωτέραν, ὥσπερ ναυβάτης κυκηθεὶς πολυκυμίας ζάλαις καὶ μόλις εἰς εὐγάληνον
λιμένα καταντήσας. πρῶτα μὲν γὰρ ὁ καρτερὸς ἐκεῖνος Κωνσταντῖνος, ὃν σχεῖν γενέτην λέγουσιν Ἀνδρόνικον τὸν ∆οῦκαν, χεῖρα πολλὴν
συναγαγὼν εὔοπλον ἐσταλμένην ἀθρόον ἐπιτίθεται τῷ πορφυροβλαστήτῳ, τῆς νηπιότητος αὐτοῦ πάντως καταφρονήσας. ἀλλὰ ψευδής,
ὡς ὁ ∆αβὶδ ψάλλει, πρὸς σωτηρίαν ἵππος ὑψαύχην εὔσκαρθμος πτηνόπους φρυακτίας. κἀκεῖνος οὖν ἐκσφαιρισθεὶς τῆς ἕδρας τῆς ἱππείας
πίπτει πρὸς γῆν κατενεχθείς, καὶ παρευθὺ τὸ ξίφος γεύεται τούτου τῶν σαρκῶν καὶ βάπτεται τῷ φόνῳ. ἄρτι δὲ τούτου τοῦ δεινοῦ
χειμῶνος παρελθόντος ἕτερος ἐπεγείρεται βαρύτερος ἐκείνου, πολλῷ τοῦ πρὶν πικρότερος καὶ τῆς προτέρας ζάλης. ὁ γὰρ Φωκᾶς ὁ
μάγιστρος (ὄνομα τούτῳ Λέων), ἀνὴρ μεγέθει σώματος καὶ ῥώμῃ διαπρέπων καὶ πᾶσαν τότε πιστευθεὶς Ῥωμαίων στραταρχίαν, ἰδὼν
προσλαμβανόμενον παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως τὸν γέροντα τὸν Ῥωμανὸν τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς Λακάπης, τοῦ ναυτικοῦ δρουγγάριον ὄντα τὸ τηνικαῦτα,
καὶ πάλαι μὲν τὴν ἔκφυλον ὠδίνων τυραννίδα καὶ σκευωρῶν καθ' ἑαυτὸν τὰ τῆς ἀποστασίας, ὅμως ἐπέχων τὴν ὁρμὴν (οὐ γὰρ καιρὸς
ἐκάλει), τότε καιροῦ δραξάμενος, ὡς ᾤετο, προσφόρου ἐξέρρηξε τοῦ τοκετοῦ τὸ βάρος τοῦ δυστόκου κἀκ τῆς γαστρὸς τὴν ἔχιδναν
ἐξήνεγκεν εἰς φάος, καὶ τρέφων πάλαι παρ' αὐτῷ σπινθῆρα δυσμενείας τότε πυρὰν ἐξέκαυσε καμίνου πυριβρόμου. καὶ τοίνυν προσποιούμενος
ὑπὲρ τοῦ βασιλέως πάντα σπουδάζειν καὶ ποιεῖν καὶ συμφερόντως τούτῳ ὡς δὴ παρὰ τοῦ Ῥωμανοῦ
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