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
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. This man, therefore, persuades Michael that his nephew should become the adopted son of the empress Zoe. These and such things were so, but what sort of things followed? The emperor adopts Michael (for so he was called) for his wife, and with the crown of a Caesar he adorns the most beastly man, the one who was openly swine-minded. But he himself, suffocated by his congenital disease, puts on a garment better than the purple, having re-dyed his robes with the black of the spirit, and having fled to tranquility from a much-tossed life, after having ruled the empire for seven whole years. From that point the empress takes thought for the affairs of state, and that Michael, her husband's nephew, she improperly adorns with the symbols of emperors, an ill-fated man, swine-like, sheep-minded, and by nature contributing congenital awkwardness, and with his youth turning him even more to emulate a colt that spits out its bridle, and vying with coltish leaps and disorderly kicks against the one who had nursed him for his upbringing, after he had drawn from her teat and had his fill of nourishment. And here only did Zoe, the shoot of the purple, make an ignorant mistake that mixed many sorrows, that she warmed a serpent, placing it in her womb, and offered the breast of the empire to the dragon. For when he took hold of such great affairs, a young man, witless, arrogant, self-willed, like newly trodden wine, acting insolently and bubbling up, he was not strong enough to bear the favor of fortune, and from there he was rolled down into a deep-cliffed chaos; for prosperity, they say, is a heavy-laden lead, and if it does not find someone strong to bear the weight, it throws that man headlong to the ground and chokes him. And first, he barbarously punished the leading men and counselors of the state by cutting off their genitals, so that many, having changed their male nature, became half-men and not recognizable to nature. Thus right from the first starting-line he appeared evil; for the evil-minded and most mischievous, one will know, as they say, in a single day. Then, taking on childishly-counseled boys and, being a child himself, using children as his chief counselors, just as before Rehoboam the offspring of Solomon did, he drives out the empresses Zoe and Theodora, and making them islanders, he shears them. which stirred up terrible roarings against the wretch, like a wind falling upon a ship-sailing sea and heaving it up from its depths as with levers. Then it was possible to perceive from clear events what sort of good-will the populace has for a benefactor, and how much power a commander, ruler, general, sovereign has who is rich in a father's affection for those under his hand and is loved by them as by children. For when the populace heard such things, that the ruler had placed the empresses in exile, that he had shorn their hair by force against their will, that he had changed their garments to black, it bubbled up with the fire of anger, straightway it seizes stones, pieces of wood and whatever came to hand, clods of earth, clubs, swords. Even the women were armed with weaving-shuttles as with lances, and with shouts and clamor it runs toward the ruler, seeking out the empresses with all hands and minds, and blaspheming Michael with savage-sounding cries. Then indeed, then with trembling flanks was seen the dragon who before was grim-faced, the lion a chameleon. He lets go of his audacity and arrogance, and in swift-sailing ships he brings the empresses, and again gives back to them the imperial power that was theirs by birth from their ancestors, from their great-grandfathers. Nevertheless, again the fire of sedition was kindled, again it was fanned against the accursed one. And so the most evil man, seeing the violence was inescapable, and being encircled on all sides like a bear by nets, tries perchance to steal his life with fleeing feet, and he escapes like a hare, one might say, to a rock, and makes the mystical table his refuge. But the populace, once for all kindled into a frenzy, the fire itself, as it seems, overcomes the roaring flame; for even inside the sacred places
