Annals

of the vital power breathed into him, it is not at all surprising if, having become corruptible from an incorruptible state due to the transgression. Do not, therefore, doubt any longer. For if from the beginning God made man from dust incorruptible, he was all the more able to make him corruptible from an incorruptible state, as we have already said. And do not tell me: "If Adam had already succumbed to corruption and mortality through sin, why did the fallen angels not suffer the same thing as the first-formed man? Why did they not also become corruptible and mortal through their fall?" Away with such talk, if you please, say nothing of the kind; for that Adam was not simple, but of ^A a double nature, consisting of soul and body. And according to his soul, he was akin to the immaterial and invisible powers, while according to his body, he was akin to this material and visible world; for this reason, having transgressed the divine commandment, he fell under death according to the divine decree, but not in both parts. But rather, according to that part which had been taken from the earth by God, for thus he heard: "You are earth, and into earth you shall go." However, the soul did not become mortal in the same way as the body, because it did not take its origin from the earth, though it did fall into countless passions, as seems to be the opinion of the Golden-mouthed [Chrysostom] concerning this. But what are these? Forgetfulness, ignorance, griefs, anxieties, despondencies, cares, and ^B whatsoever things of such a kind. Hence it was not appropriate to doubt any longer. For it is evident that, if the multitude of the fallen angels had also been composite, possessing their composition from both body and spirit, they would have suffered the same things as the first-formed man. Do not say, therefore: "If Adam was immortal, how did he become mortal, how did he become corruptible?" Let go of the "how"; for where God is, the "how" has no place. For God fashioned man for incorruptibility and established him as lord of all earthly things, and gave him everlasting immortality, as has been discussed above, and his affairs were indeed to stand thus for all ages, because the divine gifts are without regret. But when God saw him slipping into sin, and therefore falling from that ^C lofty and angelic way of life, he permits this, and it takes place against him.

^A except for Nebuchadnezzar? He will send his power and shall destroy them from the face of the earth." Upon which his head was cut off, truly wisely and methodically, by a woman, Judith, and all his possessions were plundered by the Jews. Then, and only then, did Achior also believe in God and was circumcised. In the days of the judges, a famine having occurred, Naomi departed from Bethlehem with her children into the country of Moab; and there they took wives, Orpah and Ruth. After ten years, the men having died, Naomi returned. Both daughters-in-law followed her. And Orpah, having been persuaded by the words of Naomi, returned, but the admirable Ruth was not persuaded, saying: "Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." And coming together, she was joined to Boaz and bore Obed, the father of Jesse, from whom came David. Among those taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar were Mordecai, his wife Esther, and others who lived under Artaxerxes. This Mordecai, having heard in the king's court two eunuchs plotting against the king, reported them to him; and they were put to death. Because of these things, Haman, who was the greatest before the king, being grieved, persuaded the king to attack the Jews and to send letters to the rulers of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India even to Ethiopia, to utterly slaughter the Jews wherever they might be found on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month. Queen Esther learns of these things and, having fasted for three days, entreats first God, and then the king Artaxerxes himself, saying: "I saw thee, my lord, as an angel of God, and my heart was troubled from fear of Thy glory," and she fell down, fainting. But he urged her to ask what she wished. And Haman, having seen Mordecai in the courtyard, prepares to have him hanged on ^B towards the fourteenth day of the twelfth month, to slaughter—he learns these things Queen Esther, oversight—for being sleepless at night, he came to reading. Upon which he remembered what Mordecai had done for him. And he told his servant to bring the books of the daily records so that they might read to him. And he found the writings recorded concerning Mordecai, etc.

[LATIN COLUMN]

which they would undoubtedly have captured in war: but if not, it led to the fact that, once the war was set in motion, the head of Holofernes was cut off by Judith, and all his wealth was plundered by the Jews. Then Achior embraced the divine faith. He consulted to offer himself to Holofernes as his master, so that he might let that nation go. Having heard these things, Holofernes in turn interrogated Achior, asking whether there was any God besides Nebuchadnezzar: that he would surely send his forces and utterly destroy that nation. This plan of the woman was indeed cunning and turned out successfully. Achior embraced the divine faith and was circumcised. ^C Rush. 1, 16. ex V et F. Glycas did not consult the sacred text of Esther; for the words which pertain to the letter (for the day destined for the slaughter of the Jews was the fourteenth of the twelfth month, Adar) he joined with the following and rendered them in this way: "When Queen Esther had recognized this matter, at the twelfth month, complete (a), etc." The same also did not express quite conveniently the things narrated above regarding Naomi and her daughters-in-law, and those things which pertain to Ruth he attributed—by an intolerable error, or rather by an oversight and singular thoughtlessness—to Orpah, whom we know returned to her fatherland, while only Ruth followed her mother-in-law Naomi to Bethlehem. We have changed these things to the mind of the annotator. Otherwise, at the time when the judges were presiding over the nation of Israel, a famine having arisen, Naomi left Bethlehem and set out into the land of the Moabites. There, when the sons had taken wives, Orpah to wit and Ruth, and, ten years having passed, they had died, Naomi returned to her own land ^D with her daughters-in-law accompanying her. For Orpah did not want to obey her when she asked them to remain there, because she said she would acknowledge her nation as her own, and finally would have her mother-in-law's God as her own. In this way, having set out, she was married to Boaz with her mother-in-law, and bore Obed, the father of Jesse, the grandfather of David. Among others whom Nebuchadnezzar had led away captive were Mordecai and the woman Esther. When these were still surviving under the reign of Artaxerxes, it happened by chance that when Mordecai had discovered in the royal court the plots of two eunuchs initiated against the king, he reported the whole matter to the king, by which disclosure they were punished with death. Haman was offended by this, who had the greatest power before the king, and was the cause for the king to attack the Jews, and having sent letters to the governors of the hundred and twenty-seven regions, which regions are situated between India and Ethiopia, he commanded that however many Jews were found anywhere at all, they should be utterly put to death on the 14th day of the 12th month. When Queen Esther had recognized this matter, having completed a fast of three days, she first prays to God, then addresses King Artaxerxes with these words: "When I gazed upon thee, O king, as like unto a divine angel, my heart fell, struck by terror at the majesty of thy presence." and reaching the end, she contracted marriages with Boaz. Following at the beginning of the page, he erred in the interpretation of the meaning of that sentence: For Glycas looked to those words of the sixth chapter: which the vulgate interpreter rendered thus: "The king spent that night sleepless, and ordered the histories and annals of former times to be brought to him. When these were read in his presence, it came to that place where it was written how Mordecai had reported the plots of the eunuchs Bagathan and Thares who wished to slay King Assuerus, etc."

some were slain, others captured, and still others—whosoever had happened to survive in any way—yielded themselves up even against their will. He even occupied Achrida itself, in which town the royal palace of the Bulgarians happened to be; from there he took away great riches, namely jewels, pearls, and a hundred centenaria of gold.

Following these events, he set out for Athens, and after offering up to the Mother of God the thanksgivings due for his victory, and having adorned her temple with many splendid and costly votive gifts, he returned to Constantinople ^A. He celebrated his triumph by entering through the Great Gates, wearing a golden crown that had a crest and a peak on its upper part; preceding him were Maria, the wife of Vladislav, along with the daughters of Samuel and the rest of the Bulgarians. Thus, amidst trophies, he entered the church. At that time, the Patriarch Sergius implored him repeatedly to abolish that tax which was called the *Allelengyon*; for the Emperor had promised to do this if he should prevail over the Bulgarians. But he did not persuade him.

The Emperor, having accomplished all these things, wished to undertake an expedition against Sicily. But he was prevented; for he was seized by a sudden illness and died, and was buried in the church of the Theologian, ^B which is near the Hebdomon. He had enthroned Alexius, a monk from the Studion Monastery, as patriarch; for he happened to have come to visit him, bringing with him the venerable head of the Precursor—for the Emperor was accustomed to use him as a counselor in the administration of the commonweal.

After the death of Basil, the entire power of the empire was transferred to his successor and brother, Constantine, who reigned for three years. He did not decorate the empire by the example of his brother Basil; he was a man addicted to dancing-girls and buffoons. Moreover, he was so engrossed in horse-races, as no other mortal ever was, that he held all concern and care for the commonweal as nothing. If he found any men of any worth, he cast them down from their station ^C and blinded them, and in their place raised up to the magistracies others who were utterly foolish and laughable. He oppressed not only the poor but also the wealthy. For in the three years which contain the time of his reign, he demanded five exactions; of which his brother had previously remitted two for his subjects.

Following these things, seized by a sudden illness, he began to deliberate with himself whom he should leave as successor to the empire. When he was taught by some that the power would pass after him to Romanus, who was of the senatorial order and held the surname of Argyropulus, by a certain necessity ^D he ordered such a man to be summoned, and gave him the option—even against his will—either to divorce his lawful wife and be joined in marriage to the daughter of the Emperor and thus be proclaimed emperor, or else to lose his eyes through blinding. While Romanus remained dizzy and hesitant between the two, his wife, fearing lest he should suffer some terrible fate, of her own accord laid aside her worldly hair, and thus, along with his sight, she granted her husband the empire as well. Of the three daughters that the Emperor Constantine had, the first was rejected, and the third declined. Thus, one is joined...

^A Since he was sleepless during the night, he began reading, and thus he was reminded of what Mordecai had done for him. Hence, even against the will of Haman, he was exceedingly honored. Haman himself bore the culpability of the evil; for he was hanged upon a cross, at the request and arrangement of Esther. And other letters were sent, not only for their salvation, but that they might also defend themselves against their adversaries; for they slew 500 men, and others still. The ten sons of Haman were also hanged. Concerning this, Scripture says: “And the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the month of Adar shall be a festive day for their generations.”

^B Tobit was led into captivity during the reign of Enemessar, king of the Assyrians. “I, Tobit, walked in the ways of truth and righteousness all the days of my life. And when I was led captive with Sarah and Tobias to Nineveh, all of my kin ate of the bread of the Gentiles, but I did not. And if Sennacherib the king slew any, because he came fleeing from Judea, I buried them by stealth; for he slew many in his wrath. And at night, for fear, I buried many. Hence it happened that I laid down to sleep by the wall of the courtyard with my face uncovered, and I did not know that there were sparrows in the wall. And they voided hot dung into my eyes, and white spots formed in them. My wife brought me a kid which she had received as the wage of her labor. But I, thinking it was stolen property, would not eat it, and I was reproached by her as if I profited nothing from virtue. And I wept unto the Lord: ‘It is more profitable for me to die than to live, for I have heard false reproaches.’”

