Leo Allatius's Dissertation on the Writings of Symeon the Metaphrast

^A Gratitude, then, is due to the blessed Metaphrastes, who embellished the contests of the martyrs for the sake of the truth with many labors and drops of sweat, for the hymn of God and the everlasting glory of the holy martyrs. As the periods were being numbered, the tenth period was completed in the year 5320. And as the eleventh period began, 186 years passed, and our Lord Jesus Christ took on human nature, as the book of the Nicomedian and the Metaphrastes contain. And having suffered for our salvation, he was crucified on the 23rd of March, was buried on the 24th, and rose on the 25th day, the first day, that is to say, Sunday, as the Metaphrastes makes clear, and the book of Nicomedia likewise. ^B And I am persuaded by the words of the lord Symeon. For I have pondered how so many chroniclers, logographers, and historians, and especially the great writer of the Metaphrases, have left unrecorded, and thus passed over, a name written in the eternal heights, having an indelible memory. But the sweet writer of the Metaphrases, with confidence, says that the discourse is indicative of the expression of speech. But concerning this, the sweet writer of the Metaphrases speaks better than I. And so that we might not appear to be inventing things that are unlikely, we bring forward here a credible witness, Symeon, who compiled the Metaphrases very well. This is sufficient, then, as he does this in his commentary on the holy Luke. ^C 104: How worthy, then, of admiration would the marvelous Symeon not be, he who earned the name "Metaphrastes" distinct from others, having written down the contests of the holy martyrs for the sake of the truth under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit with many drops of sweat and labors, and having adorned them by the power of speech and wisdom for the hymn of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the perpetual glory of the holy martyrs who struggled for him; and having stopped the mouth of every impious person, and having left no pretext of doubt for the pious. Nicephorus Callistus, *Hist. Eccles.*, lib. xiv, cap. 50: "Which history, namely concerning the Life and deeds of Symeon the Stylite the Elder, after the great Theodoret, Symeon Metaphrastes, who bears the same name as him, wrote most excellently, setting forth for all a certain new and strange feast out of those things." And lib. xviii, cap. 14, concerning Symeon the Stylite the Younger: ^D "But Symeon did many other things, surpassing number, which certainly require a longer time, a more polished language, and a distinct work. These things are celebrated up to now in the speech of all, written by Symeon *Magistros*, although not written in accordance with the dignity of his greatness and works, into which book we ourselves, having marveled with astonishment at the abundant supply and power of the works of the holy man, have fallen." Michael Glycas, where he discusses the affairs of Maximian and Diocletian against the Christians: [36]

For, as that Symeon, surnamed Metaphrastes, says, "And these Emperors strove mightily to conquer the Christian faith, as if to abolish that which Christ himself pronounced would endure more firmly than the very gates of Hell." ^A And in Epistle 21, to Isaiah the monk: "See also Symeon, who is among the saints, confirming this dogma before others; for in the Life of the great martyr Anastasia he says these things." And among other things, behold holy Symeon Metaphrastes confirming this dogma, for in the Life of the great martyr Anastasia he says these things. Gregory of Corinth enumerates Metaphrastes among other authors, from whom examples of speaking well and narrating well are to be sought. Andreas, Bishop of Rhodes, in the Council of Florence, session 7, addresses the Greeks thus: "First of all, then, let Symeon Metaphrastes, most celebrated in your churches, be present. And let that Symeon Metaphrastes be read, who is daily read among you in the churches." Joseph of Methone, in his Apology for the Florentine Synod against Marcus of Ephesus: "And Symeon the Younger Theologian, who is also called Metaphrastes, on the third day of October in the Life of St. Dionysius the Areopagite, has these things." Gennadius, for the Florentine Council, ch. 5: "Among us, indeed, and very well preserved, they are sung with melodies every day, and the Menaea, and the Triodia, and the Orations, and the Metaphrastes, and the Pentecostaria, and the Stichera, and the Troparia, and the Idiomela, and the Kontakia, and the Oikoi, and the Synaxaria, and the Exapostilaria, etc.; and not to recount them one by one, the entire corpus of our Church holds this opinion." Gennadius uses the testimony of Metaphrastes elsewhere in the same work. Likewise Nicetas in his Catena on Luke, and Macarius Chrysocephalus in the Great Alphabet, Symeon of Thessalonica in his Dialogue against Heresies and on the Sacraments, Bessarion also the Cardinal, and others. And among the Latins, Aloysius Lipomannus: "Metaphrastes wrote the Lives of the saints in an elegant and cultivated style, and proposed the legends to the Church, and this book came forth into the light with such authority that among the Eastern Church, whoever has written the Lives of the saints, except for Metaphrastes alone, is neither sought after nor found." Moreover, when it recites the sacred Lives of the saints in its Menaea, it reads none other than those taken from these; so much are they held by all to be certain, true, authentic, and confirmed by the authority of all. Indeed, neither would the Greek Church have placed the prayers and orations of Metaphrastes after the supplications of Basil and Chrysostom, if they were those of an author of recent time.

^B And know that Metaphrastes was a most holy man, and enrolled in the Catalogue of blessed Fathers among the Greeks: since his feast is celebrated among them on Nov. 27. Wherefore the fullest faith can be placed in his writings, as is fitting, and we have the testimony of the most serious and most learned Fathers. Who those ones are, who confirm your faith as well as mine, we set forth here. See also Gretser on the Images painted by St. Luke, c. 19. Such a great man, therefore, instructed and eloquent by the testimonies of so many most approved actors, suitable, honored with the dignities of teacher, logothete, and others, saintly and most celebrated in the churches of the Greeks, counted among others who have illuminated the Church with their sermons: and whose dicta are produced in councils for the establishing of the dogmas of the faith—would he lie in the crossroads as an inglorious schoolmaster, approved by no authority of an honest man, nor even by the testimony of some trivial elementary teacher? Away with such nonsense.

But the Writer is remarkably recent. Let us deem this also, and weigh the matter by the gravity of his own name. And first, before all things, the foolishness of the heretics is to be laughed at, who, in order to lift up the faith of Metaphrastes, make him most recent, and afterwards, being little cautious and not very consistent with themselves, make him appear before the most ancient Fathers, and what is more, before the disciples of the apostles, or the apostles themselves, and establish him as contemporary. Among them the chief are Gesner and the other epitomizers, who, confusing Hippolytus the Theban, a later chronographer, with Hippolytus of Portus, determine—even against their will—that Metaphrastes wrote around the times of the apostles. For since Hippolytus mentions him—who they must admit is the one of Portus, of whom Jerome speaks in his catalogue—it is necessary that he flourished before those times, and therefore lived with the apostles themselves, or at least with the disciples of the Apostles. For Hippolytus of Portus ended his life by martyrdom under the Emperor Alexander, in the year of the Lord 229. And will this most recent author be in the Church, with whose authority Hippolytus confirms his own, and of whom he speaks not as one recently deceased, but as someone more ancient, and whose authority would already be admitted by its own right? Examining the opinions of the most ancient Fathers concerning the day of the Passion and death of the Lord, he prefers the one of Metaphrastes to the rest, whom he names not without praise: "One," he says, "to him is Symeon," whatever others may say, "I believe the words of the lord Symeon, and I trust my hesitating intellect." But I truly believe the words of the lord Symeon. In the passage of time, and by the tested contention of many years, the authority of the sayings is compared—all the more so if they are to be preferred to others—not by the precarious danger of a single day. ^C Since, therefore, the age of Symeon, if we judge well, is not so ancient, let us conclude the suspicion of the Novators about Hippolytus to be light, and futile, and if you please, delirious. Nor did Franciscus Bivarius see more in his Commentary on Flavius Dexter, year 3, who admitted, not cautiously enough, that this Hippolytus, whom he calls the Theban, wrote before Epiphanius;

^A nor does he even read him. For how could he—seeing that Georgius Nicomedensis uses the testimony of Symeon Metaphrastes and the Chronography of Georgius, both of whom are much more recent than Epiphanius—have been able to appear older than Epiphanius to Bivarius, who was not asleep? And if you say that Bivarius failed to notice this, let him not take it amiss.

Just as a very ancient age is denied to Metaphrastes, so too is the very recent age asserted by others. For Raphael of Volterra, in the nineteenth book of his *Commentarii Urbani*, and Conrad Gessner after him in his *Bibliotheca*, by I know not what conjecture, make him quite recent, writing that he composed the *Lives of the Saints* about two hundred years ago; and this so pleased others that, indifferent to the true sequence of time, they have ridiculously retained the same number of years. Rodolphus Hospinianus, in his work on temples, while discussing the time of Metaphrastes, affirms that he wrote no more than two hundred and twenty years ago. It has been well done for Metaphrastes, since twenty years have already accumulated from Gessner to Hospinianus. Those who have examined the histories of antiquity and of recent times with a precise and true calculation have seen that no more than twenty years have elapsed. Yet what are we to make of Casaubon, who attributes so much to himself in his *Annales*? "Metaphrastes is a very recent writer, and very often a most trivial one." It is doubtful whether he would even assign to him those two hundred years, such as they are. Hence the compilers of Gessner, in rewriting the *Bibliotheca*, have omitted that number of years, whether they thought him even more recent within that interval, or—as the truth is—more ancient. Genebrardus, in the first book of his *Chronologia*, makes Metaphrastes slightly older. He puts Symeon Metaphrastes around the year 1200. And yet he writes that Psellus flourished in the year 1073.

The most learned Gerard Vossius, in his book on Greek Historians, book II, chapter 26, places Symeon Metaphrastes under Constantine Ducas, or at least around those times; for concerning his age, the matter is still *sub judice* for them, though he lived two hundred years later than Baronius and Bellarmine supposed. He proves this from the age of Psellus, who lived under the same emperors and had delivered an oration in praise of Symeon. The age of Psellus, therefore, as Vossius opines, dictates the age of Metaphrastes. However, no one will say that he lived with Psellus because of the oration made against him by Psellus; for from that very oration, Symeon is proven to be more ancient than Psellus, not his contemporary. Psellus says that he heard from those who had seen Metaphrastes breathing his last: he himself, therefore, had not seen him. And it could have happened that those who saw him had seen him many years before, as indeed they did. And when I was a boy, while I stayed with Paula in Calabria, I often heard from a certain old man, more than a hundred and twenty years of age, long-lived and dark-haired, yet vigorous and venerated by all, much about the commoner D. Francis, his fellow citizen, whom he had known in intimacy and had seen with his own eyes, narrating it as an eye-witness; if I were to relate these things in writing, I would say that I had understood them from those who had seen D. Francis: would D. Francis, therefore, who died a hundred and forty-one years before I write these things, be my contemporary? ^B Or would he be called the contemporary of anyone else by some? And so Psellus, having heard it from those who saw Symeon, is not to be called a contemporary of Symeon’s age.

They might say that it is possible for someone, living in the same age, to write about the deeds of another who was also living at the time, deeds which he did not see for many reasons, yet heard from trustworthy men who were present at his work. Thus, in this age, we inquire and hear many things from experts and those who have seen them, and afterward we commit them to writing. The same could have happened to Psellus. Wherefore the reasoning derived from these eye-witnesses proves Metaphrastes to be his contemporary, but by no means an ancient.

Here I will show in a few words that this way of speaking—as if we were always talking about past events in which we could not have taken part due to our age—is satisfied by one saying or another example. Eunapius of Sardis, in his *Lives of the Sophists*, intending to write of those whom he himself had known and had learned of by hearsay, refers this hearsay not to his own time, but to the time of an earlier age. Nicetas Choniates recounts many things about John Comnenus which he did not see himself, but received from others who had seen John and were companions of his expedition. Johannes Cinnamus professes the same. Who, however, would say that those events did not precede the age of the mentioned writers? Let us hear Polybius, than whom surely no one is better, no one more accurate, in the fourth book of his *Histories*: ^C *Secondly, because the times follow one another in such a way, and those of us who fall under our own history are such that some are in our time, and others are in the time of our fathers. From which it happens that some have come to pass in our own day, but others we heard from those who have seen them.* And to go further back in time, writing hearsay from hearsay, did not seem to us to be secure, neither the distinctions nor the decisions. *Of those heresies, moreover, which are about to come to your knowledge, both those of the readers and those of the most ancient, some things we know from love of learning, others we have gathered from hearsay, and to some individuals we have even presented them as with our eyes.*

And as for those matters of the heresies which are suggested to the knowledge of readers from us, even the most ancient ones, we have pursued some with study and diligence, others...

we have grasped with our own ears and eyes. For obviously, there is the ancient memory of the ancients—and beyond the memory of our fathers—from the reading of books, which have arisen from the memory of our forebears; and there are those things disseminated in our own age, which are compared by our ears and eyes. And note that it is one thing to receive something by hearing, another by love of learning, and another to examine it with one’s own eyes and ears.

Whatever the case may be, it seems to be proven from the same Psellus that Metaphrastes died before Psellus was born: for in the beginning of his oration, explaining his glory, he says: “His name and deeds were celebrated throughout the whole world.” Therefore, Psellus was not writing first at the time of his death: for it takes little effort and time to extend fame throughout the world; rather, the very honorable deeds, which indeed occur in their own time, are transported from one city to another, and once transported, are approved by the common consent of all. Moreover, so that the same thing may be proven more accurately, he says that from the body of the Metaphrast, even when laid in the sepulcher, a fragrance emanated for many days, which he finally abandoned when another corpse was deposited therein: ^A *And he had died in this state; the whole place was immediately filled with fragrance, and not just then, nor until the third day, but for many days afterward, until he alone was placed in the sepulcher: and the coffin would have emitted such a fragrance perpetually, had not certain persons behaved so wickedly,* etc.

Alphonsus Villegas, in his *Lives of the Saints* regarding Symeon Metaphrastes, contends that Metaphrastes flourished around the time of Heraclius, specifically the year 620, from the *Life of Saint Alypius the Stylite*, thinking it to have been written by Symeon. ^B Peter Ribadeneyra argues the same thing in his *Lives of the Saints who are not in the Calendar*, dealing skillfully against Oarodius, demonstrating that there is no other argument than that very *Life of Alypius*, in which Symeon relates that he is his disciple. And in Surius, in the margin of the *Life of Saint Alypius*, it is written: “Symeon Metaphrastes was his disciple.” Hence, there must be many Pselli conjured up for us: for besides those enumerated in my *Diatriba*, there will now be another, the most ancient of all, who prayed to Metaphrastes not long after Heraclius, when the Psellus we have at hand refers to Metaphrastes, saying that he heard many things about him from men who had seen and known him. However, since that *Life of Alypius the Stylite* which they adduce to prove the age of Metaphrastes was not written by the Metaphrast, let others judge how much Alphonsus and Peter deviate from the truth. And lest I repeat too often the argument from the Psellian oration which makes him much later than the Heraclian times, let us conclude from this same *Life of Saint Alypius* who its author might have been. He was an Adrianopolitan by birth, a citizen and compatriot of Alypius. For God so arranged our affairs with a certain kindness that the man who had been produced from the same fatherland as a fruit, he himself in return gave back to his fatherland as a joyful salvation. He was his disciple not only by vow and desire, but he was also his instructor. Behold the words: ^C “But I also, who am the most worthless of your plantation, O Father! and a late offspring, have dared to dedicate this funeral oration to you. And, do not forget, O saint, the flock of your monastery! But even if you are the glory of those who lack material substance, turning toward the beauty of the divinity, look upon us and have mercy on us, whom you gathered and left as orphans, openly saying: ‘Peace of Christ to you: farewell, and be preserved, O children; and let not your soul fear or be troubled.’” But our Symeon, a Constantinopolitan and most occupied with civil affairs, had never inscribed himself in the list of monks, so far as I myself know. I shall not here repeat the style of speaking, which, even to the most unskilled, can be manifest from the very reading, to be so different from the style of Symeon and his manner of treating subjects. Therefore, the error is not to be corrected by the times of Heraclius, which, out of ignorance, is attributed to the author of the *Life of Alypius*, which has troubled the minds of a few. Add that, if the ancient Metaphrastes did the greater part of the *Lives of the Saints*, which everyone knows for certain to be his, [then that life], as having been very trivially attached to him, must be rejected as spurious, and their true authors investigated. A truly unworthy deed, and one much to be deplored among pious men. ^D For the most difficult times of the Church, disrupted by various trifles of heretics and the engines of tyrants through violence and impiety—which run from the age of Heraclius for 300 years and beyond—cause this antiquity of Symeon, illuminated by the most excellent doctrines and instructions of the saints, to grow vile without the knowledge of a certain author.

Joannes Molanus spoke less considerately in his annotations to the *Martyrology of Usuard* for May 13, noting from Tome VI of Lipomanus that Metaphrastes excerpted the history of the *Life of Saint Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia in Cyprus*, from the voice and account of John, his disciple, who is older than Metaphrastes (and even [older than] Heraclius himself), and lived around the year of Christ 430, or a little after. But the inconsiderateness of Molanus is clearly refuted by those things which we brought forward above against Villegas and Ribadeneyra. And so that this may be more evident, I note from the *Lives of the Saints*, which today are partly handled by the hands of scholars, that no certain argument can be drawn regarding the age of Metaphrastes, for then we would be forced to assert that there were either many [42] Metaphrastes, or that Metaphrastes himself lived and wrote in all ages, as we have seen. And I confirm [this] by an example. The *Life of Saint Sabas*, edited in Surius, is claimed for Symeon Metaphrastes. If that were true, we would hold yet another age for Metaphrastes himself under Justinian, since the author of that *Life* asserts that he lived in the same times as Sabas. Do you want another? Hear. The *Life of Saint Autonomus the martyr* in Surius and others, Meta-

Metaphrastes is acknowledged as the author. If this were true, we would also have the age of Metaphrastes. This author narrates that, two hundred years having passed from the martyrdom of the said Autonomus to his own times, his corpse, although placed in a tomb, had remained whole and incorrupt. Hear his words:

^A "I, seeing the athlete overcoming nature even after death, rise up to glorify God. For having once cast my eyes upon the tomb of the martyr, I beheld the sacred body and perceived it had remained unconquered by the power of death. For it, which boasts that it dissolves the entire composition of a living being within the space of three days, has not been able, in two hundred years already, to destroy a hair of his beard; but the hair of his head is thick and undamaged, while the character of his form is steady and unwounded, with the vigor of his features, and not even having lost the hairs of his upper lip. Moreover, the circle of his eyes has opened for him, through which it seems to me, as he watches, he prefers silence in reverence for the law of death; and the whole shape of his body stands, preserving its own harmony, neither having fallen away from his head at all, nor having undergone the separation of the remaining parts. For thus the munificent Lord knows how to glorify those who have chosen to glorify Him with their own members."

