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Historia ecclesiastica

OF SALAMANES HERMIAS SOZOMEN THE SCHOLASTIC, AN ADDRESS TO THE EMPEROR THEODOSIUS AND INTRODUCTION TO THE ECCLESIASTICAL

HISTORY

πρεφ.1.1 They say that for the emperors of old it was a matter of concern, for some

for lovers of finery, purple robes and a crown and similar things; for those, in turn, devoted to literature, some fabulous poem or writing that could charm; for those who practiced the art of war, to shoot an arrow with good aim and strike a wild beast, πρεφ.1.2 or to hurl a spear, or to leap onto a horse. And each one presented himself at the palace, practicing what happened to be pleasing to the ruler: one offering a rare jewel, another suggesting a brighter dye for the purple robe, another addressing him with a poem or a composition, and another introducing a nimble and new method of using weapons. And it was considered a very great and royal thing for the ruler of all to possess one part of this popular virtue; but of piety, the true ornament of royalty, no one took so much πρεφ.1.3 account. But you, O most excellent Emperor Theodosius, have, to speak summarily, practiced every virtue through God; and while wearing the purple robe and crown as a symbol of your rank for all to see, you have always inwardly been clothed with the true ornament of royalty: piety and philanthropy. Therefore, poets and writers and most of your prefects and of your other πρεφ.1.4 subjects always labor on you and your deeds. And presiding as a judge and critic of speeches, you do not let some elegant tone and figure steal accuracy, but you award the prize with sincerity, examining the diction appropriate to the purpose of the matter, and the form of speech, and parts, and arrangement, and harmony, and phrasing, and πρεφ.1.5 composition, and arguments, and sense, and historical accuracy. And you reward the speakers with your judgment and with applause and with golden portraits <and> the dedication of statues and with gifts and honors of every kind. But as you show yourself to be toward speakers, such were not the Cretans of old toward that celebrated Homer, nor the Aleuadae toward Simonides, nor Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily toward Plato, the companion of Socrates, nor Philip of Macedon toward Theopompus the historian, nor Caesar Severus toward Oppian, who in verse narrated the species and nature and the catching of fish. πρεφ.1.6 For the Cretans, having rewarded Homer for his eloquence with a thousand coins, boasting of it as an unsurpassed act of generosity, inscribed the gift on a public stele. And the Aleuadae and Dionysius and Philip would not have been more reserved than the Cretans, who prided themselves on an unpretentious and philosophical polity, but would quickly have imitated their stele, had they not been behind in the gift. And Severus, having presented to Oppian for his poetry of average quality a gold piece for each line, so astonished by his generosity that even now Oppian's verses are called "golden verses" by πρεφ.1.7 many. These were the gifts of the patrons of learning and literature of old. But you, O Emperor, have left no one ever a chance for exaggeration in your generous patronage of letters; and it seems to me you do this not without reason. For, striving to surpass all in virtues, you bring your own affairs to a state of progress, inasmuch as you have accurately studied the history of the past achievements of both Greeks and Romans. πρεφ.1.8 And they say that you during the day

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Historia ecclesiastica

ΣΑΛΑΜΑΝΟΥ ΕΡΜΕΙΟΥ ΣΩΖΟΜΕΝΟΥ ΣΧΟΛΑΣΤΙΚΟΥ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΑ ΘΕΟ∆ΟΣΙΟΝ ΚΑΙ ΥΠΟΘΕΣΙΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ

ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ

πρεφ.1.1 Φασὶ τῶν πάλαι αὐτοκρατόρων ἐπιμελές τι χρῆμα γενέσθαι τοῖς μὲν

φιλοκόσμοις ἁλουργίδα καὶ στέφανον καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια, τοῖς δ' αὖ τὰ περὶ λόγους σπουδάσασι μυθώδη τινὰ ποίησιν ἢ σύγγραμμα θέλγειν δυνάμενον, τοῖς δὲ τὰ περὶ πόλεμον ἀσκοῦσι βέλος εὐστόχως ἀφεῖναι καὶ θῆρα πρεφ.1.2 βαλεῖν ἢ δόρυ ἀκοντίζειν ἢ εἰς ἵππον ἅλλεσθαι· προσήγγελλον δὲ ἑαυτοὺς τοῖς βασιλείοις ἕκαστος ἐπιτηδεύων ὃ τῷ κρατοῦντι φίλον ἐτύγχανεν, ὁ μὲν δυσπόριστον ψηφῖδα προσφέρων, ἕτερος δὲ λαμπροτέραν βαφὴν ἁλουργίδος ὑποτιθέμενος, ὁ δὲ ποίημα ἢ σύγγραμμα προσφωνῶν, ἄλλος δὲ εὔζωνον καὶ ξένον περὶ τὰ ὅπλα τρόπον εἰσηγούμενος· μέγιστον δὲ καὶ βασιλικὸν ἐνομίζετο ταυτησὶ τῆς δημώδους ἀρετῆς μόριον ἓν κεκτῆσθαι τὸν πάντων ἡγούμενον, εὐσεβείας δέ, τοῦ ἀληθοῦς κόσμου τῆς βασιλείας, οὐδενὶ τοσοῦτος πρεφ.1.3 λόγος ἐγένετο. σὺ δέ, ὦ κράτιστε βασιλεῦ Θεοδόσιε, συλλήβδην εἰπεῖν πᾶσαν ἐπήσκησας ἀρετὴν διὰ θεοῦ, ἁλουργίδα δὲ καὶ στέφανον πρὸς τοὺς θεωμένους σύμβολον τῆς ἀξίας περικείμενος, ἔνδοθεν ἀεὶ τὸν ἀληθῆ κόσμον τῆς βασιλείας ἠμφίεσαι, τὴν εὐσέβειαν καὶ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν. ὅθεν ἑκάστοτε ποιηταὶ καὶ συγγραφεῖς καὶ τῶν σῶν ὑπάρχων οἱ πλείους καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν πρεφ.1.4 ὑπηκόων περὶ σὲ καὶ τὰς σὰς πράξεις πονοῦσιν. ἀγωνοθέτης δὲ καὶ λόγων κριτὴς προκαθήμενος, οὐ κομψῇ τινι φωνῇ καὶ σχήματι κλέπτῃ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν, ἀλλ' εἰλικρινῶς βραβεύεις, λέξιν οἰκείαν σκοπῶν τῇ προθέσει τοῦ πράγματος καὶ σχῆμα λόγου καὶ μέρη καὶ τάξιν καὶ ἁρμονίαν καὶ φράσιν καὶ πρεφ.1.5 συνθήκην καὶ ἐπιχειρήματα καὶ νοῦν καὶ ἱστορίαν· ἀμείβῃ δὲ τοὺς λέγοντας τῇ τε κρίσει τῇ σῇ καὶ τοῖς κρότοις καὶ χρυσαῖς εἰκόσιν <καὶ> ἀναθέσει ἀνδριάντων καὶ δώροις καὶ τιμαῖς παντοδαπαῖς. οἷον δὲ σαυτὸν περὶ τοὺς λέγοντας παρέχεις, οὐ τοιοῦτοι Κρητῶν οἱ πάλαι ἐγένοντο περὶ τὸν ἀοίδιμον ἐκεῖνον ῞Ομηρον, ἢ ᾿Αλευάδαι περὶ Σιμωνίδην, ἢ ∆ιονύσιος ὁ Σικελίας τύραν-νος περὶ Πλάτωνα τὸν Σωκράτους ἑταῖρον, ἢ Φίλιππος ὁ Μακεδὼν περὶ Θεόπομπον τὸν συγγραφέα, ἢ Σευῆρος ὁ Καῖσαρ περὶ ᾿Οππιανόν, τὸν ἐν τοῖς μέτροις τῶν ἰχθύων τὰ γένη καὶ τὴν φύσιν καὶ τὴν θήραν ἀφηγησάμενον· πρεφ.1.6 Κρῆτες μὲν γὰρ ἐν χιλίοις νομίσμασιν ῞Ομηρον ἀμειψάμενοι τῆς εὐεπείας, ὡς ἀνυπέρβλητον φιλοτιμίαν αὐχοῦντες, ἐν στήλῃ δημοσίᾳ τὴν δωρεὰν ἀνεγράψαντο· ᾿Αλευάδαι δὲ καὶ ∆ιονύσιος καὶ Φίλιππος οὐκ ἂν στεγανώτεροι Κρητῶν ἐγένοντο, τῶν ἐπὶ πολιτείᾳ ἀτύφῳ καὶ φιλοσόφῳ σεμνυνομένων, ἀλλὰ τάχος ἂν τὴν ἐκείνων στήλην ἐμιμήσαντο, εἰ μὴ κατόπιν ἦσαν τῇ δωρεᾷ· Σευῆρος δὲ μετρίας ποιήσεως χρυσοῦν κατὰ στίχον ᾿Οππιανῷ δωρησάμενος, οὕτω τῇ φιλοτιμίᾳ κατέπληξεν, ὡς χρυσᾶ ἔπη τὰ ᾿Οππιανοῦ εἰσέτι νῦν παρὰ πρεφ.1.7 τοῖς πολλοῖς ὀνομάζεσθαι. ταῦτα τῶν πάλαι φιλομαθῶν καὶ φιλολόγων τὰ δῶρα. σὺ δέ, ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὐδενὶ τῶν πώποτε ὑπερβολὴν κατέλιπες ἐν ταῖς περὶ τοὺς λόγους φιλοτιμίαις· καί μοι δοκεῖς οὐκ ἀπεικότως τοῦτο ποιεῖν. πάντας γὰρ νικῆσαι ταῖς ἀρεταῖς σπουδάζων, εἰς ἐπίδοσιν ἄγεις τὰ σὰ καθότι τῶν πάλαι κατωρθωμένων ῞Ελλησί τε καὶ ῾Ρωμαίοις τὴν ἱστορίαν ἠκρίβω-πρεφ.1.8 σας. φασὶ δέ σε μεθ' ἡμέραν