^C At that time, Sarah the daughter of Raguel was also reproached as if she had throttled the seven husbands she had taken; but Asmodeus, the wicked demon, slew them before they could be with her, so that she even wished to hang herself because of it. But God overlooked the reproach of neither Tobit nor Sarah. For when Tobias was sent to retrieve the paternal silver that had been left in trust, Raphael, the angel of the Lord, accompanied him. And upon the road, a fish appearing by the river, the lad was terrified. But the angel permitted him to take it and eat it, and to keep the heart and the liver—the liver for the fumigation of Asmodeus, and the heart for the anointing of his father’s eyes. He led him to the house of Raguel, where he took Sarah as his wife, and cast out Asmodeus who loved her. ^D By this same means, when the eyes of Tobit were anointed, a miracle occurred. After these things, the holy angel said unto them: “Almsgiving is…

delivers from death, and it shall purge away all sin. And now, when you and Sarah, your bride, prayed, I brought the memorial of your prayer before the holy God. And when you buried the dead, I was with you. And when you did not delay to rise and leave your breakfast, that you might go and cover the dead person, you did not escape my notice in acting well, but I was with you. And now God has sent me to heal you and your bride, Sarah. I am Raphael, one of the seven angels, who bring up the prayers of the saints.” And having given this counsel, he ascended to Him who had sent him. Indeed, you have already learned this name of Raphael from the account of Tobit; but the name Uriel, as the truly wise Psellus has written, is known to us in neither the books of the Old nor the New Testament. There is, however, a certain Hebrew book unknown to the many, inscribed *The Prayer of Joseph*, where Joseph’s father, Jacob, is introduced as speaking with this angel Raphael, even if it is currently rejected and discounted by the Hebrews, just as are the other apocrypha. Now, Tobit lived to be one hundred and fifty years old, and Tobias one hundred and twenty-seven. After burying his parents, he went to his father-in-law, Raguel, and before he died, he heard of the destruction of Nineveh, which Nebuchadnezzar captured, according to the prophecy of Tobit. ^B

To return to Samson: after his death, until the priest Eli, there was an,ararchy among them for forty years, and they were destroyed by rising against one another. As for the evil of overlooking those under one’s authority who sin and failing to restrain them sharply, the events concerning Eli, the Ark, and the people demonstrated this. For at that time, Eli fell into a pitiful death, the Ark was captured, and the people were slain by the sword. For the Philistines rushed against the Jews, they joined battle, and about four thousand Hebrews fell. Then, taking up the Ark, they rushed against their enemies, having trusted that they would be victorious as usual. They joined battle, and not a few of the Hebrews fell, and the Ark itself was captured. Therefore, news that was not good reached Eli; he bore the destruction of his sons bravely, even though faults accompanied them—fornication and gluttony (for they would violate the marriages of others, and they would eat the meat before it had been sanctified); ^C but not being able to bear the capture of the Ark, he fell from his seat and died; for he happened at that time to be sitting on a chair by the gates of the sanctuary, having lived ninety-eight years. ^D

^A The Philistines, having taken the Ark, led it captive to the city of Azotus. Then Dagon also was shattered, having fallen from his own base and lying as if in the posture of one worshipping. For God showed there that the Ark was not captured as if He were weak (for if this were the case, their god Dagon would not have been shattered in its presence, so that, if divine grace were not present in it, [yet because it was]) it was captured [in fact] due to the wickedness of the Jews. At that very time, those who had captured it were dying from dysentery, casting out their entrails, which were corrupted. Moreover, a great multitude of mice arose and harmed the produce of the land. The Azotians, therefore, barely understood that such things were happening to them on account of the Ark; hence they request the Ascalonites to accept it to themselves. And having received it, they meet with similar evils. The Ascalonites send it to others, and they in turn to others; and all suffer the same things. The chieftains of those five cities that had been afflicted by these punishments—namely, Accaron, Gaza, Azotus, and the rest—come together and deliberate about this matter. Wherefore they yoke two cows that have recently calved, place the Ark upon them, and leaving them at a crossroads, they grant them power to go along whichever road they wish. If they should depart into the lands of the Hebrews, they say one must consider the Ark to be the cause of such evils; but if they should turn another way, let us pursue it, they said, as one that has no such power. These things happen, and they recognized that a divine power was present with the Ark. ^B The Hebrews, therefore, suffering such things, seek a king and receive Saul, even though God did not bear this kind of request gently, on account of which He also said to Samuel: " They have not rejected you, but Me, so that I should not reign over them." Now this Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin, son of Cis, who was both excellent in form and great in stature. He lost his father's donkeys and comes to the prophet Samuel, intending to ask about them. The prophet, taking the holy oil, pours it over the young man's head and, having kissed him, "Know," he says, "you are king; you have been appointed today by God." But he also told him the things that would happen to him on the way, that he would join prophets and, having become inspired, would prophesy together with them. He anoints him while the multitude is also looking on. And in this way the commonwealth of the Hebrews was transformed into a kingdom. He said to them, "You have greatly provoked God by requesting a king." And it is evident from this: for just as one had never seen winter in the height of summer, so you have beheld this happen. And when the prophet had said these things, lightnings and thunders and hail were brought down, as if ^C from that the people said [they had committed] a sin against God. Saul, however, being about to rush against the Philistines, orders the high priest to take the priestly

garment and prophesy to him concerning the outcome of that war. Once the oracle signaled [success], Saul led his forces out against the Philistines; but intoxicated by victory, he bound the Hebrews with a certain imprecation: if anyone, sparing the enemy, took food—and did not persevere in slaughtering the enemies until nightfall brought an end to the killing—that man should be accursed and devoted to destruction. ^A While Saul was saying this, it happened by chance that, as the soldiers entered a certain forest that was full of bees, Saul’s son, not having heard the father’s curse, pressed out a honeycomb and ate it. And when he later understood what had been done, he said that his father had not done right to impose such a curse; for it is settled that a man attacks an adversary most courageously once he has found food and refreshed himself a little. Saul, having attained victory ^B and offered sacrifices to God, orders the high priest to learn again whether God would grant them to reach the enemy camp and destroy them. The high priest responding that the divine oracle was silent, Saul said: "This does not happen without a certain cause, but there is some hidden sin of ours that is the reason for God’s silence. And I take an oath, even if my own son Jonathan were the one who committed this sin, I would certainly kill him and thus appease God." In this way it happened that the lot fell upon Jonathan; and when his father asked him what crime he had committed and how he had sinned against God, he answered that he was conscious of nothing other than having tasted honey the day before, being ignorant of the curse with which his father had bound ^C the people. Upon hearing this, Saul swears that he will kill him; and since the son did not resist at all and was about to submit to the oath, the people, feeling pity, rescued Jonathan from the hand of Saul and appeased God with supplications. And let these things be recounted in this manner.

He said that Samuel spoke of God saying that, since the Amalekites had treated the Hebrews very evilly in the wilderness, when they were marching out of Egypt, He commanded Saul to punish them with war and to spare none of them. Saul therefore conquered them by main force, but took their king Agag captive, whose beauty and size of body, as Josephus says, he admired and judged worthy of salvation. And he offered sacrifices to God from those spoils. Because of this, God said to Samuel: "It repenteth me that I have appointed Saul king; therefore I have rendered him unworthy to rule over Israel." ^D Hence also Samuel spoke thus to Saul when he had spared Agag, the king of the Amalekites: "Thou hast acted foolishly, because thou didst not keep the commandment which the Lord commanded thee. Therefore the kingdom shall not abide with thee, and the Lord shall seek a man after His own heart to be ruler over His people." In addition to these things, he also said to him, when [1 Reg. xiv, 24. 1 Reg. xv, 11.]

he offered his sacrifice: "The Lord has no delight in burnt offerings, but rather in heeding His voice." And again: "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from thy hand this day, and will give it to thy neighbor who is better than thou" (I Kings XV, 22, 28). Hence, as the prophet ^A was much concerned about Saul, God said to him, "And taking the holy oil, go to Bethlehem to Jesse, and anoint one of his sons as king" (I Kings XVI, 1). He comes, therefore, and since all the other sons of Jesse were rejected (for the holy oil did not flow for them), David, the youngest of all, is anointed. For this reason, the Holy Spirit was henceforth in him, while an evil spirit came upon Saul. As he was being choked, the physicians said, as Josephus states, that such a malady would not be abated unless someone were found who knew how to sing with a harp. ^B Therefore, when search was made for whether such a person existed, David was brought. He therefore makes him his shield-bearer and treats him with honor. And thus Josephus. But as for that evil spirit that choked Saul, the harp of David quieted it, provided it were moved by the all-holy Spirit; for he sang to that, and the other, even though unwillingly, was calmed by it.

After these things, the Philistines go on an expedition against the Judeans. From their camp comes down a man of enormous size named Goliath (for he was six cubits and a span in height), clad in a breastplate weighing five thousand shekels, with other armor in proportion; he uttered a great cry and demanded to fight in single combat. As everyone was in despair, David was brought in, and after comforting Saul—and with difficulty persuading him (for Saul was not confident, looking at the youth of David)—he rushed against Goliath and killed him with a sling. From then on, since the women were saying that Saul had struck down thousands of Philistines, but David tens of thousands, Saul became afraid for his own kingdom; for which reason he henceforth held David in suspicion and harbored no small envy. ^C Whence he also sent him on military expeditions so that he might be killed there in the war. But David, having God with him, performed heroically everywhere, so that even the daughter of Saul, being a virgin, fell in love with him. These things become known to Saul. And he, seizing the opportunity for treachery against him, as Josephus relates, said he would give his daughter if he would bring me a thousand heads of the enemy. These things happen, and he takes Melchol as his wife. Saul does not endure this, but envies him even more, as he was also fearing for his own kingdom. ^D He therefore plans to kill him. He charges these things to his son Jonathan and the most faithful of his household. But he reveals the counsel to David and speaks to his father in his behalf. After these things, he pursues David once and twice

and many times. At that time, he approaches the high priest Abiathar; then he also ate the showbread. From there, he flees again to Abimelech; and at that time, he also feigns the symptoms of an epileptic. Upon these things, David, having found Saul once and twice, and being able to kill him easily, did not wish to do this, committing all his affairs to God. And so much for these things. The Philistines, however, again wage war against the Jews, for which reason Achish also summons his allies. Saul also attacks Mount Gilboa, and seeing the massive encampment of the foreigners, he was troubled, and his heart failed him. And he inquired of the Lord through the Ephod, and He did not answer him; for if they were not well-regarded by Him, He would not listen to them. For this reason, he seeks a ventriloquist, even though he had previously managed to expel their kind from his city, as he was formerly pious towards God. They were called ventriloquists because they have a demon dwelling within their belly, which foretells oracles or prophecies about future events. That woman, however, is persuaded with difficulty, and she brings up the soul of Samuel from Hades, just as Josephus narrates. For the wise in divine matters, Theodoret, calls this account impious and unholy; for he is not persuaded that the soul of any dead man, let alone that of such a great prophet, can be brought up from Hades. Others, not wishing to accept that this account is unholy, say that a certain demon who deceives the people reported the things concerning Saul to the ventriloquist. Theodoret, however, accepts neither the first as pious nor the second; for if the one who appeared was a demon, he would not have spoken true words. Therefore, he says that God himself, having fashioned the form of Samuel, willed to deliver the pronouncement; for He indeed said through one of the prophets: "If you approach the false prophet, I, the Lord God, will answer through him." Thus, He blessed the people through Balaam, and through an impious seer, the things that were to come were announced. These things come to pass, and the Philistines attack the Hebrews. Finally, Saul and his sons fall. Saul, however, having received many wounds and being unable to endure, orders one of his men to bring his sword against him, so that he might not be surrendered to the hands of the enemies. But he did not obey. So he falls upon his own sword, and not being able to end his life even so, he persuades a certain Amalekite, who finishes him off. The Philistines, despoiling the enemies, encounter Saul and his sons, and having cut off their heads, they carry them through the whole land, and they crucify their bodies outside the wall, just as Josephus narrates.

^A Thus Saul ended his life, because he had disobeyed God regarding the Amalekites and because he had delivered the race of the priests to destruction; for through Doeg the Syrian he slew about three hundred and fifty priests who were wearing the ephod. Saul held sway over Israel for forty years, standing head and shoulders above all Israel. God, wishing to gratify the Hebrews, had chosen such a man to reign over them; for it was by reason of his prowess in wars, and not for his piety, that they had requested a king. Thus He chooses the greatest of all men, since we admire not the virtue of the soul, but the stature of the body. ^B After the death of Saul, his son Memphiboseth reigned over Israel, and David over Judah; for he had already been anointed by Samuel. Then Richab and Baneas slew Memphiboseth in secret and came to David as if they had done something praiseworthy. But he destroyed them, just as he had earlier destroyed that Amalekite through whom Saul met his end. At that point, David was established as king over all the people. As for the daughter of Saul—if not as Josephus narrates, then in any case he received her as a prize when he struck down Goliath with a sling; for so it had been agreed between them. David, therefore, after being proclaimed king, takes up a position at Jerusalem, and having routed the Jebusites dwelling there, he makes Jerusalem the seat of his own kingdom. ^C David was the first, as Josephus narrates, to drive the Jebusites out from there, and he named the city after himself; for it was called Solyma in the time of Abraham. After this, he sees Bersabee bathing in her house, and from this he falls in love with her. He is joined to her, and arranges for Urias, who was her husband, to fall in death. Not long after, he is convicted by Nathan. Then he flees because of the revolt of Abesalom, having left his ten concubines to guard his house. The cause of Abesalom’s becoming a parricide was this: David had a daughter of great beauty, who had the same mother as Abesalom. Amnon, the eldest of the sons of Memphiboseth, ^D fell in love with her, and not being able to satisfy his desire, he wasted away with it. Because of this, he feigns sickness. He begs his father that his sister remain with him for the sake of his care. This comes to pass. He reveals his passion to her, but she did not agree. He forces himself upon her, at which he is seen to be disobedient. Immediately, hatred arises in Amnon against her, for which reason he casts her out. She is distressed in no small way. Richas and Branas, Richas, Richaios and Baneas.