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σχὼν τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν τῶν γηροκομουμένων καὶ τἆλλα πάντα τῆς ἀρχῆς ἦγεν ἄνω καὶ κάτω καὶ τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἄντικρυς ὦπτο λεοντοκόμος.
οὗτος οὖν πείθει Μιχαὴλ εἰσποίητον γενέσθαι υἱὸν τὸν ἀδελφόπαιδα Ζωῇ τῇ βασιλίσσῃ. ἦν ταῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτα μέν, τὰ δ' ἐφεξῆς
ὁποῖα; ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν Μιχαὴλ (οὕτω γὰρ ἐκαλεῖτο) τῇ γαμετῇ παιδοθετεῖ, καὶ Καίσαρος στεφάνῳ τὸν κτηνωδέστατον κοσμεῖ, τὸν
ἄντικρυς χοιρόνουν. αὐτὸς δὲ συμπνιγόμενος τῷ πάθει τῷ συμφύτῳ καταστολὴν ἐνδύεται κρείττονα πορφυρίδος, τοῦ πνεύματος τῷ
μέλανι τοὺς πέπλους μεταβάψας, καὶ τῇ γαλήνῃ προσδραμὼν ἐκ πολυσάλου βίου, ἐφ' ὅλοις ἔτεσιν ἑπτὰ τῆς βασιλείας ἄρξας. Ἐντεῦθεν
ἡ βασίλισσα φροντίζει τῶν τοῦ κράτους, καὶ τὸν ἀνδραδελφόπαιδα τὸν Μιχαὴλ ἐκεῖνον τοῖς τῶν ἀνάκτων οὐ καλῶς κατακοσμεῖ συμβόλοις,
ἄνθρωπον κακοδαίμονα, χοιρώδη, προβατόνουν, καὶ φύσει μὲν εἰσφέροντα σκαιότητας συμφύτους, τῆς δὲ νεότητος αὐτὸν εἰς πλέον
ἐκτρεπούσης ἀποπτυστῆρα χαλινοῦ πῶλον παραζηλοῦντα, καὶ πωλικὰ σκιρτήματα καὶ λακτισμοὺς ἀτάκτους ἀντιφιλοτιμούμενον τῇ θηλασάσῃ
θρέπτρα μετὰ τὸ σπάσαι τῆς θηλῆς καὶ τῆς τροφῆς εἰς κόρον. κἀνταῦθα μόνον ἡ Ζωή, τὸ τῆς πορφύρας ἔρνος, ἠγνόησεν ἀγνόημα θλίψεις
πολλὰς κεράσαν, ὅτι τὸν ὄφιν ἔθαλπεν ἐγγάστριον τιθεῖσα καὶ βασιλείας τὸν μαστὸν τῷ δράκοντι παρεῖχεν. ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐπελάβετο
πραγμάτων τηλικούτων ἄνθρωπος νέος, ἄβουλος, ἀγέρωχος, αὐθάδης, ὡς οἶνος νεοπάτητος ὑβρίζων καὶ καχλάζων, τῆς τύχης τὴν εὐμένειαν
οὐκ ἴσχυσε βαστάσαι, κἀντεῦθεν εἰς βαθύκρημνον ἐξεκυλίσθη χάος· μόλιβδος γὰρ βαρύφορτος, φασίν, εὐημέρια, κἂν οὐκ ἐντύχῃ κραταιῷ
τῷ φέροντι τὸ βάρος, κύμβαχον ῥίπτει κατὰ γῆς ἐκεῖνον καὶ συμπνίγει. καὶ πρῶτα μὲν τοὺς τῆς ἀρχῆς προάρχους καὶ προβούλους
βαρβαρικῶς ἐκόλαζε τὰ παιδογόνα τέμνων, ὥστε πολλοὺς ἀμείψαντας τὴν τῶν ἀρρένων φύσιν ἡμιανθρώπους γίνεσθαι καὶ μὴ γνωστοὺς
τῇ φύσει. οὕτως εὐθὺς ἀπὸ γραμμῆς πρώτης κακὸς ἐφάνη· τοὺς γὰρ πονηρογνώμονας καὶ κακεντρεχεστάτους ἐπὶ μιᾶς, ὡς λέγουσιν,
ἡμέρας γνώσεταί τις. ἔπειτα προσλαβόμενος νηπιοβούλους παῖδας καὶ πρωτοβούλοις χρώμενος νήπιος τοῖς νηπίοις, καθάπερ πρὶν
ὁ Ῥωβοὰμ ὁ Σολομῶντος γόνος, τὰς βασιλίσσας ἐξωθεῖ Ζωὴν καὶ Θεοδώραν, καὶ νησιώτιδας αὐτὰς θέμενος ἀποκείρει. ὅπερ δεινοὺς
ἐξήγειρε φλοίσβους τῷ ταλαιπώρῳ, ὡς ἄνεμος ἐπιπεσὼν θαλάσσῃ σκαφηπλόῳ καὶ κάτωθεν ἀπὸ μοχλῶν αὐτὴν ἀναμοχλεύσας. τότε παρῆν
κατανοεῖν ἐξ ἐναργῶν πραγμάτων ὁποῖον πλήθους εὔνοια περὶ τὸν εὐεργέτην, καὶ πόσα σθένει κοίρανος ἄρχων στρατάρχης κράτωρ
πατρὸς στοργὴν καταπλουτῶν περὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ χεῖρα καὶ παρ' αὐτῶν φιλούμενος καθάπερ ὑπὸ τέκνων. ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἠνωτίσατο τὸ πλῆθος
τὰ τοιαῦτα, ὡς τὰς ἀνάσσας ὁ κρατῶν ὑπερορίους θείη, ὡς τρίχας σφῶν ἀεκουσῶν ἀποθερίσοι βίᾳ, ὡς τὰς ἐσθῆτας τὰς αὐτῶν εἰς
μέλαν μεταχρώσει, θυμοῦ καχλάζει τῇ πυρᾷ, λίθους εὐθὺς ἁρπάζει, ξύλα καὶ πᾶν τὸ προστυχόν, βώλους, κορύνας, ξίφη. ὥπλιστο
καὶ τὰ γύναια κερκίσιν ὥσπερ λόγχαις, καὶ σὺν κραυγῇ καὶ λαλαγῇ πρὸς τὸν κρατοῦντα τρέχει, τὰς βασιλίσσας ἐκζητοῦν ὅλαις χερσὶ
καὶ γνώμαις, καὶ βλασφημοῦν τὸν Μιχαὴλ βοαῖς ἀγριοθρόοις. τότε δὴ τότε τρομερὰ λαγίνα καθωρᾶτο δράκων ὁ πρὶν βλοσυρωπός, ὁ
λέων χαμαιλέων. τοῦ θράσους καθυφίησι καὶ τῆς ἀλαζονείας, καὶ γοργοπλόοις σκάφεσιν ἄγει τὰς βασιλίσσας, καὶ πάλιν ἀποδίδωσιν
αὐταῖς τὴν κρατορίαν τὴν ἐκ προγόνων προσγενῆ, τὴν ἐκ τῶν ἐπιπάππων. πλὴν ἀλλὰ πάλιν ἡ πυρὰ τῆς στάσεως ἀνῆπτο, πάλιν ἀνερριπίζετο
κατὰ τοῦ καταπτύστου. καὶ τοίνυν ἄφυκτον ἰδὼν ὁ κάκιστος τὴν βίαν, καὶ πάντοθεν κυκλούμενος ὡς ἄρκτος ὑπ' ἀρκύων, πειρᾶται
τάχα τὴν ζωὴν κλέψαι ποσὶ φυγάσι, καὶ δραπετεύει λαγωός, εἴποι τις ἄν, εἰς πέτραν, καὶ τράπεζαν τὴν μυστικὴν καταφυγὴν ποιεῖται.
ἀλλὰ τὸ πλῆθος ἐκκαυθὲν καθάπαξ εἰς μανίαν αὐτὸ τὸ πῦρ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὑπερνικᾷ τὸ βρέμον· ἔνδον καὶ γὰρ τῶν ἱερῶν
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