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
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 Colchians, from the Iberians, from the Pamphylians, from the Mysians, from the Syrians, from the Cilicians, and having gathered phalanxes like the sand of the sea, noble fighting men, all skilled archers, breathing fire in wars, men who fight hand-to-hand, he encamps beside Chrysopolis, which lies opposite the city of the Byzantines, which one would not be wrong in calling a city of heaven. and he fills the plains with martial men, and all the land bronze-clad. The lances flashed, the helmets gleamed, shields clashed, the air was lit with a fiery glow from the spear-points. There were men with golden shields there, there were quiver-bearers, skilled horsemen, clad in bronze tunics, all bearing iron. Even giants would have shuddered at such a host. He himself, then, longing for the throne and contriving and doing everything against the ruler, was not hidden in the end; but for the time being, finding Romanos as a pretext, he pretended to be campaigning against Romanos himself and to be moving so great a battle-ready phalanx, sewing on the fox's skin with very evil intent; for he did not possess the lion's skin that could reach everywhere. For the old man Romanos, commander of the navy and from that position possessing no ordinary power, seeing the imperial power being tossed here and there and violently agitated like an unstable ship, which wintry storms turn and shake and savage squalls and whirling winds, and the affairs of the Romans falling into confusion and misery, as if held in the hand of a helpless child, subverts the emperor's attendants and chamberlains, who especially seemed to be well-disposed to the ruler, and having shared with them more secret counsels and having plotted with them and conspired with them, and he formed all sorts of deeply-laid plots for the purple, to dare a violent tyranny and to use his command of the fleet to carry it all out and give it wings, so that from this a wild, ill-omened, surging clamor resounded and roared against the palace. And everyone was shaken by the flood of fear, until the ever-turning tide of life brought Romanos to shore at the courts of the emperors as if in the calm embrace of a sheltered harbor. For the emperor, persuaded by his chief counselors, or rather, conspirators, makes Romanos his intimate friend and establishes him as guardian of his life and his rule, as one might say not unaptly, nor yet unwittily, the crocodile the trochilus, the pen-shell the crab. Leo Phokas, therefore, whom I mentioned before, learning that Romanos was in command of the emperor and was leading and turning as he pleased, like a slave, the sovereign, the tender shoot of the purple, pretended to be suffering on his behalf and to be leading the army to his defense out of loyalty, but in truth he was drawing the imperial power to himself. But He who catches the wise in their craftiness and overturns counsels and knows secret things turns Leo's machinations to the opposite, and Leo was revealed as a wolf gaping in vain. For the emperor, persuaded by the counsels of Romanos, sends forth a rescript to the army, accusing Phokas of manifest tyranny, and bearing further witness to the good deeds of Romanos. From this came joyless confusion and turmoil for the army, and Leo Phokas was a jackdaw in borrowed plumes; for, shamed, I think, by the emperor's letter, they all fled, leaving the wretched man deserted. Phokas, therefore, is taken alive and his pupils are extinguished and the lamps of his eyes are darkened with blindness, and again it was Romanos who was in complete control. But though entrusted with the guardianship of the youth like a mother, he suddenly appeared a hostile stepmother instead of a benevolent one, and this is the saying, scaring away the wolves, so that he himself might tear apart and feast upon the sheep. For the sovereign, believing Romanos to be well-disposed and a guardian of his life and a preserver of the empire, first honors him as *magister*, *megas hetaireiarches*, then adding to this distinction another, greater distinction and to
