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providing to them, he left behind for an everlasting memory to those after us. 19 But it is necessary to speak also about the stable that was converted into a home for the aged. for behind and near the all-wonderful Great Church there was a stable for the horses of the patriarch Theophylaktos; and the good man, seeing this, judging it not right, converted it into a dwelling and constructed this as a home for the aged, and decreed that those there should receive annually a provision of food and clothing. 20 Therefore it is necessary also to narrate about the roof of the nineteen akoubita; for seeing this decayed and falling down and being in great disarray, he renovates it. For its gilded ceiling having decayed over time, he himself, taking this in hand, rendered it new-looking and brilliant. For he composed octagonal coffers, and having adorned these with various openings and carved 450 shapes, formed into the shapes of vine-tendrils and leaves and trees, and having sprinkled these with gold, he provided such comeliness as to astound those who look upon the sight. 21 And for the emperor Romanos his son he built palaces more numerous than the ancient emperors, raising houses from their foundations; the multiform character of some of which buildings, which startles and divides the mind and intellect in many ways, inspires wonder in those who see it. And the Tetraconch of the apostle Paul he decorated with various images, so that it had thrown off its old beauty and inaugurated a new one, he set out many shapes and images of gold in it. 22 And the art of painting the man knew so precisely as, I think, none of those before or after him. For he corrected many of those who labored at it, and he appeared an excellent teacher, and he not only appeared so but was admired by all, and he proved to be a great amazement to those who saw, in things he had not learned. And the corrections of the artisans by the Porphyrogennetos, who could relate? He corrected stone-cutters and carpenters and goldsmiths and silversmiths and blacksmiths, and in all things the king appeared excellent in all ways. 23 And the silver gates of the Chrysotriklinos the lover of beauty Constantine built, and his diligence constructed a silver table for the reception of dinner guests and for the adornment of the 451 dining hall, beautifying it with multi-colored materials and slabs and natural color, providing to the invited guests a delight greater than that from the sweetness of the foods. 24 And he built a porphyry phiale in front of his bedchamber, having created a receptacle for waters, which he surrounded with marble columns with a smoothness gleaming on them. What then of his magnanimous soul? he set an eagle of silver over the water spout, not looking straight ahead but turned sideways, with its neck held high and strutting as if from some hunt, and with a snake entwined in its feet and strangling it. And the variety of colored materials and forms of artful mosaic icons he built in the forecourts of the imperial bedchamber. 25 But the emperor was not inexperienced in shipbuilding either; for he would direct the construction of warships, and with what timbers they should be fitted and their joinings and fastenings, and how they should relate to one another. 26 And concerning the palaces of Hiereia I consider in my mind how pleasant and delightful the Porphyrogennetos built them, a place previously used by the Chalcedonians for burial. and now it is set upon four apses, and their corners forming other imperial houses, surrounded by the breezes of the summer winds and spirits, 452 it is not possible to say into how much gladness and joy it casts the one resting there. 27 What might one say about the building of the empresses in another place? For these also, in the surpassing and glittering shape and love of beauty of Hiereia, and with the fragrance of the pleasure arising from the ground, on account of his correcting them

