Michael Psellus, Chronography

flew down, some angel or a more divine soul, watching over the good governance of men and visiting the cities. -“But I am he for you,” the emperor had said again, “and for you I lighten that part of the debt.” 6.172 And he spoke thus, but the other, not able to control himself, strikes his knee to the ground and all but breathed his last from the abundance of his joy; and the emperor, respecting the man’s posture: “But for you,” he said, “I remit two parts of the debt.” And before the sound had echoed in his ears: “And the first,” he then added. And when that man did not even feign that the emperor was able to do so much, he shook off for him the whole burden from his soul, and as if he had conquered in everything, he puts on splendid attire and, having bound his head with a garland, offered thanksgivings to God. 6.173 These things and such things one would say about this very emperor, if one should wish; but if one should choose also to praise the man, even those things which the historical narrative perhaps slanders, the most persuasive of orators would not place outside of fitting praise. At once, that I may mention some things of the other part too, he used to give to amusement also some part of his life, and for others neither its name nor its nature was changed, but to him it seemed a serious matter and was colored with gravity; if, for example, he ever wished to make a grove, or enclose a park, or widen a race-course, he did not only do that which he first wished, but the other things also came into being at once, and some meadows were filled in, others were newly enclosed, and of vines and trees some were uprooted, while others appeared spontaneously with their fruits. 6.174 What ever is this? He wished for the emperor to transform some bare plain into the beauty of a meadow; at once, at least, what was wished came to be; for things grown elsewhere were brought thither with their fruits and rooted in the earth, and grassy clods, heaped up from groves and mountains, filled the underlying plain; and he, if cicadas did not at once chirp on the trees that had appeared spontaneously, or nightingales sing all around the grove, considered it a terrible thing, and taking the matter seriously, he at once enjoyed all manner of sound. 6.175 These things, therefore, and whatever follows them, to me perhaps do not seem fitting for a “counsellor,” “to whom peoples are entrusted and so many cares are a concern,” according to the poetic Calliope; but another, admiring also the apparent beauty, will admire the emperor for his magnificent work and will say as many things as he might think would persuade the listener, that so great was his abundance of intelligence, as to divide his life between serious matters and amusement, and not be hindered in the one part by the other; but to serious matters he thought he added nothing, for it is adorned with its own beauty, but amusement he colored with a flowery dye, or rather, he embellished it with a solemn form, and this was sufficient for intelligence, to add one thing upon another, and with his wisdom to overcome industriousness, to make farmlands unwearied and unploughed, and as if from non-being, according to the first creator, to give substance to his creations with their qualities, and to overcome the seasons by the readiness of the transfer, and not to need the hands of farmers by the cleverness of the creation, and openly to work wonders in whatever seemed good to him, so that many disbelieved, that what they see as a plain yesterday and the day before a hill, on the third day appears as level ground. 6.176 But I say these things now, using as it were the outermost limits of rhetorical art and persuasion, since if one wished to give a more perfect treatment to the subject, he would sway every ear and soul to his will; but for me, neither are such works held in praise, and the arts concerning speeches are also hated,