^A revealing these things to Absalom. The opportunity is observed, and he goes out to the shearing of his sheep, taking his brothers with him. A feast is held, and when Amnon is stupefied, his servants kill him. From this point, therefore, Absalom, being terrified, begins to devise schemes against his father. And first of all, Achitophel persuades him to enter into his father's concubines; then he counsels him to rush against David with an army. But not being heard because the counsel of Chousai seemed better (for it happened that Chousai was a friend to David), he resorted to the noose. On this account, Absalom is pursued all the more, and is indeed caught. But O, the soul of David! For, having suffered such things from a parricide, he kept saying: "Spare the lad Absalom." But even when Joab had pierced the heart of Absalom, when he was hanging by his hair from the tree, he mourned beyond measure.

^B However, to David, who was pondering the building of a temple to the Lord, Nathan said: "Whatever is in your heart, go and do, for God is with you." For even he was unaware of the future, just as Samuel did not recognize the son of Jesse who was to be anointed, and as Elisha was unaware of the affliction of the Shunammite. By night, however, the Lord appeared to him and said: "Go and say to my servant David: That you shall not build a house for me, because you poured out much blood upon the earth before me." 1 Par. xvii, 4.

^C This seems to have been said for the benefit of those who commit murders; for he would not have condemned a just murder to the king, he who called the just murder of Phinehas a sacrifice. On which account David also gives to Solomon his son the pattern of the temple and of his houses. Everything he gave to him in writing from the hand of the Lord. But Nathan himself, when he was sent to him by God, said: "You did this well, that it came into your heart about building a house; but not you, he who comes from you shall build it." 1 Reg. xviii, 5.

^D Even if God is long-suffering when sin is dared, yet He punishes at some time. For see that with the Gibeonites the Israelites had agreed not to kill them, yet Saul, along with other foreign nations, killed them also. However, the penalties of such a daring deed He exacted in the time of David, bringing on a pestilence. And if they had not killed the seven children of Saul, the divine wrath would not have ceased. We learn, therefore, from this that the Master knows no difference of race, but God justly defends those who have been wronged, even if they are of another nation. And David himself, having wronged Uriah, who was of another nation (for he was a Hittite), did not remain unpunished. But the child of adultery, who was first born to Bathsheba, who had been debauched by David, was s

^B rotting with worms and teeming with stench, his life miserably ended, his body’s dust deposited on the island of Prote, where he had constructed new cells intended for religious exercises.

Michael, surnamed Parapinakes, reigned after him for six years, a man entirely soft, and, if I may put it so, womanly regarding the administration of the commonweal. He entrusted the power of managing affairs to the prelate of Side, John, ^A by whom all was managed excellently, as he was a man outstanding and industrious in his dealings. But to this good wheat eventually some weeds were mixed in. For a certain eunuch named Nicephorus, also called by the diminutive name Nicephoritzes, who had been accused of countless crimes before this Michael’s reign and ordered into exile, was now recalled by Michael and invested with all power—a man who was a eunuch, yet most skilled in confounding affairs and turning things upside down. ^C Everywhere there were accusations, confiscations of property, and unjust exactions; after which followed public groans and wailing, along with a demonstration of divine wrath. For when the Turks saw that the peace treaties entered into with Diogenes had utterly come to nothing, and that the one they had held in high honor had been so cruelly slain by the Romans, they set out from Persia with great forces and invaded the Roman provinces. Moved by this event, Michael also himself convened an army, to which he gave as commander Isaac Comnenus, who, having set out against the enemy, was taken captive when he engaged in battle with the Turks at Caesarea, and lost all his forces. ^D The emperor, having received the messenger of the unhappy battle, could not but grieve, yet he was not at all improved, as one who was led by the suggestions and authority of Nicephorus like some slave. ^A Isaac having been ransomed for a set price, John Caesar was chosen in his place as commander of the forces. And indeed, it is impossible to set forth in words how great the calamities were that befell the Romans in this incursion of the Turks. For the Caesar himself also came into the power of the enemies, and when he had offered himself, with his head shorn, he betook himself to the palace. ^B And these were those famous deeds of Nicephoritzes, who among his other wickednesses, also with singular solicitude desiring gain, as a man most fertile in devising evils, saw to it that a shortage of grain should arise. For everywhere he prevented merchants from selling grain; meanwhile, he alone, nearby Rhaedestus, having established a *phoundax* and monopolies, so that thence...

After him, Michael Parapinakes held power for 6 years; the man was entirely slack and, so to speak, womanly ^C toward the administration of the commonwealth, for which reason he entrusts the power to John, the Metropolitan of Side. And all things were well managed by him, as he was a man good and clever in affairs, but to this good wheat a weed is also mingled. For a certain eunuch, Nicephorus, also called Nicephoritzes, who had been accused of myriad evils before Michael and was hence an exile, is summoned by Michael and is invested with all power; a man indeed a eunuch, but skilled at confounding affairs and turning things upside down. For there were accusations everywhere, confiscations and unjust exactions, ^D

...

^A snatched away by God. For he was destined to be a reproach to the pious king and a proof of his transgression. The Master, therefore, caring for him, did not allow such a one to live. The first book of the Chronicles hints that all the psalms belong to David, as Theodoret says. For he says that David at the beginning ordained that the Lord be praised by the hand of Asaph and his brothers. However, David, having reigned for thirty years, as Theodoret says, met his end at about seventy. One must add to the matters above these things also, which belong to the history of Josephus. David makes an expedition against the Philistines, and having pursued them for a long way, he was separated from all his men. And one of the enemies, who was ^B a descendant of the Giants, seeing him alone and exhausted by labor, hastened to kill him. And this would have happened, had not Abishai, the brother of Joab, having been found there instantly, killed the enemy and restored David safe to his own. From this the whole people bound him by an oath that he would never again meet them in battle. The Philistines encamp again against the Hebrews, among whom was a man six cubits in height, who had more fingers on each of his feet and hands than is natural; for he was also a descendant of the Giants. Jonathan the Sudean killed this man in single combat, and thus became the cause of victory for his side. From that time forth, the Philistines ceased to make war against the Hebrews. Upon which, receiving respite, David began to praise God and compose sacred odes. One must know that David gained many soldiers, invincible in strength, but five were exceptional. For one of them ^C killed six hundred in a single day, and another, having leapt against the enemies, did not stop until he killed nine hundred. For they were so bold that three of them went to Bethlehem and brought water to David, who was within Jerusalem, entering and exiting through the midst of the Philistines, who were encamped outside, and did not dare to oppose them because of their great boldness. And David did not want to drink the water, but poured it as a libation to God, and admired the soldiers. After these things, Solomon, having been appointed by David, sat upon the throne of the Lord for the kingdom, that is to say, upon the throne given to him by the Lord. The end of the first book of the Chronicles shows that Samuel the seer, and Nathan the prophet, and Gad the seer had books written. ^D One must know that Hurnias and Adonias were the same, a son of David; for he had two names. This man, having invited Joab and Abiathar to a banquet, was plotting about the kingdom. But the prophet Nathan makes known the things concerning

^A these to Bathsheba (for she knew the purpose and counsel of God), and she reports the matter to David. David, who did not wish to punish Joab himself, as he had labored much for his sake, advised Solomon his son to kill him, so that he might not despise his youth. He gives him the same counsel concerning Semei, a downright seditious man; whom he himself had nonetheless tolerated, even though he had been insulted by him many times and in many ways. Solomon prevails, and at that time kills his brother Adonias. But he does the same concerning Joab, even though he had fled to the altar of God. For divine law orders that a murderer who has fled to the temple be slain.

^B Solomon, having sacrificed a thousand offerings, supplicated God, and asked to obtain wisdom and understanding. The Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Ask what you shall ask for yourself.” He replied, “You have made your servant king in place of David my father, and I am a small child, and I do not know my going in and my going out, and you shall give to your servant a heart to listen to and discern your people in righteousness.” And the Lord said to him, “Because you have asked this word from me, and have not asked for many days, nor wealth, nor the souls of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to listen to justice, behold I have done according to your word. Behold, I have given you a prudent and wise heart, such that there has not been anyone before you, and after you there shall not arise one like you among kings. And if you walk in my way, as David your father, I will multiply your days.” After these things he builds a temple to God, and asks that His eyes be kept open upon the divine house and that He might listen to them. And the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, just as He appeared in Gabaon, and said, “I have heard the voice of your prayer, and I have sanctified this temple; and my eyes and my heart shall be there all the days. But if you turn away from me, I will root out Israel from this land, and this house which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast away from my presence.” When Solomon had prayed, fire came down from heaven and consumed the offered sacrifices. Observe, therefore, how great was the piety of Solomon before, as even fire was brought down upon ^C his sacrifices. And he builds the temple with unhewn stones (for they were found self-formed by divine providence, so that they needed no harmony of iron, as Theodoret says), but he built the temple's enclosure with cut stones, and there he also needed quarrymen. The length of the temple was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty. Around the temple, chambers were built for the sake of the Levites and the storage of the vessels; for only the holy places were accessible to the priests. The height of the temple was one hundred and twenty cubits. Gold covered the entire temple. These things, as for all the temple, the grace of the Holy Spirit pointed out to David, and he himself to Solomon. He builds

^A that divine house three hundred and twenty years after the Exodus. And so many years passed, so that, having been purified by their wandering in the mountains, they might love the one place, Jerusalem.

These things concern the ancient temple, which is divided into three parts: into the station of the laity, that of the priests and the Levites (which was called the Holy Place), and into the inner sanctuary itself, which was called the Holy of Holies, into which no one entered except the high priest alone, and he but once a year, and that not without blood. And you will find these things in the heavens as well. For in the heaven nearest to us, clearly the air, are all the promiscuous animals; deeper within the visible firmament, as the Sinaite theologian Anastasius says, the celestial powers reside, and perhaps even the souls of the saints themselves. Higher than the second and invisible heaven, no one has entered except the true High Priest, Christ, the antitype of the true things. ^B That the things of this earthly temple have been built according to the image of the heavenly is something that the great Paul himself declared, saying thus: “For Christ has not entered into the handmade holy places, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Behold, then, with understanding, that even the visible beauties of this temple are representational images of that invisible beauty, and that the sensory fragrances are models of that intelligible diffusion. And the material lights are images of that other illumination; for through these material things we are led by the hand toward that ineffable contemplation, just as it seems to the great Dionysius.

But that Solomon surpassed all in all things, let Scripture teach you, saying: “And Solomon was magnified above all the kings of Egypt in wealth and wisdom, ^C and all the kings of the earth sought the face of Solomon to hear his wisdom. For his wisdom was increased above every wise man of Egypt.” Regarding the books of Solomon, from which even the students of medicine took their starting points: after receiving wisdom from God, he spoke three thousand parables and five thousand odes concerning all the ^D plants on the earth and all the animals.

^A The Sabaeans are an Ethiopian nation. Their queen was that admirable Sybil who, since she neither knew the Law nor had heard the prophets, praised the Giver of wisdom through Solomon: “Blessed be,” she said, “the Lord thy God, who was pleased to set thee upon the throne of Israel.” Among the tests by which she tried Solomon, she devised this as well: she adorned several beautiful boys and girls with the same clothing and the same haircut, and presented them to him, asking him to distinguish between the two sexes. He ordered them to wash their faces, and thus discerned the nature of each, as the males washed their faces in a manly way, while the females did so gently. She was struck with wonder and said, “I have seen more than I heard.” She gave him 120 talents of gold, and spices, and precious stones, and even the root of the opobalsam, from which source, as Josephus says, Palestine subsequently possessed this plant, and then she returned. A talent contains 125 pounds, from which it can be gathered that he received from the queen 15,000 of our gold centenarii.