I, however, seeing the athlete winning even after death against nature, rise to glorify God; for sometimes, casting my eyes into the martyr’s sepulchre, I viewed his sacred relics, which had remained unconquered by the powers of death. That which boasts that it would dissolve the whole composition of a living creature in the space of three days, has not been able, in two hundred years, to corrupt or even destroy a hair of that illustrious man; but the hair of his head is dense and unharmed, and the character of his form remains whole, with skin firm and taut, not even having lost the hairs of his upper lip. There is also open to him the circle of his eyes, through which it seemed to me, looking at him, that he—revering only the law of death—feigned silence. His entire bodily frame also stands, preserving its own structure, and neither has anything of his head been broken off, nor has any separation of the remaining parts occurred from one another. For thus does the munificent Lord know how to glorify in turn those who have been willing to glorify Him with their members.

Autonomus suffered martyrdom under Diocletian about the year of our Lord 303; add 200 years of the body remaining untouched by rot, and it will be 503, when the writer of the *Life* was living. But this would be the thirteenth year of the Emperor Anastasius; therefore, at that time also Metaphrastes was living and writing. A plainly ridiculous thing. Wherefore, the *Lives* published or to be published must be accurately considered, and only then attributed to Metaphrastes. For all his disciples, whether monks or those excelling in other ecclesiastical dignity, disavow Metaphrastes, since he, though distinguished by piety and holiness, lived his life in the world while addicted to secular affairs. That also is to be pondered in the mind, that the *Lives* which Metaphrastes compiled had for the most part been written by others before, yet because their style did not satisfy, nor the sequence of the history… ^B For who would have compared for himself such a heap of volumes, and taken *Lives* from them? It happened that, with both remaining, not only what was recently written by Symeon, but the older one as well—when it is said that that *Life* had been described by Symeon—was attributed to Metaphrastes himself. Hence many ages of Metaphrastes, and many things are heaped upon him by the imprudent, when the *Lives* of others and false narrations are referred by such people to Metaphrastes, free of these crimes and blameless. Take the example: Symeon wrote the *Life of Saint Eustathius and his sons*; it had been compiled by others before Metaphrastes himself and, if not as elegantly, was read in the Church. It is praised by John of Damascus and others. If anyone should attribute this to Metaphrastes, then another age would arise for Metaphrastes before Damascus himself, and the faults of similar writers would be poured back upon Metaphrastes, which would be absurd and unworthy of so great a man. The same must be judged concerning the *Lives* of Saint Eupraxia, Daniel the Abbot, John Chrysostom, Euphemia the martyr, Procopius the martyr, Anastasius the Persian, Amphilochius the bishop of Iconium, and others, that I may not recount them one by one. Which, when you have first distinguished the genuine ones of Metaphrastes from the spurious, then at last you will pass judgment concerning the age of Symeon and his integrity and the truth in narrating history; otherwise, defer your opinion and abstain from accusations, lest you be heard as unjust for no reason toward one who does not deserve it. It often makes me laugh, those who, whatever they have about a *Life* of the saints without the name of an author, all of it, without any other examination, they foolishly and impudently give to Metaphrastes. If the very learned Bellarmine had considered this in his *De Scriptoribus*, he would not have been so profuse in disparaging him. But this is to be observed, that the *Histories* of the *Lives of the Saints* were written by Metaphrastes with many things added from his own ingenuity, not as the things had occurred, but as they could have occurred: for Metaphrastes adds many colloquies, or dialogues of the martyrs with persecutors, and some conversions of pagan bystanders, in such a number that they seem incredible. Finally, very many miracles, and the greatest ones in the overthrow of temples and idols, of which there is no mention among ancient historians. That Metaphrastes added many things from his own pen is true. But who would that lynx-eyed man be? Who, seeing in the most obscure shadows of antiquity, would separate what was added from what was truly done? Even if we had the very autograph *Acts* of the martyrs, and the *Lives* themselves from those same persons whose history is being told, we could attain it even then only by a difficult examination: for not everything is recounted in them, and nothing is so neglected that it could not have been added by another. And why, rather, did he not omit many things which he might have approved less, than add them? He narrates, besides, the deeds not as they were done, but as they could have occurred. Whence does Bellarmine have that? That he himself held the right order of the acts, and...

that in this he did not even touch the matter as a side task, nor did he intend anything other than what he wished. Basil’s entreaties brought him to this, as well as those who cared for discourse and discernment. And he had the preparation easily at hand, and no small circle of those who first recorded the wording, and those who were placed after them, and another after another; one doing the first part, another the second, and over these those who perfected the written works, so that he might escape the notice of the scribes and they might correct [the text] to the underlying intent. For it was not possible for him, because of the [sheer quantity], to turn back and look again. But even if the zeal was great and the concern more than was required—or rather, he was worthy of this task—yet the harvest had surpassed the sowing by a long way, and the crop [was such as] has not [been seen] even today. Whether indeed the man had been busy with nothing else, and all other things were not sufficient, and each [thing] was enough for an occasion of praise, yet to have chosen such a study, and to have accomplished it in this way and [brought it to] such precision, is sufficient in place of everything else as a eulogy for the man.

^B But they say, furthermore, that he did not approach this matter lightly or as if doing something else; nor did he set it before himself as a task to do only as much as he liked. But the emperor’s exhortations led him to this, and those who cared for doctrine and understanding; and the apparatus was ready for him, and not a small circle of those who first took down the diction, and of those who afterwards transcribed it: and one after another, the one indeed doing the first draft, but the other writing out the second. And after these, others who understood well what had been written, so that they might correct to the proposed intent what had escaped the scribes. For [46] on account of the multitude of the scribes, it was not permitted to him to revolve and look at the same things often. But even if the labor was great, and the anxiety greater than was necessary—or indeed, one worthy to be applied to this—the ear and the crop nonetheless far surpassed the sowing, a crop the like of which has not been up to the present day. Wherefore also, if nothing else had been elaborated by that man, and not all the other things—which singly are enough to win praise—it would have sufficed for a man for any [measure of] praise to have undertaken such a work and have rendered it so brilliantly accomplished.

He also added some conversions of the pagans who were present in such great numbers: very many miracles, and the greatest [ones] in the overturning of temples and idols, of which there is no mention among the ancient historians. That there is no mention among the ancient historians, no one would truthfully or honestly say, unless he [claims that] all the monuments of the ancients...

even those that lie hidden or lost somewhere [46], have been read; which not even Bellarmine himself would claim to have read. Thus Savile accused of falsehood many narratives of miracles in Georgius Alexandrinus, who wrote the Life of Chrysostom, because the more ancient [writers], such as Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, and Palladius, do not relate them. As if others might not have written about ecclesiastical affairs; though if it be written by others, it is considered false and suspect. Trifles. Many things are also held by tradition which do not exist in written books. Nilus, a disciple of Chrysostom, writes in his letters that he related [these things] privately to his genuine spiritual friends. And the epistle to Anastasius narrates visions of angels who attended Chrysostom while he was celebrating. Thus also Proclus related, or even wrote—though it does not exist—the vision of Saint Paul dictating to Chrysostom an interpretation of the epistles. It is therefore poorly concluded: "It is not read among the ancient historians, therefore it did not happen." The miracles, indeed, which Metaphrastes relates, are very great. I do not deny it. It was his intention to record in his writings things great, admirable, and unusual. Little care had he to recount more minute details, which he himself even deliberately passed over. The conversions of pagans are so dense and so incredible in such great numbers. Incredible to those who measure eternity and time, the highest good and their own comforts, a blessed life and their belly, divine and human powers by their own foot and modulus, and not by the nature of the thing. Gregorius Nyssenus in the Life of Saint Macrina: ^B Most men judge the credibility of things they hear by their own standards. But that which exceeds the capacity of the hearer, they insult as being outside of the truth, through suspicions of falsehood. Therefore, I pass over that incredible agriculture during the famine—how the wheat cast out for need performed no sensation of diminution, remaining in the same bulk, even before it was distributed to the needs of those asking; and after this, other things more paradoxical than these: healings of illnesses, cleansings of the demon-possessed, and true predictions of future events. Everything is believed to be true by those who have known them with precision, even if it is beyond belief. But concerning more carnal matters, it is thought to be outside the realm of possibility; for they do not know that according to the analogy of faith, the distribution of gifts also happens; small indeed for those of little faith, but great for those who have within themselves much width of faith. Plerique pro eo, quantum ipsi possunt efficere, credunt ea, quæ dicuntur, quæ vero audientis superant vires, tanquam a veritate remota mendacii suspicionibus insectantur. Proinde mirandam illam in penuria, et fame agriculturam prætermitto. Quomodo in pauperum usus projectum frumentum, nec dum distribueretur, nec post imminutum sit, sed eadem mensura numeroque permanserit: aliaque his longe magis admiranda, morborum curationes, expulsiones dæmonum, et veras futurorum prædictiones, quæ quidem omnia iis, qui diligenter explorarunt, vera esse constat, licet fidem superare videantur, nec fieri potuisse judicentur ab iis, qui carni magis addicti sunt; qui nesciunt proportione fidei, munerum fieri distributionem, et parva quidem dari habentibus parvam fidem, magna autem illis qui ingenti fide præditi sunt. Auctor vitæ sancti [47] Niconis, qui a pœnitentia sibi cognomentum habuit: ^C Πέφυκε γάρ πως οἱ ἄνθρωποι πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀφορῶντες ἀσθένειαν, τὰ παράδοξα πολλάκις τῶν πραγμάτων, καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς θείας χάριτος εἰς τὴν τιμὴν τῶν ἁγίων τερατουργούμενα, ἀδύνατα οἴεσθαι, καὶ μὴ ῥᾳδίως πιστεύειν ταῦτα ἢ παραδέχεσθαι. Natura homines comparati sunt suæ infirmitatis limites non excedentes, ut res sæpius præter exspectationem, et in honorem sanctorum a Deo mirifice perpetratas, haud fieri potuisse existiment: neque ita facile illis fidem adhibeant, nec admittant. Symeon ipse Metaphrastes in Vita sancti Symeonis Stylitæ Senioris: Ἀλλὰ δέδοικα μὴ ποτε μετὰ ταῦτα μῦθος εἶναι δόξῃ τῆς ἀληθείας γεγυμνωμένος. Φιλοῦσι γὰρ ἄνθρωποι τῇ φύσει μετρεῖν τὰ γινόμενα, εἰ δή τις τῶν αὐτῆς ὅρων ἐπέκεινα λέγοιτο, ψευδὴς τοῖς τῶν θείων ἀμυήτοις ὁ λόγος νομίζεται. Sed vereor, ne posteris hæc fabula videatur, a veritate aliena. Namque homines natura facta commensurare solent. Et si quid extra illius limites aliquid narraverit, mendax rerum divinarum inexpertis sermo judicatur. Incredibiles nescientibus, quantum est in sanguine Christi virum, eamdem esse potestatem in Christo centum, et mille, et decem millia, et multo plures in fidem convertendi. Tot regna, tot provinciæ pusillo tempore Christi fidem professæ, tot martyrum myriades brevissimo tempore Deo consecratæ, tanti numeri conversorum paganorum fidem nec dubiam faciunt. ^D His quoque manifeste colligitur, quantum ineptiat Casaubonus, dum nullam ob causam in Metaphrastem accerrime desævit. Exercit. 6. Metaphrastes scriptor oppido recens, et persæpe vanissimus, magnusque fabularum anilium consarcinator. Tantumque ei tribuit, quantum ei debet, qui diligentia quidem summa, sed indicio nullo in ea collectione sit versatus; neque aliter Baronius judicat, quoties intendit animum, quod utinam semper fecisset. Ne alia loca ejus proferam in quibus Metaphrastem, ut anilium sæpe fabularum hamaxarium severe castigat, in hac ipsa historia non constat ipse sibi, etc. Modestiam tuam, et pudorem! Casaubone, si est. Verba ista tua tam magnifica habeto tibi ipsi: ne appingas Baronio scriptori modestissimo, et vere Christiano. Metaphrasta dictum aliquando Baronius non approbavit, aliquando rejecit, ideone et vanissimum, et anilium fabularum consarcinatorem, et hamaxarium declaravit? Quid diceret de suis istis Exercitationibus Casaubonus, in quibus non persæpe, sed semper, et singulis paginis a doctissimis scriptoribus, non falsitatis tantum, et temeritatis, sed etiam malignitatis convincitur? Ut ergo minus animosi simus in Metaphrastem, prius et ante omnia, ut supra dixi, Vita sancti examinanda est, an sit legitima Metaphrastæ, ne aliorum male, inconsidera

inconsiderateque dicta in Metaphrastem refundantur. Nec melius sapit Franciscus Goduvinus de præsulibus Angliæ cap. 7. De Symeone Metaphraste, si non suffecisset dixisse, quod de Sozomeno Melchior Canus, Græcus is fuit, et hæc natio est, semperque fuit ad mentiendum promptula, quam dignus sit fide judicet Baronius, cujus verba libenter usurpaverim de eo hac in causa laturus sententiam; sic enim ille: Sicut in aliis multis ibi a se positis errare Metaphrastem certum est, ita et in his hallucinatum esse constat. Ac jure profecto tum demum poterat mendacissimi nebulonis stigmata inurere, quem ter, si non quater mendacii, ac falsitatis tum nuperrime arguisse deprehendet, quisquis paucula folia locum illum præcedentia evolverit. ^B Belle equidem. Metaphrastes Græcus est: Græci sunt prompti ad mentiendum. Ergo nulla fides Metaphrastæ adhibenda. Sequere, omnes Historici ecclesiastici antiquiores Græci sunt; ergo dicta eorum sunt rejicienda. Si quia Græci, ideo fide carerent, quanam ratione suadebimur dictis tot sanctissimorum Patrum, tot conciliorum decretis? Goduvinus respondebit, omnino omnes ad unum, et eorum dicta omnia negligenda, quia Græcorum scilicet: ne tamen vera, quia non probantur, nec sunt e cerebro recentiorum hæreticorum. An mentiti sunt unquam Angli, et reliquæ nationes occidentales, ut nempe tanquam nunquam mentitorum fidei credamus? Male equidem cum historia tum profana, tum ecclesiastica ageretur, si fidem eorum penitus vellamus, qui aliquando ab aliis scriptoribus mendacii, aut falsitatis redarguuntur. Cum enim homines sunt, possunt in aliquibus falli, et ita humana conditione poscente sæpissime falluntur, non ita tamen, ut multo sæpius vera non nuntient, et ita sint ut ipsi dicunt, et narrant.

Baronius in Annalibus ante annum 859, Metaphrastem vixisse colligit ex ætate Michaelis Pselli, qui eo anno vivebat, et orationem in illum habuerat, qua asserit de ejus obitu audisse eos, qui viderant, felicem ipsius ad Deum transitum. Quare circa annum minimum octingentesimum Metaphrastem floruisse necesse est, qui anno 859, jampridem defunctus laudatur. Baronium secuti sunt plures alii, quos hic commemorare necesse non est: sententia fundamentum nullum aliud erit, quam Psellus ipse Grationis auctor: nam idem ipse in ejusdem Metaphrastæ venerationem, ac cultum officium in Ecclesia concinendum composuit. Is in canonis ode 5, refert illum consilio atque monitu Parii anachoretæ munus aggressum scribendi, primum omnium colloquium illud scripsisse, et Theoctistæ Vitam graphice admodum celebrasse:

Prima tua commentatio ex divina providentia, et colloquia facta sub C

^D Hæc doctissimus Bollandus non usquequaque probavit. Non erat tum admodum natu provectus Metaphrastes, ut qui imperatoriæ virtutis tyrocinium ponere sub veterano duce juberetur. Fuerit tunc aut 22 annorum: potuit igitur annum Christi 957 aut 960 vitam deinde producere, atque ita sub Constantino Porphyrogenito Leonis filio tum Theoctistæ eam Vitam, tum alia divorum acta eum elucubrasse certum videtur, non ut Allatius scribit, sub Leone et Constantino. Non in hac Vita Leonem diserte τὸν μακαρίτην, felicis memoriæ appellat, qua ratione loqui de mortuis solemus. Si ea prima ejus Commentatio fuit, nihil igitur sub Leone scripsit, quod quidem ediderit in lucem. Neque Alexandro rerum potiente, ita laudare Himerium ausus esset. Præcipue publicus res tractare sub Leone cœpit. Alii etiam addunt, valde adolescentulum in Cretam profectum fuisse. Pendamus rem suo pondere. Idque ut accuratius succedat, verba Symeonis recitemus ex Vita sanctæ Theoctistæ.

Γενομένῳ μοί ποτε κατὰ τὴν Πάρον.

^Asula: fui autem, nam in Cretam navigabam a Leone beatæ memoriæ eo missus, Leone, inquam, illo vere fortunato imperatore, qui ipsam Romanorum felicitatem secum videtur in sepulchrum intulisse. Mittebar autem una militans cum clarissimo illo Himerio, utpote ducendi exercitus peritissimo, Dromi præfecto, qui et universas classi imperabat, aut, ut verius dicam, ipsis animi perturbationibus; sed ne multis efferendam laudibus illius peritiam belli [50] administrandi obiter attingens, levi ejus facta mentione, dedecus ei potius videar inussisse, ad propositam interea narrationem redeo, de eo opportunius dicturus alias. Mittebar igitur partim cum eo militans, et ad imperatoricæ artis documentum aliquod promovendus, ut equulus matri, ad præclara ejus stratagemata assiliens: id enim præcipue Augustus spectabat: partim ut ad Arabas Cretam obtinentes legatione fungerer.

Planum est, dum hæc componeret Metaphrastes, Leonem imperatorem vita defunctum fuisse, non ex converbulo tantum, τοῦ μακαρίτου, sed quod id apertissimis verbis enuntietur, Λέοντος, φημί, τοῦ εὐτυχοῦς ὄντως βασιλέως, καὶ τὴν εὐτυχίαν Ῥωμαίων τῷ τάφῳ ἀναθάψαντος. Leone, inquam, illo vere fortunato imperatore, qui ipsam Romanorum felicitatem secum videtur in sepulchrum intulisse. Risi sæpius, ut hoc quoque hic obiter, etsi non extra materiam observem, ridiculam Genebardi in Chronico anno ante Christum 263 interpretationem, qui vertens illa Suidæ de Symeone Metaphraste, Ἐν τῇ τοῦ μακαρίτου Λογοθέτου μεταφράσει τῇ εἰς τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ ἁγίου Λουκιανοῦ, ita enuntiavit. Nobis assentitur Macaritus Logothetes in lib. Metaphrasis, his verbis: cum debuisset, nobis assentitur beatus Logotheta, Metaphrastes scilicet, in Metaphrasi, hoc est, in Vita et Martyrio sancti Luciani. Ne novum hunc auctorem Macaritum Logothetam, per imprudentiam confictum in antiquitate quærere insulse cogamur. Tum erat valde adolescentulus, vel, non erat admodum natu provectus: fuerit tunc viginti, aut viginti duorum annorum. Hoc vero non probatur. Quinimo si res, de qua agit, attentius consideretur, multo videtur natu grandior, et mediam hominis ætatem decurrens. Ait de se in eadem Vita: Ἐγὼ δὲ περιεργότερος ὤν, καὶ συνιέναι δεινὸς ἦθος. Ego cum essem curiosior, et satis solers, ac sagax mores hominum percipiendi. At solertiam sagacitatemque consimilem, et longo experimento, et ætate provecta consequimur. Et quidem in deridiculo esset, si quis in juvenili ætate similia profiteretur. Quis præterea adolescentem cum tanto duce simul militantem? Quis imberbem oratorem ad Reges, et potissimum Barbarum miserit, qui veneranda, barbataque, ut ita dicam, forma, in qua credunt sapientiam, prudentiam, fidemque inesse magis flectuntur, quam imberbi ac depili facie, cujus in peragendis negotiis nullam rationem habent. Et Metaphrastes tum mittebatur, Cretam ad Arabes legati munus obiens.

