Anonymous Paraphrase of the Oracles of Emperor Leo

Ko. and Ko. The victory of the beggar, or, the rule of the ^A poor. Beware, you who understand divine things and bear divine things on your shoulders, lest your dust become a reproach, and your promise be rightly shorn, and you become very wild. The high priest himself, the counselor of murder, whose name is Io. And the anointed one shall be revealed, by the name Menachim.

ORACLE XII (icon 12)

^B Piety. You who dwell in the rock, come here, stranger, Leaving behind mourning and the rustic life. And revive, you who were dead and gloomy, Gathering the best, scattering everything, The lawless reward of unrighteousness. When the greater star shall appear black, Naked again, depart to the depths of the earth.

ORACLE XIII (icon 13)

Innocence. This dead man, whose face no one knows, Is known to many, even if no one sees him. As if rising from drunkenness, suddenly He will hold the scepters of this kingdom. For a pillar appearing in the sky, destined, An invisible herald will thrice cry out loudly: ^C "Depart with haste to the western part of the city of seven hills; You shall find a man, my friend and servant; Bring him into the royal houses, Wise, gentle, mild, high-minded, Most keen to know the future." And again you shall have, O seven-hilled one, the power.

Ρ ω Ν σ ο Φ π Ν τ υ σ ς ε λ ο ε ο α

α

ORATION XIV (Icon 14). Pre-recognition.

Oration XV (Icon 15). Selection.

ORACLE XVI (Icon 16). P. P.

NOTES.

Thus far what Janus Rutgersius first brought to light in Greek and Latin from the manuscript codex of Georgius Douza (Var. Lect. lib. v, c. 8). The oracle written in prose, which I have joined to the preceding rhythmic ones, is taken from a manuscript codex of the Amsterdam Library, and has not been published anywhere before. It contains a Paraphrase of the final eleven Oracles of Leo, which treat of a certain future best emperor, who, elected by God and as if raised from the dead, was to obtain the Constantinopolitan empire and reform the customs of the Greeks. But who the author of this Paraphrase might be, it is not yet sufficiently clear to me: this alone I hold most firmly, that it is neither Scholarios nor Rhuzanos, whose Explanations of the Constantinopolitan Prophecies Meursius cites several times in his *Glossarium Graeco-barbarum*.

PARAPHRASE OF THE ORACLES OF EMPEROR LEO BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR

^A Concerning the fabled poor and elect emperor, the known and unknown, who will dwell in the first citadel of Byzantium (46).

The true emperor, who dwells in a damp place because of the heat, after men have driven him from his own house and compelled him to take up residence on the islands, where he practices navigation and the fisherman’s craft throughout the week, will finally be revealed from the Ishmaelites. He will follow in the days of Libys [the South Wind] (47), and the first shall be second, and the second shall be first. Why after this does he commit slaughters in the midst of the city, in the paved public square? On the day of Preparation [Friday], at the third hour of the day, when three are troubled, the third shall emerge first (48). And the Anointed One will be revealed (49); he who is to be revealed through the bows and signs of the Lord will appear. He was signaled by the Angel that was seen, who appeared as a man in white garments, a eunuch (50), and into his ear, while he was sleeping, he spoke, and taking hold of his right hand, he said: “Awaken, you who sleep, and rise from the tomb; for Christ will shine upon you: for He calls you to shepherd a chosen people.” And he said to him a second time: “Come forth, you who were hidden, no longer be concealed: many seek you; all others will go out, but you alone shall enter.” And for a third time, he will give him stone tablets, upon which two commandments are engraved: to take vengeance and to render things just, and to drive out impiety; and to burn with fire those who perform the Sodomitic deeds (51), and likewise to drive the wicked priests out of the temple; and to restore the worthy to divine service, for the propitiation of the God of heaven and earth.

His signs are these: ^B he has a mark on the nail of the big toe of his right foot, his speech is sweet; his countenance is pleasing, indeed womanly; his age is middle; he is bald, with some graying hairs; he possesses varied and vast knowledge.

NOTES. (46) *In the first citadel of Byzantium.* Also noted somewhat later, it says, dwelling on the tip of Byzantium. (47) *In the days of Libys.* This refers to those verses of the eighth oracle: They will hiss at the Dragon, the stone-killer. (48) *The third shall be first.* Refer to oracle 9. (49) *And the Anointed One will be revealed.* These words are taken from oracle 11. (50) *By the Angel seen as a man in white garments, a eunuch.* Thus somewhat later: And two angels in the likeness of a man in white garments, a eunuch. Item Codinus in the book *On the Structure of the Temple of St. Sophia*: “...was signaled to him by a certain eunuch in white garments;” and with a few words inserted, it is subjoined: “The king knew that he was an Angel of the Lord.” And what is narrated in this place concerning the revelation of that future excellent emperor by the angel is a paraphrase of 12, 13, 14, and 15 of the oracle. (51) *And those who perform the Sodomitic works.* The verses of the eighth oracle refer to this: And the lewd and murderer, marked, The adulterer, the extortioner, the unrighteous, the sodomite, May they see the light of the last things of [their] previous deeds.

