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and the oratory in the name of the much-suffering and most steadfast of martyrs, Clement, was built, in which he also deposited his holy head and the sacred relics of many other martyrs, from which he and those after him receive strength of soul and body. And neighboring these is also the oratory built by him in the name of our savior and God, whose costliness and exceeding value will be thought unbelievable by those who have not seen it; so much silver and gold and a multitude of precious stones and pearls have been lavished on its enclosure. For the entire floor is constructed of hammered and solid silver with encaustic work, displaying the precision of the goldsmiths' art, and the walls on the right and on the left themselves also have abundant silver laid upon them, flowered with gold and variegated with precious stones and the brilliance of pearls. And the screen that separates the sanctuary of this divine house—Heracles, what wealth it has contained within itself! Its columns and the lower parts have their composition entirely of silver, and the beam lying upon their capitals is entirely composed of pure gold, having all the wealth of the Indies poured all around it; on which in many places and 331 the theandric form of the Lord has been fashioned by casting. But the sanctuary itself, how many beauties and holy things it has encompassed and treasures within itself, the account declines to declare, but rather wishes to leave it as a sanctuary inaccessible also to words; for in things beyond speech, silence is more praiseworthy. And these are, as one might say, the eastern beauties of the palace, which sprang forth from the faith of the renowned emperor Basil. 88 And in other parts stand the rest, in which is the august oratory of the sacred herald Paul, having the same creator, who built it also with the same wealth-bestowing hand; for its floor also has silver enclosing the circles of marble, and in costliness and beauty it is seen to be in no way inferior to the others. Likewise also the divine temple in the name of the chief of the apostles, Peter, built by him at the end of the porticoes of Marcian like a corner tower, to which the oratory of the Arch-strategos is joined. And that of the Theotokos again lies above, what excess of splendor and beauty has it not possessed, or whose eye would it not feast and soul delight and make the whole beholder happier? 89 But the beauties of the chambers, which emperor Basil built as a palace of palaces within the palace itself, 332 required the words of more brilliant heralds for their description and a more perfect hand to be able to declare in words things that are inimitable in their execution. For this newly splendid chamber, whose epithet is Kainourgion [the New], which he raised from the foundations, whom of those who behold it does it not stir to amazement? which sixteen columns, standing in a row, support, eight of these being of Thessalian stone, which has been allotted the color green; six boast the name of onyx, which the stonecutter adorned in every way, fashioning on them the form of a vine and working in it the images of all kinds of animals. The other two have themselves also taken on the nature of onyx, but they did not receive a similar form from the stonecutters, but were deprived of the smoothness of their surface by crooked lines, the craftsman having willed them to be so varied, so as to capture from the multiform what is splendid and lovely. And from above the columns up to the roof and the eastern hemisphere, the entire chamber has been gilded with beautiful mosaics, having the creator of the work seated in front, attended by his fellow-fighting subordinate generals, as if offering to him as gifts the cities conquered by him. and again above on the roof are depicted the