^B Partim ad Arabas Cretam obtinentes legatione fungerer. Ne hic referam, quæ Plato lib. XII De legibus statuit, majores annis quinquaginta ad publicum munus peregre mitti: ideoque πρέσβεις dici, senes, natu grandiores, ætate provecta. Et quod Plinius scripserat ad Trajanum. Cautum est, domine, ne quis capiat magistratum, neve sit in senatu minor annorum triginta. Ante enim illam ætatem homines neque [51] rerum gerendarum usu, neque auctoritate apud eos, quibus persuadere conantur, excellunt: imo dolis etiam haud difficulter capiuntur, quod de illis enuntiarat Arist. lib. II Rhetoricorum.

Addo verba Synesii de Regno ad Arcadium: ἰσχυρὸν γὰρ ἡ νεότης ἐφ' ἑκάτερα ῥοπῇ, ὥσπερ οἱ ποταμοὶ ταῖς δοθείσαις ὁδῶν ἀφορμαῖς ἁπληστότερον ἐπιρρέουσιν. Vehemens est impetus juventæ in utramque partem, non aliter ac amnes, qua via data est, eruptionibus illuc excurrunt avidius. Lubrica est moribus ætas. Imo si verum est, quod nos conjectura non levi ducti asseruimus; neque eam improbavit Bollandus, Symeonem a secretis sub hoc Leone, qui aurum a Rodophyllo relictum Leoni Tripolitæ infami apostatæ obtulerat, ut eum ab excidio Thessalonicensi averteret, ideoque dignitatibus auctum ab imperatore, non alium fuisse, quam Symeonem hunc Metaphrastem, jam habemus certissime, Symeonem eo tempore, quo Cretam adnavigabat ætate plenum fuisse, tantum abest, ut valde adolescentulus esset, et infra viginti tres annos ætatem numeraret. Expeditio enim Himerii ponitur anno Christi 902. Leonis imperii anno decimo septimo, Rodophylli, et Symeonis cum Tripolita Leone pacta anno Christi 904, a Joanne Caminiata illius ævi scriptore, et qui rebus aderat, recensentur libro de excidio Thessalonicensi, in quo Symeonem hunc ætate provectum vocat, Ἄνδρα φρονήσει βεβηκότα, et διὰ πείρας ὄντα πολλῶν πραγμάτων. Virum prudentia provectum, et multarum rerum experientia munitum pectus gerentem. An duorum annorum intervallum tantum hominem, et prudentiæ, et ætatis in alio atque alio statu collocaverit, et tantam rerum experientiam accreverit, et adolescentes in viros immutet, et minus prudentes ad prudentiæ ultimos limites ponat? Quoniam vero legatio ista Rodophylli, et Symeonis non ita obvia est, et jejune admodum a Cedreno narratur, erit operæ pretium, si a Joanne Caminiata, auctore non ita noto audiatur: Ἦν δέ τις μετὰ τοῦ λοιποῦ πλήθους τῶν αἰχμαλώτων συλληφθεὶς εὐνοῦχος τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ τῶν ἐξόχων εἰς Ῥοδοφύλλης οὕτω καλούμενος, ὃς ἔτυχε πρὸ μικροῦ τοῦ κινδύνου τὴν ἐπὶ δύσιν σταλείς· καί τινων χρειῶν ἕνεκεν πρὸς τῇ πόλει γενόμενος μεθ' ἡμῶν συγκλεισθῆναι, καὶ τῶν ῥηθέντων ἀνιαρῶν μετασχεῖν, ὅς καὶ ἐκόμιζε μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ πλῆθος χρυσίου, ὅπερ ἔλεγεν ἀπάγειν ἐπικουρίας τινὸς χάριν τοῦ κατὰ Σικελίαν στρατοῦ συμπλεκομένου τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἀφρικὴν Βαρβάροις ἀεὶ, καὶ πολλῆς δεομένου τῆς ἐν τοῖς πράγμασι συνεργείας. Οὗτος οὐκ κατὰ τὴν

νύκτα, μεθ’ ἣν τοῦ κινδύνου τὴν πεῖραν ἅπαντες ἐδεξάμεθα, ἔλαθε, οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως, ἐξενεγκεῖν τῆς πόλεως τὸ χρυσίον ἐκεῖνο, μετὰ καὶ τινων τῶν ὑπηρετουμένων αὐτῷ, καὶ πρὸς τὸν στρατηγὸν Στρυμῶνος ἐξαποστεῖλαι, χαράξας ἐπιστολὴν περιέχουσαν ἀσφαλῶς φυλάττειν τοῦτο μέχρι τῆς ἐκβάσεως τοῦ πολέμου. Χειρωθεὶς οὖν οὗτος ἤχθη κατὰ πρόσωπον τοῦ τυράννου· ὁ δὲ τὴν μορφὴν ἀλλοιώσας, ἐμβριθέστερόν τε μᾶλλον ἢ πρότερον εἶχε πρὸς αὐτὸν χρησάμενος, ἀνηρώτα· Ποῦ δή, φησί, τὸ τοῦ βασιλέως χρυσίον, τὰ δύο τάλαντα, ἅπερ ἐπὶ Σικελίαν ἄγειν ἐτάχθης; Ὁ δὲ, Τοῦτο δή, φησίν, εἰς ὅπερ κατείλημμαι δεδιώς, τὴν πολιορκίαν λέγω τῆς πόλεως, ἐπείπερ αὐτὸς ^B ἐγὼ δεῦρο τυχὼν, ἀδυνάτως εἶχον τοσούτου κινδύνου παρόντος ὑποχωρεῖν, καὶ μὴ τὰ παρ' ἑαυτοῦ δεικνύναι, πάντων εἰς ἐμὲ βλεπόντων ὧν ἄν τι χρηστὸν τοῖς, καὶ τῷ καιρῷ τούτῳ χρήσιμον, δυνάμενος παρασχεῖν, τούτου δὴ χάριν τὸ μὲν χρυσίον ἐκεῖνο τῆς πόλεως ὑπεξήγαγον· οὐ γὰρ ἐδυνάμην ἀκριβῶς περὶ ἀδήλων στοχάζεσθαι. Ἐγὼ δὲ σοὶ παρέστηκα τήμερον δορυάλωτος, πολλῶν ἄλλων χρημάτων παραίτιος, εἴ γε ζῶντά με καὶ ἀβλαβῆ συντηρήσειας. Ἀχθεσθεὶς οὖν ἐπὶ τούτοις ὁ ἀλαζὼν ἐκεῖνος, καὶ τὸν θυμὸν ὁποίως αὐτῷ εἶχε διά τε τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν, καὶ τῆς φωνῆς ἔκδηλον παραστήσας, βύθιον ἐξεβόησεν. Ἐπειδήπερ, φησίν, οὐκ ἔμαχεν ἐκ τῶν προκειμένων ἀδιάδραστον εἶναι τὴν τοῦ θανάτου ψῆφον, τοῖς μὴ τὰ οἰκεῖα χρήματα λύτρον παρεχομένοις ὁ τῆς γυναικωνίτιδος οὗτος, ἀλλ᾿ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ σκηνῆς ἐπίδειξιν ποιεῖται τὸ πλάσμα τοῦ ψεύδους, μέγα καὶ θαυμαστὸν, οἷα κατὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ προβαλλόμενος σωτηρίας, ῥάβδοις τυπτέσθω τά τε ἰσχία, τὰ κατὰ τὸν νῶτον μέρη· ὡς ἂν ἄρτι γνῷ πρῶτον τίνι παρίσταται, καὶ περὶ τίνων διαλέγεται, καὶ μὴ χρημάτων ἀλλοτρίων ἀμφισβητῶν τὸν περὶ ψυχῆς ἑαυτῷ περιποιεῖται κίνδυνον. Οἱ λειτουργοὶ οὖν τῶν ἀδίκων φόνων, ὡς μόνον εἶδον αὐτὸν μεθ' ὑποσυρμοῦ φωνῆς καὶ μανίας τὴν τοιαύτην ψῆφον κατὰ τοῦ ἐστῶτος ἐξενεγκάμενον, θάττον λόγου παντὸς τῇ γῇ τοῦτον προσέῤῥαξαν, καὶ τοσαύταις βάλλουσι πληγαῖς, ὡς μὴ ἐπὶ πολὺ ἀντισχεῖν τοῦ ἀθλίου τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς πολλὰ διαιρεθὲν, καὶ τοῖς ὀχετοῖς τῶν αἱμάτων τὸν ὑποκείμενον τόπον πληρῶσαν, οὕτως τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπαφεῖναι, χαρτερεῖν ταῖς δριμείαις ἐκείναις ἀλγηδόσιν οὐκ ἐξισχύσαν. Ὡς οὖν ἀπείρηκε καὶ δῆλος ἦν τοῖς ὠμοῖς ἐκείνοις δορυφόροις ἔτι τὰς πληγὰς ἀφιεῖσι, καὶ μετὰ θάνατον, μόλις ποτὲ τῆς κατεχούσης ἑαυτὸν ὀργῆς περιάρας ὁ δυσέντευκτος θήρ. Ἔστω, φησί, μετὰ τοῦ χρυσίου ἐκείνου καὶ οὗτος εἰς ἀπώλειαν· ἀλυσιτελὲς γὰρ, ὡς ἔοικε, καὶ εὑρεθὲν ἂν διεδείκνυτο.

^C Ἐρχομένοις γάρ τισι μετὰ τὸ τὴν πόλιν ἁλῶναι τοῖς ὁπωσοῦν διαδρᾶσι, καὶ τοὺς ἰδίους αἰχμαλώτους ὠνουμένοις συνήπτετο μετ᾿ αὐτῶν, καὶ τις ἀνὴρ καλούμενος Συμεών, φρονήσει βεβηκώς, καὶ διὰ πείρας ὢν πολλῶν πραγμάτων, ὃς ἦν πρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως σταλεὶς δι' αἰτίαν τινὰ χρειώδη πρὸ μικροῦ τῇ πόλει, περὶ ἧς νῦν οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον εἰπεῖν. Τούτοις οὖν καθ’ ἑκάστην μέχρι τῶν ἡμερῶν τοῦ ἀπόπλου συχνῶς ἐρχομένοις ἀνεκοίνωσε τὴν κατὰ τῶν εἰρημένων βουλήν ὁ δεινὸς οὗτος λέων εἰπὼν πρὸς αὐτούς, ὡς Ἐγὼ ἀπεχθῶς, φησί, φερόμενος ἐξ ἀρχῆς καθ' ὑμῶν, οὐκ ἔκρινον ζωώσαι τῶν ἁλόντων οὐδένα· εἰς γὰρ

γὰρ ^A Θεοῦ μισθὸς πολεμίοις ἀνδράσιν ἐν καιρῷ νίκης, τὸ θάνατον συγχωρεῖν, ὃν αὐτοὶ μᾶλλον ἐτέκταινον καθ' ἡμῶν; Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ χρεία τις ἐπείγει, καθ' ἣν ἐστιν ἐπάναγκες ζωωθῆναι τούτους, εἴπερ αἴτιον τύχοι τοῦ πέρατος, περὶ τούτου καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ὑμεῖς σκέψασθε· ἐπείγομαι γὰρ ἤδη τοῦ καιροῦ με καλοῦντος πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν ἀποπλεῖν πατρίδα. Δύνασθε οὖν ἀντιποιήσασθαι τούτων, ὄντων διακοσίων τὸν ἀριθμόν, δι' ἐγγράφου ἐγγύης, ὡς λαβεῖν ἡμᾶς ἀντ' αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς καταλλαγῆς ἰσαρίθμους Ἀγαρηνούς, πεῖσαί τε τὸν κρατοῦντα τῶν Ῥωμαίων τὰ σκήπτρα, μηδεμίαν περὶ τούτου ἀμφιβολίαν ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ συνθέσθαι τοῖς ὑφ' ὑμῶν πεπραγμένοις· ἢ εἰ λίττεσθε μὲν τὴν ἐγγύην, ὡς μὴ ἐν ὑμῖν κειμένην, ἄδηλον ὄν, ἢ παραδεχθήσεται ὑπ' ἐκείνου, ἢ μή· ἐν οὐδενὶ δὲ τίθεται τοσοῦτον κακόν, μικρᾶς προμηθείας μέγα προξενοῦν τοῖς ὁμοφύλοις τὸν ὄλεθρον. Εἴπατε οὖν ἀποτέον τούτων στοιχεῖτε, ἵν' ἐνί γε τὴν ψῆφον δῶμεν, ἢ τοῦ ζωῶσαι, ἢ τοῦ ἀπαλλάξαι αὐτοὺς. Ὁ οὖν ῥηθεὶς Συμεών, ἅτε δὴ τῶν ἄλλων προτέχων, πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφη· Ἐγὼ ταύτην τὴν ἐγγύην μόνος κανεγγυῶμαι, σαφῶς εἰδὼς τὸ περὶ πάντα φιλάνθρωπον τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς αὐτοκράτορος, καὶ ὡς δίχα λόγου παντὸς παρέξεται τούτων ἕνεκεν, ἐξ ὧν ἔχει δεσμίων Ἀγαρηνῶν τοσούτους, ὅσοι καὶ οὗτοι τυγχάνουσιν ὄντες, οὓς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ τῇ Ταρσῷ διακομίσω, ἵν' ἐπ' ἐμοὶ πάλιν τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐγγύης λυθῇ, καὶ μηδὲν ἔχῃς κατ' ἐμοῦ προφέρειν, ἐπὰν τὴν ὀφειλὴν ἐκπληρώσω. Μόνον τύχοιεν κἂν οὗτοί τινος σωτηρίας, ἵνα συλλέξαντες ταφῇ δῶσι τῶν ἀποιχομένων τὰ σώματα, ἃ διὰ πάσης τῆς πόλεως κείμενα, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ἀέρα πρὸς θρῆνον ἐφέλκεται. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ κακοήθης ἐκεῖνος, ἔγγραφόν τε πείσας τὸν αὐτὸν Συμεὼν καὶ ἐνώμοτον παρασχεῖν τὸν περὶ συνθηκῶν τούτων λόγον, ἀπολυθῆναι πάντας ἐκείνους τοὺς ἐξ ἡμῶν περιττεύσαντας ἄνδρας ἐπέτρεψεν. Ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὰ περὶ τούτου καλῶς εἶχεν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ ἦν τὸ πανούργευμα, ἕτερον πάλιν οὐκ ἔλαττον τούτου τῇ δολιότητι τῶν φρενῶν ἐπενόησεν· πυρπολυθῆναι γὰρ ἅπασαν τὴν πόλιν προσέταττεν, ἵν' ᾧ καὶ τοῦτο αὐτῷ οὐ τὸ τυχὸν παρεμπόρευμα· ᾔδει γὰρ ὡς οἱ τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους ὠνούμενοι, οὐδὲ τοῦτο πράττειν αὐτὸν ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀνασχοιντο, αἱρούμενοι μᾶλλον αὐτοὺς ἐκείνους καταπρησθῆναι, ἢ τοιοῦτόν τι κἂν ἀκοῇ παραδέξασθαι· μήπω γὰρ τῶν Βαρβάρων διὰ μέσου τῆς πόλεως τὴν φλόγα διασπειρέντων, ἀλλ' ἔτι πλησιαζούσας τῇ θαλάσσῃ πυρπολούντων οἰκίας, μόνον ὅτι πρὸς τὸ καταβάλλειν τὰς ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως τιμὰς οἱ παρόντες πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐκύρωσαν, καὶ πάλιν πρόσταγμα πανταχοῦ διεπέμπετο, παύεσθαι τῆς οἰκείας συνεργείας τὸ πῦρ, ὡς εἰς χρηστὸν αὐτῷ πύρας καὶ ταύτης προελθούσης τῆς ἐπινοίας. Οἱ γὰρ ἄνδρες ἐκεῖτοι σὺν τῷ ῥηθέντι Συμεών, μὴ ἔχοντες ἀλλοθέν ποθεν καταβαλέσθαι τὴν περὶ τούτου ποσότητα, τὰ δύο ὑπέσχοντο τοῦ χρυσίου τάλαντα, ἅπερ ἦν ὁ θανὼν ἐκ τῶν ῥοπάλων εὐνοῦχος πρὸς τὸν Στρυμόνα ἐξαποστείλας, ἃ καὶ θάττον ἀγαγόντες διά τινων ταχυδρόμων, ὅθεν ἐκρύπτοντο, καὶ τοῖς Βαρδάροις ἐναριθμήσαντες, οὕτως τὴν πόλιν τῆς πυρκαϊᾶς ἐμετώσαντο. ^{B C D}

[51] sent to Strymon, having sent ahead the fastest couriers, from where they were hiding, and having counted the brought-over Barbarians, they preserved the city from being burned. It is clearly concluded from this that Symeon was of a more advanced age than they imagine.

And, to urge this further, let Symeon himself speak of his age at that time. In the *Life of Saint Theoctiste*, he is requested by the anchoret Symeon not to decline the duty of writing, and [the writer] puts forward the causes by which he was trying to withdraw from accepting the duty of writing. The causes which Metaphrastes could bring forward were mainly: Λόγων ἀπορίαν, δουλείας, γυναῖκα καὶ τέκνα, οἴκου φροντίδας, that is, deficiency in words, the frequency of service, the molestation of a wife and children, and the cares of his own home. Neglecting the others, I will examine two very briefly. That ^B *δουλείας*, public services, had been entrusted by the emperor in various affairs of the Republic, there is no doubt. Therefore, he was not performing the duty of an envoy for the first time, but was accustomed to such things, and trained, so that he might have enough without lying to impose upon himself the task of executing it and to deny what was being requested.

