[The page contains the end of a previous text and the beginning of a biography.]
...that, as one says "from the Son"; for it stops at "from," the mind, and he who hears this, it is not necessary that he proceed beyond this word and seek a principal cause.
Georgius Pachymeres published many writings of a rhetorical nature which do not belong to this place, just as neither do the declamations which, in the manner of the sophists, he composed for the sake of exercising his talent; concerning these, see Allatius in the previous volume, col. 413, where their arguments are set forth. EDIT.
ANNO DOMINI MCCCXXXII.
THEODORUS METOCHITA
NOTITIA.
(Fabric. Biblioth. Græc. t. X.)Theodorus Metochita, not to be confused with the slightly earlier Georgius Metochita A, served under Andronicus Palaeologus the Elder in the most exalted dignity of Grand Logothete from the year of Christ 1314, and gave his daughter Irene B in marriage to Joannes Palaeologus, the panhypersebastos, son of Constantinus Palaeologus, who was the brother of the Emperor Andronicus. Later, when Andronicus the Younger, grandson of the elder through his son Michael, had stripped his grandfather of the empire in the year 1327, Theodorus was also diminished in dignity and exiled; soon liberated from exile, he lived in Constantinople in the monastery of Chora, which he himself had restored, and died on the thirteenth day of March in the year of Christ 1332, thirty days after Andronicus the Elder—to whom he had been a faithful friend—had departed this life C. Nicephorus Gregoras, who adorned the virtue and erudition of his patron and teacher with encomia, in his historical work, books VII, VIII, IX, and X, and in a funeral oration D, also composed this epitaph for him [E]:
He who was before a great glory of mortals in wisdom, A small stone now covers his corpse.
Venerable cohort of the Muses, lament all together, That man has perished! Pansophia herself lies prostrate! B
In addition to Gregoras and John Cantacuzenus, Thomas Magister also pays tribute to his praises in a prosphonetikos addressed to Metochita, and in a letter written to him, where he calls him the Helicon of the Muses, the hearth of discourses, the sanctuary of philosophy, the benefit of rhetoric, and of all other logical science, to speak briefly, the prytaneum. Helicon of the Muses, Vesta of more elegant letters, temple of philosophy (or, strength and spirit), pillar of the oratorical art, and of all other liberal learning in general—to use one word—a public prytaneum. p. 204. Among other things, he also celebrates his exquisite skill in astronomy, which discipline Gregoras confesses to have drawn from him (VIII, 7), and John Cantacuzenus writes that Metochita had developed it from the slender principles he had learned from Bryennius to the highest peak (book I, c. 2, p. 37). That letter of Thomas Magister, together with the prosphonetikos, was published in Greek and Latin by Laurentius Norrmannus among his other orations and letters, Upsala 1693, 4to, pp. 178 and 202. That Metochita is falsely claimed by Margunius to have held the same view as the Latins on ecclesiastical dogma is observed by Nicolaus Comnenus Papadopoli in his *Praenotiones mystagogicae*, p. 9, and more fully in his *Testimonium Graeciae*.
Although he was established in the highest dignity and spent many years managing public affairs, and carried them out most diligently according to the wish of the Emperor Andronicus, he nevertheless wrote many excellent works, always interspersing his studies with the daily cares of the state (f). Of these, many have perished completely, very few have seen the light of day, and the majority still lie hidden and unpublished in libraries, whether in verse or prose; in these, a more delicate judgment of readers has criticized somewhat harsher verses (g) and rough prose (h). (FABR.) — Concerning Theodorus Metochita, consult also Henr. Wharton in his *Appendix* to Guil. Cave's *Hist. litt. SS. Eccles.*, vol. II, p. 4 sq., for the year 1301; Jac. Brucker, *Hist. crit. philos.*, vol. III, pp. 546-548; Joan. Fabricius, *Hist. bibl. Fabr.*, part V, p. 261 sq.; Saxius, *Onom. lit.* II, p. 345, for the year 1310. (HARL.)
