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
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 his eyes with their daggers. And with him they blind his impious paternal uncle, a perverse, boorish, most evil, all-grasping man, who had tasted power for not more than four months. And again the empresses take up the crown, and again they inherit the rule of their father and grandfather. With the storm of temptations driven far away, a sweet zephyr blew, fair weather smiled. But the empress Zoe, having discerned that the Roman power needed a ruler of manly mind, and thirsting for a succession of children and for childbirth, and longing to be called a child-bearer, a mother of children (for having been watered by two husbands like a tree, she was in danger of remaining barren, fruitless, withered), summons a certain charming man named Constantine from Lesbos with sail-winged ships, whom they called Monomachos from his patronymic. For he had been condemned to live on this island by the first Michael who had reigned, according to some, for trying to seize power (for the rumors about this were divided), but as some others say, whose tongue is not false, for having had a love affair with the empress Zoe. Therefore Constantine, having been condemned to live on Lesbos, and having been in danger of being extinguished and blinded, when suddenly fortune's die fell the other way and her knucklebones were cast differently, is shown to be sole ruler, master he who was once a slave, autocrat he who was condemned and emperor he who was a prisoner, and he weds the empress Zoe in marriage. so unpredictable is the life of mortals; thus the wheel of fortune, running up and down, rolls over all mortal things and turns them upside down in confusion. But the rumors depict this Monomachos as unskilled in warfare and arms-bearing, but in other respects magnificent, generous, urbane, brilliant-souled, a lover of adornment, gentle in his ways, a sea of generosity, a most drinkable lake, from which many enjoyed streams from beautiful fountains, from which many drew life-giving streams; for he was seen to have opened up veins everywhere, a Pactolus with golden eddies, a Nile pouring silver. Peoples knew his generous palms, temples knew his adornment-loving hands. The poor drank and drew, but to satiety; every sacred precinct enjoyed irrigation from a golden stream. Thus he was a common river, flooding everywhere; for he emptied the unstinting outpourings of his gifts as into unpierced channels, upon those who were in distress. And that arrogant Xerxes, the Persian ruler, reclining under a beautiful plane tree in summer vied in honoring the plant with lifeless ornaments; but because of him, rocks and plants and islands and meadows blossomed with dewy, ever-flowing graces. so great a soul, so rich a one he had. And if anyone wishes to know of his brilliant-mindedness, the splendidly built monastery will confirm the matter, which he raised from its foundations, from its very roots for the divine martyr of Christ, the trophy-bearer. But though he flourished with good things beyond the cedars, and was crowned with virtues, evergreen as a palm tree, he was in a very bad way with his earthly flesh, his feet were bound by the heavy afflictions of gout as if by strong foot-shackles, just like unbreakable fetters. And so he passed the day on soft couches, consoling his weary feet. From this broke out for him many-waved seas and billowing winds of misfortunes and temptations. Surely that terrible Maniakes has been heard of, a man of gigantic hands, swift of hand, a man-slayer, bold of heart, courageous, breathing vehement wrath. That man, therefore, having gathered men for close combat, club-bearers, spearmen, men of gigantic bodies, bearing a well-grown stature of their bodies, stretching in height above watery plane trees, stood over the head of the emperor like a thick cloud, gloomy, murky, even blacker than pitch, threatening torrential rains, not rains of water, but
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ἀδύτων εἰσδραμόντες ἐκεῖθεν ἀφαρπάζουσι τὸν τάλανα βοῶντα σὺν στεναγμοῖς καρδιακοῖς, σὺν δάκρυσιν ἐνθέρμοις, καὶ κόρας ἐξορύττουσιν
αὐτοῦ ταῖς μαχαιρίσι. καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ τὸν δυσσεβῆ πατράδελφον τυφλοῦσι, ἄνθρωπον δύστροπον, σκαιόν, κάκιστον, παντορέκτην, μῆνας
οὐ πλέον τέσσαρας γευσάμενον τοῦ κράτους. καὶ πάλιν αἱ βασίλισσαι τὸ στέφος ἀναδοῦνται, καὶ πάλιν τὴν πατρόπαππον ἀρχὴν κατακληροῦνται.