Not only these things, but so long as he was pious, he held all the nations from the Euphrates to the Nile as tributaries. But from that time on ^B he became vulnerable to his enemies. In the beginning, Solomon was an object of wonder as he wrote his Proverbs and erected the temple—as the great Cyril says—at the very time that Homer was singing the tragedies of the Trojan disasters, 160 years after the fall of Ilium. But later he fell into impiety. This is clear from what the divine Scripture details about him, saying: “And strange women turned the heart of Solomon after other gods.” Nor less clearly do we learn, from that which the prophet Ahijah said to his servant Jeroboam, that Solomon worshiped idols. He spoke thus: “Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give thee ten sceptres, and I will give two sceptres to him for David my servant’s sake and for Jerusalem my city, for he hath forsaken me and hath served Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians, and Chamos the idol of Moab, and Melchom the offence of the children of Ammon.” ^C Some say that Astarte is Lucifer himself, that is to say, the same goddess as Venus. Scripture calls idols abominations and offences. And it appears that God also speaks thus to Solomon himself: “Because these things have happened with thee, and thou hast not kept my commandment and my statutes, which I commanded thee, I will rend and tear thy kingdom out of thy hand, and I will give it to thy servant.” ^D

753 EPISTOLA VI. To the same John Aspiotes. Further, this also is questioned, whether human bodies will rise again as male and female.

Whatever you have doubted, most holy man, asking how human bodies will rise from the dead, and in what form, and whether there is a distinction between male and female; a not small perplexity and lack of counsel has held us for a long time now, for which we do not possess the strength to respond to you easily. For even if great Athanasius himself, the divine Anastasius of Sinai, the divine Gregory of Nyssa, and others of the saints might seem to resolve the matter which is proposed by you today, yet we are nonetheless sluggish regarding investigating such things and contending over such topics. For what reason? Because these things are doubted by almost everyone, as they are considered to be carried outside of ecclesiastical tradition. But since you compel us meanwhile to set before you the sayings of the aforementioned saints, so that from them you may learn what is their force and how one must receive them, and what is gathered for us from them, behold, you have us obeying in this, even though we are unwilling. And if you wish, before others, pay heed to the most divine Athanasius himself. For in the 754 Chapters against Antiochus he is found saying: “Just as God made one human from the beginning, so in the regeneration we all rise as one human,” that is to say, every image of a human being will then be similar to the image and fashion and stature and shape of Adam. Therefore in the resurrection there is no male and female, and small and great, nor a distinction of faces and figures. ^B Regarding those things about which, most holy man, you doubted, asking how human bodies shall rise from the dead, and with what figure, and whether the distinction of male and female will exist in them, it is a long time that not a small hesitation and poverty of counsel have been tormenting us, since those powers are not available to us so that we might be able to answer you easily concerning these matters. For if even great Athanasius himself, and divine Anastasius the Sinaite, and divine Gregory of Nyssa, and the rest of the saints were to appear to resolve the controversy which is today proposed by you, yet they would be loath to scrutinize such things or to clash over such topics. Why? Because they are doubted by almost all, as they are deemed to wander outside of ecclesiastical tradition. But since you force us to bring into the midst for you the sayings of the praised saints meanwhile, so that you may know what is their power and how they ought to be understood, and what we might collect from them, behold, we, though unwilling, are satisfying your wish in this. And, if you wish, lend your ear first to divine Athanasius himself; for in the ^C Chapters to Antiochus he is found saying this: “Just as God made only one human being from the beginning, so in the regeneration we shall all rise as one human”; that is, every image of a human being will then be similar to the image, and formation, and magnitude, and figure of Adam. Therefore male and female, small and great, black and yellow, do not exist in the resurrection, nor the distinction of faces and figures.

ANNAL QUARTER II

The Holy Scripture, looking to the disposition of those who were drinking, called the honey "water" ^A in a certain solitude, when, water having been found, they thought they were being sated with honey. Hence it comes that the Holy Letters, out of consideration for the affection of those who were drawing water, deemed it worthy of the very name of honey.

"After these things Joas held power, who did what was right in the eyes of God all the days of Iodas the high priest. Having lived for one hundred and thirty years, and having died, he was deemed worthy of a royal tomb. But after he died, Joas turned aside to impiety." For which cause prophets were sent to him, Joas himself, among whom was also Zacharias, the son of Iodas, whom they stoned inside the open court in the temple. And as he was dying he said, "Look, Lord, and judge." And he did not fail in his entreaty; for having fallen ill, he was slaughtered by his subjects.

His son, Amasias, having reigned and having conquered the Idumaeans by divine aid and having enslaved ^B their gods, later—the foolish man—honored them, attributing the victory to them. To whom the prophet said, "I know that the Lord has counseled to destroy you," for he ended in the same way as his father.

Thus, having obtained the empire, Joas conducted himself righteously toward God as long as the high priest Iodas was alive; who, when he had attained to one hundred and thirty years of age and had fulfilled his destiny, attained such honor that he was interred in the royal sepulcher. But when he had been removed from human affairs, King Joas then turned aside to impiety. For this reason, not a few prophets were sent to him, among whom was Zacharias, the son of the high priest Iodas, whom King Joas overwhelmed with stones in the part of the temple situated in the open air. As he was dying, he used words of this manner: "Look upon these things, Lord, and punish ^C." Nor was his petition in vain; for the king, when he had fallen into sickness, was killed by his subjects.

His son Amasias, when he had seized the kingdom and had reported a victory over the Idumaeans by divine aid and had overthrown their gods, the foolish man eventually honored those religiously consecrated ones and attributed the victory gained to them themselves. On account of which a certain prophet denounced him, saying that God had resolved to take Amasias from the midst. Nor long after, he was extinguished by a similar manner of death as his father.

"The Holy Scripture praises Ozias: 'For he was,' it says, 'inquiring after the Lord, in the fear of the Lord, in the days of Zacharias.' But after these things, having desired to enter into the inner sanctum and to burn incense, and having been rebuked by the high priest and the eighty priests—for they said to him, 'It is not ^D allowed for you, Ozias, to burn incense, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron'—he, [said], 'Am I not king, and have I not been clothed with the royal purple?' He was therefore struck with leprosy because of this. And while he sat inside because of the leprosy, his son Joatham was conducting the kingdom."

And another was Zacharias, the son of Iodas, whom Joas stoned, and another was he in the time of Ozias. "I think this is the one," says Theodoret, "about whom the Lord spoke to Isaiah, 'Make for me as faithful witnesses men, Urias the priest and Zacharias the son of Barachias.'"

Achaz, the son of Joatham, surpassed all in impiety, for which cause he found many evils. And not even so did he understand, but, "I will seek," he said, "the gods of the nations who smite me, and I will sacrifice to them, and they will assist me." And he even led his own sons through fire. But what is this? As Josephus reports, he burned one of his own sons as a whole burnt offering to Baal. "I think," says Theodoret, "that the species of error which reached even unto us is hinted at from this. For once of the year we see fires being lit, and certain boys and men jumping over these, but even infants being carried through the flame by their mothers. This seemed to be a certain averruncation and purification." I think this was the accusation brought against Achaz, whom those who died did not deem worthy of royal honor.

He subsequently succeeded to the empire upon the death of his father, who had reigned for 33 years; and, having held power for a long time, he ended his life, leaving his son John, aged six, as his heir.

Michael Palaiologos, however, who even while Theodore was alive had long been inciting innovations, transferred the sum of power to himself and blinded John. The same man recovered Constantinople, over which the fourth emperor from Flanders, Baldwin II, brother of the now-deceased Robert, then presided. Thus, a certain form of empire was re-established through Michael, with the Latins entirely expelled from the jurisdiction of the Greeks, except for meager remnants still clinging to the Peloponnese. And since it seemed neither safe nor conducive to peace for Michael to have a crowd of workmen and merchants, consisting of Venetians and Pisans, who remained after the expulsion of the Latins, living within the city along with the Genoese, their perpetual enemies, he assigned Galata to the Genoese, situated across the water, granting freedom from duties on goods, which he had promised them even before he possessed the city, if he were helped by them in recovering it. Magistrates from their homeland were sent to these people at fixed times, to dispense justice and preside over their own. And the Venetians, indeed, called their own a Bailiff or curator, the Pisans a consul, and the Genoese a Podestà.

Baldwin of Flanders, liberated from danger at Constantinople and having escaped, once he had arrived in Italy, formed an alliance with the Neapolitan King Charles—the brother of the King of the French, who had slaughtered Conradin of Swabia, the legitimate heir to that kingdom—betrothing the king’s daughter to his own son, hoping that with his resources he would recover Constantinople. But this desire and effort was altogether in vain. During the reign of Palaiologos, on the 25th day of May, in the year 6775, around the third hour before noon, the moon obscured the sun, and there was a total eclipse of almost 12 points. So great, moreover, was the darkness that arose in its midst that many stars appeared; which, indeed, portended the greatest calamities of the Romans, impending from the Turks.

Following these things, the emperor betrothed his son Andronikos to Anna of Pannonia, and at the same time adorned him with the emblems of the empire, having promised under oath that he would piously venerate the Church, keep its privileges inviolate, and never plot against his father.

However, when King Charles of Naples was making great preparations in favor of Baldwin of Flanders, Palaiologos stirred up domestic wars against him, inciting the surrounding peoples, the Sicilian king and the Venetians, to make war upon him. Furthermore, he sent legates to the Pope concerning the establishment of concord between the churches of old and new Rome, provided that he would turn aside the expedition of Charles. And the legation having been kindly heard by the Pope, the terms of concord were begun, the heads of which were as follows: First, that in the hymns of the sacred volumes, the Pope should be mentioned along with the four patriarchs. Second, that it should be permitted to anyone to appeal to old Rome, as it was a greater and more perfect curia.

Gradually, however, they felt more mildly, after the books of Nikephoros Blemmydes—who, having been consulted during the reign of Emperor John Doukas concerning these same controversies against the Latins, had written much—were exhibited to John Bekkos the Chartophylax. In this way it came about that Bekkos, who had long and most bitterly opposed the Latins, changed his opinion, rendered the victory ambiguous, and, having ascended the patriarchal throne, he was admitted to the intimate friendship of the emperor.

Upon the death of Michael, his son Andronikos succeeded to the empire; during his reign, the Turkish princes, Carmanus Alisurius, Sarchanes, Calames, Cerasus, Atman (who is also Oomanus), and the sons of Amurius, divided among themselves the Asiatic provinces taken from the Greeks. Against these, the Catalans were summoned from Spain by the leader Ronzerius, with great promises of rewards, if they would turn the Turks away from the borders of the Greeks. But when, after the matter against the Turks had been conducted successfully, their stipends were not paid to them as had been agreed, they turned their arms against the Greeks themselves, ravaged Asia, and crossed over into Europe again. And when Callipolis was occupied, and Ronzerius—whom the emperor had previously honored with the title of Caesar—was sent to Adrianople, where Michael, the son of Andronikos, the designated emperor, was staying at that time, to demand their stipends, Ronzerius was killed by the Greeks at the royal command. Upon the news of his murder, the Catalans prepared themselves for war, ravaged the property of the Greeks, and roamed through Thrace, striking down Michael in open battle at Aper (this is the name of a town in Thrace); trusting in their victory, they invaded Macedonia and, having crossed the mountains and valleys which are called Tempe, they burst into Thessaly. And when the Thessalians decided that the Catalans should not be provoked at all, they obtained, by giving money and guides for their journey, that they would depart from their borders.