Published writings of Theodorus Metochita.
Paraphrasis.
A paraphrase of the eight books of Aristotle’s *Physics*, the three books *On the Soul*, the four books *On the Heavens*, the two books *On Generation and Corruption*, and the others that come under the name of the *Parva naturalia*—the book *On Memory and Reminiscence*, *On Sleep and Waking*, *On Dreams*, *On Divination by Sleep*, *On the Movement of Animals*, *On the Shortness and Length of Life*, *On Old Age and Youth, Life and Death*, and the four books of the *Meteorology* (i). This Paraphrase has not yet seen the light in Greek, but was edited in Latin, translated by Gentianus Hervetus Aurelius, and first printed by Simon Schardius at Basel in 1559, 4to, at the press of Nicolaus Brylingius with a Preface by the physician Philippus Becchius. It was then reprinted in Latin at Ravenna in 1614, 4to. For I do not know whence Labbeus (j) accepted the claim that it was first published in Paris, as he could state neither the year nor the form; and Brylingius clearly professes on the title page of his book that it was published to the light by him for the first time.The *Roman History* from Julius Caesar to Constantine the Great, which he had received in Greek from Andreas Schottus under the name of Theodorus Metochita, was published by Joannes Meursius with the addition of his own translation and brief notes at the end of the book, at Leiden, 1618, 4to [and in the *Opera* of Meursius, vol. VII, Florence 1748, fol.].
A page 737ff. But it was observed by the same Labbe (k) and Theophilus Raynaud (l) and Vincent Richard (m) that this is not by Metochita, but is the third book of the Annals of Michael Glycas, from page 204 to 245 of the Royal edition, where the unhappy death of Galerius Maximianus is described (Fabr.). Fabricius thinks the same, above in vol. VII, p. 420, sect. 28, toward the end of p. 468, sect. 41, especially in vol. XIII, p. 629 sq., concerning the Greek authors edited by J. Meursius, no. 14, concerning Meursius’s edition of Theodore Metochita, Leiden, 1618, 4to, from which I shall recount here what Fabricius noted. In *Athenae Batavae*, which saw the light in 1625, p. 197, Meursius, among those things prepared by him for publication, mentions four books of History by Theodore Metochita, with translation and notes, and in Greek with his own observations the *Mechanica* of Athenaeus, the *Poliorcetica* of Apollodorus, the *Cesti* of Julius Africanus, Meletius *De natura hominis*; Harpocration, and finally, in Greek and Latin, Menander the Rhetor *De divisione causarum in genere demonstrativo*. It is certain that none of these have been edited by Meursius since that time; but the books which he calls the Histories of Theodore Metochita we have long had published in Greek under the name of Michael Glycas’s Annals, about which I spoke in vol. VI, p. 156. [vol. VII, p. 468 seq. new ed.] But Meursius convinced himself that their author was not Glycas but Theodore, from a manuscript codex, whence also Heinrich Ernstius, *Observationes* lib. II, cap. 36, pag. 161, [wrote]: B "That the author of the Annals is not Michael Glycas, Siculus by surname, but Theodore Metochita, the famous Meursius clearly discovered, who will bring the Annals themselves to light from a Greek and Latin manuscript, with additions." The same opinion is defended by Christoph Frid. Bodenburg, rector of the Berlin Gymnasium, in [his] dissertation *De Theodori Metochitae scriptis* (on the writings of Theodore Metochita), falsely attributed to others, inserted in *Miscellanea Lipsiensia*, vol. II, p. 23 seq. He testifies that he possesses a manuscript copy of Theodore Metochita’s *Χρονικὸν ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου διεξιὸν περί τε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς* (Chronicle from the creation of the world, dealing also with the heaven and the earth), etc., that is, the very codex from which Meursius wished to make that history public property, and which Samuel Pufendorf, to whom we owe the edition of other posthumous works of Meursius, donated to the predecessor of the aforementioned Bodenburg. So far Fabricius. The same Bodenburg, against Meursius, urges this argument for Theodore Metochita: that it was almost a custom at that time for new writers to insert things handed down by others into their own writings as well. But then, indeed, Theodore Metochita will hardly be able to be absolved from the charge of plagiarism; however, Johann Fabricius, in his *Historia Bibliothecae*, l. c. p. 262, recommends reading Placcius *De pseudonymis*, q. 318, 443; Olearius, *Bibl. Eccles.*, part II, p. 195; and Crenius in *Dissertatio* 2, *de furibus librariis*, p. 26. (HARL.)