(a) The learned Mr. Moufflet, Professor of Humanities at a French University, who translated this Paraphrase, or rather enigma, from Greek into Latin, warns that it is far from certain that he could everywhere attain the meaning of this apocalyptic writing. *Ed. Patr.*

^A wisdom, and participation and communication in divination; a drooping nose; eyes raised to heaven; poverty, filthy and tattered garments, because he has been devoted to others. For he will be meek, humane, liberal, magnanimous, terrible, generous. His right hand is remarkable in that on the shoulders [he has] two chains; and on the shoulder-blades two purple crosses; and on the breast and at the neck a golden [ornament]. Chains on the flanks, and on the neck, and on the thighs and arms; and the name of the emperor is hidden among the nations, similar to the last, the seventh day, composed of letters which are from the first letter of the word, or of the words. He cultivates piety and divination: but men have held him for nothing, as if he were never useful. The Lord will place His hand upon his head and will anoint him with oil in the last days, whence he shall be written as "the anointed." He will go forth from the Ishmaelites, and will rule over them; for in those days men shall be crushed, they shall prostrate their faces to the earth, they shall pour dust upon their heads, crying to the Lord of heaven and earth. Then the Lord shall hear their prayers, inclining His ears to the inhabitants of the earth, and will send His archangel under human form, who, after he has wandered through the islands, will find the holy, the fated man, seen by no man, known by no one; useful and useless; a beggar and not needy; merciful and inciting mercy; naked and clothed in precious linen; dead in body and living in a strong spirit; healthy and infirm; ruling and accomplishing nothing; ignorant and knowing many things; to all obscure and unknown, but to God and to himself manifest; living in a servile condition, but sprung from an imperial race; the son of an emperor, and himself the emperor of glory. But he shall sit in the citadel of Byzantium, far from the western gate, in the region of the Sigma. His upbringing from birth ^B has eighty counts in his name. For it is from the twelfth letter; the other, moreover, is written from the first letter in the word... He shall be assimilated to God Most High. To his father a divine name. To whom a profound genius. He is without father and without mother, without genealogy. At the same time, from one wife he has received children, sons indeed and daughters. These, however... ^{C D}

NOTES

^A The names of men and women consist of letters denoting the numbers 40, 4, 3, 1, 1, 1, 10; these will be manifest from the sign on the nail of the right foot, and from his right eye, which is a crooked eye of lechery. And he is holy to the Lord; having olives on the right parts of the body, beneath the breasts, and especially on the shoulder blade, on the thigh, the ear, and on the right eyebrow, according to the measure of mercy. His cheeks are prettily flushing. He is tall, his chin graying, having his beard along with the hair of his head. ^B Mild, honey-dropping, black-haired, bald in the front of his head, an old man, a victor, a triumpher. The best of kings of kings. Dwellings in the tetra-pylon, in the wetter part of the Sigma, and in the southern part of the sea, and in a nameless and muddy place; when he goes out, there are two gates, one indeed golden, the other of wood, fastened and armed? He hangs everything up and down. He has a tent closed by two doors turning on hinges. The right threshold is level, arranged with multi-colored stones in a fourfold order. There is a fourth column in the shape of a dragon. A woman driving a chariot stands before the tent. A man wearing a crown on his forehead proclaims the fortune of the elect emperor. Before the tent is a statue of the God-man, immolated and adored, girded with one belt, whose name is inscribed. He wages war and the machines of the fair-haired ones, (60) and the shedding of blood (61) as [if into] a goblet set out on the earth. He has on the south the ruler of the beasts, and on his chest the image of the army. On the left side of his ^C tent is a narrowed path, a lane; and a flood of water, deep, and overflowing, and resounding, and surging unto the sheer sea of the Seven-Hilled [City], and a roaring river is given forth from the iron sheer cliff. He is a fir tree planted in his birth; having shoots upon these firs, holding a bird's nest of a long-lived creature. Having sprouts and shapes of birds, and of doves; in which there is also a very large tower, and beastly walls. Being served by one in black clothing; showing mercy and being shown mercy. And his foul-named name is "Beast-named Wolf," and in this very order the *Illustris* is born to guard all piety and prophecy. Not a leader of prophets, nor useful in any thing, whom men despised as being dead and useless. God will reveal and make known, ^D and will show forth [him who is] anointed in the last days, anointed from his mother's womb with holy oil. Thus he will be manifested: a star will appear for three days and three hours of the night, sometimes from the (feast day) of the Mother of the Most High, not one of the (known) planets, until the feast of the saving Nativity of Christ. And the herald will be heard shouting with a clear voice, summoning and revealing the hoped-for one. Then the people, seeing and hearing the thundering voice of the herald, will be moved, and arising with joy and fear, will shout that they do not know the hoped-for one; and all, after they [have...]