The second is a wife and children: Σὺ μὲν ἴσως προφασίσῃ περὶ ὧν ἀξιοῦν ἐθέλω σου τὴν ἀγάπην, ἀπορίαν λόγων, ἢ δουλειῶν ἀφορμάς, ἢ γυναικὸς καὶ τέκνων, καὶ οἴκου φροντίδας, ἤ τινας ἄλλας αἰτίας διακρουόμενος ἡμῶν τὴν ἀξίωσιν. Ἐγὼ δέ σοι καὶ εὐημερίαν, καὶ εὐπορίαν πάντων ἐπαγγέλλομαι, καὶ πολλὴν ἐκεχειρίαν εὑρεῖν. "You perhaps, to excuse yourself for not accepting that which I am about to request of your charity, will bring forward the deficiency of words, or excuses of service, or the vexation of wife and children and domestic cares, or some other reasons, shunning our request. But I promise you prosperity, and abundance of all things, and that you will find great leisure." How then could he who was able and accustomed to sustain greater works in the Republic, and who, being married, had begotten several children from her, be twenty-two or twenty-four years old and too much of an adolescent, and not rather forty, or thirty-five years old at the very least? The order of the deeds themselves also demands, requires, and establishes this. For before Metaphrastes performed public duties and embassies among foreign nations, he had already given proof of himself to the emperor in other offices, which are performed privately and within domestic walls; and when his fidelity became known to the emperor in secret and hidden counsels, he took on public cares by the emperor's command. Psellus: Καὶ πρώτῃ μὲν ταῖς μυστικωτέραις ἐφεστήκει τῶν πράξεων, καὶ τοῖς ἀποῤῥήτοις βουλεύμασι κοινωνὸς παρειστήκει τοῖς συμβουλεύουσιν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἡ τοῦ τρόπου πίστις ἐν τούτοις τοῦτον ἐκήρυξε, μετὰ τῶν ἀδύτων, καὶ τὰς κοσμικὰς φροντίδας συνείληφεν, ὡς αὐτὸν γεγενῆσθαι εἰσαγγελέα τε τῷ κρατοῦντι τῶν ἔξωθεν, καὶ ἐξαγγελέα τῶν τοῦ κρατοῦντος τοῖς ἔξωθεν. And he first presided over the more secret matters and was a participant in secret councils alongside those who deliberated. And once the fidelity of [52] his character had proclaimed him in these, he took on with the innermost matters also worldly cares, so as to have become an announcer to the ruler of things from without, and to those without of the things of the ruler.

After his fidelity was proven in these matters, he undertook public cares simultaneously with the secret ones; so that he would report to the emperor what outsiders were bringing, and back to outsiders what the emperor commanded. But what are those ^A *πράξεις μυστικώτεραι*, the secret deeds? The writer of that time, Ignatius the Deacon, explains it thus in the *Life of Saint Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople*: Καὶ τὴν διὰ χειρὸς καὶ μέλανος τέχνην ποιούμενος· ᾑρέθη γὰρ ὑπογραφεὺς τοῖς τῶν κρατούντων μυστηρίοις ὑπηρετούμενος. Οὕτω γὰρ παρὰ τῇ Αυσονίδι διαλέκτῳ τὸ ἀσηκρήτις ὄνομα, ἐπὶ μυστηρίων μεθερμηνεύεσθαι βούλεται. "And practicing the art of hand and ink; for he was chosen as a secretary serving the mysteries of the rulers. For so in the Ausonian [Latin] dialect, the name *asecretis* is intended to be interpreted as referring to mysteries." And he exercised that art which is fashioned by hand and ink; for he had been chosen as a scribe, serving the mysteries of the rulers. For the Ausonian language, indeed, calls him *a secretis*, which with us is accustomed to be expressed as *abarcanis*. He was therefore first *a secretis* and a counselor of the emperor; afterwards not immediately, but after his fidelity was proven, he was assigned to public negotiations. And shall we imagine him as an adolescent and not older than twenty-four years? Time, and that not brief, and experience examined through a long series of years, will attest to the fidelity of a man. Sophocles in *Oedipus Tyrannus*:

Time alone reveals the just man; But you could know the bad one even in one day.

But he was then placing the apprenticeship of his virtue under Himerius. So it is. But whose virtue? It is one thing to have a military apprenticeship when we are led into camp ^B and are initiated there into the first precepts of the art of war, which are rather to be called the beginnings, elements, and cradles of service: it is another thing to have the apprenticeship of imperial virtue, when, having completed the rudiments of military skill, we make a step toward greater and more noble things, and we learn the art of ruling others, and of leading armies, and of deceiving the enemy, being already advanced in age, not youths, such as was this Symeon under Himerius, as he himself openly says: Τούτου μὲν ἐκείνῳ συστρατευόμενος, καὶ προβιβαζόμενος εἰς πεῖραν στρατηγικήν, οἷα πῶλος μητρὶ πρὸς τὰ γενναιότατα τῶν στρατηγημάτων, πῶλον πρὸς τῇ μητρί. Partly, while serving as a soldier with him, he was being advanced toward the test of strategic skill, just as a foal to its mother toward the most noble of stratagems. For *strategica* is, as Onosander and the Emperor Leo tradition, the exercise of brave leaders. And that is why, especially because Metaphrastes claims [he was led], not toward strategic exercise merely, but toward the most noble stratagems. You will say that he calls a foal [led] to its mother; the similitude does not regard age, but docility and discipline. For just as a foal, obeying its mother and compliant, learns the things that are the mother's, so also he who is obedient to the command of others, whatever his age may be, by the one leading and guiding him,

^A Alexander even of old having lived a life of luxury and dissipation, and distracted only by hunting and other intemperate and abandoned actions, and possessing no work of an emperor, and having become master of the whole, he neither thought nor accomplished anything worthy of mention. For Alexander, occupied with luxuries and drinking-bouts, and caring only for the tickling of the body, and nothing else worthy of imperial power—neither acting, nor speaking, nor holding anything in his heart—soon perished, consumed by wasting diseases. And it is indeed to be examined whether Alexander was so unjust that he would even place the praises of Himerius in the midst of his pain, or so diligent in investigating the writings of others, that if there were anything in them that might displease him, he would scrutinize it? A man given over to wicked lusts, addicted to his belly, buried day and night in sleep and sloth, and clearly a youth. Cedrenus: "The emperor Alexander, having lived previously a life of luxury and dissipation, and distracted only by hunting and other intemperate and abandoned actions, possessing no work of an emperor, and having become master of the whole, neither thought nor did anything worthy of mention, but lived a life of softness and dissipation, and being devoted only to hunting and other intemperate and untimely actions, ignorant of the administration of any matter becoming an emperor, being intent only upon luxury and lusts, having obtained the empire, he neither contemplated nor performed anything memorable." And Constantine Manasses: "For Alexander, occupied with luxuries and drinking-bouts, and caring only for the tickling of the body, and nothing else worthy of imperial power, neither acting, nor speaking, nor holding anything in his heart, he perished more quickly, consumed by wasting diseases." ^B For Alexander, indulging in pleasures and drinking-bouts, with nothing worthy of such an empire perfected either in deed or in words, or finally conceived in his mind, just as a flower fading through the intensity of the sun, he was extinguished, and quickly taken away by sicknesses. And shall we wonder if Metaphrastes, while Alexander was alive—if indeed he was alive when Metaphrastes wrote those things, he who survived Leo by only thirteen months—attributed those praises to his Himerius? Indeed, it is difficult to believe that Metaphrastes, after having written something, so neglected it that he never afterwards took it into his hands, read it, and corrected it once read. He could, therefore, have annexed the praises of Himerius to the Life previously written after the death of Alexander. It is added that he began to handle public matters especially under Leo. What Metaphrastes did before Leo is unknown. And perhaps he could have performed public duties under the empire of Basil the Macedonian. But let it be that he began under Leo. Could he not, at the very beginning of the empire, not as a youth, but at an advanced age, sustain a public office? What, then, will the most learned Bollandus bring forward against Allatius, who said that Metaphrastes lived under Leo? Or is he who begins to handle public affairs under Leo not to be said to live or flourish under Leo? Metaphrastes therefore lived and wrote under Leo and Constantine, as Allatius writes; not as Bollandus, excluding Leo, under Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the son of Leo.

^A It had, indeed, become known to us by the testimony of Psellus what the age of the Metaphrast was. Later, with Baronius, Bellarmine, and others, I seemed to have relegated that eulogy of the Metaphrast to the elder Psellus, the master of Leo the Philosopher, when I wrote: that those who think otherwise will never be able to prove that the author of the speech is another Psellus, and not the master of Leo the Philosopher, as it is attributed to the younger Psellus by no argument at all. Let us hear Bollandus: "Leo the Philosopher, after having labored for a time under that elder Psellus on the island of Andros, and having drawn from him as much erudition as he wished—though not as much as he desired—visited various monasteries, studied the books stored in them with diligence, and attained that excellent erudition ^B which Curopalates hands down. Then, having returned to Constantinople, he taught certain students privately; one of whom was captured in battle by the Saracens, and handed over to an illustrious man into servitude. When later he professed skill in geometry, and indicated to the king of the barbarians from whom he had learned it—namely, the private and destitute Leo—the king invited him by letter to come to him with the offer of a most ample reward. Leo showed this letter to Theoctistus the Logothete, and he presented it to the Emperor Theophilus, who received him with the highest favor, enriched him with ample gifts, and ordered him to teach publicly, and afterwards saw to it that he was appointed over the Church of Thessalonica. But after Theophilus died in the year 841, Leo was also reduced to the ranks because he had followed the heresy of the Iconoclasts. If anyone balances all these things correctly, he will confess that under Michael the Stammerer, who entered into the empire in the year 820, and under his predecessor, the Armenian Leo, Leo the Philosopher was already ^C an aged man when he labored under Psellus. How, then, could the Metaphrast, who lived a hundred years after Psellus, have been praised by Psellus after his death?" Nor would Baronius have disagreed concerning the eulogist of the Metaphrast, if he had thought that the age of the Metaphrast could be established from elsewhere. But since others declare that he lived under Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who began to reign as a seven-year-old child in the year 912 upon the death of his uncle Alexander, I wonder that they do not perceive that the Metaphrast could not have been praised by Psellus, who preceded him by at least a hundred years, at least not as a dead man.

And these things, indeed, Bollandus. But what, truly, might you say of Franciscus Scorsus, of that same society, in return to Bollandus? Let us examine. That the Metaphrast could very well have been praised by the elder Psellus—the earlier by the later—is perfectly possible. For Theophanes Cerameus mentions the Metaphrast, and in ^D the fourth Matins he writes: "‘But concerning these things, the sweet writer of the Metaphrases, he who is a clear speaker, has spoken.’" But let that sweet writer of the Metaphrases himself discourse upon these things better than I can. And in the fifth: "If we should not wish to seem to divine poorly, it is worthwhile that we produce here as a witness Symeon, who compiled the Metaphrases so very well. It suffices, therefore, that this man, in his commentary on the holy Luke, does this. Let it be enough, therefore, for him who has judged him in his commentary on holy Luke. Theophanes indeed mentions the Metaphrast, but Theophanes lived in the time of Basil the Macedonian and of Leo his son; therefore the Metaphrast could be older than Theophanes, and be praised by Psellus, who lived under Michael the Third around the year of our Lord 860, and all the more so, because, as a man deceased and one who had attained the greatest authority among all, his discourse was held in high regard. Thus fall so many of Bollandus's calculations and exact discussions of times, provided that what Scorsus reports concerning the age of Theophanes is true. Scorsus establishes two bounds of intervening years, within which he believes it is entirely certain that Theophanes lived: the first is the year 862, by the argument of Jacob Gretser in Tom. II on the Cross, in his Notes to two Orations of Theophanes, who thinks he flourished at the time when Sicily had not yet been entirely subdued by the Saracens, which is around the year nine hundred. The second is the year in which Tauromenium was captured by the Saracens, which happened under the reign of Leo, son of Basil the Macedonian, as Constantine Porphyrogenitus, son of Leo, reports in Book II of the *Themes of the Eastern Empire*. Joannes Curopalates, and other more recent writers, prove by the testimony of many ancient monuments that this was in 893. He flourished, therefore, at Tauromenium from the third year of Basil, which would be 870, up to the sixteenth year of Leo, which is 902. He proves it by other places of the same author: in the Homily on the Parable of the Supper, he calls the Agarenes "the neighbors, as we shall call those who are our neighbors [ὁμόρους, ὁποίους ἐρῶμεν τοὺς ὁμόρους ἡμῖν], the latest descendants of Ishmael [ἀπογόνους τῶν Ἰσμαήλ]." We see the same style in this: he magnificently adorns the temple built by Emperor Basil in the Palace of Constantinople, in the Homily on the holy apostles Peter and Paul: "I congratulate you, city, and you, sacred temple erected in the Palace [Συνήδομαί σοι, πόλις, καὶ σοί, θεῖε τῶν ἀνακτόρων]." He concludes with this palmary argument, by which he is confident of proving the whole matter evidently: the same Theophanes writes exactly for the emperors, for whom he prays to God in his peroration, in the Homily on the Palms, "Praying that the God-guarded power of our pious emperor may remain for his children, unshaken, and be directed by God who has adorned this man with wisdom and royal bravery [διαδήματι]." And, "Praying incessantly in the long periods of years that the power of our pious emperor be preserved, who, guiding the rudders of the principate with piety and adorning the diadem with words, is adorned with the kindness of his ways, he possesses an authentic praise from virtue." And if we do not cease to pray that God may preserve for a long time our pious emperor, with peace.

^A Let us examine this argument further. Scorsus makes a good prayer for the emperor and his sons, whom he describes as endowed with wisdom, fortitude, and a diadem from God, and as ruling through piety, with integrity of character, and also endowed with knowledge. I do not deny this. Emperor Leo was indeed distinguished by piety and learning, to the extent that he took for himself the surname "the Wise." But is it true? Therefore, should those words be understood as referring to Emperor Leo? By no means. I would never affirm such a thing, not even in my sleep. An emperor who possesses sons is one who is preeminent in virtues and disciplines. If you understand this of Leo, it is false; for although he excelled in piety and learning, he can never be said to have had sons, as only one survived, and he was but a young child, Constantine. Would Theophanes not be insane, and rightly mocked by the emperor and others, for calling a single son "sons" and scattering them as if they were many? If it is said of Basil, it is also false; for although he had sons, you would never say that he surpassed in learning and disciplines. He was dedicated to the art of war and was strong in bodily vigor, not known for learning or wisdom. And although there are circulated under his name both ascetic chapters addressed to his son Leo and some other things, the author of them does not for that reason claim for himself the name of Wise or Philosopher. Therefore, it must be concluded with greater certainty that Theophanes is not praying to God for Basil, who was not adorned with disciplines, nor for Leo, who had no sons. Concerning the letter of Photius to Theophanes, I have nothing to say; for how could Photius have written under ^B Basil to Theophanes Cerameus, who makes mention of Metaphrastes living under Leo, son of Basil, and his grandson Constantine, unless we invert the order of events? There lived at that time Marcus the Sicilian, and Euthymius, Metropolitan of Catania, and Gregory of Syracuse, to whom Photius writes; there lived also this monk Theophanes—but does it follow that this Theophanes is immediately that Cerameus whose homilies we read, and, what is more, the successor of Zacharias? At what time, then, did Theophanes live? Let him search who pleases. It is enough for us to have shown that he was much later than the age of Basil the Macedonian and that Leo his son. And the age of Metaphrastes, which Scorsus confesses to having found so ancient that he could be praised by Psellus the elder, is a fable. But lest we seem barren in so serious an argument, we shall introduce nothing else for the sake of the students but what Scorsus himself tries to tear down and twist into another and yet another opinion. That inscription in the homily delivered on Palm Sunday, "It was spoken in the presence of King Roger," although absent from two Gallican codices, is nevertheless accepted by countless other manuscripts as ancient and genuine, although in some it is written in such a way that it signifies the name of Roger by a compendium: for it is expressed in the line *poy*, and above the expanded line ^C it is clearly recognized as *ov*. This indicates that between the first letters it was said before King Roger.

^C But he also clothes it with other letters in the middle space, replacing it, [saying] that it was said in the *roga*, or perhaps *enopion tes rogas*, by the very act and distribution of gifts for the assembly and sitting: which, to those ignorant of what *en te roga* or *logou* means, and guessing that that name was written briefly for *Rogerios*, they added the title itself, *rhetor*. I wish these things to be accepted by readers in such a way that from them one may profess to know that this Homily is not to be referred to the times of Roger; the rest concerning the epigraph is to be said as something devised by him and conjectured, not explored and discovered.

Subtle is, and sufficiently acute, the change of Roger into *logou* or *rogas*: so that only so much of antiquity is preserved for Theophanes under Basil and Leo. That it is nothing, however, as I think, since it has been abundantly demonstrated above, there was no reason why we should exercise the strength of our wit to fabricate so much. In the age of Roger there was no Tauromenitan bishop, and this is proven by the silence of writers. The argument from the authority of silence, as much as it may be worth, all the most learned men know. Since all the monuments of writers are not at hand. And perhaps there was one who mentioned him, yet through the carelessness of men, or the injury of times, since the writer has been lost, it could not be indicated to us. This would have happened also regarding the Panormitan [bishop] restored, had not the surviving Gaufridus Malaterra recorded it. And that in the time of Roger there were many Greek bishops in Sicily can be proven from the *Ectypus* of Roger, whose Greek inscription Scorsus expressed for us, accepted from others. For what reason would Roger have procured that his name be printed in Greek letters, if it were understood or read by no one, and especially at that time, when barbarism had occupied almost everything, with the lights of more refined literature extinguished? And indeed, it should be doubtful to no one that at that time Sicily abounded with Greeks, not yet having expelled the Greek bishops through the Latins, or even with the highest zeal by Roger himself, to whom—when there were enmities with the Roman pontiffs, and great controversies of personal matters, procured, in the midst of the Schism 65, or indeed through the auxiliary efforts of them—he rendered himself more formidable to his enemies. Malaterra says that Roger and Robert, having acquired Panormo, had increased the Church of Holy Mary, which had anciently been an archbishopric, violated by the Saracens, with a reconciled dowry and ecclesiastical ornaments, and renovating, had restored an archbishop born a Greek, who in the poor Church of Saint Cyriaca carried out, as much as he could, the worship of the Christian religion. Whatever may be the case regarding the Tauromenitan bishop, from these words of Malaterra nothing is elicited about Latin bishops: rather, if his words are considered more attentively, the Panormitan bishop was Greek by nation, residing in the temple of Saint Cyriaca, and perhaps even ordained in the Greek rite, and practicing the worship of the Christian religion in the Greek rite: and they did not recall another, but restored this same one. The Greeks are accustomed to doing this even under the tyranny of the Barbarians, and to send bishops ordained by themselves to those who are hostiles of the Christian religion in those [places].

A Commentary, compiled by Nilus Doxapatrius, Archimandrite, by order of the most noble King Roger, concerning the five patriarchal thrones, and the archiepiscopates and metropolises subject to them, and those subject to the metropolises, the bishops, and the dioceses of each patriarchal see. And how and when the patriarchal thrones were instituted, and concerning their order, and their own proper names, and whose place they hold. Compiled in the year 6651, the sixth indiction.