Therefore, having been brought into Boeotia, they sought peaceful passage through his lands from the Duke of Athens and Thebes. He, having scorned the Catalans and their demands with pride and mockery, gathered his forces through the autumn and winter until the spring. Thus, the Catalans at the beginning of spring, having pitched camp not far from the river Cephissus, awaited the enemy. Their cavalry numbered 3,500, and there were 4,000 infantry. While they awaited the arrival of the enemy, they plowed all that land where they had decided to fight; then, having erected a rampart and dug trenches to the river, they irrigated the entire plain so that it became a marsh. In the middle of spring, the prince of the region arrived with great forces, leading 6,400 cavalry and more than 8,000 infantry. And his opinion and arrogance were far greater. For he hoped that, once the Catalans were defeated, he would bring everything under his own power as far as Byzantium. And when he saw the plain lying between his own men and the enemy, green with much grass, suspecting nothing of what had been done, he charged against them with his cavalry, while they were standing in battle array outside the field. But before the Atticans arrived at the middle of the plain

357 ANNALIUM PARS II. 358 cum ossibus divini hominis, e Judæa profecti, et omnia prolocuti quæ Josias deinceps exsecutus est, sepulta fuisse. Itidem divinum hunc hominem ^A Ἰωσίας, ὁ ὡσαύτως καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ μὲν Ἰώσηπος Ἰαδὼν αὐτὸν ὀνομάζει, ἡ δὲ βίβλος τῶν Παραλειπομένων Ἰωὴλ αὐτὸν ἡμᾶς καλεῖσθαι ἐδίδαξεν. Josephus quidem Jadonem appellat, Omissorum vero liber docet ei nomen Joeli fuisse. ^A Ἐπαινεῖ ἡ Γραφὴ καὶ τοῦ ᾿Ασᾶ τὴν προτέραν εὐσέβειαν· Ἐποίησε γάρ φησιν, ὁ ᾿Ασᾶ τὸ εὐθὺ ἐνώπιον Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ (3 Reg. xv, 11). Ὅθεν καὶ τοὺς ἐμόρους πάντας ὑπέταξεν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑορτὴν ἐπινίκιον ἐκτελέσας ὀμόσαι παρεσκεύασεν ἅπαντας ὡς τῆς ἐννόμου πολιτείας οὐκ ἀποστήσονται. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ τῇ Ἀστάρτῃ λατρεῦσαι προελομένην τῆς βασιλείας ἐγύμνωσεν. Οὐκ ἐν πᾶσι δὲ τέλειος ἦν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐξῆρε τὰ ὑψηλά. Καὶ τοῦ Βασὰ δὲ στρατεύσαντος κατ' αὐτοῦ, οὐ τὸν Θεὸν εἰς συμμαχίαν ἐκάλεσεν, ἀλλὰ τὸν βασιλέα Συρίας. Ἐφ' ᾧ καὶ δι' ᾿Ανανῆ τοῦ προφήτου τὴν ἀπιστίαν διήλεγξεν ὁ Θεός εἰπών, «Ἐν τῷ πεποιθέναι σε βασιλεῖ Συρίας, καὶ μὴ ἐπὶ Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου, ἧται ὁ Βασᾶν κατὰ σοῦ, διὰ τοῦτο ἐσώθη ἡ δύναμις βασιλείας Ἰσραήλ» (2 Paral. xvi, 6). Ὁ δὲ Ἀσᾶ μὴ θρηνήσας ἐπὶ τούτοις, ὡς δέον ἦν, τὸν προφήτην ἐφυλάκισε, καὶ νοσήσας ὕστερον οὐ τὸν Κύριον ἐζήτησεν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἰατρούς, ἴσως δὲ τοὺς φαρμακούς.

Secundum hæc prædicant Litteræ sacræ regis Asæ pietatem, quam ab initio declaraverit, Recte, inquiunt, se gessit Asa erga Dominum Deum suum. Quo factum ut finitimos omnes imperio suo subjiceret. Quin etiam triumphali festo instituto cunctos sacramento devinxit se a præscripta in lege disciplina vivendique ratione non discessuros. Præterea matrem suam quæ Astarte cultum probaret, regno abdicavit. Non tamen in omnibus perfectum sese gessit. Nec enim sacella editorum sustulit, ac deinceps Basa Israelicorum rege cum exercitu adversus ipsum profecto auxilium opemque Dei non imploravit, sed Syriæ regem arcessivit. Idcirco per Ananem vatem Deus ipsius diffidentiam hujusmodi verbis objurgavit: Quoniam Syriæ regi, non Domino Deo tuo innixus es, propterea manus tuas Israelici regis exercitus evasit. Tum Asa, nequaquam deplorato delicto suo, quemadmodum facere debuerat, etiam fatidicum in carcerem conjecit. Deinde morbo correptus non ad opem Domini confugit, sed ad medicos; quorum appellatione fortassis venefici et excantores veniunt.

^B Ἐπαινεῖ δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἰωσαφὰτ ὡς τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐζηλωκότα κατ' ἀρχὰς τοῦ Δαβίδ. Τὸ γὰρ, «Ὕψωθη αὐτοῦ ἡ καρδία», οὐ κατηγορία, ἀλλ᾽ ἔπαινος· ἐπήγαγε γὰρ, «ἐν ὁδοῖς Κυρίου». Ἐπιμέμφεται δὲ αὐτῷ τὴν γαμικὴν ἐπιμιξίαν ἣν πρὸς τὸν ᾿Αχαάβ ἐποιήσατο· Γοθολίαν γὰρ τοῦ ᾿Αχαὰβ τὴν θυγατέρα κατεγγύησε τῷ παιδὶ αὐτοῦ. Ὅπερ δὲ ἀφῆκεν ἡ τῶν βασιλειῶν ἱστορία, ἐνταῦθα ῥηθήσεται. Ἐπανιόντι γὰρ αὐτῷ ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ ᾿Αχαὰβ παρατάξεως τῷ Ἰωσαφὰτ ἀπήντησεν Ἰηοῦ προφήτης ὁ τοῦ ᾿Ανανῆ, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ. «Βασιλεῦ Ἰωσαφάτ, εἰ ἁμαρτωλῷ σὺ βοηθεῖς; εἰ μισουμένῳ ὑπὸ Κυρίου σὺ φιλιάζῃ; διὰ τοῦτο ἐγένετο ἐπὶ σὲ ὀργὴ παρὰ Κυρίου. Ἀλλ' οἱ ὀλίγοι ἀγαθοὶ εὑρέθησαν ἐν σοὶ, ὅτι ἐξῆρας τὰ ἄλση ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς Ἰούδα». Ἐντεῦθεν οὖν μανθάνομεν ὡς ἐλαττοῖ τὰς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι τιμωρίας τὰ πρῶτα κατορθώματα. Ὁ τοίνυν Ἰωσαφὰτ δεξάμενος τὸν ἔλεγχον διωρθώσατο ἐπὶ πᾶσι, καὶ κριτὰς τῇ πόλει ἐπέστησεν, ἵνα δικαίως πάντα πράττοιντο. Ἀλλὰ καὶ πολεμίων ἐπιστάντων πρὸς Θεὸν κατέφυγεν, ὃς καὶ παρεθάρρυνεν αὐτὸν διὰ τοῦ Ἰεζεκιήλ λέγων· «Μὴ φοβηθῆτε τὸ πολὺ πλῆθος, ἀλλ' αὔριον ἐξέλθετε». Πρώτους δὲ τοὺς Λευΐτας ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐξήγαγεν· ὅθεν καὶ οἱ πολέμιοι ἀλλήλους κατέκοψαν. Ὅρα δὲ καὶ ἑτέραν βίβλον προφητικήν· λέγει γὰρ ἡ ἱστορία· «Καὶ οἱ πολλοὶ λόγοι Ἰωσαφὰτ οἱ πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ ἔσχατοι οὐκ ἰδοὺ γεγραμμένοι εἰσὶν ἐν λόγοις Ἰηοῦ υἱοῦ ᾿Ανανή».

Laudant et Litteræ sacræ Josaphatum, ut qui virtutem exemplo Davidis, unius ex majoribus suis, unice dilexerit. Nam quod in eis perscriptum legimus: «Elatum est cor ejus», id vero non ad vituperationem spectat, sed ad laudem atque commendationem: subjiciuntur enim hujusmodi quædam verba, «In præscriptis et institutis a Domino». Unum in eo reprehenditur, conjugalis videlicet vinculi et affinitatis conjunctio cum Achaabo instituta. Quippe Gotholiam Achaabi filiam suo filio conjugem dedit. Atque hoc loco recitandum est, quod scripta de regibus historia memoriæ non prodidit. Cum ex acie Josaphatus reverteretur, qua suppetias Achaabo tulerat, Iehu vates Ananis filius occurrit, ac regem in hunc modum compellavit: «Tene, Josaphate rex, homini scelerato ferre auxilium? Tene cum exosis Domino amicitiam colere? Ergo istius rei Domino irato pœnas dares: sed exstiterunt in te laudabilia quædam, quod lucos scilicet e solo ditioneque Judaica exterminaveris». Quibus ex verbis discere licet præclara hominum facta, quæ prius sint præstita, delictorum sequentium pœnas imminuere. Josaphatus quidem certe cum hanc reprehensionem benigne tulisset, cunctis in actionibus se deinceps egregie gessit, ac judices reipublicæ præfecit, eisdem imperans ut omnia de juris et æqui præscripto facerent cumque hostes ipsum invasissent, ad Deum confugit. Is hominis animo robur addidit, hujusmodi verbis per Jezecielum vatem editis: Nolite tantam istam multitudinem metuere, sed cras ad illam egredimini.

^A And there was a woman, a lady of the family of the Malatestas, marquises of the 346th, who was truly a woman of excellent beauty and other endowments. It is said that hot vinegar was poured into his eyes—which indeed happened afterwards (though with fruitless effort, for he had recovered his sight at that time)—together with his son John, seeking aid so that he might take possession of the Byzantine Empire. When they had obtained 4,000 horsemen, they marched on Byzantium. ^B John the emperor and his son Manuel, having heard of Andronicus' arrival, entered the fortress which they call the Golden, preparing themselves to endure a siege. But Andronicus received the fortress into surrender through negotiations, and confined both in a very cramped wooden tower: in which they spent three years, while Bajazet warned in vain that they should be killed. In the fourth year, they persuaded the prison warden, who provided food to the captives, to supply them with iron in secret. This being done, they escaped to Bajazet, promising a huge tribute for their reinstatement. After exploring the intentions of the Byzantines, Manuel was given to them as emperor by the authority of Bajazet, who would pay thirty thousand gold pieces annually to the Turk, with Andronicus and his son John deported to the court of Bajazet, where they were to be maintained. ^C With Manuel's help, Bajazet took Philadelphia, a fortified city of Lydia, which was the only one in Asia still under Greek law.

But when Manuel did not fulfill the promises made to Bajazet, and refused to come to the court of the Turk, the siege of Constantinople began, which lasted a whole decade, and the city would have been completely captured, had not Tamberlanes the Scythian, having waged war on the Turks, captured Bajazet himself. While this siege was ongoing, Manuel, having entrusted the city to John, the son of Andronicus, who had defected to him from Bajazet, set out for Italy to the Venetians and the Duke of Milan for the sake of aid. Thence he entered Gaul and found the King of the Gauls, Charles, suffering from insanity, nor could he obtain from any of the Gallic dukes that for which he had come. Wherefore, upon the advice of the nobles who were there, he decided to wait for so long until the king should recover. But when the illness was protracted for a long time, he did not dare to remain any longer, and therefore, having crossed Germany and Pannonia, he returned home.

When Mahomet died—whom the Greeks found to be very kind and friendly—his firstborn son Amurates assumed the Turkish kingdom in the 12th year of his reign. ^D By inaugurating this rule of his, the Greeks hastened their own affairs toward complete ruin. For they summoned from Lemnos Mustapha, who claimed to be the son of Bajazet, although Mahomet, who had died a little earlier (as has been said), had stated that he was a pretender, and had obtained from the Greeks that he be kept closed in prison. But when, on account of the violence of the winds, Mustapha could not be transported from Lemnos into the Hellespont, nor be set up as king in Europe, they intercepted the crossings into Europe in the Propontis and Hellespont with triremes in order to block Amurates. Meanwhile, they sailed to Calliopolis, an opulent city of the Chersonese, so that they might hold a conference there with the arriving Mustapha, and when they had made him king of Europe, they asked him to restore Calliopolis to them, and they easily obtained that. Then indeed the commanders of Amurates, left in Europe by his father Mahomet, sent a certain Bajazet from the number of the nobles to Byzantium to Manuel, to ask that the treaty entered into with Mahomet should not be violated, and at the same time offer twelve of the highest-ranking hostages, two hundred thousand gold pieces, and finally a large region adjacent to Calliopolis, whichever the Greeks asked for, if the Byzantine emperor would abandon Mustapha and not bring aid to either side, but rather let them collide with hostile arms.