cried out "Lord, have mercy" with heat and fervor, and have beaten their foreheads to the ground and cast dust upon their heads, and have groaned and shed tears on account of the tribulation impending upon them, the Divine Being shall be moved to pity and will graciously receive their prayer; and with a merciful eye He will look upon those who dwell on the earth. By the elect who are overtaken at that time, the Elect One shall be made known. A cloudy firmament of the sun shall be seen in the heavens, having the magnitude of a summer threshing floor of six oxen, and beneath it shall hang a host, and to the left of the purple army, a bow stretched out, such as He established for our affairs as an everlasting testament; and while all are ignorant of the hoped-for one, the bow shall be bent through the southern part, which is made low in the vault of heaven. And it shall be shown at the position of the nest of the true King. Then the peoples, having given glory to God, shall speed swiftly to the end of the bow, and having taken the precious and aged royal scion with lamps, and palms, and fragrant boughs, ^B for they shall carry him in various ways into great Zion. And when the true King shall come before his nest between two arches, and his image has been erected on high, the star which had appeared shall be poured out into his hands and shall anoint him with spiritual light. And the herald, thundering with a voice, though not seen, shall say from heaven to the people: "Is this one pleasing to you?" Then all shall be seized with fear, and trembling, and astonishment at the thundering voice of the herald. And then, beating their breasts with tears and groanings, and lifting their hands to heaven, they shall answer: "Yes, Lord, because You have given him, he is pleasing to us." And having worshipped him, they shall lead him into great Zion. And after he has prayed, and has sealed the gates, they shall be opened while all are turning and looking; but those who were there shall flee in great fear, and having prayed and raised him up to a high place, shall call him King, having him by lineage, and then, having praised him, they shall return home, and in this way they shall lead him into the palace at night, and the signs shall be changed. And two angels in the likeness of a man, a white-robed eunuch, shall guide him, and they shall whisper into his ears what he is about to do. But many, wishing to lay hands upon him, shall not lay them, seeing the signs, and being restrained by the angels, they shall say among themselves: "We did not understand the kindness of the Lord." We are bound ^D with our own chains, sinners resistant to the laws, and we ourselves, of illustrious names, are exacting tributes with the impious priests.

many, however, shall flee into the radiant and constricting places of the world. And all, having glorified God, shall be at peace. But a man from the East, illustrious in these matters and in fortune, himself also born poor, and from glory passing to the glory of a virtuous life, advancing to the highest summit, truly radiant in body and hair, and having the hope of the invisible God, similar to a beggar and chosen, he also shall be filled ^A with the light of the Lord’s heavenly church. You shall not fail of the heavenly inheritance.

ORACLE OF THE MOST WISE EMPEROR LEO CONCERNING THE RESTORATION OF CONSTANTINOPLE

ORACLE OF THE MOST WISE EMPEROR LEO ON THE RESTORATION OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Byzantium’s court, pious Constantine’s home, Rome, Babylon, and another new Sion, For three times three hundred years it is fitting for you to enjoy your empire, Though with twenty years lacking. Like dust, you shall gather the gold of the nations, And you shall rule over all the surrounding tribes. But a fire-surrounded and fair-haired race ^B Shall burn you all to ash and destroy your kingdom. You shall be as though you had never existed before, Until the finger of God is seen from the East, Filling the two fingers of the now-lost hand, Bearing spears, like breezes from a furnace, By which they shall avenge their heavy ancestral fate. Then your children shall come from all sides, Straight, as from the circumference of a circle to the center, In accordance with which just things He shall deliver justice. You shall be new, henceforth, once again new, And you shall rule the nations better than before. For you shall be called the house of God’s glory, Where those nearby shall cast themselves at your feet.

NOTES

The ancient interpreter of the Oracles of Leo translates these things thus: "But the final fire, the fair-haired race." It seems, therefore, that in his manuscript "final fire" was written instead of "fire-surrounded." Those, however, whom this Leo calls the fiery and fair-haired race of men seem to be the Latins, who, under the leadership of Baldwin, Count of Flanders, in the year of Christ 1203, having put to flight Alexius Angelus Comnenus, captured Constantinople and occupied it for fifty full years. They are likewise called "fair-haired" in the ancient Greek Paraphrase of the Oracles of Leo, where it says: "bearing also war and the engines of the fair-haired ones."

Petrus Lambecius omitted another prediction concerning the fates of the emperors, which Du Cange later published in his notes on Zonaras (last note); since we did not have knowledge of this oracle until after the volume was completed, we are forced to refer the reader to Zonaras (vol. CXXXIV). EDIT. PATR.

on Zonaras (last note); since we did not have knowledge of this oracle until after the volume was completed, we are forced to refer the reader to Zonaras (vol. CXXXIV). EDIT. PATR. Figure 1. Figure 2.

ORACULA

Figure 5.

Figure 6.

Figure 7.

Figure 8.