Per ^A that, most illustrious lord of mine, concerning that which you wrote to me, I recall from the argument that when I was in the castle of Palermo, I wrote in response to your question, though not as fully as you have now requested. But now the things asked of you are many, and they require a more exact writing and narrative. For this reason, neglecting all labor (for this is owed as an inescapable duty, to fulfill with all my heart what is commanded to me by your most magnificent excellence, along with the urging of my holy Father), I shall attempt, as briefly as my power allows, to set forth in clear writing all that has been commanded to me.

If in the time of Roger there were no Greek bishops in Sicily, Roger would have searched in vain concerning the five patriarchal thrones and the bishops subject to them; for knowledge of those things which do not pertain to us is sought in vain. Here, therefore, Nilus, when he was treating of the bishops subject to the Patriarch of Constantinople, makes mention of the Syracusan in Sicily, whom he places in the second rank, among the twenty bishops subject to him, and places the Tauromenitan in the second rank. We have placed his words in our *Syntagma* concerning the perpetual agreement of the Western and Eastern Church, book 1. For he occupies the first place for Catania, the second for Tauromenium, the third for Messina. And he had previously said that in his own age there were bishoprics enumerated by him, among which were also the Sicilians, whom he himself commemorates as having been under the Patriarch of Constantinople. ^B *Now, therefore, the God-guarded throne of Constantinople, which the first-called Andrew established, holding also the first bishop in it, while it was still Byzantium, holds a not small part of the city and of Asia, as we shall declare hereafter.* Now, therefore, the God-guarded throne of Constantinople, in which, while it was still Byzantium, Andrew the first-called established the first bishop, holds a not small part of Europe and Asia, as we shall indicate below. Theophanes, therefore, could have been bishop of Tauromenium in the time of Roger, and could have delivered that homily in the presence of Roger.

By what reasoning, therefore, did he bestow upon him and his titles the title of King Roger beyond the custom of the Greeks? The tyranny of Roger, his ambition, his pride; then the flattery of the Greek subjects, who wished to deserve well of him, did this. It was a solemn custom for the Greeks to adorn their own lords, not with the titles that were due to them, but with much ampler ones, so that they might reconcile them to themselves by a similar liberality of titles. And that I may not here heap up more from the same [source], from which Scoreus attempts to establish the contrary, it is proven by Nicetas, and Photius, in those same times when this controversy was agitated between the Orientals and the Occidentals, most constantly promised the Western Emperor and Empress that, if they would comply with him, he would proclaim himself. By their great gifts, especially rendering King Francis Podoecus and Engilberta his wife propitious to himself, he promised that he would proclaim them [as] emperors in the city of Constantinople, if they would bring him aid in this matter, so absurd and unjust, that they would violently cast that holy man out of the Church.

If the Patriarch in the city of Byzantium, while the Emperor was resisting and contending, had bestowed this name upon those from abroad, how much more so a minor bishop in his own diocese, [obeying] a tyrant, and an impious [one], and perhaps also ambitiously aspiring, outside the city of Constantinople? Not to speak of lesser princes, who have obtained this same thing among the Greeks, and although the title of serenity is attributed to the prefect of the city, why could this not be attributed to Roger with a more honorable respect? I shall conclude the argument if I prove by the testimony of another writer of the same age that Roger was remarkably desirous of similar honors and dignities.

^A But Roger, when he had attained his purpose, sent envoys to the Emperor John while he was still alive, requesting an alliance by marriage for his son with someone of the imperial blood. But the business of the embassy had not yet reached its end, and John departed from this life. Some time later, when Manuel already held the empire, he sent again and made the same request. Whence a certain Basil, surnamed Xerus, arrived in Sicily to discuss this matter with Roger; but the latter, seduced by gold, confessed to some absurd things, the chief of which was that in the future Roger would be on a level of greatness equal to the Emperor. From this it happened that great wars broke out. For when Xerus, returning to Byzantium, had met his death—before the penalties for his rash actions had been exacted—the Emperor, having paid as much attention to his embassies as if they were trifles, cared less and less for the affairs of Roger. From this, let the prudent reader discern how much correction should be made regarding *pogou* and *pogas*. So much, then, for the age of Theophanes and Metaphrastes in the Divertissement.

Bollandus writes that I, in my *Diatribe on the Pselleis*, assert that the panegyric on Metaphrastes is attributed to the younger Psellus for absolutely no reason. Those who think otherwise will never prove that the author of that oration was another Psellus, not the teacher of Leo the Philosopher. Let us see what I myself believe, as I discuss on page 11 the matter of Baronius attributing the panegyric to the elder Psellus. And we, for our part, cannot affirm with certainty to which Psellus that oration should be referred; by conjecture, ^B however, and that a very light one, we are led to believe that the author was the more recent one, because he wrote more in every discipline and was the most celebrated in the glory of all writers. Whether that elder one committed anything to writing is not certainly known. He who denies everything also denies that that panegyric was of the elder Psellus. And he who calls the author of that oration into doubt and uncertainty determines nothing certain about it; and he who refers it rather to the more recent one excludes the elder. Indeed, further down on page 53, I assigned it in most explicit terms to the younger Psellus. But I said that the panegyric is attributed to the younger Psellus by no argument, and that the other Psellus is the teacher of Leo the Philosopher—those who think otherwise will never prove it (Bollandus adds: but not Allatius, who if he wished to add anything, would add it without any hesitation)—the heretics, against whom I was then acting, and they contended that Metaphrastes was most recent, based on the age of the author of the panegyric. For they would expend their effort in vain, even if they tried with all their might. For although the argument of Bollandus concerning the age of Psellus, who had departed from life before Metaphrastes, may be of the greatest weight, to me myself ^C it is, nonetheless, something. Regarding the request to solve the confusion, they could have replied that at the very same age of Constantine 69 Porphyrogenitus, Psellus was alive, either as the same encomiast of Metaphrastes, or another entirely; certainly, the Psellus who was the preceptor of Michael Ducas could not have been him, and since it cannot be proven that he was different from that first one, it remains in a certain way most firm that he was the most ancient; and that he was under Constantine Porphyrogenitus, from the *latricum* of Psellus to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, an abundance of the prologue of which the most learned Melchior Incofer has provided, and he read it in the Vatican library, and elsewhere, concerning which I remarked on page 89. For whether the Constantine ^D Metaphrastes was attributed to the elder Psellus, who had preceded him by a hundred years? I had written that Metaphrastes lived under Leo and Constantine, not under Constantine to the exclusion of Leo, which I consider to have been abundantly proven above. But who will truly say that Psellus preceded Metaphrastes by a hundred years? Psellus lived under Theophilus, or rather under Leo the Armenian; Metaphrastes lived under Leo the Wise, not as an adolescent, but at a mature age, advanced and, without a doubt, in his middle years. They count 73 years from the Armenian to the Wise, and 65 from Theophilus; if the discussion is about the deceased Metaphrastes, then clearly a hundred years would intervene. But who, moreover, will have certainly marked the day of the death of Metaphrastes? The reign of Constantine was very long, and often interrupted by the domination of others.

^A "You see, O most divine Emperor, this sacred and philosophical gathering? They are all the offspring of my husbandry. All have drunk from my streams and drawn from my fountain; and now they are sharpened in their tongue for rhetoric, not merely so that they might attempt to divide and examine and decorate their discourse with various ideas, but so that they might also construct systems of problems," and so forth. And further: "And philosophy, which had been extinguished, I myself relit. For it is necessary at times even to speak freely."

"As for myself," he continues, "I turned toward the art of words and philosophy, and I laid hold of the sciences, not having received them from another; for their torch had been extinguished for them. But I, having lit it again, have set it ablaze for those who desire it." And again: "From this point I receive the mind, being lauded, and I am the first to approach the portals, not without toil, nor without testing and judgment, but having first been tested and examined in every discourse, in many judgments, and in extemporaneous writings; and being thus pressed toward the entrance, I was barely able to recover my breath."

^B If it is the case that many things are written by me and about many subjects, yet these works do not possess such zeal and merit: they might perhaps seem worthy to the learned, as things upon which study should be bestowed, and they will be admired for their diction and various figures; yet the many will scorn them, because they have no concern for questions and for meanings that are too arcane.

The second point is that Michael Psellus, whose works are circulated in every sort of subject, flourished under Constantine Monomachus in both the disciplines and the glory of oratory. This is so plain that there is no need for divination: for his orations, after several others and the Eulogy on Metaphrastes, exist in my codex—a sufficiently ancient one which I had sought out after my Diatriba concerning the Pselli, though it is torn, rotted by damp, and eaten by moths. I shall provide the beginnings of the orations left out of the Diatriba. The beginning of the first is missing for three lines. The [beginnings] of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh follow.

^C Furthermore, I gather that Psellus wrote these things at an adult age, at least forty years old, from his second oration to Monomachus, where he asserts with sufficient confidence before the Emperor himself that not only in discourse, but in ^D other liberal disciplines now lost, all things were restored by his own industry and diligence.

You see, O most divine Emperor, this sacred and philosophical gathering? They are all the offspring of my husbandry. All have drunk from my streams and drawn from my fountain; and now they are sharpened in their tongue for rhetoric, not merely so that they might attempt to divide and examine and decorate their discourse with various ideas, but so that they might also construct systems of problems; and so forth. And further: "And philosophy, which had been extinguished, I myself relit. For it is necessary at times even to speak freely."

"As for myself," he continues, "I turned toward the art of words and philosophy, and I laid hold of the sciences, not having received them from another; for their torch had been extinguished for them. But I, having lit it again, have set it ablaze for those who desire it." And again: "From this point I receive the mind, being lauded, and I am the first to approach the portals, not without toil, nor without testing and judgment, but having first been tested and examined in every discourse, in many judgments, and in extemporaneous writings; and being thus pressed toward the entrance, I was barely able to recover my breath."

And I indeed applied my mind to the art of discourse and to philosophical disciplines, and I laid hold of the sciences, having received them from no other: for the light of them had been extinguished and had vanished. But I myself, relighting it anew, have shone upon those who were held by a desire for such things. And again: "Hence I anticipate [the others], famous for the praise of my genius, and I am the first to be moved to the vestibules, not without labor, not without proof and examination, but being first examined and approved in every kind of discourse, at length by this reason is an entrance granted to me into those things, through which I was not even permitted to breathe."

The discourse concerns the reign of Monomachus. A great deal of time and of human life—no small part—is consumed in completing such things; for they are men who exercise themselves in these matters, and they are perfected.

At what time, then, did Psellus, the author of the Eulogy on Metaphrastes, live? This matters little for ferreting out the age of Metaphrastes, which is known from elsewhere and by very firm arguments. I shall, however, contribute some points myself, so that men of practiced and sharp genius may determine them. And before other things, I propose that the author had written other monuments of his genius before that Eulogy. For even if many things are written by me about many subjects, the works do not have such zeal and recommendation: but they will perhaps seem worthy to the learned, as things upon which study should be bestowed, and they will be admired for their diction and various figures; but the many will scorn them, because they have no concern for questions and for meanings that are too arcane.

The second point is that Michael Psellus, whose works are circulated in every sort of subject, flourished under Constantine Monomachus in both the disciplines and the glory of oratory. This is so plain that there is no need for divination: for his orations, after several others and the Eulogy on Metaphrastes, exist in my codex—a sufficiently ancient one which I had sought out after my Diatriba concerning the Pselli, though it is torn, rotted by damp, and eaten by moths. I shall provide the beginnings of the orations that were omitted in the Diatriba. The start of the first is missing for three lines. [Then follow] the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh. Furthermore, I gather that Psellus wrote these things at an adult age, at least forty years old, from his second oration to Monomachus, in which he asserts with sufficient confidence before the Emperor himself, not only in discourse, but in rest and human affairs, no small part is consumed in accomplishing similar things: since they are men who exercise themselves in these matters, and are perfected.

^A For that race of heroes seems to be exempt. Joseph Scaliger, who, hidden and included in his study, learned from himself what he could not obtain from others, and having scarcely touched upon the Greek conjugations, seized Homer along with a translation, and learned the whole in twenty-one days; adhering to the vestiges of the poetic dialect, he formed a grammar for himself: nor did he learn any other than that which was observed by him from the analogy of Homeric words. But he devoured all the remaining Greek poets within four months. I do not know whether he would have extricated himself more quickly if he had cast them all bound together into a vast abyss. With a monstrously gaping maw, which so laborious and indiscriminate a bolus did not strangle, but let others speak of these things: I myself cannot sufficiently discern. I will add only our Psellus, although he was of most acute wit, and of most tenacious memory, and a man of uninterrupted labor, nor could he have been more than human strength permits; wherefore, he progressed in studies and the acquisition of wisdom with time and age, and it is most certain that these things, which we have recounted from him, were attempted and dared by him at no other than the stated age, and that he even arrived at Romanus Diogenes through his orations to others and to the same man. Wherefore, we shall not inappropriately have said that he was born around the year one thousand, under the reigns of the grandsons of Basil the Younger and Constantine Porphyrogennetus, under whom Metaphrastes flourished; and that he could conveniently have heard from those who had seen the deceased Metaphrastes what happened at his death, and have transmitted it in writing to others. Just as I, now almost sixty years old, heard many things as a youth from my elders, who had seen events that took place a hundred years ago. Nor does this implicate my own age, which I am in, nor the time in which I write these things. Wherefore there is no need to search for another, younger Psellus who wrote that eulogy. What ought to be thought of Psellus in his preface to the Dioptra of Philip, I have said abundantly in my Diatriba on the Pselli. Finally, the words of Psellus are explained with too much subtlety, while we confuse an oral narrative with that which is handed down in writing. We speak in this way, saying that Cicero, Livy, or Tacitus said something, not as if they were living at this time, but because their writings speak to men of every age. To be silent is forced by reverence for the man, whom I greatly esteem for his singular learning and immense labor. It is better to be able to say more than to say it. By these things, the opinion of Petrus Lanselius is also refuted in his apologetic disputation on Saint Dionysius and his writings, in which he rashly places Symeon Metaphrastes in the tenth century: for since Metaphrastes lived at the beginning of the ninth, as we have proved above, he could not have survived into the tenth, unless we say that he lived beyond the age of one hundred. Meanwhile, to note this also, no one among the heretics has spoken more cautiously, or has hit the nail on the head, as the proverb goes, ^B than Francis Godwin in *De Præsulibus Angliæ*, ch. 1, *De Conversione Britanniæ*. Metaphrastes lived eight hundred and more years after the death of St. Peter, namely around the year of salvation 900. And enough has been said regarding the age of Metaphrastes.

It is also clear from this how absurdly those act who make two men out of one Metaphrastes: for although the surname of Metaphrastes was shared by later Greeks with other learned men, and especially those who—if you do not consult well the Lives of the saints, nor those conspicuous for any elegance of diction—brought them from the countryside and fields into the most elegant cities, by a new form of diction and a new structure of figures, so that they might live with other citizens, as we have seen done in the case of Constantinus Acropolita, yet while the discourse is about Symeon, they have been content with the single surname of Metaphrastes. They were accustomed to add *tou neou*, "the Younger," in communication with others. Therefore, just as it is absurd to duplicate Metaphrastes, so it would be most absurd to make one man, Symeon, out of Symeon the New Theologian (or the Younger) and Symeon Metaphrastes, which is what Gretser suspects. For he suspects that the very Metaphrastes is that Symeon the Younger Theologian, whose Orations on Christian morals and monasteries Pontanus translated from the Greek and published. He wants said Younger Theologian to be understood in relation to the older Gregory Nazianzen, who had obtained the name of "Theologian." He adds in the Index of the Vatican Library, in cod. 38, that I read: *Metaphrasia Domini Symeonis novi, seu junioris Theologi de Attentione*. ^C You see him, who is the junior Theologian, being called Metaphrastes? Nor does it stand in the way that Psellus did not list other writings of his, nor mention his monastic life; for Psellus thought it enough to touch upon the historical volumes of the saints, and, studying brevity, did not wish to produce everything that he could, but only a certain few; which the eulogy itself testifies, being very concise both in matter and in word. He could have brought forward many other manuscript codices, both from the Vatican and other libraries, which name Metaphrastes the "New Theologian."

The Lives of the Saints of the Lord Symeon the Metaphrastes, or New Theologian, concerning watchfulness. Of Symeon the Metaphrastes, or New Theologian, concerning the beginning of the life of the Archurios monks. And Symeon also the New Theologian, who is also called Metaphrastes.

wrote poems about them, and other works; many times he was wont to revolve and oversee the same things due to the multitude of his writings. But if the labor and care were greater than necessary, or rather quite worthy of him, yet the ear of corn conquered the sowing by a long distance, and the crop, such as has not been until today. Whether or not any other thing had been worked out by the man, or the other things were not sufficient, and each one sufficient for an occasion of praise: but to have chosen such an endeavor, and thus to have accomplished and perfected it, is sufficient for praise of the man in place of anything else.

^A They say, moreover, that he did not touch upon this matter haphazardly, nor did he set out to do only as much as he wished, but the exhortations of the Emperor led him to this, and those who cared for learning and intelligence; and the equipment for him was ready, not a small circle of those who first took down the diction in notes, and of those who transcribed them afterwards: and one after another indeed did it at first; the next man wrote it down a second time, and after these others, who understood what had been written beautifully; that he might correct the sententia proposed, which had been hidden from the writers. For on account of the multitude of the writings, it was not permitted to him to revolve and see the same; but even if there had been a huge labor, and greater anxiety than was right, indeed one truly worthy to be applied to this, yet the ear of corn and the crop far exceeded the sowing, such as has not been until today. Since even if nothing else had been worked out for that man, and not all other things, which singly suffice for us to gather praise, yet such a work having been undertaken, and rendered so beautifully executed, would suffice for any man to receive praise. But on account of what cause Metaphrastes took upon himself such a task, is to be sought from no other than Psellus himself.

^B Now, those who before this admirable man wrote down the acts of those others here, they did not refrain from their magnificence. But some of their things they falsified, and some, being unable to set them down appropriately, they wrote down the good as something unrefined and un-ambitious, neither having proposed any beautiful concept, nor having adorned them with becoming words, nor having described them accurately, nor the weight of those who punished, nor the frequency of the martyrs in their answers, but they even rendered the asceticism of the ascetics counterfeit, simply and, as if from what happened to be at hand, going through the studied things.

^C Thence it was that some did not even endure the reading of what had been written, and to others the things said were observed to be an occasion for laughter; and the uncomeliness of the composition, and the thought, and the baseness of the word, was unpleasant to the hearers, and they were repelled rather than attracted. And that which was inscribed for us was mocked as the miracles of the servants of Christ, their struggles and trophies. And all men clearly reviled the writings; but to offer better things than these, some did so out of hesitation of soul, others as if it were a most perfect endeavor, and as if not even a whole life might suffice a man, nor was there strength for those who wished it, nor will for those who were able.

