1

Encomium in xl martyres ii

OF THE SAME, AN ENCOMIASTIC ORATION ON THE FORTY MARTYRS, DELIVERED IN THE MARTYRIUM.

The soldiers of the Romans, according to ancestral law and ancient custom, which children having received from their forefathers keep even to the present, at the beginning of the current month, putting on their full armor and proceeding to some field sufficiently wide and flat, where it is possible both to stretch out in a horse race, and to practice tactics, and to be exercised in every armed drill, both make a remembrance of the year, and celebrate the day as notable. But I, celebrating the memory of the martyrs, and having proclaimed this to you on the previous day, today set forth as wondrous to those able to see, the forty soldiers of Christ, who surpassed all zeal, having armed them for the contests through their memory; an adornment of the Church, and a joy of peoples, and the glory of God who strengthened them. It is altogether best, and very profitable for the narratives of virtue, that both the young be nourished by them, and the men flourish with them. Hearing is a most vital part of the senses, and no less instructive than sight. For through the ears it clearly introduces learning to souls; and it is of no small consequence whether the narratives happen to be good or bad. For of whatever sort those things are said to be, it is necessary that such an image is produced in the thoughts; and a thought, and the continuous contemplation of the mind, leads a person to the desire of doing what he thinks. Therefore prepare for me a calm and undistracted hearing; so that both the blessed martyrs may be honored with what is fitting, and you may be taught through their memory what is pious and God-loving. But for me there lies a double contest, and a fear lest I dishonor the subject by the weakness of my explanation. For if one should consider the magnificence of the matter at hand, it bears the prize of victory over every speech 46.776; or if one should consider the one before us who crowned the saints through his own wisdom; a man whose wonder is common to the whole world; an exact rule of learning both among Christians and of that from without, a statue of philosophy, a model and a peril for bishops, a teacher harmonious in deeds and words; having an unrivaled reputation among all men, except perhaps among those for whom not even Christ is without blasphemy. For as no one disputes that the sun gives light and heat, so also no one will gainsay that the great Basil was adorned with all the beauty of virtue. A lofty praiser, then, of the lofty, a holy servant of the holy; having paid the prize to the champions according to the power he possessed.

But I must not be silent for this reason: because the one who preceded me proclaimed their wondrous deeds magnificently. For the purpose now is not a competition with the one who has spoken, but a care for the benefit of you, the hearers; and each one benefits in whatever way he can, while the enjoyment of greater things is supplied by the more wealthy. The forty, then, were soldiers, having been allotted the station of life to serve as hoplites for the emperor of the Romans, but they were Christians in faith, and pious in their religion. But since the one then in power, being one of the polytheists, with demons suggesting to him that bitter counsel, was persecuting Christians with a new law and edict, commanding all his subjects either to offer incense to the demons, or, if they did not do this, to be condemned to death, and before their end, to endure many outrages upon their whole body; then indeed, then, the blessed ones, making the tyrannical cruelty and the God-hating law an occasion for their own manly virtue, and breaking away from the other soldiers, forming an elect and Christ-loving phalanx with the

1

Encomium in xl martyres ii

ΤΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΥΣ ΤΕΣΣΑΡΑΚΟΝΤΑ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΑΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΕΓΚΩΜΙΑΣΤΙΚΟΣ ΡΗΘΕΙΣΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΩ.