[Specimens of the works of Theodore Metochita, which are entitled: *Ὑπομνηματισμοὶ καὶ Σημειώσεις γνωμικαί* (Logical commentaries and observations), from manuscripts preserved in the Royal Library of Paris, the Coislin Library, and the Library of Saint-Germain, first published with preface and notes by Janus Bloch. Copenhagen 1790, 8vo. (Harl). In the preface, Bloch discusses the declining Greek letters and then Theodore Metochita, and shows, contrary to Fabricius, that his published and unpublished writings, specifically that of which he published specimens, and which is described under 120 titles, are not different from the works called Theodore’s *Miscellanea*. He produced this booklet, of which he lists several codices; he inspected two Parisian ones himself, and presented the themes of all the chapters and selected passages, as on Synesius of Cyrene. At the end, p. 161 seq., he presented a fragment of chapter 16 (from which he had already provided something on Philo Judaeus, p. 61, from Parisian codices), provided by Moldenhauer from an Escorial codex. (BECK).]
C
Unpublished writings of Theodore Metochita.
I. The most learned Greek, Nicolaus Comnenus Papadopoli, in his *Praenotiones mystagogicae*, p. 9, writes: "Among the many monuments of both wisdom and erudition with which this truly learned man increased and enriched our Greece—which had already been reduced to the extreme poverty of the sciences—the golden little book *περὶ νεωτερικῆς κακοηθείας* (on modern malice), which Arcudius turned into Latin in our age, is most worthy of praise." For there he complains most eloquently about the sacred institutions corrupted in the manner of moderns, so that he demonstrates the three hundred wounds (n) inflicted upon the Church by the corrupters. The same Comnenus cites passages from this book here and there in both languages, such as pages 165, 195, 225, 320, 403, 414 and elsewhere, but whether the entire work has appeared in Greek or has seen the light in the version of Peter Arcudius is hitherto unknown to me.
II. Joannes Meursius possessed two books of sacred history and one of Constantinopolitan history, and he promised in the *Preface* to his *Metochita* that he would make them public property. These three seem to have been from those eighteen *Logoi* of Theodore Metochita on various subjects—but pertaining especially to the History of the lives of the Saints and to the History of the Empire of Constantinople and of the city of Constantinople itself—which are preserved in the Imperial Library, dating from his own time, as Lambecius testifies, VI, p. 154 (o), very elegantly inscribed on parchment, and from which Reinoldus Dehnius S. J. cites passages in his notes to the martyrdom of Cosmas and Damian, p. xviii, from an oration on the praises of the city of Nicaea, and another
about Saint Marina the martyr; and on page XLVIII, from the oration on the praises of Gregory of Nazianzus. In the same place, Lambecius promises that he will describe those speeches more accurately in the eighth book, but prevented by the abundance and multitude of other codices, he was unable to do so (Fabr.). Nessel reviewed him lightly in his *Catalogue of Manuscripts of the Caesar*, part 4, p. 53 sqq., concerning codex 95. (HARL.)