^D But not so did the admirable Symeon experience the same as these; but up to

^A proceeding further along with them, he stepped forward, and dared a certain youthful undertaking, or rather a fortunate deed, which no one among all had successfully achieved. Through it he became more illustrious than the learned men everywhere, and he dedicated to God the most beautiful of existing things, and he beautified and adorned the contests and races of the martyrs, and the ascetic practices and endurance of the monks, and by offering the same benevolence toward them 75 as those (writers of old) had offered, he received thanks from all.

For those who wrote about the deeds of others before this blessed man had not succeeded in attaining their magnificence; but partly they had lied about them, and partly, since they could not bring forward a discourse corresponding to their deeds, they wrote for them something poor—which was neither adorned with any grace, nor deserving of being pursued with praise—as they had provided neither a beautiful thought, nor described them with the most fitting words, nor accurately, nor (did they capture) the cruelty and atrocity of those who punished, nor the prudence of the martyrs in giving their responses; nay further, they even adulterated the monastic discipline, reporting simply and as it were heedlessly and as it happened, what was done by them with great care. Hence it happened that some could not endure to even read what was committed to the monuments of literature; others, however, were given cause for laughter by what was said: and because of the inelegant composition, the absurd thought and lack of logical consequence, and the base and abject diction, they were unpleasant to those who heard them, and were held in hatred rather than received; and because of those who had written them, the admirable contests and trophies of the Christians were held up to mockery by us, and all people openly and always attacked them with curses. To bring forward better things in their place was, for some, because of their sloth, and for others, as it was a work most perfect and of the greatest study—to which not even the whole life of a man would suffice—was impossible; for neither did strength exist for those who wished (to do it), nor will for those who were able. But not so did the admirable Symeon fare in the same manner as they; but proceeding with them to the point of criticism, he then went further, and, entering upon a youthful deed, or rather a fortunate action which no one of all men has managed successfully, through it he emerged more glorious than all who were learned everywhere, and he consecrated to God those things which are the most beautiful of all; the contests and races of the martyrs, and the abstinence and patience of the monks, he adorned and decorated, and by applying the same benevolence as they, he received gratitude in return from all.

However, he did not act so severely as to reject all the Lives and praises of all the saints written before him by others of most approved authorship, and to destroy them by deeds and decrees; but those which were false, or wickedly composed, as being unworthy for pious men to read, he wore away with voluntary oblivion; he corrected the errors of other codices, or of the writers themselves, by the testimony of others, and edited them adorned with his own style; the rest he set forth, changing nothing of the meaning, adorned with his own discourse: those which were already written in the best way, and needed not his help, he left to shine among his own, like stars and precious ^B stones, by which his own (works) would become more celebrated and more acceptable to pious men and to the people. Hence, frequent among his volumes occur orations and encomia for the various festivals of others; among whom the most prominent are considered: Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, Basil the Great of Caesarea, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, Basil of Seleucia, Amphilochius of Iconium, Ephrem the Syrian, Ephrem 76 of Cherson, Antipater, Bishop of Bostra, Cyril of Alexandria, Epiphanius of Cyprus, John Damascene, Georgius of Nicomedia, Pantaleo the Deacon and Chartophylax of the Great Church, Theodore the Studite, Andrew of Crete, Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople, Leontius of Byzantium, Leontius of Jerusalem, Procopius the Deacon and Chartophylax, Gregory of Neocaesarea, Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, Asterius of Amasea, Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, Timotheus of Jerusalem, and others.

But which Lives of the saints did Metaphrastes write? This is truly most difficult to discern. Nor will another be able to (judge), unless he who has run through similar Lives in Greek, and is best acquainted with the discourse and the lights of expression of Symeon. For it would be most foolish to search this out from the Latin (versions), which will happen more difficultly, because I do not yet grasp for what reason it is done, that while in other orations and Lives, the names of the authors are for the most part prefixed; in these, which Symeon wrote, never or rarely is one found noted beforehand. Hence men well-deserving of ecclesiastical antiquity have attributed to Symeon all the Lives of the saints which do not carry their own author prefixed, not without a mark of error and ignorance, which are truly not Symeon's. Nevertheless, they are claimed for Symeon, and are published as if they were genuine works of Symeon by Surius, and Lippomanus, and others in Latin only. In the month of January: 1, Saint Basil, Euphrosyne of Alexandria; 5, the Virgin Apollinaris; 7, Lucian the Martyr; 9, Polyeuctus the Martyr, Julian the Martyr and his companions; 10, Marcian the Presbyter; 11, Theodosius the Coenobiarch; 13, Hermylus and Stratonicus the Martyrs; 15, John the Calybite; 22, the Apostle Timothy, Vincent the Levite and ^D Martyr, Anastasius the Persian; 23, Clement, Bishop of Ancyra, John the Almsgiver; 25, Eusebia, who is called the Guest-Hostess; 27, John Chrysostom; 28, Jacob the Hermit; 31, Cyrus and John, Melana the Roman. In the month of February: 4, Ignatius the Bishop and Martyr, Pionius the Presbyter and Martyr, Ephrem the Syrian, Tryphon; 3, Blasius the Bishop, Saint Isidorus, Agatha the Virgin; 6, Fausta, Euelasius, and Maximina; 8, Evagrius and Maria his daughter; 9, Nicephorus the Martyr; 13, Martinian the Anchoret; 14, Auxentius the Abbot; 16, the martyrdom of Onesimus, Juliana; 18, Leontius and Paregorius the Martyrs; 19, Auxibius, Archbishop of Soli; 20, Jadoth the Bishop, and his fellow martyrs; 27, An

Andronicus and Athanasia. In the month of March: 9, the Holy Forty Martyrs; 10, Quadratus, Cyprian, and their companions; 12, Theophanes, who is also called Isaacius; 13, Sabinus; 15, Longinus the centurion; 16, Abraham and his niece Mary; 27, Isaacius. In the month of April: 1, Agapes, Chionia, and Irene; 4, Theodulus the lector and Agathopus; 5, Theodora and Didymus the martyrs, Themes, and her sister Pherbatha; 7, Calliopius the martyr; 8, Bademus the archimandrite; 10, Terentius the African and his fellow martyrs; 11, Antypas, Bishop of Pergamum; 13, Carpus, Papylus, and their fellow martyrs; 18, Eleutherius the bishop, and the martyr Euanthia; 22, Acepsimas, Joseph, and Aithalas; 25, George the Great Martyr, and Mark the Evangelist; 27, Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedia; 28, Paphnutius the anchorite and his companions. In the month of May: 1, Philip the Apostle, James the Apostle; 2, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria; 3, Alexandra and the virgin Antonina; 4, Pelagia of Tarsus; 8, Acacius the centurion; 10, Glycerius and Laodicius; 13, another Alexander, and John the Silentiary; 14, Victor and Corona; 15, Pachomius. In the month of June: 5, Boniface; 7, Paul, Archbishop of Constantinople; 12, Justin the philosopher, Chariton, and their companions; 13, the virgin Aquilina; 15, Dula the martyr; 16, Quiricus and Julitta; 17, Manuel, Sabel, and Ismael; 19, Sozimus, Nazarius, Gervasius, Protasius, and their companions; 27, Samson the host of strangers; 29, On the pilgrimages and labors of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. In the month of July: 8, Procopius the martyr; 17, Alexius the confessor, Athenogenes the martyr; 18, Mauritius and the seventy soldiers; 19, Arsenius the abbot; 20, the martyr Mary, and Elijah the Tishbite; 21, Daniel and the three youths; 22, Plato the martyr; 27, the Seven Sleepers, and Panteleemon the martyr; 29, Callinicus the martyr, and Eudocimus the martyr. In the month of August: 1, Sophia and her daughters; 2, Stephen the Roman pontiff; 12, Euplius the martyr; 15, On the birth and upbringing of the Virgin; 17, Mamas the martyr, Paul and Juliana; 19, Andrew the military commander and his companions; 29, On John the Baptist, and on the exportation of the precious hand of John the Baptist. In the month of September: 5, Eudoxius, Romulus, Zeno, and Macarius; 7, Sozont; 9, Severianus; 17, Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora; 11, Theodora of Alexandria; 12, Autonomus; 13, Cornelius the centurion; 15, Nicetas the martyr; 16, Euphemia the martyr; 19, Trophimus, Sabbatius, and Dorymedon; 21, Matthew the Evangelist; 26, Cyprian and Justina the martyrs; 27, the miracles of Cosmas and Damian, and Callistratus and his companions; 28, Chariton the abbot; 29, Cyriacus the anchorite; 30, Gregory of Great Armenia. In the month of October: 1, Ananias, ^A Agapius, and Theopistes, Acindynus, Pegasius, Anempodistus, Aphthonius, and Elpidophorus the martyrs; 4, Januicius the abbot; 5, the martyrs Galaction and Episteme; 8, Hieron and his fellow martyrs; 9, Matrona; 10, Theodorus Tiron, the martyr, and Arethas the martyr; 11, Theoctiste of Lesbos; 15, Menas the Egyptian martyr, Samonas, Gurias, and Abibus; 18, John Chrysostom; 22, Cecilia, Valerian, and their fellow martyrs; 23, Clement the martyr, Bishop of Rome, and Gregory, Bishop of Agrigento; 24, Mercurius the martyr; 25, the virgin and martyr Catherine; 26, Alypius. 78 In the month of December: 4, Barbara the martyr, and Saint Sabas the abbot; 6, Nicholas, Bishop of Myra; 8, Patapius the martyr; 10, Menas, Hermogenes, and Eugraphus; 11, Daniel the Stylite; 12, Spyridon, Bishop of Trimythous; 13, Eustratius, Auxentius, Eugenius, Mardarius, and Orestes; 19, Thyrsus, Lycius, Callinicus, Philemon, Apollonius, and the rest; 21, Thomas the Apostle; 23, the ten martyrs who suffered martyrdom in Crete; 25, Anastasia the martyr, and Eugenia the martyr; 26, Thedore and Theophanes the writers, Indes, Domna, and their companions; 27, John the Apostle and Evangelist; 29, Marcellus, archimandrite of the Acoemetae monastery; 30, Anysia, who is of Thessalonica; 31, Sylvester, Pope of Rome. And these things, indeed, have been edited in Latin, whether by Symeon himself or by another; but those in Greek, or ^B in both Greek and Latin, that I myself have seen, are very few: for in Greek there is the Vita of John the Apostle and Evangelist, following Arethas on the Apocalypse; in Greek and Latin, the Vita of Dionysius the Areopagite, revised by Balthasar Corderius on the same Dionysius; the Acts of Saint Demetrius the Myroblyte, Antwerp in quarto 1635, printed by Joannes Meursius; the Vita and martyrdom of Saint Thecla by Christopher Plantin along with Basil of Seleucia; and the On the life and miracles of the same Saint Thecla, Antwerp in quarto; the Vita of Saint Athanasius with the works of the same Athanasius; the Vita of John Chrysostom with the works of Chrysostom; the Vita of Saint Amphilochius, published among the orations of the same saint by Francis Combefis. Moreover, the style itself and its manner sufficiently argue that these are not the work of the Metaphrast. But the principle of the ^C Metaphrast is this: *And who will be able to recount the excellence of the saints?* Under the name of the Metaphrast, or as genuine fruits, they praise the Vitae and martyrdoms of the saints. Suidas, in "Abasin," mentions the Martyrdom of Saint Thecla; in "Anaimones," the Vita of Saint Daniel the Stylite; in "Amphoin," the Vita of Saint Euthymius; in "Alkaia," the Vita of Saint Marcellus; the Holy Callicecadus in "Exates"; in "Notheus," Saint Lucian; in "Katapeltes," Saint Agathyrsus; in "Ypagoresousai," Saint Symeon for the Council of Florence, chap. 1, Saint Dionysius the Areopagite; chap. 4, Saint Joannicius; chap. 50, Saint Stephen the Younger, and John Chrysostom. Joseph of Methone, in his Apology for the Council of Florence ^D against Marcus of Ephesus, [cites] Saint Dionysius the Areopagite: and this same Vita is cited as a testimony of the Metaphrast by Andreas, prelate of Rhodes, in the 7th session of the Council of Florence; [and] by John Veccus in his Sentence...

regarding the Procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father, and by Constantine Melitiniotes in his 2nd Oration on the Procession of the Holy Spirit. ^A And he who recounted the lives of the saints and their struggles in a metaphrastic manner, says, regarding the martyrdom of Dionysius the Areopagite, that expounder of ineffable things, intending to speak concerning the economy of Christ, at the end he spoke verbatim thus: "And my Christ is assumed into the heavens," and so forth. And who narrated the deeds and struggles of the saints, as the Metaphrasts are accustomed to do, in the martyrdom of Dionysius the Areopagite—of him, I say, who revealed things that cannot be expressed, when he had to discourse upon the economy of Christ—in the end he completed it with these words: "And my Christ is assumed into the heavens," etc. Michael Glycas, Epist. 21, [on] Saint Anastasia. Nicephorus Callistus, lib. xiv, cap. 51, [on] Ecclesiastical History, Saint Simeon Stylites the Elder, and lib. xvii, cap. 24, [on] Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger. ^B But those [lives] as yet unedited, given over to darkness and moths in the corners of libraries, I should consume time in vain if I were to attempt to recount them all here. For there is almost no library, where manuscript codices are present, in which some volume of these lives is not found. But I shall proceed step by step from those alone which Antonio Agustín has surveyed. In the library of Antonio Agustín, therefore, these were read under the name of Symeon Metaphrastes. Month of January. Of Athanasius of Alexandria. Of Euthymius. Of Timothy the Apostle. Of Anastasius. Of Clement of Ancyra. Of Eusebia by the surname of Xena. Of Gregory Nazianzen. Of Xenophon and his sons. Concerning the relics of Saint John Chrysostom. Of Ephrem the Syrian. Of Cyrus and John. Month of February. Of Tryphon. Of Parthenius, bishop of Lampsacus. Of Theodore Stratelates. Of Luke the Wonderworker. Of Nicephorus. Of Blasius. Of Martinian. ^C Month of March. Of the forty-two martyrs. A narrative concerning the siege of Constantinople by the forty martyrs. Month of April. Of George the martyr. Month of June. Of Ma-Dueles, Sabelius and Ismael. Of Sampson the Xenodochos. The pilgrimages of Peter and Paul. Month of July. Of Procopius. Of Pantaleon. Of Callinicus. Of Eudocimus. Month of August. Of the birth and upbringing of the Mother of God. Of the image of Christ sent to Agbarus. Of John the Baptist. Month of November. Of Samonas, Gurias, and Abibus. Of Paul, archbishop of Constantinople. Of Hieron and those who suffered with him. Of Matrona. Of Theoctiste of Lesbos. Of Menas the Egyptian. Of John the Almsgiver. Of John Chrysostom. Of Philip the Apostle. Month of December. Of Boniface the Roman. Of Sebastian. Of Tranquillinus, Nicostratus, Claudius, Castor, and others. Of Ignatius. Of Juliana. Of Anastasia. Of the ten Cretan martyrs. Of Eugenia and her parents. Of Theodore and Theophanes the Grapti. Of Indes and Domna, and their companions. Of Marcellus. Of Melania the Roman. Of Eleutherius. ^D On Daniel the prophet and the three youths. I shall not compare the indices of other libraries, since they are very rare, [those] which contain the same things. For almost all, without exception, propose in the same months both the lives and panegyrics of different saints, and various lives of the same saints; and what has been done to the greatest detriment of ecclesiastical affairs is that they sometimes present the name of the author, while in other codices they lie without an author or glory. If you were to claim all these for Metaphrastes, you would have acted most insanely; if you claim none, you would have committed many impious and wicked things. But it must be observed before all else that it is poorly stated by some that, when the name of the author is not prefixed to the Life of any Saint, that Life is read in the Metaphrast, as if indeed all collections of Lives were composed by the same Metaphrast; which I judge to be most false. For since similar collections, which are almost innumerable, rarely or never agree among themselves, but these contain more, those fewer Lives, and are written down in one way or another of speaking and method, how could it be that they were begun and completed by one man, unless we wish to say that he occupied himself with one [work] or another in every hour and moment, and approved and disapproved of these now and now others? If one man completed them, the same ones would always be presented in the manuscript codices in large part: but now it is done otherwise. Wherefore it must be said that the Metaphrast wrote the Lives of the Saints, not collected them; and those which he himself wrote, he always issued in the same order preserved, as Baronius asserts, sometimes also annexed with the name of the first author, which he himself had approved and not changed. And from this it may clearly be seen that the Lives thus digested by the Metaphrast are almost always preserved in the same manner in other codices. Therefore it is wrongly affirmed, when a codex comes into our hands, and in it are contained the Lives of the Saints, with no prefixing of the author's name, that those Lives are held among the Metaphrast, since that collection of Lives is not of the Metaphrast; and consequently that the Metaphrast, even if he did not write them, approved of them, or at least deemed them worthy, which might flit through the hands of men. I said above that this is an arduous and difficult labor, and one which I myself would leave to more prudent men. Nevertheless, I shall contribute some study and work, and I shall open the way for others as I am able; and just as a prudent farmer, after seeds have been cast upon the earth, and they have sprouted, lest the genuine be suffocated by the spurious and those of another kind, and he may have pure fruit, first, with severe diligence, roots out all those herbs which he does not recognize, as being of the sowing to be gathered, even if they were the best, and cherishes and cultivates the genuine ones; so also I, from this most ample field which has prevailed under the name of Metaphrastes, will first of all—who could [uproot] all?—pull them out, so to speak, and I will eradicate (those under whose name I would wish it understood that both martyrdoms and eulogies, whether encomia or praises, both toward the saints, and toward Christ, and the Mother of God [are accounted]) and I will restore them, with the help of manuscript codices, to their own authors: then we shall judge concerning those others which are without a name. But that we may more easily attain our purpose, first the beginning of the work shall be placed, in the second place the name of the author, in the third place the title of the work itself, so that at one glance, as if in a table, we may refer to the codex who has occupied his place among the labors of the Metaphrast, whether with the Metaphrast so arranging it, or from the writers themselves, who, as is convenient and as they please, dare all things.