κατέπτη, ἄγγελός τις ἢ θειοτέρα ψυχὴ, ἀνθρώπων εὐνομίας ἐφορῶσα καὶ ἐπιστρε φομένη τῶν πόλεων. -Ἀλλ' ἐγώ σοι ἐκεῖνος, ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ αὖθις εἰρήκει, καί σοι τὸ μέρος ἐπικουφίζω τῆς ὀφειλῆς.» 6.172 Καὶ ὁ μὲν οὕτως, ὁ δὲ οὐχ οἷός τε ἑαυτὸν κατασχεῖν, προσουδίζει τε τὸ γόνυ τῇ γῇ καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν τῷ τῆς χαρᾶς πλήθει ἐξεπεπνεύκει· ὁ δέ γε αὐτοκράτωρ τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αἰδεσθείς· «Ἀλλά σοι, ἔφη, δύο μερίδας ἀφίημι τοῦ ὀφλήματος.» Καὶ πρὶν ἢ εἰς ὦτα ἐνηχηθῆναι αὐτῷ τὴν φωνήν· «Καὶ τὴν πρώτην», προσέθηκεν ἔπειτα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐκεῖνος μηδὲ τοσοῦτον ἐσχηματίζετο τὸν αὐτοκρά τορα δύνασθαι, τὸ πᾶν ἄχθος αὐτῷ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπεσείσατο, καὶ ὡς τοῖς ὅλοις νενικηκὼς λαμπρόν τε ἀμπίσχεται καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀναδησάμενος χαριστήρια ἔθυε τῷ Θεῷ. 6.173 Ταῦτα μὲν καὶ τοιαῦτα ἐρεῖ περὶ τούτου δὴ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος, εἰ γέ τις βούλοιτο· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐγκωμιάζειν αἱροῖτο τὸν ἄνδρα, οὐδ' ἅπερ ὁ τῆς ἱστορίας λόγος ἴσως διαβαλεῖ ἔξω τῆς προσηκούσης εὐφημίας, ὅ γε πιθανώτατος τῶν ῥητόρων ποιήσαιτο. Αὐτίκα, ἵνα τινῶν καὶ τῶν τῆς ἑτέρας μερίδος ἐπιμνησθήσωμαι, ἐδίδου καὶ τῇ παιδιᾷ με ρίδα τοῦ βίου τινὰ, καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις οὔτε τοὔνομα οὔτε τὸ πρᾶγμα ταύτης ἠλλάττετο, ἐκείνῳ δὲ σπούδασμά τε ἐδόκει καὶ σεμνότητι κατεχρώννυτο· εἰ γοῦν ἄλσος ποιῆσαι βουληθείη ποτὲ, ἢ περιτειχίσαι παράδεισον, ἢ ἐμπλατῦναι ἱππήλατον, οὐ τοῦτο μόνον ἐποίει ὅπερ πρώτως ἐβούλετο, ἀλλὰ θάτερά τε εὐθὺς ἐγεγόνεισαν, καὶ λειμῶνες οἱ μὲν κατεχώννυντο, οἱ δὲ πρώτως περιεκλείοντο, ἀμπέλων τε καὶ δένδρων τὰ μὲν ἀπερριζοῦντο, τὰ δὲ μετὰ τῶν καρπῶν ἀπηυτοματίζοντο. 6.174 Τί ποτε δέ ἐστι τοῦτο; Ἐβούλετο τῷ βασιλεῖ ψιλήν τινα πεδιάδα εἰς λειμῶνος ὥραν μεταποιῆσαι· αὐτίκα γοῦν ἐγίνετο τὸ βουλόμενον· τὰ γὰρ ἑτέρωθι φῦντα ἐκεῖσε μετὰ τῶν καρπῶν ἀπεκομίζοντό τε καὶ κατεριζοῦντο τῇ γῇ, βῶλοί τε χλοηφόροι ἐξ ἀλσῶν καὶ ὀρέων ἀναχωννύμενοι τὸ ὑποκεί μενον κατεπλήρουν πεδίον· ὁ δὲ, εἰ μὴ καὶ τέττιγες αὐτίκα ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοματισθεῖσι τερετιοῦσι δένδροις, ἢ ἀηδόνες τὸ ἄλσος περιλαλήσουσι, δεινὸν ἐποιεῖτο, καὶ ἐν σπουδῇ τὸ πρᾶ γμα τιθέμενος, αὐτίκα τῆς παντοδαπῆς ἠχοῦς καταπήλαυε. 6.175 Ταῦτα τοιγαροῦν καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ἕπεται ἐμοὶ μὲν ἴσως οὐ «βουληφόρῳ ἀνδρὶ» προσήκοντα φαίνεται, «ᾧ λαοί τ' ἐπιτετράφαται καὶ τόσσα μέμηλε», κατὰ τὴν ποιη τικὴν Καλλιόπην· ἕτερος δὲ καὶ τὸ φαινόμενον κάλλος θαυ μάζων θαυμάσει τῆς μεγαλουργίας τὸν αὐτοκράτορα καὶ ἐρεῖ ὁπόσα τὸν ἀκροατὴν πείθειν οἰηθείη, ὅτι τοσοῦτον ἦν αὐτῷ τὸ περιὸν τῆς συνέσεως, ὡς καταμερίζειν τὸν βίον σπουδῇ τε καὶ παιδιᾷ, καὶ μὴ θατέρῳ μέρει πρὸς θάτερον ἐμποδίζεσθαι· ἀλλὰ τῇ μὲν σπουδῇ οὐδὲν ᾤετο προστιθέναι, οἰκείῳ γὰρ κάλλει κατακεκόσμηται, τὴν δέ γε παιδιὰν κατ εχρώννυεν ἀνθηρῷ βάμματι, μᾶλλον δὲ σεμνῷ κατεποίκιλλε σχήματι, καὶ ἐξήρκει τοῦτο εἰς σύνεσιν, ἄλλ' ἐπ' ἄλλοις ἐπιτιθέναι, καὶ τῇ φρονήσει τὴν φιλεργίαν νικᾶν, ἀκάματά τε καὶ ἀνήροτα ποιεῖν τὰ γεώργια, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων κατὰ τὸν πρῶτον δημιουργὸν μετὰ τῶν ποιοτήτων οὐσιοῦν τὰ ποιήματα, τάς τε ὥρας νικᾶν τῷ ἑτοίμῳ τῆς μεταθέ σεως, καὶ γεωργικῶν μὴ δεῖσθαι χειρῶν τῇ ἀγχινοίᾳ τῆς πλάσεως, καὶ θαυματοποιεῖν ἄντικρυς ὁπόσα ἐκείνῳ ἐδόκει, ὡς ἀπιστεῖν τοὺς πολλοὺς, ὅτι τὸ χθιζὸν ὁρῶσι πεδίον καὶ τὸ πρότριτα γήλοφον τριταῖον γήπεδον καταφαίνεται. 6.176 Λέγω δὲ ταῦτα νῦν ἄκροις ὡσανεὶ καταχρώ μενος ὅροις τῆς ῥητορικῆς τέχνης τε καὶ πειθοῦς, ἐπεὶ εἴ γέ τις βούλοιτο τελεωτέραν ἐργασίαν ἀποδοῦναι τῷ λόγῳ, πᾶσαν ἀκοὴν καὶ ψυχὴν μεταχειρίσαιτο πρὸς τὸ βούλημα· ἀλλ' ἐμοὶ οὔτε τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν ἔργων ἐν ἐπαίνοις τίθεται, μεμίσηνται δὲ καὶ αἱ περὶ τοὺς λόγους τέχναι,