III. Philosophical and historical miscellaneous chapters, 120, in Greek manuscripts in the Imperial Library, according to Lambecius, VII, p. 149 seq. (q), and among the manuscripts of the library of Augsburg, they are mentioned by Hoeschelius, page 52, and by our own D. Reiser, page 74, and among the codices of the Coislinian library, p. 222 sqq., by the most learned Montfaucon; and they are judged most worthy of reading by Thomas Reinesius in his *Epistolae ad Nestoros*, p. 19, who, having used a Nestor codex, narrates that they contain many things taken from Physics, Ethics, and Politics, as well as some historical matters. Number 111 teaches that the knowledge of histories is most necessary for every learned person and a thing most useful in common life. He exercises criticism when he discourses upon Xenophon, chapter 19; upon Plato and Aristotle, chapters 12, 15, 21, 25, and elsewhere; upon Plutarch, chapter 71; upon Philo, chapter 15; upon Josephus, chapter 14; upon Dio of Prusa, chapter 18; upon Synesius, chapter 17. The *Threnoi*, as he calls them, pertain to Oratory: those concerning the unhappy state of the Roman Empire, chapters 37, 40; concerning the miseries of human life, chapter 27; and the instability of fortune, chapter 117, about which he himself could speak best, who from the highest pinnacle of honors (for he was a great logothete, second only to the emperor), fell into extreme destitution—a man clearly supreme and greater than his age. So that I might incite readers to bring to light the entire work or excerpts from it (1), if I am able, I shall append the titles of the chapters in full (which Lambecius gave only in Greek) with a Latin version [adding a variety of readings from Bloch].
Index of the present book by the most wise and erudite Great Logothete, the Lord Theodore Metochita.
Cap. 1. Prooemium, wherein also it is said that it is not now permitted to speak as one might think. Confer cap. 9. 2. Concerning memory, and that it is necessary. 3. Concerning the obscurity of the treatises of Aristotle. 4. That all are led by the desire for glory. 5. Concerning the desire for glory of Aristotle and concerning mathematicians. [Bloch joins 4 and 5] 6. That everyone is greatly pleased by those things to which they have become accustomed. Confer cap. 32. 7. Concerning the reverence which all the wise have shown towards Pythagoras, and concerning his knowledge of mathematics. 8. That it is customary for all wise men to use irony and witticisms, especially Plato and Socrates. 9. That it is not permitted to speak as one might think. 10. That all wise men are unhesitating towards those...
A who went before them, in which context he treats also of Plato and Aristotle. 11. Of Aristotle, and the man’s laudable reputation in natural and rational discipline. 12. Further on Aristotle, and on the natural and logical [theories] according to him. 13. Of Plato and the mathematical part of philosophy, and especially of harmony. 14. That the science of mathematics was not perfect from the beginning. 15. Of Josephus. 16. Of Philo. 17. That all who were educated in Egypt use a harsher style of speaking. 18. Of Synesius. 19. Of Dio. 20. Of Xenophon. 21. Of the books of Aristotle’s Metaphysics, and of the book of Hermogenes comparing the power of speech. 22. Of the certainty and stability of mathematical science. 23. Of the uncertainty of physical speculation. 24. That Plato is always using dialogues on account of the war waged against rhetoric. 25. That Aristotle busied himself with rhetoric in order to oppose Plato. B 26. That a simple and unstudied manner of speech is proper to philosophy. 27. Lamentations upon the life of men. 28. Of the saying: "One cannot find a life without pain anywhere," and of the changes in life, and of the author himself. 29. Of the instability of all human affairs. 30. Of the ignorance of the best things among men. 31. That souls, while they reside in bodies, cannot perfectly comprehend things that exist, and a proof of this from the likeness of those not completely submerged C by drunkenness. 32. That whatever a man has been accustomed to for a long time is agreeable to him. 33. That many men live unpleasantly with the life to which they have been long accustomed. 34. That some of the base and foolish live no less pleasantly than the learned, imagining great things about themselves. 35. That many, through self-love, show off tastelessly the small things they possess. 36. That some are noble in small good things, and herein mention of the emperor. D