^A You have raised up a good contest. *Lives of our holy Father Anthony*, by Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria. A discourse on Job, for the holy and great Monday. To a certain many-voiced nightingale. On the nativity of John the Forerunner, by Theodore the Studite. Wishing to praise the athletic contests. On Saint Clement, by Leon the Emperor. The feasts of Christ, as many as the light of the economy concerning us. A panegyric on all the holy martyrs, by Constantine the Deacon and Chartophylax, deacon of the Great Church of Constantinople, distinct from Acropolita, and Tio. The Seventh General Synod makes mention of him in Act 5. The graces indeed of former times. A discourse on the Ascension of the Savior, by Nicholas Cabasilas. Hear, O heaven, and the whole circle of the angels. On the saving passions of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Nicholas Cabasilas. I hear Moses the great, that strange wonder of the burning bush. A discourse on the Most Holy Theotokos, detailing her birth, her entry into the Holy of Holies, and her upbringing, by Nicephorus Gregoras. It is good and just, and for all who are pious. On the life and martyrdom of the holy hieromartyr Stephen the Younger, ^B by Stephen of Byzantium. The writer lived not many years after, as is gathered from the same. For as a cloud hides the sun, so time hides things not spoken of, although forty-two years have passed since the time our all-blessed Father Stephen suffered his holy death by martyrdom. I have been urged by these things to collect from truthful men, and from his disciples, wandering here and there, and gathering, so that I might commit to writing those most pleasant and wonderful stories of his from his tender infancy until his old age, and from his birth until his death. *Solet siquidem quemadmodum nebula solem, tempus ea quae non commemorantur, occulere; etsi duo et quadraginta anni pretergressi sunt, ex quo martyrio beatissimus hic Pater noster sacrum ille exitum consecutus est Stephanus ad hunc diem: quo admonitus a veracibus hominibus illiusque discipulis selegi huc atque illuc circumiens et colligens, ut scripto mandarem, quae ille ex teneris unguiculis usque ad senectam praestiterat et ab illius ortu usque ad obitum, jucundissimas et admirabiles narrationes. Quod non arduum fuit, cum Stephani aequales, amici et consanguinei superstites essent.* Ibid. These selections of mine, the lowliest, for this work, were chosen from the holy man's relations, acquaintances, kinsmen, messmates, neighbors, and disciples, and not only so, but also from those who were companions of the tyrant in his crime, who are still living in this life. *Et haec quidem minimi hujusce laboris a sancti parentibus, amicis, consanguineis, convivis, contubernalibus et discipulis, imo et a tyranni in facinore consortibus, qui usque dum in vita supersunt vera narrationes sunt.* See more about this author in the chapter on John of Damascus, which we publish after these Diatribes.

Other men have honored the saints in other ways. *On the holy [men] Syrus and John the martyrs*, by Sophronius the Monk, Sophista of the monastery of Saint Theodosius, which is in the Desert near the Holy City, afterwards Archbishop of Jerusalem. The beginning of the protheoria, *On account of eye diseases for Cyrus and John*. Its mention is had in the Seventh General Synod, Act 4.

Beloved. God is not deceitful, having promised through the prophet. On the life, and the exile, and the tribulations of John Chrysostom, by Theodore, Bishop of Trimithus. Beloved. It was not unseemly for those who are grateful. On the life and miracles of our holy Father Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, by Amphilochius of Iconium. ^C A day of gladness and joy. On the veneration of the precious and life-giving Cross, in the Mid-week, by Theodore the Studite. An angelic panegyric gathers the predestined lady who is present. A panegyric on the divine and great archistrategi Michael and Gabriel, by Procopius the Deacon and Chartophylax. Come then, and today, friend, more genuinely of the most noble Job, by Leontius, Presbyter of Constantinople. But yet for me to contribute to your praises, O Baptist of Christ, ^D while I am trying from afar. A panegyric on the great Baptist and Forerunner of Christ, John, by Theodulus the Abbot. But the season is not mournful for us. A clear proof of this is the fast. On the memory of the holy great martyr Theodore, and the first Saturday day in Euchaita, by John, Metropolitan of Euchaïta. Wandering at the time of the incursion of the Barbarians. On the slaughter of the holy Fathers in Sinai and Raïthu, by Nilus the Monk. *A men an tis eikasi tekmerion tin parousan echon katastasin.* A discourse on the God-bodied burial of the Lord, by Maximus Planudes the Monk. Jesus casts off, and light as a garment, when it shone flashing upon the disciples on Mount Tabor. A discourse drafted on the burial of the Savior Christ our God, by Theodore of Alania, Bishop. It is necessary again today in the morning to speak/logou, on the descent of John into Hades, by Eusebius of Alexandria. A resurrection of mine and of God, and of the one who was ... A discourse on the Holy Resurrection, by Leon the Emperor. O men, hospitable, and Christ-loving, and brother-loving. A discourse on the Holy Theophany, or the Holy Lights, by Gregory of Neocaesarea.

After the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ to His own Father, arose the martyrdom of the holy apostle Ananias. I, Barsaphtas, wrote his memoirs and placed them beside the remains of the noble athlete Ananias, that they might serve as a record and as a model of benefit to those who hope in the promise of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Every discourse of panegyrics: a panegyric on the holy Apostle Paul, collected from various discourses of Chrysostom. ^A Since the present discourse purposes to celebrate the Apostolic visitation: on the holy apostle and evangelist John, and Theologian.

The Lord rose on the third day. ^B ...having dwelt in the city from my ancestors. Living, therefore, in my cell, along with many other martyrologies concerning the Resurrection of the Lord, I also had the memoirs of this saint in a small chest; and because the remains of this holy Eustratius were not in this city, nor had I heard from anyone that his holy remains had been revealed in Arauracena, I neither published the memoirs, nor did anyone request that I provide them. At that time, however, a certain young and very studious man was meeting with my humility daily, and having read all the books I possessed, he also read these memoirs, and confirmed to me that his martyrdom exists in Arauracena, and that powers of healing occur through him. But no one in those parts possesses the memoirs of these saints, so that all the people of that village were discouraged, especially during their memorials. Because he entreated me for a long time, I published them for him, and I ask all who read and listen to pray for me.

Apostle, who has organized this bright festival: a panegyric on the holy apostle and evangelist John.

To laud the virtue of a man, being commanded: a discourse on the great John Chrysostom.

Excellent indeed is also the propriety of those things which are seen: a discourse on the nine choirs of the immaterial powers, and on the most great taxiarch Michael, the prince of the host.

Ineffable things of the philanthropy of God toward us: a discourse on the saving, according to the flesh, and divine birth of Christ.

The beginning for us of that which is toward the good, from the ancient fall: the life of the holy Father Auxentius.

The beginning of existing things is God, not as being arranged with these: a discourse on the Annunciation.

The beginning for the world: on the Nativity of the Forerunner.

Stars, indeed, sensible in the firmament appearing, move to a great spectacle: on the holy and glorious and wonderworking unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian.

This is the day of the Lord: on the birth of the Theotokos.

Reigning Arenatus of the Persian land, a dispute arose: concerning the things done in Persia.

Reigning Diocletian and Maximian, all the Roman empire had been filled with the worship of the godless idols. ^C And I, the sinner Eusebius, from childhood living the monastic life...

Reigning Diocletian the emperor, there occurred a great persecution of the Christians. Having heard these things, the governor ordered his remains to be cast into the river Phibus opposite the mountain. We, however, beheld a certain man, who had an appearance bright as the sun, taking up the remains of the holy martyr, who also deposited them on the mountain adjacent to the city of Tyana.

Blasius, the great among hierarchs and martyrs, how could we worthily admire: on the holy hieromartyr Blasius.

A courageous woman, where might one find, and how, the wise Solomon was at a loss: [discourse on...]

^A a discourse on the holy hieromartyr Theodosia. "Glorious things have been spoken of you, O city of God!" Discourse on the dedication of the church of the all-holy Theotokos at the Prakoprateia, and on the deposition of the holy Girdle and the venerable Swaddling Clothes of our Savior. A sumptuous feast for us: Lazarus again, on the four-day Lazarus. Come then, my son, and concerning the betrayal, on the betrayal of Judas. Come, friends, today also, let us hasten to the evangelical words, on the holy Transfiguration of our Lord and God and Savior. Demetrius is the subject of our gathering and the occasion for our discourses today. 85 Panegyric on the holy Demetrius. Demetrius, that sweet thing, a discourse on the great Demetrius the Myrrh-streamer. Give to us, O voice of the Word, a voice, panegyric on Saint John the Forerunner.

Hear from me today, beloved, a strange and paradoxical narration, which is useful. For I myself, the humble Eutolmius, who set before you this soul-profiting history, though I became an eyewitness and a minister of the struggles and contests of my Master, yet I did not emulate his angelic life, having acted with passion and having desired the flesh rather than the spirit. I pray you, therefore, beloved, do not look into the profanity of my speech. For I am unlearned, and naturally I will not be able to realize the narration for you through experience. But I know you, that you do not defer the narration by looking to the precision of the speech, but by yielding to the humble expression of my faith, you honor the one who is to be recounted by me. ^B Diocletian the Roman emperor, having unworthily forgotten the scepter... With the consent of the jailer, the servant entered, he who remained outside the prison, and who also compiled the records concerning the holy one with all accuracy. Very near to the city of Caesarea of Palestine, there lies a desert in this mountain, in which dwell many men leading an ascetic life, among whom I knew also the blessed and virtuous Martinian, living on this mountain. [E] 86 It came to pass in the days of the Emperor Diocletian that Anthimus the prefect [suffered] an illness. But I, Thomais, after the falling asleep of Bryenna, received her ministry; and knowing from the beginning all that had happened to Febronia, and afterwards having been taught the rest by the lord Lysimachus, I wrote down her entire life and the things worthy of remembrance to the praise and glory of the athlete and martyr Febronia, with the readiness of the hearers, to stir them to adoration and glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. It came to pass at the end of the most impious one, discourse on the miracles of the holy great-martyr of Christ, Menas. It came to pass after the Lord was taken up, life and conduct of our father among the saints, Pancratius. It came to pass after the remains of the holy protomartyr Stephen were brought in. On this very night we came for three stages; and having rested during the day, in the evening as we were traveling in the deep night, the spirits were crying out. And, we arrived at...

to the land of the Palestinians, being with the elder. If there is anything else that to those who are servants of the word… ^A of others, against whom it is not easy to contend. And Baghdad released them, to be martyrs, so to speak—those who were brought to perfection by the power of the saving Baptism. And there were gathered with them others, many more, who were identical in faith and zeal, that the matter might be the more displayed. And thus, being all led away to the tribunal of the governorship, they confessed the faith of Christ and were beheaded. Such and so great was the end of life imposed upon them, as though having Christ as a good judge of the contest, they were deemed worthy to be instructed into His glory and kingdom.

On this day, the memorial of the holy hieromartyr Romanos the New. Romanos was one of those from the country called Karpenisi, having grown up from pious parents and embraced the monastic life from a young age, he finished his life in the mountain of the Holy Mountain among many monks. Proceeding thence to those in Constantinople, and meeting the wise fathers there, he took counsel concerning martyrdom. And they exhorted him to be confident, and to trust in the power of God, that he would not be put to shame. Having returned to Constantinople, he revealed himself to the Turks and the rulers of the city. And what need is there of words? He confessed the faith of Christ with a free voice, despising all that the enemies of Christ lied about Him, and all they attempted against the truth. And if promises were made suggesting wealth and glory, he despised them all. Being sent thence ^B to a president, he heard such things as is to be expected from the impious, I mean flatteries and threats. But these were not enough to bend the adamantine man; for he was brave and noble in the faith. Finally, having been beheaded, he was numbered with the choir of Christ, the thrice-blessed one.

On this day, the holy Martinian is perfected in peace. Martinian was by birth from Caesarea of Palestine, and from a tender age he turned to the ascetic life; and having departed, he dwelt on a certain desert mountain near the city called Caesarea, keeping himself from every harm of the world, and serving God by night and day. But a certain lewd woman, Zoë by name, having come to him, feigned piety while hiding within herself an evil intent. For she did not arrive there out of piety, but so that she might corrupt the holy man. And she indeed feigned a night-time fear, and begged of him, out of compassion, to provide her with a shelter. And as night descended, she persuaded him to follow after sin. But he, coming to a sense of the treachery, having lit a fire, trod his feet upon it for a very long time, so as to turn aside the desire. Then, having gone out from there, he departed to an island, that the war might no longer afford him an occasion. But Zoë, having fallen in love with that life, having changed, entered into an ascetic life. And Martinian, having departed to the island, saw there again such a danger; for a shipwreck having occurred near him, a woman, having been saved upon a plank, came to him. But he, again fearing this warfare, yielded the island to the woman, and he himself, having cast himself into the sea, mounted upon dolphins, and thus was saved upon dry land. And he ran this course for the rest of his life, moving from city to city, he remained in no place, so that he might not be known. Dying at length in the upper Athens, he died, having finished his ascetic life well.

Of the Monastery of the Kalis, established by Antonios of Constantinople.

Isidore, Archbishop of Thessalonica, On the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Of Ammonius the Monk, of Leo the Emperor, of Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, of Ephrem the Syrian, of Theodore Daphnopates—in the Vatican codex it is attributed to Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus—of George of Nicomedia, of Andrew of Crete, the Martyrdom of the Holy Theodotus of Ancyra.

Of the Consecration of the Temple.

Of the entry of the Theotokos into the Holy of Holies.

Encomium for the Holy Forty Martyrs.

On the Nativity of the honorable Forerunner.

On the Nativity of the Theotokos.

Encomium for the Saint and Great Martyr George.

For we ought, having received the trial of many benefits… Let anyone say what he wishes; but we, what we have known and beheld with our own eyes, the fortitude of the man, just as those who were present with him, and were deemed worthy by him for the sake of the correction of holy words, etc. Then we knew the traitor to be Polychronios. All these things, I, Nilus the humble, have published to you with all accuracy, ^D to the God-loving brothers, who at the time of the imprisonment was with him and knew each thing; I brought into knowledge, everywhere caring for the truth; so that you also, hearing with all faith and assurance, might have a share with the holy and glorious martyr Theodotus.

Life of the Holy Syncletica.

Encomium for the Holy John Chrysostom.

Discourse on the Holy Apostles.

On the Martyr George.

Life of the Patriarch…

Discourse on the Sunday before the elevation of the Life-giving Cross.

Synod therefore having been convoked in Constantinople by the blessed and famous emperor Andronikos Palaiologos, my brother, John Kalekas holding the patriarchal throne, the same Barlaam, being present also the bishop of Thessalonica himself, was condemned and sent away as thinking heretical thoughts.

DIATRIBE ON THE WRITINGS OF SYMEON METAPHRASTES

^A Galeka: did John Galeka copy from Xiphilinus? Galeka is older than John Xiphilinus.

Matthaei Camariota, Nicolaus Cabasilas, Basil of Caesarea, Joseph Briennios, Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos, Theodore Metochites the Grand Logothete, Nicolaus Cabasilas, Nicephorus Gregoras, Nicephorus Gregoras, Macarius Chrysocephalus of Philadelphia, 89 Theodore bishop of Paphos, Antipater bishop of Bostra.

The author of the *Life of St. Onuphrius and other Fathers who lived a solitary life in the desert* is clearly gathered from the beginning and end of the Life.

*Life and Deeds of Metrophanes and Alexander, Bishops of Byzantium.* The writer lived in that very same age. For he writes about Alexander: "Whom, while he was still a youth, I saw coming into the region of Palestine, joined with the elder among the other emperors, Diocletian, when they were leading an army into Egypt and to Alexandria, during a war and battle which had broken out there, and a tyrannical rebellion."

Jerome the monk, James the Apostle, Florentius. ^B I gather from the same *Life*, in the end: "I, Florentius, servant and minister of the holy martyrs, after I had returned from the island of Sicily to Calabria, remained in the temple of the holy martyrs of Christ for twelve years. But afterwards, worn out by old age and infirmity, I betook myself to the great city of Rome, and put on the holy habit of the solitary life. The martyrdom, indeed, of the holy Senator, Viator, Cassiodora, and Dominata their mother, as far as my strength allowed, I have briefly collected in writing, and sent to every Christian, that with fear and great joy they might celebrate their solemnity and recall their martyrdom."

^C 90 *Martyrdom of the SS. Probus, Tarachus, and Andronicus.* It was written with Marcian, Felix, and Barnabas, and others present and seeing it, etc. "As, therefore, we saw them being carried hither and thither by the soldiers, we approached and rested for a little while on the nearby mountain with haste, and sitting by ourselves, we kept quiet with prayers and tears and sighs, together with the stones. I, Marcian, and Felix, and Barnabas, ^D awaited their holy assumption. But the others, having praised God for what He deemed us worthy of, were sent on by us and departed toward you; receive them with fear and great respect, as workers for Christ."

And they left us in terror. We all stood ^A breathless by common consent. But they, having conversed with the holy Phocas, went off into the heavens. [alt-version omitted] *And in the end.* A man of apostolic character in our time, who has taken up his place in the choir of the saints, and has inherited the prize of Christ.

This also is a praiseworthy law of the Church.

Since the most holy memory of the martyr, having been illuminated from above by radiance-bearing lights. By George the Grammarian, a panegyric on the holy great martyr of Christ, Barbara. Since a festival of a martyr is upon us today, and such a gathering has occurred. By Arsenius of Corfu, the martyrdom of the holy virgin and martyr Barbara.

Since often, and from the descent of the coming of our Savior Christ. The martyrdom of Saint Phocas. It is written by one present and seeing. For indeed, Africanus, having fallen half-dead upon the ground, lay breathless, and all the army with him, in the things we saw, which the Lord willed to show; for when a light greater than the sun by tenfold shone out, three fiery horsemen appeared from heaven, bringing great fear and trembling upon us. And we all stood breathless by common consent.

Since many have recorded the lives. By Epiphanius the monk and presbyter, on the life and deeds and the end of the holy apostle Andrew. Since God rejoices in the honors of His own servants. By Emperor Leo, a discourse on Saint Nicholas. ^D [94] Since often and from the descent of the coming of the Savior. The martyrdom of Saint Phocas. It is written by one present and seeing. For indeed, having fallen, Africanus lay upon the ground breathless, and all the army with him, in the things we ^B saw, which the Lord willed to show. For a great light having shone out tenfold more than the sun, from heaven appeared three fiery horsemen, and much fear.

Since we have been torn from the first and divine and blessed life. By Philotheus, Patriarch of Constantinople, on the Exaltation of the precious Cross. Since a bright and divine festival is here. By Emperor Leo, a discourse on the Transfiguration of the Savior. Since by the grace of our Lord. By Eusebius of Alexandria, on the Ascension of the Lord. Since yesterday of the Nativity of the Lord. By Eusebius of Alexandria, a discourse on the Baptism of the Lord. Since even now a divine festival is here. By Emperor Leo, a discourse for Pentecost Sunday. Since to the good seed the enemy of human nature is accustomed to sow his tares. On the martyrdom of the holy, glorious-victorious martyrs Cyricus and Julitta. Today is here the joy of all, loosening the first curse. On the Annunciation of the Theotokos. Today is here, the festival of the holy mysteries has shone forth. By Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople, a discourse for Holy Thursday. A king’s tongue has praised at another time also the present festival. For Palm Sunday.