After the death of Bajazet, when his son Mahomet had come to power after his brothers and had made a perpetual peace with the Greeks, the emperor Manuel set out to the Peloponnese and surrounded the Isthmus with a wall, so that the whole region might be safe. Manuel had sons: John, Andronicus, Theodore, Constantine, Demetrius, and Thomas. He admitted John the firstborn, who seemed to excel the others, into a partnership of the empire. He gave him as a wife one from Italy, daughter of the prince of Montferrat, endowed indeed with an excellent temperament, but of unliberal appearance; for which reason she was little to his heart, nor did he live with her, nor did he observe the law of marriage. She, however, noticing that she was unloved by her husband, boarded a ship and betook herself to her own relatives. Andronicus, corrupted by elephantiasis, did not live long. Theodore was sent by his father to his uncle Theodore the purple-born, so that, educated by his uncle, he might succeed him in the principality of the Peloponnese. When these things were understood, John, son of Manuel, a youth desirous of power, thought at first that his affairs would be better if those men waged enmity among themselves, and that they would lose their own affairs by mutual discord. Furthermore, he thought it would not be of little benefit to himself if both were in need of his help. And if they were to divide the kingdom between themselves, he decided that each could more easily be suppressed by him, who however was not in reality equal to either. But afterwards, he followed a far different opinion, wholly addicted to Mustapha's party. But Manuel, the father of John, thought differently from his son, establishing that the religion of treaties must not be violated. Nevertheless, the son won, and aid was decreed for Mustapha. Soon Calliopolis was besieged and taken by storm, and when the Greeks asked for it back, Mustapha said that this would be unpleasant for the Turks, as the kingdom had not yet been acquired, and at the same time asked them to wait only a little while. Subsequently, Adrianople was occupied, the seat of the Turkish kingdom in Europe; upon which being done, troops of Turks defected to him everywhere, as if he were the son of Bajazet. Having brought Europe into his power, he crossed into Asia with the Azapides, the foot-soldiers of the Turks, and other European troops, and with Zunaites, the prince of Smyrna, in order to gain control of that as well. At the same time, having sent ambassadors to the Greeks, he begged that they not innovate anything in his absence: he would return Calliopolis once Amurates was defeated. Amurates also sent his own, who would promise the most ample things if they would follow his sides...

Quo facto, rex primos omnium levitas eduxit, nec multo post ipsimet hostes se mutuis vulneribus conciderunt. Licet autem ex indiciis quibusdam colligere, quemdam alium quoque librum de Josaphato scriptum fuisse: nam hujusmodi verba exstant in historiæ monumentis: An non multæ Josaphati orationes et facta tum ineuntis ætatis tirocinii defecta in libris Iei vatis, Ananis filii, perscripta sunt?

Caeterum præclare divinus ille Davides canit: ^A Libera me ab hominum calumnia. Nam de Nabuthæo perscriptum legimus, fuisse qui verbis hujusmodi hominem deferrent: Nabuthæus Deo et regi bene precatus est, hoc est maledixit. Sic enim verbum istud hoc loco debet accipi, quemadmodum et in Jobo legimus: In os profecto bene tibi precabitur. Hoc pacto delatus vitam amisit, Jezabele rem consilio et astu suo procurante. Hinc factum ut magnus ille vates Elias verbis talibus Achaabum compellare non dubitaret: Hæc tibi Dominus denuntiat: Tune hominem occideris et ejus bona possidens? At enim a Domino sic habeto. Quo in loco linxere porci et canes Nabuthæi sanguinem, ibidem canes tuum quoque cruorem lingent, seque scorta tuo sanguine alluent. Quibus ^B verbis Achaabus admodum contristatus non mox pœnas luit propterea quod mærore affectus fuisset. Quin etiam Deus Aderis filium, qui Samariam obsidebat, cum duobus et triginta regibus in potestatem ei dedit; quem ubi vita donatum præter edictum divinum, satellitibus etiam adjunctis, dimisisset, iram Dei adversus se concitavit. Nam is continuo per vatem Michæam (hoc enim ipsius nomen Josephus memoriæ prodidit) quodam a viatore læsum ac vulneratum in capite, verbis hujusmodi allocutus est: Quoniam tu exitialem virum de manu emisisti, tam vita illius tua vita quam populus populo rependetur.

Post hæc tribus elapsis annis, sumpto secum Josaphato Judææ rege, vates suos quadringentos consulit, censerentne sibi cum exercitu pergendum adversus Rema Galaaditidis oppidum, an expeditionem potius omittendam. Respondent Baalis vates omnino pergendum. At cum Josaphatus quæreret ecquis præ- ^C terea Domini vates adesset (ejus enim opera Dominum esse consulendum): Est, inquit Achaabus, adhuc quidam vates cui Michææ nomen. Sed nunquam ille animo meo grata vaticinatur. Nihilominus arcessitur; et primo quidem respondet cundum esse, quod Domino favente regi feliciter res omnes sint successura. Verum deinceps eum obtestante per sacramentum rege, divinam mentem aperit. Tum Achaabo ad Josaphatum dicente: Nonne prædixi vatem hunc mihi nihil boni denuntiare, sed tantum infausta?, subjecit Michæas: Videbam Dominum, Deum Israelitarum, in solio suo considentem, cumque universæ copiæ cœlestes ipsi astarent, hæc fatus est: Quis Achaabum regem Israelicum decipiet, ut cum exercitu Rema Galaaditidis oppidum proficiscatur atque ^D ibi perdat? Et exiit spiritus, et stetit coram Domino, et dixit: Ego decipiam illum. Et dixit Dominus ad eum: In quo? Et ego dixi: Exibo, et ero spiritus mendax in ore omnium prophetarum ejus, et decepi eum. Et dixit: Potes exire, et facito. Hæc autem omnia, ut ait Theodoretus, per prosopopœiam dicta sunt, edocentia nos divinam permissionem. Ita nimirum et ea quæ de Job scripta sunt, in quibus Scriptura ait angelos coram Deo et diabolum in medio eorum adstitisse, et sic f…

But while they persisted in their friendship with Mustapha, claiming to have spoken with him—men who all said they would journey to Rome—and having dismissed the envoys of Amurates with their business unfinished, they returned to the camp and spread the rumor that the Greeks had been won over to Amurates. At the same time, they threatened the soldiers of Mustapha with the worst, as if they were clearly about to perish in Asia, with the return to Europe cut off. As this rumor flew through Mustapha’s camp, and the envoys he himself had sent were not yet present, the spirits of the Turks began to waver, and immediately Zunaites fled to his paternal domain, with the other leaders and troops also slipping away. Upon this, Mustapha fled to the sea to secure his own safety, and betook himself to Europe.

While these things were happening in Asia, the Byzantine Emperor in the Peloponnese was besotted with a certain woman—the daughter of a priest—at a completely inopportune time, meanwhile neglecting the excellent opportunity to exclude Amurates from crossing into Europe. Amurates, having crossed over with his own forces through the help of a certain Genoese shipmaster, pursued Mustapha most fiercely, captured him, and strangled him. Hostile to the Greeks, he besieged Constantinople, though with a futile attempt, for they resisted so bravely that he was compelled to lift the siege. But since he was not willing to grant peace even to the Greeks, they summoned Mustapha—thirteen years of age—the brother of Amurates, and promised to secure the kingdom for him, so that he might create trouble for Amurates. However, he too was led by the Greeks into Asia, and betrayed to Amurates and killed by his tutor, to whom he had been entrusted by his father Mahomet for his upbringing.

Following these events, envoys were sent again to Amurates, especially the illustrious men Notaras and Caroluca, and finally the Greeks obtained peace. While it lasted, the Genoese, provoked by the son of John Manuel, waged war on Constantinople and besieged it; but when they could not capture it, being fortified at Galata (which was a Genoese city across from Byzantium, also having the name Pera), they returned to Italy. Nevertheless, war continued to be waged between the Galatians and the Byzantines until, after many Genoese had been captured by the general John Leontaris, a return to friendship was achieved.

That war finished, the son of John Manuel sent envoys to the Roman pontiff Eugenius, to request that a council be convoked at which the controversies of the Greeks and Latins might be settled. He was testing the spirits of the Westerners in this way, to see if they appeared disposed to return to concord with the Greeks. These envoys set out to the Germans, who, gathered at Basel, were holding a council against Eugenius and, having rejected him, had created Felix, Duke of Savoy, a man of manifest integrity, as supreme pontiff. Therefore, both pontiffs, having equipped triremes, summoned the Byzantine emperor John. For both wished that a council be held under them, and that the religious controversy which existed with the Greeks be finished. When triremes were present from both, the emperor dismissed the embassy of the Basel council with kind words; regarding the Romans, Venetians, and the rest of Italy, he had already decided to travel there, as he had previously arranged.

When he had arrived at Venice, he set out from there for Ferrara, where he had learned that the pontiff Eugenius was residing. When he had come to him, he was wearied by pleas to assist the pontiff in the contention that had arisen with the Germans. From there they set out for Florence, where, when the Greeks had arrived, they dealt much and long with the pontiff so that the affair of the diverse religion might be brought to a happy conclusion. When this had been brought to an end, they sanctioned by writings and sacred protestations that they would henceforth be unanimous in the same religion. This done, the pontiff promoted two most noble men among the Greeks to the order of cardinals and joined them to himself in familiarity: Bessarion, the Trapezuntian of Nicaea, and Isidore, the prelate of Sarmatia or Russia. For he had been greatly helped by their work in entering into concord with the Greeks. Bessarion was endowed with such power of intellect that he did not merely equal the most outstanding of the Greeks, but even surpassed them. In judgment on any matter, he was of great worth. He excelled in such knowledge of Greek and Latin letters that he easily took the palm of erudition among all. Nicholas, who succeeded Eugenius, made much of the man and held him in singular regard. For this reason, he was appointed by him prefect of Bologna, that he might govern it in the pontifical name. However, when that city was agitated by various seditions, Bessarion demonstrated his own divine prudence and virtue in those tumults. It is certain that Isidore, no less wise and a lover of his fatherland, namely Byzantium, was subsequently captured by the Turks when Mahomet the Second stormed the city, for whose salvation Isidore was then fighting bravely. Eugenius returned this man to the number of cardinals, as his authority was held in highest regard among the Greeks, because he thought he would contribute greatly to his own affairs in establishing concord with the Greeks, as indeed happened.

When the Greek emperor sought from the pontiff a garrison to retain Byzantium, the latter replied in such a way that he promised the empire of the Greeks would be his care for the future, and said he would not cease in stirring up the Germans and Hungarians to take up arms against the Turks for the use of the Greeks. These things done, the emperor returns to Byzantium. Returning home, however, the Greeks were no longer willing to abide by those things that we have said were agreed and settled in Italy. Therefore, the Roman pontiff, moved, sent certain learned men to Byzantium to come into conversation with the Greeks; they did not admit the synod convened in Italy nor its decrees. For Marcus, the prelate of Ephesus, and Scholarius, the most learned of the Greeks, were just as unwilling then as before to agree with the Latins. When it came to conversation and disputation, the Romans could accomplish nothing, but returned home with their business unfinished. Moved by this, the pontiff did not send the promised aid to the Greeks; they, themselves estranged from the pontiff,

διαλεχθῆναι πρὸς τὸν Κύριον [to converse with the Lord], the divine Chrysostom says that this is a personification. Josephus, however, says that Baal is the god of the Tyrians, Astarte of the Sidonians, and Baalim the shrine of Baal. And thus much for these matters. ^A Jehoshaphat, although he sought a prophet and learned such things, nevertheless marched off to war with Ahab; yet, on account of his other virtue, as has been said above, he was preserved. Micaiah, however, when thrown into prison by Ahab, said with frankness: "If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken through me." But the divine prophecy concerning Ahab delivered through Elijah also reached its end. Having been wounded, he stood for a long time in his chariot so that he would not cause a rout by flight. The blood flowing from the wound was congealed in the chariot. The charioteer washed this by a fountain, and the dogs licked it up. The harlots also came at dawn to wash themselves according to custom, for the water was stagnant and stained with blood. ^B Joram, the kinsman of Ahab, having emulated the impiety of his father-in-law, met with a punishment worthy of it. For the great prophet Elijah made known the decree by letter: "Thus says the Lord: 'Because you have not walked in the way of Jehoshaphat your father, but have killed your brothers, behold, the Lord strikes a great blow in your house, and you shall be in evil sicknesses, in sickness of the bowels, until your intestines come out.'" The Philistines therefore turned against him and enslaved everyone, and killed all his children except for Ochozias. The disease also fell upon him, and even after death he was not deemed worthy of a royal burial. Truly it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. ^C After him came Ochozias, who himself was an emulator of the impiety of his fathers. Therefore, two captains of fifty were sent to the great Elijah with arrogance, calling him to inquire about the king's sickness; upon which, bringing down fire from above, he consumed them. But here those who accuse the prophet of cruelty are accusing God Himself; for everything is done through Him. A third captain of fifty is therefore sent, and using gentle words, he escaped the punishment. Descending, therefore, and meeting those who had been sent to the idols, he said: "Because there is no God in Israel, do you go to seek Beelzebub, the god of Ekron? The bed on which you have gone up, you shall not come down from." Let them therefore know from this ^D that