37. Lamentations over the decline and mutation of that great happiness. A 38. Lamentations over the matters pertaining to the Eastern Roman Empire which fell out unhappily. 39. Other lamentations on the same subject, and that all those things (of the Eastern empire) cannot be compared or equated to other Roman things. 40. Other lamentations on the same subject, and that even the affairs of the monks there were in a better state than in other places. 41. That it is a custom for men to long for the past of their life and to remember those things most gladly. 42. That the consideration of created things is most pleasant to men. 43. That the contemplation of the heavens and of the things in the heavens is most pleasant. 44. That the sea is a most pleasant sight. 45. That one might compare those who are in a cheerful state with the dignity of the spectacle of the sea in its calm. 46. That for many men a life without business and slothful seems desirable. 47. That more men are busy with the effort of doing things. 48. That very many things are difficult and painful for those who live with much activity, even if they appear to be doing well. 49. That some, by reason of a certain narrowness of mind and not by the judgment of reason, flee from business, and this is by no means worthy of any praise. 50. That similarly men can be happy and seem to themselves to be fortunate in the greatest matters and in the smallest, and in various kinds of civil life, if they manage affairs well and successfully. 51. That the body and the things pertaining to it are a great barrier to the soul in its own intellectual activity. 52. Concerning the self-love in all men, and how they all suffer themselves to be led so as to seem greater than they truly are. 53. That it is a matter of wonder how some men receive a comfortable life from the beginning to the end, while others (receive) the contrary. 54. That in many things men oppose not only other men, but also themselves. 55. That there is almost no judgment among men that is unerring and free from passion. 56. That it is always possible, if one enjoys the greatest good fortune, provided that one has applied a sound judgment of mind, to preserve an equanimity of soul therein. 57. That some men feign the appearance of a philosopher and a contempt for the goods of fortune, and for those who abound in the successes of life, when they themselves envy those very people and have missed some share of happiness.
58. Whether it is better for man to possess existence or not to possess it, and that it is better to possess it. A 59. That it is very common among men to speak freely about themselves and their own affairs. 60. That it is a difficult question whether serenity of mind ever fully reaches men. 61. That it would not seem entirely irrational to admit the objections of the Skeptics, which they oppose to every sense-perception, and that both Plato and Socrates provided the foundations for this. 62. Concerning those who meddle in external affairs, whether through a busybody nature, or through the ignorance of men who involve themselves in the affairs of others, whether due to their own lack of knowledge or to unexpected fortune. 63. Concerning hopes, and that in one way they are most useful for human life, but in another way they are utterly harmful and to be rejected. B 64. That it is most pleasant for men to conduct and handle any business whatever, with honor, in their own accustomed manner of life. 65. That many frequently fall into contradiction with their own dogmas and judgments, and pervert their own laws. 66. That some are quick to believe in Providence when they see things happening in the present to both good and evil men according to reason, yet in turn disbelieve in Providence due to the opposites of these. 67. That it is remarkably common for grievous and no less unexpected misfortunes to follow very quickly after the greatest deeds and successes. C 68. That there is no unanimity among men at all. 69. That men suffer greatly from their passions and do not see things correctly. 70. That the utilities derived from the mathematical and geometrical species of philosophy redound in many ways to human life, both in other respects and as perceived in mechanical works. 71. Concerning Plutarch. 72. A discussion on the saying: "Live unnoticed." 73. Whether it hinders one who is living in a Christian manner to live among many people and be involved in many affairs. 74. That not living with many affairs brings ease to the observance of the precepts of Christian piety. D 75. That it is possible even for those who manage public affairs to live a good life through virtue and the precepts of godliness. 76. Whether one should marry, or not, for those who have care and concern for a life according to virtue. 77. That in every way a statesman must strive for peace. 78. That the statesman must also be prepared for war.