Οἱ μὲν ὁπλῖται Ῥωμαίων κατὰ νόμον πάτριον, καὶ συνήθειαν παλαιὰν, ἣν παῖδες παρὰ προγόνων διαδε ξάμενοι, καὶ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος φυλάττουσιν, ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος μηνὸς τὴν πανοπλίαν ἐνσκευαζό μενοι, καὶ χωροῦντες ἐπί τι πεδίον ἡπλωμένον ἱκα νῶς καὶ ὕπτιον, ἔνθαπερ ἔξεστι καὶ δρόμον ἵππων ἐκτεῖναι, καὶ μελετῆσαι τὰ τακτικὰ, καὶ πᾶσαν γυ μνασθῆναι τὴν ἐνόπλιον ἄσκησιν, ἀνάμνησίν τε τοῦ ἔτους ποιοῦνται, καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐπίσημον ἄγουσιν. Ἐγὼ δὲ μνήμην μαρτύρων τελῶν, καὶ ταύτην τῇ προτεραίᾳ κηρύξας ὑμῖν, τοὺς τοῦ Χριστοῦ στρατιῶ τας τοὺς μʹ, τοὺς πᾶσαν προθυμίαν ὑπερβαλομένους, ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσιν ὁπλίσας διὰ τῆς μνήμης σήμερον θαυμαστοὺς τοῖς δυναμένοις βλέπειν προΐστημι· κό σμον τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ λαῶν εὐφροσύνην, καὶ Θεοῦ δόξαν τοῦ ἐνισχύσαντος. Ἄριστον δὲ πάντως, καὶ ἄγαν λυσιτελὲς τοῖς τῆς ἀρετῆς διηγήμασι, τούς τε νέους ἐντρέφεσθαι, καὶ συνακμάζειν τοὺς ἄνδρας. Ἡ ἀκοὴ, μέρος καιριώτατόν ἐστι τῶν αἰσθήσεων, καὶ τῆς ὄψεως οὐχ ἧττον διδακτικόν. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τῶν ὤτων ἐναργῶς ἐπεισάγει τὴν μάθησιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς· καὶ κίνδυνος οὐ μικρὸς καλὰ τυγχάνειν, ἢ φαῦλα τὰ διηγήματα. Οἷα γὰρ ἐκεῖνα λέγεται, τοιαύτην ἐπάναγ κες τοῖς λογισμοῖς φαντασίαν ἐγγίνεσθαι· ἔννοια δὲ, καὶ θεωρία τοῦ νοῦ συνεχὴς, εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ἄγει τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦ ποιεῖν ἃ λογίζεται. ∆ιό μοι τὴν ἀκρόασιν γαληνῶσαν καὶ ἀμετεώριστον εὐτρεπίσατε· ἵνα καὶ οἱ μακάριοι μάρτυρες τιμηθῶσι τὰ πρέποντα, καὶ ὑμεῖς διὰ τῆς μνήμης παιδευθῆτε τὸ εὐσεβὲς καὶ φιλόθεον. Ἐμοὶ δὲ πρόκειται διπλοῦς ἀγὼν, καὶ δέος μὴ καθ υβρίσω μὲν τὴν ὑπόθεσιν τῇ ἀσθενεία τῆς ἐξηγή σεως. Εἴτε γὰρ ἐννοήσειέ τις αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐν χερσὶ πράγματος τὴν μεγαλοπρέπειαν, κατὰ παντὸς λόγου 46.776 φέρει τὰ νικητήρια· εἴτε τὸν πρὸ ἡμῶν διὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ σοφίας στεφανώσαντα τοὺς ἁγίους· ἀνὴρ οὗ τὸ θαῦμα τῆς οἰκουμένης κοινόν· παιδείας τῆς τε παρὰ Χριστιανοῖς, καὶ τῆς ἔξωθεν, κανὼν ἀκριβὴς, φιλοσοφίας ἄγαλμα, ἐπισκόπων τύπος καὶ κίνδυνος, διδάσκαλος ἔργων καὶ λόγων σύμφωνος· παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἀνανταγώνιστον ἔχων τὴν εὐδοκίμησιν, πλὴν εἰ μὴ παρ' οἷς οὐδὲ Χριστός ἐστιν ἀβλασφήμητος. Ὡς γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἀντιλέγει φωτίζειν καὶ θερμαί νειν τὸν ἥλιον, οὕτως οὐδὲ τὸν μέγαν Βασίλειον ἀν τερεῖ τις, μὴ παντὶ τῷ κάλλει τῆς ἀρετῆς κεκοσμῆ σθαι. Ὑψηλὸς μὲν οὖν τῶν ὑψηλῶν ἐπαινέτης, ἅγιος τῶν ἁγίων θεραπευτής· κατὰ τὴν προσοῦσαν δύνα μιν ἀποπληρώσας τοῖς ἀριστεῦσι τὸ γέρας.

Ἐμοὶ δὲ οὐ διὰ τοῦτο σιωπητέον· ἐπειδήπερ τὰ θαυμαστὰ μεγάλως ὁ προλαβὼν διεκήρυξεν. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι νῦν ὁ σκοπὸς ἅμιλλα πρὸς τὸν εἰρηκότα, ἀλλ' ὑμῶν τῆς τῶν ἀκουόντων ὠφελείας ἐπιμέλεια· ὠφελεῖ δὲ ἕκα στος πάντως ὡς δύναται, τῆς ἀπολαύσεως τῶν μειζόνων παρὰ τῶν πλουσιωτέρων χορηγουμένης. Στρατιῶται μὲν οὖν οἱ τεσσαράκοντα, τοῦ βίου τὴν τάξιν βασιλεῖ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὁπλιτεύειν λαχόντες, Χριστιανοὶ δὲ τὴν πίστιν, καὶ εὐσεβεῖς τὴν θρησκείαν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὁ τηνικαῦτα κρατῶν, εἷς ὣν τῶν πολυ θέων, δαιμόνων αὐτῷ τὸ πικρὸν ὑποθεμένων ἐκεῖνο βούλευμα, καινῷ νόμῳ καὶ γράμματι Χριστιανοὺς ἤλαυνε, κελεύσας πάντας τοὺς ὑπηκόους, ἢ τὸ λιβανωτὸν ἐναγίζειν τοῖς δαίμοσιν, ἢ τοῦτο μὴ ποιοῦντας θανάτῳ καταδικάζεσθαι, καὶ πρό γε τῆς τελευτῆς, παντὶ τῷ σώματι πολλὰς ὑπομένειν τὰς λώβας· τότε δὴ τότε, τὴν τυραννικὴν ὠμότητα, καὶ τὸν μισόθεον νόμον, ἀνδραγαθίας ἑαυτῶν οἱ μακάριοι ποιησάμενοι, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μὲν ἀποῤῥαγέντες στρατιωτῶν, φά λαγγα ἐξαίρετον καὶ φιλόχριστον συγκροτήσαντες τῇ