126

by the bridges of Justinian, he erected a temple of Callinicus the martyr, which had been razed to the ground, better than the former one. And in this so-called Stenon, I mean the neck of the Euxine, having built the all-venerable house of Saint Phocas in a manner pleasing to God and beloved by God, and having gathered a certain community of devout monks, and having enriched the place with buildings and possessions, he made it a God-gathered monastery and a hospital for souls. In addition to all these, the sacred house of Michael the Archistrategos in Sosthenion, which had fallen into ruin over long periods of time and 341 had collapsed with many cracks and had already almost sunk to its knees and had lost much of its beauty, he both raised from its ruins and, having recalled it to its former prime, showed it to be full of all beauty. And concerning the sacred houses and their care and restoration, from which especially piety towards the divine is characterized, such was Basil, renowned among emperors. 95 But knowing that God rejoices in nothing so much as in the salvation of souls, and that he who brings forth the worthy from the unworthy is called the mouth of Christ, he did not appear neglectful or slothful in this apostolic work, but first the nation of the Jews, uncircumcised and hard of heart, as much as was in his power, he drew into the net of submission to Christ. For having commanded them to come to discussions, bringing the proofs of their own religion, and either to show that their own tenets were strong and irrefutable, or, being persuaded that Christ was the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets and that the Law had the form of a shadow, which is dispersed by the shining of the sun's light, to come to the Lord's teaching and be baptized, and having added also distributions of dignities to those who came over and having relieved them of the burden of former taxes and having promised to make them honored from dishonored, he freed many from the overlying veil of hardness of heart and drew them to the 342 faith of Christ, even if again the majority, after the departure of the emperor from life, returned like dogs to their own vomit. But even if they, or rather some of them, remained unchangeable as Ethiopians, yet the God-loving emperor was about to receive from God the full wages for the work on account of his zeal. 96 And he is found to have acted likewise concerning the nation of the Bulgarians. For this nation, although before this it seemed to have accepted the change towards piety and to have converted to Christianity, nevertheless it was still unformed and unestablished in the good, like leaves easily shaken and moved by the wind. But by the frequent exhortations of the emperor and by splendid receptions, and furthermore by magnanimous honors and gifts, it was persuaded to accept an archbishop and it endures the land to be filled with bishops; and both through these things and through the pious monks summoned from the mountains and caves of the earth and sent there by the emperor, it both abandons its ancestral customs and is drawn completely into the net for Christ. 97 But also the nation of the Rus', which was most difficult to fight and most godless, having drawn them into agreements by generous gifts of gold and silver and silken garments, and having made treaties of peace with them, he persuaded them to become partakers also of salutary 343 baptism and prepared them to receive an archbishop who had received his ordination from the patriarch Ignatius, who, having arrived in the country of the said nation, from such an action became well-received by the nation. For the ruler of this nation, having made an assembly of his subjects and having presided with the elders around him, who more than the others happened to be attached to their superstition because of long custom, and as they were deliberating both about their own and the