A 79. That one must not be deterred from action because of misfortunes and frequent failures in the conduct of affairs. 80. That most or nearly all philosophers have spent their time only in handing down precepts, without proving themselves useful in the conduct of public affairs. 81. That nearly all of those among the Greeks who have practiced philosophy have refrained from engaging in politics and public affairs. 82. That the most important thing for a ruler to care for is that there be funds available to him for the conduct of the empire. 83. However, that the ruler ought not to give himself over entirely to the care of collecting money, nor labor only for this in every way. 84. That a man administering public affairs must care for the acquisition of means and wealth, provided it be beyond reproach. B 85. That it is unworthy for a man who administers public affairs to apply his mind deeply and solely to the task of growing rich. 86. That nearly all men are overcome by the love of riches. 87. A consideration, repeated from an example, regarding the instability of human affairs. 88. A consideration, repeated from an example, regarding the use of the rational faculty. 89. A consideration, repeated from an example, regarding the senses and the mastery of the mind over them. 90. A consideration, repeated from an example, regarding life according to the mind. 91. A consideration, repeated from an example, regarding the opposition of the created nature to matter in its operation. 92. That it is fitting that, on account of the success of the faith of Christ, the power of monarchy was ordained for Augustus Caesar and Constantine the Great. See below, cap. 109. 93. A remark on how we may keep in memory and in discourse all the affairs of the Greeks, both the greatest and those worthy of brief mention. C 94. That it is useful for the educated to retreat and withdraw from worldly affairs, as demonstrated by an example. 95. A consideration, repeated from an example, regarding the mind and the use of the senses. 96. On democracy. 97. On aristocracy. 98. On kingship. 99. On the Athenian republic. 100. On the Lacedaemonian republic. 101. That not only among the Greeks, but also among many other nations, did republics with equal rights exist. 102. That from the beginning, nearly all the nations in Asia were not governed by republics, but were led by despots. 103. That Cyrene in Libya was Greek from the beginning. D 104. On Carthage and the republic thereof.
A 105. On Carthage again, and how, because of its greatest successes, that city perished all at once. [105-109 briefly reviewed by Bl.] 106. On Rome, and how it emerged from small beginnings into such power and magnitude of empire. 107. On Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, and how he was chosen to be king at that time. 108. How the Romans, from small beginnings in their affairs, after the wars waged with Pyrrhus and the Carthaginians, attained for the next period to a great power of empire and a spirit almost universal, so that they already conceived in their minds the lordship of the entire world. 109. That the great Roman monarchy appears to have been established by the counsel of divine providence in the inhabited world, so that the salutary Christian dogma might have much easier progress. 110. On the Scythians. 111. That the study of history is useful for those who are devoted to rhetoric. 112. On the instability and lack of permanence until the end in human affairs, from examples. 113. On the Greeks, and that they were not famous from the beginning by the sheer volume of their deeds or by chance, but by elegance of intellect and nobility of character and purpose. 114. How at the appropriate time Epaminondas and Pelopidas, two most brave men and generals, arose together for their fatherland. C 115. A proof of the instability and changeability of human affairs, and that, if any other thing demonstrates this, the life of Alcibiades does, and likewise the lives of Demetrius, called the Besieger, and Eumenes. 116. On the instability of fortune, from an example. 117. A consideration from examples, how some, from great deeds and great fortune, shifted to an inactive life or lowly tasks. 118. That the loss of things acquired with care is not a matter for indulgence in misery or sloth. 119. That there does not exist among men, from the beginning to the end of life, an unmixed happiness free from all trouble, and that one must look with suspicion upon the changes of great successes. D 120. How many men are truly ignorant of the use of life, from examples. [111-120 title omitted by Bl.]