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καὶ τὸ ἐπ' ὀνόματι τοῦ πολυπαθοῦς καὶ καρτερικωτάτου τῶν μαρτύρων Κλήμεντος εὐκτή- ριον ἀνεδείματο, ἐν ῳ καὶ τὴν θείαν τούτου κάραν καὶ αλλων πολ- λῶν μαρτύρων ἱερὰ ἐναπέθετο λείψανα, ἀφ' ων ἐκεῖνός τε καὶ οἱ μετ' αὐτὸν ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος τὴν ῥῶσιν λαμβάνουσι. γειτο- νεῖ δὲ τούτοις καὶ ὁ ἐπ' ὀνόματι τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν καὶ θεοῦ κατα- σκευασθεὶς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ εὐκτήριος οικος, ου τὸ πολυτελὲς καὶ ὑπέρ- τιμον τοῖς οὐκ ἰδοῦσιν απιστος νομισθήσεται· τοσοῦτος αργυρος καὶ χρυσὸς καὶ τιμίων λίθων καὶ μαργάρων πλῆθος ἐν τῇ τούτου περιβολῇ καταβέβληται. τὸ μὲν γὰρ εδαφος απαν ἐξ ἀργύρον σφυρηλάτου καὶ στιβαροῦ μετ' ἐγκαύσεως, τὸ τῶν χρυσοχόων ἀκριβὲς τῆς τέχνης ἐπιδεικνύμενος, κατεσκεύασται, οἱ δὲ ἐξ δεξιῶν καὶ ἐξ εὐωνύμων τοῖχοι αργυρον αφθονον καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐπικείμενον εχουσι, διηνθισμένον χρυσῷ καὶ τιμίοις πεποικιλμένον λίθοις καὶ μαργάρων λαμπρότησιν. ἡ δὲ διείργουσα τὰ αδυτα τοῦ θείου οικου τούτου κιγκλίς, ̔Ηράκλεις, οσον ολβον ἐν ἑαυτῇ περιείλη- φεν! ης οἱ στῦλοι μὲν καὶ τὰ κάτωθεν ἐξ ἀργύρου διόλου τὴν σύ- στασιν εχουσιν, ἡ δὲ ταῖς κεφαλίσι τούτων ἐπικειμένη δοκὸς ἐκ καθαροῦ χρυσίου πᾶσα συνέστηκε, τὸν πλοῦτον πάντα τὸν ἐξ ̓Ιν- δῶν περικεχυμένον πάντοθεν εχουσα· ἐν ῃ κατὰ πολλὰ μέρη καὶ 331 ἡ θεανδρικὴ τοῦ κυρίου μορφὴ μετὰ χυμεύσεως ἐκτετύπωται. αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ αδυτον οσα κάλλη καὶ αγια περιείληφε καὶ ἐν ἑαυτῷ θησαυροφυλακεῖ, ὁ λόγος παραιτεῖται δηλοῦν, ἐᾶν δὲ μᾶλλον ὡς αδυτον καὶ τοῖς λόγοις αβατον βούλεται· ἐν γὰρ τοῖς ἐπέκεινα λό- γου εὐλογωτέρα ἡ σιωπή. καὶ τὰ μὲν ὡς αν ειποι τις ἑῷα κάλλη τῶν ἀνακτόρων, απερ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ἀοιδίμου βασιλέως Βασιλείου πί- στεως ἐξανέτειλεν, ταῦτα ἐστίν. 88 Κατ' αλλα δὲ μέρη καθέστηκε τὰ λοιπά, ἐν οις τό τε τοῦ ἱεροκήρυκος Παύλου σεπτὸν τυγχάνει εὐκτήριον, τὸν αὐτὸν κεκτημένον δημιουργόν, μετὰ τῆς αὐτῆς πλουτοχορήγου χειρὸς καὶ αὐτὸ δομησάμενον· καὶ τὸ τούτου γὰρ εδαφος αργυρον εχει τοὺς κύκλους τῶν μαρμάρων ἐμπερικλείοντα, καὶ πολυτελείᾳ καὶ κάλλει τῶν αλλων κατ' οὐδὲν ὁρᾶται λειπόμενον. ὡσαύτως καὶ ὁ ἐπ' ὀνόματι τοῦ κορυφαίου τῶν ἀποστόλων Πέτρου κατὰ τὸ ακρον τῶν Μαρκιανοῦ περιδρόμων ὡς ἀκροπύργιον ὑπ' αὐτοῦ κατασκευασθεὶς θεῖος ναός, ῳ καὶ τὸ τοῦ ἀρχιστρατήγου εὐκτή- ριον ηνωται. καὶ ο τῆς θεομήτορος αυθις ὑπέρκειται, ποίαν εὐ- πρεπείας καὶ ὡραιότητος ὑπερβολὴν οὐκ ἐπλούτησεν, η τίνος οὐκ αν ὀφθαλμὸν ἑστιάσοι καὶ ψυχὴν εὐφράνοι καὶ ολον ἡδίω ποιήσοι τὸν θεατήν; 89 Τὰ δὲ τῶν οικων κάλλη, απερ ὡς βασιλείων βασίλεια ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς βασιλείοις ὁ βασιλεὺς Βασίλειος ἀνεδείματο, λαμ- 332 προτέρων ἐδεῖτο κηρύκων λόγων εἰς δήλωσιν καὶ χειρὸς ἐντελεστέ- ρας εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι λόγῳ δηλοῦν α τοῖς εργοις ἐστὶν ἀμίμητα. ὁ γὰρ καινοπρεπὴς ουτος οικος, ου τὸ Καινούργιόν ἐστιν ἐπώνυ- μον, ον ἐκ βάθρων ἐκεῖνος ἀνήγειρεν, τίνα τῶν θεωμένων οὐκ ἐγείρει πρὸς εκπληξιν; ον ἑκκαίδεκα κίονες κατὰ στίχον ἑστηκότες ἀνέχουσιν, οἱ μὲν ὀκτὼ τούτων ἐκ λίθου τυγχάνοντες Θετταλῆς, η τὸ πράσιον χρῶμα κεκλήρωται· οἱ εξ δὲ τὴν τοῦ ὀνυχίτου προσ- ηγορίαν αὐχοῦσιν, ους ὁ λιθοξόος παντοίως ὡράϊσεν, ἀμπέλου σχῆμα κατ' αὐτοὺς μορφώσας καὶ παντοίων ζῴων ἰδέας ἐν ταύτῃ ἀπεργασάμενος. οἱ ετεροι δὲ δύο καὶ αὐτοὶ μὲν τὴν αὐτοῦ ὀνυχί- του φύσιν εἰλήφασιν, οὐχ ομοιον δὲ τὸ σχῆμα παρὰ τῶν λιθοξόων ἐδέξαντο, ἀλλὰ γραμμαῖς σκολιαῖς τὸ τῆς ἐπιφανείας ὁμαλὸν ἀφῃ- ρέθησαν, ουτω ποικῖλαι ταύτας τοῦ τεχνίτου θελήσαντος, ὡς ἐκ τοῦ πολυμόρφου θηρῶντος τὸ εὐπρεπὲς καὶ ἐράσμιον. ανωθεν δὲ τῶν κιόνων αχρι τῆς ὀροφῆς καὶ τὸ κατὰ ἀνατολὰς ἡμισφαίριον, ἐκ ψηφίδων ὡραίων απας ὁ οικος κατακεχρύσωται, προκαθήμενον εχων τὸν τοῦ εργου δημιουργόν, ὑπὸ τῶν συναγωνιστῶν ὑποστρα- τήγων δορυφορούμενον, ὡς δῶρα προσαγόντων αὐτῷ τὰς ὑπ' αὐ- τοῦ ἑαλωκυίας πόλεις. καὶ αυθις ανωθεν ἐπὶ τῆς ὀροφῆς ἀνιστό- ρηται τὰ