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καταστρατηγηθέντι ὁπλίζεται μετὰ στρατοῦ ῥυέντος πολλαχόθεν, ἐκ Λυκαόνων, ἐκ Θρᾳκῶν, ἐκ Κόλχων, ἐξ Ἰβήρων, ἐκ Παμφυλίων, ἐκ
Μυσῶν, ἐκ Σύρων, ἐκ Κιλίκων, καὶ φάλαγγας συνηθροικὼς ὡσεὶ θαλάσσης ψάμμον, ἄνδρας γενναίους μαχητάς, πάντας ἀγκυλοτόξους,
πῦρ ἐν πολέμοις πνέοντας, ἄνδρας ἀγχεσιμάχους, καταστρατοπεδεύεται παρὰ τῇ Χρυσοπόλει, τῆς Βυζαντίων πόλεως κατέναντι κειμένῃ,
ἣν οὐρανόπολιν εἰπὼν οὐκ ἄν τις διαμάρτῃ. καὶ πίμπλησιν ἀρεϊκῶν ἀνδρῶν τὰς πεδιάδας, καὶ πᾶσαν γῆν κατάχαλκον. ἀπήστραπτον
αἱ λόγχαι, ἀνέλαμπον αἱ κόρυθες, ἀσπίδες ἐπατάγουν, ἀὴρ ἐπυραυγίζετο ταῖς ἐπιδορατίσιν. ἦσαν ἐκεῖ χρυσάσπιδες, ἦσαν φαρετροφόροι,
εὔιπποι, χαλκοχίτωνες, πάντες σιδηροφόροι. ἔφριξαν ἂν καὶ γίγαντες παρεμβολὴν τοιαύτην. αὐτὸς μὲν οὖν βασιλειῶν καὶ κατὰ τοῦ
κρατοῦντος πάντα τυρεύων καὶ ποιῶν οὐκ ἔλαθεν εἰς τέλος· τότε δὲ τέως πρόφασιν τὸν Ῥωμανὸν εὑρίσκων προσεποιεῖτο κατ' αὐτοῦ
τοῦ Ῥωμανοῦ στρατεύειν καὶ τηλικαύτην συγκινεῖν φάλαγγα στρατευσίμην, προσράπτων τὴν ἀλωπεκῆν ἄγαν κακομηχάνως· οὐ πάντῃ γὰρ
τὴν λεοντῆν εἶχεν ἐφικνουμένην. ὁ γέρων γὰρ ὁ Ῥωμανὸς τοῦ ναυτικοῦ κατάρχων κἀκεῖθεν περικείμενος ἰσχὺν οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν, ἰδὼν
περιφερόμενον τῇδε κἀκεῖ τὸ κράτος καὶ κυμαινόμενον δεινῶς ὡς ναῦν ἀστατουμένην, ἣν ἄελλαι χειμέριοι στρέφουσι καὶ δονοῦσι
καὶ καταιγίδες ἄγριοι καὶ στρόφοι πνευματώδεις, καὶ τὰ Ῥωμαίων πίπτοντα φύρδην καὶ κακοπότμως ἅτε χειρὶ κρατούμενα παιδίου
νηπιάχου, τοῦ κράτορος ὑπέρχεται προσπόλους καὶ προκοίτους, οἵπερ καὶ μᾶλλον εὐνοεῖν ἐδόκουν τῷ κρατοῦντι, καὶ κοινωσάμενος
αὐτοῖς βουλὰς κρυφιωτέρας καὶ συσκεψάμενος αὐτοῖς καὶ συνδολοπλοκήσας καὶ μηχανὰς παντοδαπὰς πορφύρων βαθυβούλους ἐσχηματίζετο
τολμᾶν βιαίαν τυραννίδα καὶ πᾶσαν φέρειν καὶ πτεροῦν πρὸς τοῦτο στολαρχίαν, ὡς θροῦν ἐντεῦθεν ἄγριον κακόθρουν κυματίαν ἐπικτυπεῖν
καὶ σμαραγεῖν κατὰ τῶν βασιλείων. καὶ πάντας κατασείεσθαι τῷ κλύδωνι τοῦ δέους, ἕως ἡ πάντα στρέφουσα παλίπνοια τοῦ βίου προσώκειλε
τὸν Ῥωμανὸν αὐλαῖς ταῖς τῶν ἀνάκτων ὡς ἐν ἀγκάλαις γαληναῖς ὅρμων ἀλεξανέμων. τοῖς πρωτοβούλοις γὰρ πεισθεὶς ἢ μᾶλλον ἐπιβούλοις
ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν Ῥωμανὸν ὡς φίλον οἰκειοῦται καὶ τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς φύλακα καθιστάνει, εἴποι τις ἂν οὐκ ἀφυῶς, ἀλλ' οὐδ'
ἀχαριτώτως, τροχίλον ὁ κροκόδειλος, ἡ πίννα τὸν καρκίνον. ὁ τοίνυν Λέων ὁ Φωκᾶς, οὗ πρότερον ἐμνήσθην, τὸν Ῥωμανὸν κατάρχοντα
μαθὼν τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ φέροντα καὶ στρέφοντα πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν ὡς δοῦλον τὸν ἄνακτα τὸν ἁπαλὸν ὅρπηκα τῆς πορφύρας, ἐσκήπτετο
παθαίνεσθαι δῆθεν ὑπὲρ ἐκείνου καὶ τὸν στρατὸν εἰς ἄμυναν ἄγειν εὐνοίας νόμῳ, τὸ δ' ἀληθὲς εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐφείλκετο τὸ κράτος.
ἀλλ' ὁ δρασσόμενος σοφοὺς ἐπὶ ταῖς πανουργίαις καὶ στρέφων διαβούλια καὶ τὰ κρυπτὰ γινώσκων τὰς μηχανὰς τοῦ Λέοντος εἰς τοὐναντίον
τρέπει, καὶ λύκος μάτην ἐγχανὼν ὁ Λέων ἐγνωρίσθη. ταῖς γὰρ βουλαῖς τοῦ Ῥωμανοῦ πειθόμενος ὁ κράτωρ γραφὴν ἐρυθροσήμαντον πρὸς
τὸν στρατὸν ἐκπέμπει, κατηγοροῦσαν τῷ Φωκᾷ πρόδηλον τυραννίδα, τῷ Ῥωμανῷ δὲ τἀγαθὰ προσεπιμαρτυροῦσαν. ἐντεῦθεν φύρσις τῷ
στρατῷ κακόχαρτος καὶ ζάλη, καὶ κολοιὸς ξενόπτερος ἦν ὁ Φωκᾶς ὁ Λέων· τὴν γὰρ γραφὴν τοῦ κράτορος, οἶμαι, δυσωπηθέντες ἔφυγον
πάντες, ἔρημον τὸν ἄθλιον λιπόντες. ζωγρεῖται τοίνυν ὁ Φωκᾶς καὶ σβέννυται τὰς κόρας καὶ λύχνους τοὺς τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τυφλότητι
ζοφοῦται, καὶ πάλιν ἦν ὁ Ῥωμανὸς ἄγων καὶ φέρων πάντα. Πλὴν ἀλλ' ὡς μήτηρ πιστευθεὶς τὴν φυλακὴν τοῦ νέου αἴφνης ἐφάνη μητρυιὰ
δύσνους ἀντ' εὐνοούσης, καὶ τοῦτο τὸ λεγόμενον, ἀποσοβῶν τοὺς λύκους, ἵνα τὸ πρόβατον αὐτὸς σπαράττοι καὶ θοινῷτο. ὁ μὲν γὰρ
ἄναξ Ῥωμανὸν εὔνουν νομίσας εἶναι καὶ κηδεμόνα τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τηρητὴν τοῦ κράτους πρῶτα μὲν μάγιστρον τιμᾷ, μέγαν ἑταιρειάρχην,
εἶτα τῇ δόξῃ προστιθεὶς ἄλλην μείζονα δόξαν καὶ πρὸς
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