IV. The epitaph of Michael Palaeologus and Irene Augusta, manuscript in the Royal Library, codex 800. V. Du Cange, *Families of Byzantium*, p. 236. (FABR.) — *Oration on Basil the Great*, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom. See above, vol. IX, p. 459. (HARL.) V. The Astronomical epitome of Theodorus Metochita is cited by Ussher, vol. II of the *Annals*, ad a. 5979, page 502. The same is cited in a philosophical chapter by Comnenus, p. 255, in the *Pramonitio mystagogica*.
an epitome of [the work], in the Bavarian codex 169. (FABR.) Or rather, the first book of that Epitome, which consists of 91 chapters. That codex is now numbered 100. See more on this in the excellent Hardt, in *Aretini Beyträgen* etc., 1804, part VI, p. 33 ff. (HARL.)
VI. There are also thought to be existing inedited works by Theodorus Metochita: *Mathematica* and seven commentaries on the *Great Syntax* of Ptolemy, which are recorded as being preserved in Spain (1).
VIII. A paraphrase of Aristotle’s books *On the Parts of Animals*, in the libraries of Italy, as noted by Meursius from Gesner.
(1) In the Escorial codex, according to Plüerus in *Itiner. per Hispan.*, p. 194, where they are cited thus: *Theod. Metoch. Mathematica. Commentarii in magnam Ptolemæi compositionem*. What the use of the explanation of certain chapters might be is inquired; frequently Ptolemy excludes astronomical pronouncements and the proofs of mathematical demonstrations. — Ibid., the same author's *Exposition on Aristotle’s Physics and on the Small Natural Treatises*. — Ibid., the same author's *Sententious Significations* and various mathematical opuscula, Paris and Venice, according to Montfaucon in *Bibl. bibl. mss.*. See the index. (HARL.)
NOTICE
(Mai, *Biblioth. nova PP.* t. II, p. 684.)We see that the workmanship of tablets, statues, and buildings fashioned by the men of Egypt consists in more severe and rigid forms; and those who uniquely admire the elegance and grace of Greek artisans complain of this almost openly. Now, moreover, Theodorus Metochita says that the Greek language also sounded harsher among the Egyptians; which thing, as other monuments had already demonstrated, is confirmed by the diplomatic papyri published in our own times. Whether this fault migrated to Alexandria from the barbarian Macedonian dialect, or from the confluence and jumble of Egyptian expressions, or from both causes at once or from several, Sturzius and other grammarians shall argue. In the meantime, it pleases me, on account of the study of Egyptian matters prevalent among us, to bring forward a little composition of Theodorus, which I have extracted from his historical and philological chapters, not yet edited (1), but certainly to be published by me hereafter in part: especially because there are also included political chapters, which, life permitting, I have determined to present to those interested in this science, along with the dual oration of the master Theodulus on the mutual duties of king and people, with some political chapters of Georgius Gemistus, and finally with the orations of an anonymous author, likewise in Greek, on the changes of republics. Now I shall recite the chapter of Theodorus, rendered hastily by me into Latin.
OF THEODORUS METOCHITA A THAT ALL WHO WERE EDUCATED IN EGYPT USE A HARSHER MANNER OF SPEAKING.
THEODORI METOCHITÆ THAT ALL WHO WERE EDUCATED IN EGYPT ARE ACCUSTOMED TO USE A HARSHER MANNER OF SPEAKING.