On the one hand, in the contests of those outside, only men are called to compete. So also the blessed Mary, the wonder of our generation, whom the discourse set as our subject, being a woman; and the rest. ^C Basil held the scepter of the kingdom, not the offspring of the Purple—but the Macedonian, the king who had become so from a groom, who had killed that Michael. He endured death while Euthymius the Roman patriarch held the empire, when...

that sacred body was placed upon a bed, there was present the prelate Euthymius, the steward Anthimus was present, and nearly the entire multitude of the city. And when Romanus ^A had taken up the Roman sceptre.

Now, upon the triumphs of the martyrs, those who love the martyrs; [on those] who were stretched out; for the holy, triumphant forty-two martyrs.

[On] the epitaph celebration of our Savior, which we celebrate, a discourse for Great Saturday.

On the Mother of the Word, after the Word, a discourse for the holy Dormition of the most holy Theotokos.

I believe it is right for us to chide no one at all, if, like some—a panegyric for the holy Euthymius, Bishop of Madyta, the wonderworker.

On the greater [feasts], according to human capacity, should one have to assign the weight—a discourse for the Entry into the Holy of Holies, and the divine life of our all-immaculate Lady the Theotokos therein.

Epiphanius, he was of the race of; on the life of holy Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia in Cyprus.

Go up onto a high mountain, you who proclaim good tidings to Sion, for the Annunciation of the Virgin.

On all the feasts and hymns; a panegyric for the Annunciation of the all-holy Theotokos.

It is dangerous for those who are not worthy to touch upon things above their worth; a panegyric for the holy great martyr Barbara.

It is, as it seems, even at the hands of the most bitterly hostile and implacable enemies; a panegyric for the holy martyrs.

In the thirty-fifth year of the reign of the impious and lawless emperor Maxentius ^B, the martyrdom of the holy bride of Christ, Catherine. "These things," I, Athanasius, the tachygrapher, being at once a servant of my lady Catherine, "have I written down in her commentaries with all wisdom."

To the Evangelist [and] Theologian, praise is due; a panegyric discourse for the holy John the Evangelist.

It is timely in the present [season] for the invincible Job, the soldier of God; a discourse for the holy Job on Great Wednesday.

It is timely and all-harmonious and fitting for the present time; for the Resurrection of the Lord.

Blessed is God; a discourse for the beginning of the Fasts.

Blessed is God in His saints, it is timely to say with the Prophet David today.

Blessed is God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; Life of our holy Father Theodore, abbot of Sykeon.

Blessed is God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—to George, abbot, on the life of our holy Father Sabas, in ninety chapters.

Blessed is God, who has awakened your honored head, O holy priest. Blessed is God, who has awakened your honored head, O holy priest, to seek from my humility a discourse on the life of the holy Mother of us, Melania the Roman, ^C who dwells with the angels, since I spent no little time with her, and know dimly the story of her senatorial family, and how, having trodden down all the vanity of worldly glory, she began the angelic life. And, bearing these in mind even after her falling asleep, I entreat, that, remembering her holy commands, I might be able, having cast aside all sluggishness, forgetfulness, doubt, double-mindedness, and unbelief, to express in part her greatest virtues, which she herself was eager to hide, in an evangelical manner. And, having written a few things out of many, as many as I myself have seen firsthand, and as many as I have learned accurately from others, I will leave the rest for your diligence to search out. And, since we deemed it very beneficial to relate a few things about their meeting, which she herself often told for our edification, these things I also, with all truth, will write for the benefit of those who happen upon them. Which, having received with joy, she calls the presbyter who is with her, whom she took from the world... In the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus. All these things have I, Eurippus, written, the disciple of John, the second of his disciples, with precision, so that all the brothers in Christ might celebrate the memorial and repose of the Christ-loving John the Forerunner and Baptist, in the month of August on the twenty-ninth ^D.

^A offered a sacrifice to God (this indeed is my wretched self), and he says to him: "Let the heavens rejoice and the earth exult." — On the Annunciation of the most holy Theotokos: "The salutary Word spoke." — On the holy martyr Demetrius: "Painters and writers alike provide equal benefit to those who encounter them." — On the holy Andrew the First-called:

The beginning of the healings and of the gifts, and of the gifts given to us by God

… ^A Behold again another feast and bright solemnity of the Mother of the Lord, concerning the Theotokos, for she was offered in the temple at three years of age. Behold again, the sacred Forerunner of Christ has arrived—on the translation of the hand of the Forerunner from Antioch.

The Geometer, or the farewell address on the Dormition of our all-glorious Lady, the Theotokos — a discourse on the beginning of the islands. And we have collected not only what we have gathered from the Evangelists and the prophets, but also what is taken from the apocrypha themselves, things that are, however, consonant and conforming to the Evangelists and prophets, and to the great and God-inspired Fathers and teachers. A fair reader and just judge will certainly know this. ^B

[96] “Your works are wonderful, O Lord,” says the most resonant prophet David. — Sisinnius, Archbishop of Constantinople, a discourse on the miracle of the Archistrategos Michael at Chonae.

“God is wonderful in His saints.” — Leo the Emperor, a discourse on Saint Demetrius.

“God is wonderful in His saints.” — It is timely with the prophet. — Ephraem, martyr and Bishop of Cherson, on the miracle that occurred for the youth by the hand of the hieromartyr and apostle Clement.

“God is wonderful in His saints,” says the Great one. — Nicetas the Rhetor, on the glorious Great Martyr Panteleimon.

“Certain divine and great mysteries, tokens of God’s philanthropy.” — Theodorus, presbyter of the Great Church, a discourse discussing how the robe of the Mother of God arrived in the Queen of cities.

Theodorus the noble. — Cyrillus, monk and presbyter of Scythopolis, on the life of the holy Theodosius.

“The Lord God shone forth upon the mountains.” — Macarius Chrysocephalus, a discourse on the Transfiguration of the Savior.

God, who knows all things before their creation. — Joseph Bryennius, a discourse on the Annunciation of the Theotokos.

“We glorify the birth of God in the flesh.” — Leo the Emperor, a discourse on the Nativity of Christ.

God, the Almighty, who grants us a rich discourse at the opening. — Joseph Bryennius, an eucharistic discourse to the Theotokos.

“Fervent is the zeal for the present subject, but sluggish is the discourse for such a telling.” — Eustratius, presbyter, on the life and conduct of the great Eutychius, Patriarch of Constantinople.

“Fervent is the desire, but feeble is the mind; yet burning is the love.” — Nicetas the Rhetor, on the holy and all-praised apostle Bartholomew.

“Strong is the net of the apostolic fishing.” — Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople, an encomium on the holy apostle Andrew.

“To John, with the voice of the Word, I attribute these.” — Macarius Chrysocephalus, on the birth of the Forerunner.

^C Just as at the holy table, so too then. — Isidorus, Archbishop of Thessalonica, a discourse on the Holy of Holies.

As we proceeded to clarify, that there is no disagreement or contradiction among the Evangelists concerning the resurrection.

And the entire life of the virtuous invokes the soul that loves virtue to imitate it. — John, deacon of the Great Church and rhetor, on the life of our holy Father Joseph the Hymnographer.

And as a pilot bracing against the wind. — Nicephorus Gregoras, on the holy and glorious Great Martyr Mercurius.

And now, then, is the day holding the subject for us. — Leo the Emperor, on the feast of the prophet Elijah.

And of old, the divine David sang of us all. — Georgius Agiopolita, a discourse on the bodiless powers.

And why these things are hidden in the divine Scripture. — And on the spoken and the unspoken.

And first, we call upon God here. — Nicolaus Cabasilas, on the Nativity of the Theotokos.

It is time now to touch upon the most head-like of miracles, of the all-venerable one. ^D This greatest army was seen in our own times, they completed the journey with such speed and were ordered [in such a way] that we did not even know of their arrival until a day prior, but I saw them with my own eyes, and I touched them with my hands in the eastern part of the city, having occurred…

Behold, the beautiful season of the year has arrived for us.

For the joy, every most divine feast is celebrated each time. — On the Entry of the most holy Theotokos.

^A Furthermore, he says that it is he himself who establishes and magnifies them, which provides a most serious accusation; for he himself becomes the cause of the obscurity or disparity in his copies, or rather, the cause of the evil of the interpretation. Having received the interpretation from Hadrian Paparrigopoulos, who was skilled in sacred letters, we issued two volumes. Moreover, there is another discourse of his in our possession, which he entitled "Life of St. Anthony the Younger."

However, as many things as were found distributed in the books of the Metaphrast shall be set forth according to the order of the months; but those things which are in an epitome of his books, or those which have a different origin, shall be set forth after the completion of the year at the end of the eleventh volume. One would find the Lives of the Saints enumerated differently among both the Greeks and the Latins. The reason is that some of them join two or even three of the Metaphrast’s discourses into one volume, whilst others again divide one discourse into two or three volumes. Leontius, Bishop of Cyprus, chronicles men who have published the Lives of the Saints: Palladius, Cassius, Heraclides, Serapion, John, Sabbas, Anastasius, Cyril, Theodore son of Peter, George, and Paul. And he says that these are his own in many copies. Leo Allatius published the synopsis of the books in the Vatican, both Greek and Latin, in his book which he entitled "On the Consonance of the Eastern and Western Church." And he recorded those Lives which are found in the codices of the Vatican. Others also published a catalogue of these same Vatican codices. We, however, have used a more secure testimony, the very books of the Metaphrast.

Martyrium sancti Procopii. The seventh general synod mentions this in act 4. Since we were watching, voices of countless hosts of angels were heard saying. This was the most excellent army of all that have existed in these our times, etc. They were commanded to finish the matter with such speed that we only knew of their arrival one day before: And, What I saw with my eyes and handled with my hands in the eastern part of the city, both what was done by the enemies and what was dissipated by God alone, these things I will recount detail by detail. Gregorii Cyprii patriarcha Constantinop., Philothei patriarcha Constantinopolitani, Joannis Euchaitarum episcopi, Georgii Chartophylacis, Procli patriarcha Constantinopolitani, Hesychii presbyteri Hierosolymitani, Georgii Nicomediensis, Martyrium SS. Ismaelis, Sabellis et Manuelis. The author was a contemporary of these same men, as the proceedings of the records which took place regarding them teach us. As the commentaries concerning their deeds, which were written in that very age, inform us in these words: Pellano imperatore in regione Persarum. Gregorii Nysseni, Andreae Cretensis, Procli patriarchae Constantinopolitani, Ephraem Syri, Theodori Lascaris Ducae, Andreae Cretensis, Procli patriarchae Constantinopolitani, Procli patriarchae Constantinopolitani, Theodori junioris Homologetae, Est Theodorus Studita. Martyrium S. Theodori Teronis. Scriptum a praesente et vidente. In fine. Et tandem precibus effusis, dictoque Amen, veluti eructans animam reddidit, et veluti fulgur vidimus illius animam in coelum admissam, receptamque. Joannis metropolitanae Euchaitarum, Leonis imperatoris, Nicephoris Blemmidae, Martyrium SS. Acindini, Pegatii et Anempodisti. Scriptum est a praesente. Et hac cum ille orasset, apparuit illis exercitus ingens angelorum, quorum pulchritudo, nos, qui videbamus, in terram dejecit. Cum vero nos diu procumberemus, sancti in oratione steterunt, etc. Et, Cum nos staremus et Pantaleonis diaconi et Leontii presbyteri Constantinopolitani. ^B At those times, the tyrant Diocletian reigned. Martyrium sancti Procopii. The seventh general synod mentions this in act 4... ^C ...and dissipated by God alone, these things I will recount detail by detail. And we consider the Church, of which Christ is the head, to be a paradise. Gregorii Cyprii patriarcha Constantinop., On the holy great-martyr Marina. And to recount otherwise in words the deeds of each of the saints, Philothei patriarcha Constantinopolitani, an encomium on all the saints, in which is also an epitome of the economy of Christ regarding man. And this is a sign of extreme goodness, and this is the greatest proof. Joannis Euchaitarum episcopi, a discourse on the synaxis of the holy angels. ^D [98] The present feast reveals to us good beginnings of subjects. Georgii Chartophylacis, On the all-holy Theotokos, when she was given to the temple at three years of age. Good is the lyre of the psalms, and God-breathed is that of the Spirit. Procli patriarcha Constantinopolitani, On the incarnation of the Lord, and on the feast of the Hypapante. Beautiful is the rose of the spring. Hesychii presbyteri Hierosolymitani, an encomium on the holy apostles Peter and Paul. Good is the law of obedience. Georgii Nicomediensis, On the questioning of Joseph, and a discourse before the Virgin. And at that time, Julian the most impious was reigning, and idolatry was prevailing. Martyrium SS. Ismaelis, Sabellis et Manuelis. The author was a contemporary of these same men, as the proceedings of the records which took place regarding them teach us, containing us thus: When Valtanus was reigning in the country of the Persians. Quemadmodum et commentaria de eorum rebus gestis, quae ea ipsa aetate conscripta sunt, nos docent, his verbis. Pellano imperatore in regione Persarum. The parable in the divine Gospels moves me to the present subject. Gregorii Nysseni, an encomium on our holy and God-bearing Father Ephrem the Syrian. Let us move, beloved, today, like a lyre, our lips. Andreae Cretensis, a discourse on the Exaltation of the precious and life-giving Cross. The constant expectation of profit steals the labors of the merchants. Procli patriarcha Constantinopolitani, an encomium on the Theotokos Mary. Incline your ear to me, brothers, and I will recount, Ephraem Syri, an epitaphios discourse for the great Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia. A lily from the field and streams from a spring. Theodori Lascaris Ducae, an encomium on the holy martyr Tryphon. [99] Lazarus having gathered the present assembly. Andreae Cretensis, On the four-day Lazarus. The subject of the present feast is bright and paradoxical. Procli patriarchae Constantinopolitani, On the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Bright is the feast of Pascha. Procli patriarcha Constantinopolitani, On holy Pascha. The creation celebrates brightly today. Theodori junioris Homologetae, On the nativity of the Virgin. Est Theodorus Studita. Emperors Maximian and Maximinus sent forth decrees to the whole world. Martyrium S. Theodori Teronis. Scriptum a praesente et vidente. In fine. Et tandem precibus effusis, dictoque Amen, veluti eructans animam reddidit, et veluti fulgur vidimus illius animam in coelum admissam, receptamque. A martyr’s feast today. Joannis metropolitanae Euchaitarum, On the memory of the holy martyr Theodore the Tyro, or rather the blooming. The memory of the martyr has arrived, Leonis imperatoris, a discourse on the martyr Tryphon. In vain do many deem time to be the cause. Nicephoris Blemmidae, Life and conduct of our holy and God-bearing Father Paul of Latros. At those times, by the permission of Christ, a certain Sobarius of the Persians was reigning. Martyrium SS. Acindini, Pegatii et Anempodisti. Scriptum est a praesente. And this being prayed by him, there appeared to them a vast army of angels, whose beauty cast us, who were seeing it, to the ground. As we lay prostrate, the saints stood in prayer. Et, And as we were standing and looking, there were heard by us voices of numberless armies of angels saying. Et hac cum ille orasset, apparuit illis exercitus ingens angelorum, quorum pulchritudo, nos, qui videbamus, in terram dejecit. Cum vero nos diu procumberemus, sancti in oratione steterunt, etc. Et, Cum nos staremus et Great and many and various are the things of the incorporeal and magnificent one. Pantaleonis diaconi et Leontii presbyteri Constantinopolitani, a discourse on Great Friday. And on the passion of Christ. And on Job.

^A A narrative of the miracles of the most great and all-glorious Michael, the supreme commander, and of the angels Gabriel and Raphael. "Great is the present day." A discourse for the third Sunday of the Great Fast, on which the veneration of the precious Cross is performed in a special manner. "Great is the power of the day." A discourse on the holy and all-glorious Resurrection of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. "A most great subject of discourse he has set before us who are most poor." A panegyric on the Apostle Barnabas. "After the Ascension of the Lord." On the second coming of the Lord. "After the blessed and most glorious Resurrection of our Lord and God." A martyrdom of the holy Dionysius the Areopagite. "Do not wonder, my guide in the Muses, if I shall utter something resonant and brilliant." 100 To the protosyncellus concerning the holy Gregory the wonderworker. "We honor the feast of the Mother of God." A discourse on the Dormition of the Virgin. "Michael, the supreme commander of the angels, is the subject of my present discourse." On the holy supreme commander Michael. "By a little, Macarius the Egyptian escaped." A panegyric in part for the holy anchorite Macarius the Egyptian. "Two monks originating from the East, the place of the Cross." On the finding of the precious head of the Forerunner and Baptist. The author of the narrative is gathered from the same narrative. "Alone among men is the perfect man of righteousness." A discourse on the Meeting of our Lord Jesus Christ, and on the Theotokos, and on Anna, and on Symeon. "Initiate of the ineffable sacred rites, Zacharias." An encomiastic discourse on the prophet and high priest Zacharias. "A mystery of a king is good to keep secret." The life and conduct of the holy Mary of Egypt. "That Moses, to whom the sea gave way, and the earth miraculously yielded springs." A discourse on the Nativity of the Theotokos. ^B "A certain Neophytus, a servant of God our Lord Jesus Christ, was of the race of Christians." [N] "These things we have transcribed, having chanced upon them at the time of his life; being Greeks at first, but afterwards having believed at his exhortation." "Let the miracle of the saving festival also overcome the flow of words." For the holy Pascha. "A law from above is the athletic." A discourse on the holy protomartyr Stephen. "It is a law of nature for bees not to depart from the hives." For Gordius the martyr. "This law flourished of old among the Greeks, and in time had gained great power." The life and conduct and athletic contest of our holy Father Michael the syncellus. "Now is the day light-bringing and saving; now the present festival is sun-radiant." A discourse on the feast of the Lights (Theophany). 101 [Ξ] "A strange and paradoxical mystery happened in our days." The life and conduct of our holy Father Symeon the Stylite. "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." A discourse on the Exaltation of the precious Cross. "May the God of the Fathers cause the long-sought light to shine upon me." A pre-festal discourse for the birth of Christ, and for the holy Fathers. "I know that it is dear to us, O people of God." A discourse on the consecration of the temple. "The other evangelists [describe] the genealogy of the Lord according to the flesh." For the holy Pascha. And on, "In the beginning was the Word." And on the holy John the Theologian. "They who know how to contend, rejoice in the applause of the spectators." A discourse on the Transfiguration of the Savior. "The soldiers of the Romans, according to law." An encomium on the holy Forty Martyrs. "The venerable and God-seeing apostles." A life of the holy Sylvester. "They who do not invite the noble contestants, unless those who have surpassed [them] are many." For the holy Pentecost, up to the Holy Spirit. "Those who eagerly desire the things loved by them, and are always longing to be with their memory." On the rendering of the purple to the priests. And on, "The Lord God magnified thy name." And other things concerning the Ever-Virgin Mary. "The victors of the contest, heavenly citizens, soldiers of Christ."