126

̓Ιουστινιανοῦ γεφύραις Καλλινίκου τοῦ μάρτυρος ἠδαφισμένον ναὸν τοῦ προτέρου κρείττονα ηγειρεν. ἐν δὲ τῷ καλουμένῳ τούτῳ Στενῷ, τὸν αὐχένα τοῦ Εὐξείνου φημί, τὸν τοῦ ἁγίου Φωκᾶ πάν- σεπτον οικον θεαρέστως τε καὶ θεοφιλῶς δομησάμενος, καὶ σύστη- μά τι μοναχῶν εὐλαβῶν συναθροίσας, κτίσμασί τε καὶ κτήμασι τὸν τόπον καταπλουτίσας, μονὴν θεοσύλλεκτον καὶ ἰατρεῖον ψυχῶν ἀπειργάσατο. ἐπὶ τούτοις απασι τὸν τοῦ ἀρχιστρατήγου Μιχαὴλ ἱερὸν οικον ἐν τῷ Σωσθενίῳ, ἐκ μακρῶν διαρρυέντα χρόνων καὶ 341 πλείστοις ὀκλάσαντα ῥήγμασι καὶ ηδη πρὸς γόνυ κλιθέντα σχεδὸν καὶ τὸ πολὺ τῆς περὶ αὐτὸν εὐπρεπείας ἀποβαλόντα, τῶν πτωμά- των τε διανίστησι καὶ πρὸς τὴν προτέραν ἀκμὴν ἀνακαλεσάμενος ὡραιότητος ἁπάσης εδειξεν εμπλεων. καὶ περὶ μὲν τοὺς ἱεροὺς οικους καὶ τὴν τούτων ἐπιμέλειαν καὶ διόρθωσιν, ἀφ' ων μάλιστα ἡ περὶ τὸ θεῖον ὁσιότης χαρακτηρίζεται, τοιοῦτος ὁ ἐν βασιλεῦσιν ἀοίδιμος Βασίλειος ην. 95 Εἰδὼς δὲ οτι ἐπ' οὐδενὶ τοσοῦτον οσον ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ ψυχῶν ὁ θεὸς ἐπευφραίνεται, καὶ οτι ὁ ἐξάγων αξιον ἐξ ἀναξίου ὡς στόμα χρηματίζει Χριστοῦ, οὐδὲ περὶ τὸ ἀποστολικὸν τοῦτο εργον ἀμελὴς ἐφάνη καὶ ῥάθυμος, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν τὸ τῶν ̓Ιου- δαίων εθνος ἀπερίτμητόν τε καὶ σκληροκάρδιον, τὸ οσον ἐπ' αὐ- τῷ, εἰς τὴν ὑποταγὴν σαγηνεύει Χριστοῦ. κελεύσας γὰρ αὐτοὺς τῆς οἰκείας θρησκείας τὰς ἀποδείξεις κομίζοντας εἰς διαλέξεις χω- ρεῖν καὶ η δεικνύναι τὰ κατ' αὐτοὺς ἰσχυρά τε καὶ ἀναντίρρητα, η πειθομένους οτι κεφάλαιον τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν ὁ Χρι- στὸς ην καὶ οτι σκιᾶς τύπον ειχεν ὁ νόμος, η τῇ ἐπιλάμψει τοῦ ἡλιακοῦ φωτὸς διασκεδάζεται, προσέρχεσθαι τῇ τοῦ κυρίου διδα- σκαλίᾳ καὶ βαπτίζεσθαι, προσθεὶς δὲ καὶ ἀξιωμάτων τοῖς προσερ- χομένοις διανομὰς καὶ τοῦ βάρους τῶν προτέρων ἀπαλλάξας φόρων καὶ ἐπιτίμους ἐξ ἀτίμων ποιεῖν κατεπαγγειλάμενος, πολλοὺς τοῦ ἐπικειμένου καλύμματος τῆς πωρώσεως ἠλευθέρωσε καὶ πρὸς πί- 342 στιν ειλκυσε τοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἰ καὶ πάλιν οἱ πλείους μετὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ βίου τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπαναχώρησιν πρὸς τὸν οἰκεῖον ὡς κύνες ὑπέστρεψαν ἐμετόν. ἀλλὰ καν ἐκεῖνοι, μᾶλλον δέ τινες ἐκείνων, ὡς Αἰθίοπες εμειναν ἀμετάβλητοι, ἀλλ' ο γε φιλόθεος βασιλεὺς ἐντελεῖς τοῦ εργου τοὺς μισθοὺς ενεκα τῆς σπουδῆς παρὰ θεοῦ ἀπολήψεσθαι εμελλεν. 96 ̔Ωσαύτως δὲ καὶ περὶ τὸ Βουλγάρων γένος εὑρίσκεται διαγεγονώς. τὸ γὰρ τοιοῦτον εθνος, εἰ καὶ πρὸ τούτου τὴν πρὸς εὐσέβειαν μεταβολὴν εἰσδέξασθαι εδοξε καὶ πρὸς τὸν χριστιανισμὸν μετελθεῖν, ἀλλ' ομως ἀπαγὲς ην ετι πρὸς τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἀνίδρυτον, ὡς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου φύλλα ῥᾳδίως σαλευόμενον καὶ μετακινούμενον. ἀλλὰ ταῖς τοῦ βασιλέως συχναῖς παραινέσεσι καὶ ταῖς λαμπραῖς δεξιώσεσιν, ετι δὲ καὶ ταῖς μεγαλοψύχοις φιλοτιμίαις τε καὶ δω- ρεαῖς, ἀρχιεπίσκοπόν τε πείθεσθαι καταδέξασθαι καὶ ἐπισκόποις καταπυκνωθῆναι τὴν χώραν ἀνέχεται· καὶ διά τε τούτων διά τε τῶν ἐξ ὀρέων τε καὶ τῶν σπηλαίων τῆς γῆς μετακληθέντων καὶ ἐκεῖσε παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀποσταλέντων, τῶν εὐσεβῶν μοναστῶν, τά τε πατρῷα ηθη καταλιμπάνει καὶ ὁλόκληρον τῷ Χριστῷ σα- γηνεύεται. 97 ̓Αλλὰ καὶ τὸ τῶν ̔Ρῶς εθνος δυσμαχώτατόν τε καὶ ἀθεώτατον ον χρυσοῦ τε καὶ ἀργύρου καὶ σηρικῶν περιβλημάτων ἱκαναῖς ἐπιδόσεσιν εἰς συμβάσεις ἐφελκυσάμενος, καὶ σπονδὰς πρὸς αὐτοὺς σπεισάμενος εἰρηνικάς, ἐν μετοχῇ γενέσθαι καὶ τοῦ σωτη- 343 ριώδους βαπτίσματος επεισε καὶ ἀρχιεπίσκοπον παρὰ τοῦ πατριάρ- χου ̓Ιγνατίου τὴν χειροτονίαν δεξάμενον δέξασθαι παρεσκεύασεν, ος κατὰ τὴν τοῦ εἰρημένου εθνους χώραν παραγεγονὼς ἀπὸ τοιαύ- της πράξεως εὐπαράδεκτος τῷ εθνει γεγένηται. τοῦ γὰρ αρχον- τος τοῦ τοιούτου γένους σύλλογον τοῦ ὑπηκόου ποιησαμένου καὶ μετὰ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν γερόντων προκαθεσθέντος, οι τῶν αλλων μᾶλλον τῇ δεισιδαιμονίᾳ διὰ τὴν μακρὰν συνήθειαν προστετηκότες ἐτύγχανον, καὶ σκοπουμένων περί τε τῆς οἰκείας καὶ τῶν