Often pondering to myself (whether led by A truth or otherwise, I cannot define), and revolving in my memory the ancients and the moderns—
and those who have written works, I observe that they are all somehow similar in that they are using a voice that is harsher, especially in the other matters and in their choice of words A. And this seems to have prevailed there entirely by custom among those who succeeded one another, holding fast to the same tongue. For as I view them all, whosoever has conceived and recounted such a character and type of interpretation, and thus also arranged their own compositions—even if one used it better than another, or conversely, and whether they were of our own religion and faith or not—I perceive that all such persons, having spent their time in education in Egypt alone, were accustomed to it, and had there contracted, so to speak, a fuller’s dye B and exercise of the voice, and had not yet practiced the ways of wisdom elsewhere, nor shared in other particular customs and usages for their education. For instance, that Hebrew Philo C knew only Egypt, and throughout his whole life he used it as the nurse of his education: a man of great wisdom, and not neglectful of paying attention to language, yet he does not fall upon the ears as pleasant, nor does he move softly with the feet by which he interprets his mind on each occasion, framing and demonstrating it. And Claudius Ptolemy, later, composes his most beautiful and most wonderful studies in the same way. And Theon after him. And of the men of our own Christian school, Origen, and Pantaenus, and Clement who composed the Stromata. And the truly wonderful and fountain of miracles, Gregory; although he was a Pontian, yet he was educated in Egypt by Origen, and he himself says this about him. And Eusebius of Pamphilus, in race a Palestinian, but, as he himself says, he dwelt for a very long time with those in Egypt—a man of great learning and clearly one who brought forth many editions—he also uses the tongue in this way. And the one great in divine wisdom according to Christ, and in secular [wisdom], the holy Cyril, throughout all his very many and most precious works for the Church of Christ, he too uses and interweaves his discourses with this color of voice, on purpose avoiding smoothness and what is sweet to the hearing. And Synesius himself also: a wonderful man for every kind of wisdom, by his readiness of nature which is open to all; in mind and tongue he is nimble and swift, if anyone else is, and he flows in speaking without effort, having received and purchased all his wisdom from the workshops of education in Egypt, and (as he himself says) for a very little while from the Greeks from Libya and across D [the sea]...
A when he had come to Europe; and he makes his interpretation harsh in the points which he studies at any given time, and he utters many things that are difficult to traverse and difficult of attainment to the ear accustomed to speech. And this—if it is so to one who judges well—it is proper to accept and praise, and not to be afraid, cowering like children in an unaccustomed way; though there are times when one might justly feel vexation at the native idiom of the tongue. But for now, let us speak well of this, for it was not my purpose to examine and judge these things. However, I have confirmed what I wished by means of the men mentioned, who all studied the things of wisdom at Alexandria in Egypt, as I proposed at the beginning: that in fact they all practiced language there in a similar way, becoming harsh in their terms.
The contrary of this one can discern and conclude regarding those who were educated in Syria and Phoenicia; they use speech most smoothly, and they say nothing which is foreign to the hearing of the B multitude, so that ears rest plainly in their discourses and are not struck by any inhumane or rather harsh sound. And of this assertion, I could bring forth many witnesses, if anyone has the leisure to listen: partly indeed philosophers who have composed various dogmas and treatises, such as Porphyry and Maximus—and these were Phoenicians, or rather Tyrians; and from there many others have come forth adorned with equal praise of speech—and partly rhetoricians, whom we may with better right commend for the art of speaking. I pass over many others from these whose names I could recite; I shall mention only Lucian and Libanius now, both being Syrian men, noble in the rhetorical art and polished in elocution, who have brought C forth many books marvelous in the elegance of their style. These, even if they study the Attic style thoroughly, yet they embrace more the charm of speech which flees all desuetude; so that they avoid and omit the Attic expressions themselves, if by chance any are more unusual and difficult for the ears; and they never desire to use these, but with all possible zeal they prefer the pleasantness of the oration. In a similar kind of elocution, the Asians and also the Ionians make use; and a large number of philosophers and rhetoricians from these nations, if anyone wishes to calculate it, will confirm the argument. For from there also, no small band of excellent men comes to the choir of wisdom; I speak of the philosophical sects, the rhetorical displays, D and learning of every kind. For it would be difficult, and, I think, beside the point to enumerate all the famous men, yet to enumerate few would signify contempt for the others.
Therefore, I shall say generally that the writers of these nations are accustomed to employ such elocution; and this any curious person can learn from the many books of theirs on divers subjects. But this one thing I shall define: namely, that the Egyptians speak more harshly and rustically than the charm of the Attic tongue requires. For...