τῆς ζάλης δὲ τῶν πειρασμῶν ἀπελασθείσης πόρρω, ἔπνευσε ζέφυρος ἡδύς, ἐγέλασεν εὐδία. Ἀλλ' ἡ βασίλισσα Ζωὴ τὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων κράτος
κράτορος ἀρρενόφρονος χρῄζειν διεγνωκυῖα, καὶ παίδων δὲ διαδοχῆς καὶ τοκετοῦ διψῶσα καὶ γλιχομένη τεκνουργὸς ἀκοῦσαι παιδομήτωρ
(ὑπὸ δυοῖν γὰρ κοπετοῖν ὡς δένδρον ποτισθεῖσα ἄχλοος ἐκινδύνευεν, ἄφιλος, αὖος μένειν), ἄνδρα τινὰ χαρίεντα τοὔνομα Κωνσταντῖνον
Λεσβόθεν μεταπέμπεται σκάφεσι λαιφοπτέροις, ὃν Μονομάχον ἔλεγον ἐκ πατρεπωνυμίας. καὶ γὰρ καταδεδίκαστο ταύτην οἰκεῖν τὴν
νῆσον ὑπὸ τοῦ πρώτου Μιχαὴλ τοῦ βεβασιλευκότος, κατ' ἄλλους μὲν ὡς τὴν ἀρχὴν πειρώμενος ἁρπάζειν (ἄνδιχα γὰρ ἐκράτησαν αἱ
περὶ τούτου φῆμαι), ὡς ἄλλοι δέ τινές φασιν, οἷς ἀψευδὴς ἡ γλῶσσα, ὡς συμφθαρεὶς ἐρωτικῶς Ζωῇ τῇ βασιλίσσῃ. τὴν Λέσβον οὖν
κατακριθεὶς οἰκεῖν ὁ Κωνσταντῖνος, καὶ κινδυνεύσας παρ' οὐδὲν σβεσθῆναι καὶ τὰς κόρας, αἴφνης πεσόντος ἔμπαλιν τοῦ κύβου τοῦ
τῆς τύχης καὶ τῶν ὀστράκων τῶν αὐτῆς ἄλλως μεταρριφέντων αὐτάναξ ἀναδείκνυται, δεσπότης ὁ πρὶν δοῦλος, αὔταρχος ὁ κατάκριτος
καὶ κράτωρ ὁ δεσμώτης, καὶ τὴν βασίλισσαν Ζωὴν νυμφεύεται πρὸς γάμον. οὕτως ἀστάθμητός ἐστι τῶν γηγενῶν ὁ βίος· οὕτω πραγμάτων
ὁ τροχὸς ἄνω καὶ κάτω τρέχων κυλίνδει πάντα τὰ θνητὰ καὶ φύρδην μετατρέπει. αἱ φῆμαι δὲ μορφάζουσι τοῦτον τὸν Μονομάχον τῶν
μὲν μαχίμων ἀδαῆ καὶ τῆς ὁπλοφορίας, τὰ δ' ἄλλα μεγαλοπρεπῆ, φιλόδωρον, ἀστεῖον, λαμπρόψυχον, φιλόκοσμον, ἐπιεικῆ τοὺς τρόπους,
φιλοδωρίας θάλασσαν, λίμνην ποτιμωτάτην, ἐξ ὧν ἀπήλαυσαν πολλοὶ χευμάτων καλλικρούνων, ἐξ ὧν ἀπήντλησαν πολλοὶ νάματα ζωοτρόφα·
τὰς φλέβας γὰρ ἁπανταχῇ διακρουνίσας ὤφθη, χρυσεοδίνης Πακτωλός, Νεῖλος ἀργυροχεύμων. ἐπέγνων τούτου καὶ λαοὶ παλάμας φιλοδώρους,
ἐπέγνων τούτου καὶ ναοὶ τὰς φιλοκόσμους χεῖρας. οἱ πέντες ἐξέπιον ἤντλησαν, ἀλλ' εἰς κόρον· πᾶν τέμενος ἀπήλαυσεν ἀρδείας
χρυσορείθρου. οὕτω κοινὸς ἦν ποταμός, ἁπανταχοῦ λιμνάζων· ἐκένου γὰρ τῶν δωρεῶν ἀφθονοχύτους χύσεις ὡς εἰς ἀτρήτους ἀγωγοὺς
τοὺς καταπονουμένους. καὶ Ξέρξης μὲν ὁ σοβαρὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ Περσάρχης ὑπὸ καλὴν πλατάνιστον ἀνακλιθεὶς ἐν θέρει κόσμοις ἀψύχοις
τὸ φυτὸν ἀντεφιλοτιμεῖτο· τοῦ δὲ καὶ πέτραι καὶ φυτὰ καὶ νῆσοι καὶ λειμῶνες χάρισιν ἐπιάνθησαν εὐδρόσοις ἀειρύτοις. οὕτω μεγάλην
τὴν ψυχήν, οὕτω πλουσίαν εἶχε. κἂν γνῶναι θέλῃ τις αὐτοῦ τὰ τῆς λαμπροψυχίας, ἡ λαμπροδόμητος μονὴ πιστώσεται τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἣν
ἐκ θεμέθλων ἤγειρεν, ἀπὸ ῥιζῶν ἐσχάτων τῷ θείῳ χριστομάρτυρι τῷ τροπαιοφοροῦντι. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὕτω τοῖς καλοῖς θάλλων ὑπὲρ τὰς
κέδρους, οὕτω κομῶν ταῖς ἀρεταῖς ἀείφυλλος ὡς φοῖνιξ, ἄγαν πονηρῶς τῆς σαρκὸς εἶχε τῆς χωματίνης, ποδάγρας ταῖς βαρύτησιν
ἐσφίγγετο τοὺς πόδας ὡς ποδοκάκαις ἰσχυραῖς, ὥσπερ ἀλυκτοπέδαις. καὶ τοίνυν διημέρευεν ἐν μαλακοῖς δεμνίοις παραμυθούμενος
αὐτῷ τοὺς κατακόπους πόδας. ἐντεῦθεν ἀνερράγησαν αὐτῷ πολυκυμίαι καὶ συμφορῶν καὶ πειρασμῶν ἄνεμοι κυματίαι. ἤκουσται πάντως
ὁ δεινὸς ἐκεῖνος Μανιάκης, ἀνὴρ γιγαντοπάλαμος, ὀξύχειρ, ἀνδροφόντης, θρασύσπλαγχνος, εὐκάρδιος, πνέων ὀργῆς ἐκθύμου. ἐκεῖνος
τοίνυν ἠθροικὼς ἄνδρας ἀγχεσιμάχους, κορυνοφόρους, αἰχμητάς, ἄνδρας γιγαντοσώμους, εὐαύξητον ἀναδρομὴν φέροντας τῶν σωμάτων,
ὑπὲρ πλατάνων ὑδρηλῶν μῆκος ὠργυιωμένους, ὡς νέφος ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς ἔστη τοῦ βασιλέως παχύ, ζοφῶδες, θολερόν, μελάντερον καὶ πίσσης,
ὄμβρους ῥαγδαίους ἀπειλῶν, οὐχ ὑδατίους ὄμβρους, ἀλλὰ
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