^A regarding the thirst of those drinking, the Scripture called the water "honey." Following these things, Joas holds power, who did what was right in the sight of God all the days of the high priest Joiada. Having lived for one hundred and thirty years and died, he was deemed worthy of a royal tomb. But after he died, Joas turned toward impiety. On account of which, prophets were sent to him, the Joas, among whom was also Zacharias, the son of Joiada, whom they stoned inside the open space in the temple. And as he was dying he said, "Look, O Lord, and judge." And he did not fail in his request; for having fallen into an illness, he was slain by his subjects. His son, Amasias, having become king and having conquered the Idumaeans with divine assistance and made slaves of their gods, later the senseless man honored *them* ^B, attributing the victory to them. To whom the prophet said: "I know that the Lord has purposed to destroy you." For he perished similarly to his father. The divine Scripture praises Ozias: "For he was," it says, "seeking the Lord in the fear of the Lord in the days of Zacharias." But after these things, desiring to enter the holy place and to offer incense, and being rebuked by the high priest and the eighty priests—for they said to him, "It is not for you, Ozias, to offer incense, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron"—he said, "Am I not king and clothed in a royal purple robe?" He was therefore rendered leprous on account of this. While he remained inside because of the leprosy, his son Joatham was directing the kingdom. But there was one Zacharias, the son of Joiada, whom Joas stoned, and another who was during the time of Ozias. I think this one is, says Theodoret, he ^C regarding whom the Lord said to Isaiah, "Make me witnesses, faithful men, Urias the priest and Zacharias the son of Barachias." Achaz, the son of Joatham, surpassed all in impiety, on account of which he also found many evils. And not even so did he understand, but, "I will seek," he said, "the gods of the nations who strike me, and I will sacrifice to them, and they will support me." But he also led his sons through fire. But what is this? As Josephus records, he offered one of his sons as a whole burnt offering to Baal. "I think," says Theodoret, "the form of error that has reached until our times is alluded to from this. For once in the year we see fires being lit, and certain boys and men jumping over them, and indeed infants being carried through the flame by their mothers. This seemed to be a certain diversion of evil and purification. I think this accusation was made against Achaz, whom, when he died, they did not deem worthy of royal honor."

^A His son Jezechias was endowed with the highest virtue, and he performed all that his father David had done. Among other things, he destroyed the bronze serpent which Moses had made; for until those days, the children of Israel were burning incense to it. He also took the greatest care of the temple. Then, when there were not enough priests for the sacrifices, as the Book of Chronicles says, the Levites also assisted. This is something we can see even now; for when a priest is not present and the need is pressing, even a deacon is compelled to administer baptism to one who requests it. When Sennacherib had undertaken an expedition against him, he sent to Isaiah, saying: "This day is a day of anguish, and of searching, and of provocation, for the children are come to the birth, and there is no strength to the woman who is giving birth." By this he meant: We are burning and inflamed with anger at hearing the blasphemies of the Rabsaces, yet we are unable to punish the impious. For Sennacherib had ordered him, through the Rabsaces, to say: "Let not your God, in whom you trust, deceive you." But God, as soon as the king went into the temple and prayed, dispatched the prophet Isaiah, announcing the good things that would happen to him, using, among other words, these: "I will shield this city for my own sake and for the sake of David my servant." These things were spoken by God so that Jezechias would not think his prayer was heard because of his own righteousness. From this we learn that the just, even after they are dead, act as patrons of the living. Jezechias, however, both trusted in God and contributed his own diligence. First, he blocked the springs that were before the city; then he raised the towers to a greater height and built another outer wall. It happened also at that time that he fell ill to the point of death, such that, having become humble, he turned to the Lord, ^B as it is related in the Book of Chronicles: "And Jezechias humbled himself," it says, "from the pride of his heart." Since his father, Achaz, had received the prophecy: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive," he thought himself to be the Emmanuel and that the promise would reach its conclusion in him. Wherefore, practicing virginity, he had no desire to enter into marriage. But even when he had seen the destruction of the aliens (for in one night thousands were destroyed by an angel), he became all the more confirmed in his own foolish opinion. Wherefore he was disciplined by the Lord, being afflicted in his foot with a rot; but then God gave him a sign so that he would know he would not die at that time: "Behold, I will turn the shadow of the steps, which the sun has already gone down, ten steps on the steps of your father's house." They say that Achaz had constructed by some mechanism in his house certain steps which were like a clock and measured the path of the sun. Then, therefore, God—so that he might believe what was said (for fifteen years of life were added to him)—caused the shadow of the sun to go backward, since Jezechias himself was also returning from the sunset of his life to a second beginning of life; on account of which the sign of the sun, and no other, was given. ^D

^A And according to Hippolytus, that day became thirty-two hours long; for the sun, having traversed ten levels, ran back over the same ones, and then, having used its own order, came to the sunset having traversed the twelve again. And so much for Hippolytus; but Eustathius, the patriarch of Antioch, says that that day came to be twenty-two hours; for he seems to say that the retrogradation of the sun occurred in the twinkling of an eye, not in ten hours. Thus, that day indeed became twenty-four hours long, in which Jesus, the son of Nave, caused the sun to stand in the very zenith for the duration of a whole day; for it had ascended for six hours, and through similar ones again to the middle of the heaven. ^B Know, however, beloved, that the sun did not stand still primarily, nor did the miracle happen concerning the sun alone, but concerning the first heaven itself; for it being hindered from its forward movement by the divine command, it was an absolute necessity that the sun, which is moved along with it, should also stand still. And be persuaded by the great Maximus, who, in his writings to Thalassius, discusses this matter in these very words: “God restrained the unrestrained course of the sun and the moon in a paradoxical manner, having caused the ever-moving nature of the universe to be motionless. These things, however, the God who works wonders for all things brings about, so that from this he might clearly show that neither law nor necessity is laid upon the stars, just as the many thought, seeing them always moving in the same way. He causes them, therefore, to stand, presenting the power that is inherent in Him over all things, and allows them to be carried again according to the law entrusted to them from the beginning.” ^C Accordingly, Merodach, the king of Babylon, sends his ambassadors to Ezechias on account of both the sickness and the miracle concerning the sun. But he, having passed over all other things, showed his wealth to the ambassadors, on account of which the following things were said to him by Isaias the prophet: “Behold, days are coming, and all that is in your house shall be taken, and they shall go away to Babylon. And your sons, whom you shall beget, shall be eunuchs in the house of the king of Babylon.” By “sons” he means the three children together with the prophet Daniel; for these have become descendants of Ezechias. Therefore, the Scripture is accustomed to name descendants as sons, just as it also calls David the father of Ezechias; for Ezechias is not a son of David, but certainly his descendant. Merodach, however, as has been said from above, sent to Ezechias for the sake of the miracle concerning the sun; for the Ares [i.e., the Chaldean astronomer] says that its retrogradation was most paradoxical. ^D sendit, nisi propter prodigium illud de sole. Narrat enim re- trogradationem ejus tantam fuisse, ut rem plane inusitatam et paradoxam judicarit.

certainly would not have received such gentle treatment from them, nor would they have so readily accepted his suggestions. This, therefore, was the reason, according to the opinion of our holy fathers and teachers discussed above, why the ^A all-wicked one used the serpent—and no other instrument—to deceive our first parents.

But whence is it clear that the devil spoke through the serpent, since Scripture says nothing of the sort anywhere? Behold, for even Paul makes mention of the serpent, saying: "I am afraid that the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness." Whence, then, is it clear that the devil speaks through the serpent? The Lord Himself removed the difficulty, lest anyone should attribute sin to the serpent alone. For to the Jews, when they said to Him, "We are from God," He said, "If you were from God, you would do the will of God. Now you are from your father the devil. He was a murderer from the beginning." Hence it is clearly demonstrated that by speaking through the serpent itself, the devil brought about the human race's subjection to death. If this were not so, he who was immortal would not have become mortal. And if you do not believe what is said, trust the wise Solomon, who says: "God did not make death, but created man for incorruption; but through the envy of the devil, death entered the world." It is therefore manifest ^C that the all-wicked one himself spoke through the serpent; for if this were not so, the Lord would not have called him a murderer.

And since these things are so, for what reason does Scripture mention only the serpent, and remain completely silent about matters concerning the devil? Because of the idolatrous madness of the Jews. For, as the divine Anastasius of Sinai says, so they would not, upon learning that there are certain other natures, deify them, the Mosaic book does not discourse ^D on the nature of demons or angels. For if, even after so many miracles, they declared the image of the calf to be God, what would they not have done if they had received the knowledge of invisible natures? That these things are so is clear from what...

^A and returned, bringing with him the holy tile—that hand-made-by-no-human-effort imprint of the form of Christ our God, which he found in Hierapolis, having coveted that city—and a lock of the hair of John the Baptist, matted with blood. Even though Nicephorus was such a man, and had increased the Roman state to such a degree (for he occupied more than a hundred cities and fortresses in Cilicia, Syria, and Phoenicia, the greatest and most illustrious of which were Anazarbus, Adana, and the others, or Mamistra, also called Mopsus' Hearth, Tarsus, Pagrae, Synephium, Aleppo, and Laodicea, and moreover made those in Phoenicia, namely Tripoli and Damascus, tributary), nevertheless he became hateful to every man, and everyone thirsted to see his destruction. For even if many most beautiful qualities shone in him, yet two evils stained him: his illicit union with Theophano, and his miserliness and lack of generosity toward all.

For a famine once gripped the city, such that one medimnos [of wheat] was sold for a gold coin. Phocas learned of this and remedied the affliction in a petty manner; for having opened the public granaries, he ordered two medimnoi to be sold for a gold coin, not imitating in this the Macedonian Basil. For that emperor, seeing the Byzantines mourning and learning that the famine was the cause of their sorrow, ordered that twelve medimnoi be sold for a gold coin.

Also, when the Emperor Phocas at that very time had gone out as if to exercise the army, and a man white-haired with age came and tried to be enrolled among the soldiers, he said to him: “But you, O man, being old, how are you eager to be enrolled in my army?” The other, answering aptly, said: “I am much stronger now than when I was in my prime.” The same emperor asked: “And how so?” The man, using irony, said that he had previously loaded two mules with the grain of one gold coin, but under his reign, he was able to carry on his shoulders the grain bought for two gold coins. Understanding the irony, he went away, not at all disturbed.

Furthermore, having overthrown the cities counted above, he left only Antioch passed by, even though he was capable of overthrowing it. He left it specifically, fearing the rumor that was spread; for it was said that as soon as the city of Antioch was captured, the emperor would die. Wherefore, having left Michael Bourtzes as guardian in those parts, and a certain eunuch named Peter as commander of the camp, and having enjoined them by no means to assault Antioch, he came to the imperial city. But Bourtzes, wishing to gain a reputation for himself, despised his orders, and having besieged the city in every way, captured it. Phocas, learning this, was not a little vexed, and he lashed out at Bourtzes with insults and removed him from his command. From this, therefore, the hatred against him took its beginning; in addition to these things, also those under his hand [to the frequent...]

^A Although God led these to him, and although He subjected all things under his feet, as David says, yet sin deprived him of this dominion too. But how did it deprive him? Not because such dominion was inherently susceptible to anarchy, as most people suppose, but because Adam, by transgressing the commandment given to him, fell away from all those things which had been entrusted to him by God through grace.

So it is, most holy one, even regarding immortality itself. For if we believe that God does all things and transforms them by His own will, as the prophet Amos also says concerning this, we must of necessity believe that He makes the mortal out of the immortal, and conversely, makes the immortal out of the mortal and corruptible. Therefore, let no one say that Adam was created susceptible to death from the beginning, if indeed after a short time he fell into corruption and death. Pay no mind to them, since they are clearly playing with things that are not for play. For at the same time that Adam transgressed the commandment, at that same time he became susceptible to death. And the Holy Scripture confirms this word, saying: "On whatever day you eat from the plant, you shall die the death." And what need is there to say much? If Adam had been created susceptible to death from the beginning, Solomon would not have said, "God did not make death." For these things are in complete harmony with one another. It appears, therefore, from this that at the moment he transgressed the commandment, at that same moment he became what he was not. But what is this? Was Adam not susceptible to death from the beginning? But having eaten from the wood, only then did he become susceptible to death. For, it says, at the hour you eat from the plant, you shall die the death. And do not wonder at this. For even if God imparted to him an intellectual soul, so that he was thenceforth immortal ^B for all time—and the Golden-Tongued one confirms this word—yet the transgression of the commandment, as has been said before, both stripped him of immortality and cast him out of Paradise, and caused him to turn back to the earth from whence he was taken. The prophet Amos, therefore, well said that God does and transforms all things by His own will for our benefit.