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αὐτοῖς παρέχων, εἰς αἰωνίζουσαν μνήμην τοῖς μεθ' ἡμᾶς κατέλιπεν. 19 ∆εῖ δὲ λέγειν καὶ περὶ τοῦ μετασκευασθέντος στάβλου εἰς γηροκομεῖον. οπισθεν γὰρ καὶ πλησίον τῆς πανθαυμάστου ἐκκλησίας τῆς μεγάλης στάβλος ην τῶν ἱππαρίων τοῦ πατριάρχου Θεοφυλάκτου· καὶ τοῦτον ἰδὼν ὁ ἀγαθός, οὐ δίκαιον κρίνας οἰκη- τήριον μετεποιήσατο καὶ γηροκομεῖον τοῦτο κατεσκεύασεν, καὶ πρὸς χορηγίαν τροφῶν καὶ περιβολαίων τοὺς ἐκεῖσε ἐτύπωσεν ἐτη- σίως λαμβάνειν. 20 ∆εῖ ουν καὶ περὶ τῆς στεγῆς τῶν δεκαεννέα ἀκουβίτων διηγήσασθαι· ὁρῶν γὰρ ταύτην σεσαθρωμένην καὶ καταπίπτουσαν καὶ εἰς ἀκοσμίαν πολλὴν ουσαν, ταύτην ἀνακαινίζει. τῆς γὰρ κε- χρυσωμένης αὐτῆς ὀροφῆς τῷ χρόνῳ διερρυηκυίας, αὐτὸς ταύτην προελὼν νεοφανῆ καὶ λαμπρὰν ἀνέδειξεν. κοιλότητας γὰρ ὀκτα- γώνους συντέθεικεν, καὶ ταύτας ὀπαῖς καὶ σχήμασι ποικίλοις δια- 450 γλύφοις κεκοσμηκώς, εἰς ἀμπέλων ελικας καὶ φύλλα καὶ δένδρον ἰδέας σχηματιζομένας, καὶ ταύτας χρυσῷ περιραντίσας, τοσοῦτον εὐπρεπὲς παρέσχεν ὡς ἐξίστασθαι τοὺς πρὸς θεωρίαν ὁρῶντας. 21 Τῷ δὲ βασιλεῖ ̔Ρωμανῷ τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ παλάτια κατε- σκεύασεν πλείονα τῶν παλαιῶν βασιλέων, οικους ἐκ βάθρων ἐγεί- ρας· ων τινῶν δόμων τὸ πολυσχημάτιστον καὶ εἰς πολλὰ τὸν νοῦν καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν ἐκπλῆττον καὶ διαμερίζον θαῦμα τοῖς βλέπουσιν ἐντίθησιν. τὸν δὲ Τετράκογχον τοῦ ἀποστόλου Παύλου εἰκονί- σματα διάφορα ἐξετύπωσεν, καὶ τὴν παλαιὰν καλλονὴν ἀποβεβλη- κέναι, νέαν δὲ ἐγκαινίσασθαι, πολλὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ἀπὸ χρυσοῦ σχή- ματα καὶ εἰκονίσματα ἐξέθετο. 22 Τὴν δὲ τῆς ζωγραφίας τέχνην τοσοῦτον ἀκριβῶς ὁ ἀνὴρ ἠπίστατο ὡς οὐκ οιμαι τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ η τῶν μετ' αὐτόν. πολλοὺς γὰρ τῶν περὶ αὐτῆς πονούντων ἐπηνώρθει, καὶ διδάσκα- λος αριστος ἀνεφαίνετο, καὶ οὐκ ἐφαίνετο μόνον ἀλλὰ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἐθαυμάζετο, καὶ θάμβος μέγας τοῖς ὁρῶσιν, ων οὐ μεμάθηκεν, ἐχρημάτιζεν. τῶν δὲ τεχνιτῶν ἐπιδιορθώσεις τοῦ πορφυρογεννή- του τίς ἐξείποι; λιθοξόους καὶ τέκτονας καὶ χρυσοστίκτας καὶ ἀργυροκόπους καὶ σιδηροκόπους ἐπανώρθου, καὶ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν αριστος ὁ αναξ ἀνεφαίνετο. 23 Τὰς δὲ ἀργυρᾶς πύλας τοῦ Χρυσοτρικλίνου ὁ φιλό- καλος Κωνσταντῖνος ἐδείματο, καὶ τράπεζαν ἀργυρᾶν ἡ ἐκείνου φιλοπονία πρὸς ὑποδοχὴν τῶν δαιτυμόνων καὶ καλλωπισμὸν τοῦ 451 ἀριστητηρίου κατεσκεύασεν, πολυχρόοις υλαις καὶ πλαξὶ καὶ αὐτο- φυεῖ χροιᾷ καλλύνας, πλείονα τῆς ἐκ τῆς τῶν βρωμάτων γλυκύ- τητος τοῖς κεκλημένοις τὴν τέρψιν παρέχουσαν. 24 Καὶ πορφυρᾶν φυλακὴν εμπροσθεν τοῦ κοιτῶνος αὐ- τοῦ ἐδείματο, δοχεῖον τῶν ὑδάτων δημιουργήσας, ην στύλοις μαρμαρέοις περιεκύκλωσεν λειότητος αὐτοῖς ὑπαυγαζούσης. τί ουν ἡ μεγαλόφρων ψυχή; ἀετὸν ἐξ ἀργύρου τῇ τοῦ υδατος ἐφίστησιν αὐλῷ, οὐκ ὀρθὸν βλέποντα ἀλλ' ἀπεστραμμένον καταπλάγιον, ὑψαυχενοῦντα καὶ σοβαρευόμενον ὡς ἀπό τινος θήρας, οφιν δὲ τοῖς ποσὶ περιειληθέντα καὶ πνίγοντα. καὶ μουσοστίκτων εἰκόνων ἐντέχνων τῶν ἐκ χρωμάτων ὑλῶν καὶ μορφῶν τὸ διάφορον ἐν τοῖς προπυλαίοις τοῦ βασιλικοῦ κοιτῶνος ἐδείματο. 25 ̓Αλλ' οὐδὲ ναυπηγίας απειρος ην ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ· διωρίζετο γὰρ πολεμικῶν νηῶν κατασκευήν, καὶ οις ξύλοις ἁρμό- ζειν καὶ κλείσεις αὐτῶν καὶ ἁρμονίας, καὶ οπως πρὸς αλληλα εχουσι. 26 Περὶ δὲ τῶν παλατίων τῶν ̓Ηρία ἀναλογίζομαι τῇ διανοίᾳ ὁποίοις ὁ πορφυρογέννητος ἐδείματο ἡδέσι καὶ τερπνοῖς, πρότερον ουσαν τοῖς Χαλκηδονίοις εἰς ταφήν. νῦν δὲ τέτρασιν ἁψῖσιν ἐπιβεβηκυῖα, καὶ τὰς τούτων γωνίας ἑτέρας βασιλικὰς οἰ- κίας ἀποτελοῦσα, ταῖς τῶν θερινῶν ἀνέμων καὶ πνευμάτων περι- 452 κυκλουμένων πνοιαῖς, οὐκ εστιν εἰπεῖν εἰς πόσην θυμηδίαν καὶ χαρὰν ἐμβάλλει τὸν ἐκεῖσε ἐναπαυόμενον. 27 Τί αν ειποι τις περὶ τῶν ἐν ἑτέρῳ τόπῳ τῆς τῶν βα- σιλίδων οἰκοδομῆς; καὶ ταῦτα γὰρ τῆς ̓Ηρίας τοῦ σχήματος καὶ τῆς φιλοκαλίας τῷ ὑπερβάλλοντι καὶ ἀποστίλβοντι καὶ τῆς ἐκ τοῦ ἐδάφους τέρψεως ἀναδιδομένης εὐωδίᾳ, διὰ τὸ ἐπανορθοῦν αὐτῶν