Recognize this, then. For if, as the argument has shown from many things, Adam was created by God incorruptible and immortal, whence then do those people launch into saying he was a medium between immortality and mortality? ^C Mortal, Adam could not be from the beginning—not because the body is not by its own nature mortal and dissoluble, but because the will of God is a stronger bond for every thing than that it could be dissolved for any reason, according to the golden doctrine of Plato in the *Timaeus*, where he introduces God the Creator addressing the gods thus: "Attend to these things, you who have arisen from the sowing of the gods: those works of which I am parent and effector are not dissoluble against my will: although everything that is bound can be solved. But it is by no means in the nature of goodness to wish to dissolve a bond. But since you have been born, you cannot be immortal or indissoluble. Yet you shall not be dissolved by any means, nor shall any fates of death destroy you, nor is fraud mightier than my counsel: which is a greater bond for your perpetuity than those by which you were bound when you were being begotten," as M. Tullius translated Plato's words into Latin. However, what Glycas says, that Adam began to be able to die after sin, does not look to free will but to the condition of the body; for even before sin, by his own choice, he could die—namely, by sinning—and fall into a mortal condition. Let Peter Lombard be consulted, Book II of the *Sentences*, dist. XIX, and Thomas, I, I, Q. xcvii, art. 1, where it is shown that Adam was immortal only by the gift of God, not by his own nature, which they learned from Augustine, *De civitate Dei*, bk. XIII, ch. 20, 23; bk. VIII, *De Genesi ad litteram*, ch. 4 and 5, and the author of the *Questions of the Old and New Testament*, qu. 19.

It seems rightly said that Adam could be considered a medium between mortality and immortality before sin: for he was immortal by the gift of God, mortal by nature and condition; immortal if he had wished to remain obedient, mortal if he had failed by sinning against God. Excellently, Peter Lombard, Book II of the *Sentences*, dist. XIX: "The first man, therefore..."

EPISTLE VIII

First of all, it is necessary to speak concerning these things, O divinely-like man, as to what is the condition laid up there for the just, and how each one of them and in what manner they will rest after the life here; for thus the discussion concerning this head will become more evident to those who attend. For if we hear our Savior Jesus Christ saying in the Gospels, "In my Father's house there are many mansions" (John XIV, 2), he does not thereby make mention of a difference of dwellings raised up here or there and allotted to the just, but rather the properties of the charismata in reference to the evangelical and divine Word. For the rest, the difference is in the charismata; for the mansion is one and not many. But what is that mansion, and whence are the charismata distributed to the just? Our Lord Jesus Christ himself is then established as all things to all. He himself is the mansion, and the ineffable joy of the just; he himself is the enjoyment, he himself is the resurrection of all. And this is manifest from those things which [Gregory] the Theologian is found saying in this way: "Henceforth I will not cast off what was agreed upon by me in baptism, so that I might not fall from the blessedness of that place. And this is the more expressive comprehension of the Trinity."

In addition to these, the most holy Barlaam, having been asked what the kingdom of heaven is, gave such an answer to that Joasaph: "As I have learned from the Scripture, it is to become near to the contemplation of the holy Trinity; and with unveiled face to behold its glory." Hence, all the just will gaze upon the intelligible sun, and will become participants of that divine light, even if not all equally; but each one according to his own purity. For just as this sensible sun is set forth for the sight of all, and it sends forth its rays to one less, and to another more vehemently; but just as it is received by each accordingly, according to the disposition of the eyes; so you must believe it will be then concerning that inaccessible splendor, and those who cling to it. For according to the blessed Paul, a transformation

^A they contend with their whole heart that he had, and they do not pronounce him immortal in every way according to the dignity conferred upon him before sin. Let them give an answer to these points. But they could not say anything. For those men, as you see, do not only insist that he was in a middle state, but they also do not hesitate to attribute natural afflictions to him who, before sin, was free from corruption and destruction and impassible. And they do this without any proof, as was said, from Scripture. But do not fear on this account. For that man was of such a nature from the beginning, namely incorruptible and impassible, and that in some way he did not suffer, being superior to any corruption, the Gold-Tongued [Chrysostom] showed in his seventeenth homily on the *Hexaemeron*, saying that man before sin possessed such impassibility as angels have, and that he was a participant in ineffable glory; and he showed it much more clearly in his book *On the Statues*, since he was making an argument about this. For because some were calumniating this corruptible body to such an extent that they even called it unworthy of the creation of God—for they said that if it were a creature of the divine hands, it would not be subject to such a myriad of afflictions—he used arguments against them like this: "Let no one speak to me of this man who has offended, who has been condemned, who has been disgraced. But if you wish to learn what kind of body God fashioned for us from the beginning, let us go to paradise and look at the man who was created at the beginning." For that body was not then corruptible and subject to time, but, like some golden statue having come forth from a furnace and shining brilliantly, thus that body was exempt from all corruption; and ^B neither did toil trouble it, nor did sweat damage it, nor did anxieties plot against it, nor did sadnesses besiege it, nor was it vexed by dirt, nor tears, nor any other such passion. But after he behaved insolently toward his benefactor, and hoped to become God, and took up an understanding beyond his own dignity, then, truly then, God, schooling him, made him corruptible and mortal, and bound him to these many necessities. Thus far that most divine John. Therefore, the discourse rightly called that body incorruptible. For that which is not subject to any kind of corruption is certainly incorruptible. But if it was incorruptible, how, I ask, and in what way did it suffer? We desire to learn this. For we cannot understand by our own reflections how a body [remained] from any corruption... ^C according to the nature of an earthly body, he was immortal in a certain way, in one sense, because he could not die, and mortal in a certain way, because he could die. For in that first state he had the ability to die and the ability not to die. Therefore, Augustine says of him in book XII of *The City of God*, chap. 23: "He was prevented from the necessity of death not by an absolute and indissoluble immortality, but by the tree of life." It is therefore a source of wonder that Glycas is not afraid to attack these such manifest things. See a little lower down.

[Note: The remaining paragraph summarizes that man is said to be free from natural pains before sin in the sense that he was not disturbed by passions that cause nature to decay, but rather possessed capacities whereby nature is restored, as Thomas teaches (I, q. 97, art. 2). Hence, the great Augustine writes in book XIV of *The City of God*, chap. 10: "How happy, then, were they, and by no perturbations of mind were they agitated, and by no bodily inconveniences were they harmed..."]

^A of it; and he said: "My father committed many wicked acts from his youth, and in his old age he repented. And now I will go as my soul desires, and afterwards I will return to the Lord." For this reason God did not wait, because he was not brought to his senses by the things his father suffered. Amosus formed a certain wicked thought in his mind, for he said: "My father committed many wicked acts from his youth, and in his old age he repented. Therefore I also at this age will carry on according to the lust of my soul, and then I will turn to the Lord." On this account, God did not wait for his repentance, since he had not become better because of his father’s calamities. Josiah his grandson succeeded him in the kingdom. This one acquired the piety of his ancestor David. And first of all he took care of the temple, having destroyed, among other things, the house which Solomon had built for Astarte, the abomination of the Sidonians; then, having heard the divine words in Deuteronomy, he both tore his garments and lamented greatly. For this reason God indeed pronounced the sentence against the people and the temple, but for the king He predicted good things: "Because," He says, "you heard my words and your heart was softened, and you tore your garments and wept before me, your eyes will not see all the evils that I am bringing upon this house." He smashed the vessels of the idols into the brook of Cedron, and he burned the priests of the idols in Bethel, according to the prophecy of Joel, that man of God. In the times of King Josiah, as George says, the city of Byzantium was founded by Byzas, king of Thrace (40). ^B It must be known that Nebuchadnezzar pillaged Jerusalem three times: under Joakim, under Jechonias, and later under Zedekiah, as George says. Theodoret, following the most divine Jeremiah, says that Joakim and Jechonias are the same person. Zedekiah, according to the great Epiphanius, was blinded, led off to Babylon, and cast into a mill for twenty-six years, even if he was later honored. Thus, the years of those who reigned in Jerusalem from David until Zedekiah amount to 498, and there were twenty-two kings in all from the single line of David. Those who reigned in Samaria were 18, from Jeroboam until Oseas, under whom Samaria ceased and perished at the hands of Salmanasar. In place of the Samaritans, Assyrians settled there, from whom the heretical Samaritans and Sadducees ^C arose. These, being consumed by lions that suddenly set upon them, and having learned from the old men there the God honored in that place, and that it was from Him that such things were suffered—though some say Byzas. From this passage, and certain others, the reader will learn that the chronicle of George Syncellus is not complete and finished in all its parts, as it appeared in print, issued from the manuscript copy of the Royal Library by the Rev. Father Jacques Goar of the Order of Preachers at the Royal Press, but that certain things are still missing from it, to be supplied from other, more abundant records, if any should happen to occur. Let the reader observe, however, that our Glycas was deceived while he confused King Jechonias with his successor Zedekiah, contrary to the authority ^D of the sacred pages. For neither was Zedekiah, when led to Babylon, honored later, but Joachim, the son of Joakim, who was also called Jechonias, concerning whom the sacred writer says in the last chapter of the fourth book of Kings: "And it happened in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Joachim, king of Judah." It happened indeed in the thirty-seventh year of the transmigration of Joachim, king of Judah, in the 12th month, on the 27th day of the month, Evilmerodach, King of Babylon, lifted up the head of Joachim, king of Judah, from prison, and he spoke to him, etc.

^A for the sake of reminder and instruction? That which suffers is of necessity corruptible. But if Adam was corruptible, because he was subject to suffering, how do they again insist that he was a nature intermediate between the incorruptible and the corruptible? These ^B things seem to us, for the time being, to be irrational and very unlearned; for if, as they say, the divine Gregory said that the body of Adam was a medium between magnitude and humility, that is between immortality and mortality, why did this great man beforehand call it temporary? Let them render an answer to these points. For if it was temporary, it is evident that it was also mortal. And if Adam was mortal, because he had a body that was temporary, how did he later say it was a medium between magnitude and humility? Understand therefore, O holy head, that in discussing a few ^C things regarding the common nature of men, the divine Gregory gave, I know not how, the opportunity to the aforementioned Father to opine that he was discussing such things regarding the first Adam. Thus therefore, most holy one, even the medium of magnitude and humility was not written by the great man, as I suppose, concerning corruption and incorruption, but altogether concerning soul and body. For the soul of a man, having received its existence through the divine inbreathing, was admittedly greater than this clay body. And what need is there to say much? ^D If you should carefully examine the theological syllables, and furthermore the explanation issued upon them, then you have to learn what the difference is among them, and that such an explanation seems to oppose the pious rationale to a very high degree. For at once, the "temporary and immortal," and "the existence in order to suffer, and by suffering, that one be reminded and instructed," and "that the animal be managed from thence, and transferred elsewhere," none of these will in any way fit that progenitor ^A and first Adam; unless perhaps we say that even before the transgression he was subject to corruption and mortality—he who was created for incorruption according to the image of the eternity of God. It would have been better to be silent on these matters, since we have perceived that the divine Gregory himself said nothing of the sort, at least concerning the first Adam for the time being. For how could he, if in proceeding further he even gives him a body exempt from all corruption, ^B and confirms the argument in which he spoke thus word for word: "And without any covering and protection; for such it was fitting for him who was from the beginning to be"? On which it is also worthy to note: if it was fitting for him who was from the beginning to be such—not in need, that is, of any covering and protection, and this is entirely perfect impassibility—it is evident that the "temporary and immortal" and "the existence in order to suffer, and by suffering, that one be reminded and instructed," pertained to the common nature of men... ^C (Thus Plato writes in his *Statesman* that in the golden age men lived for the most part nude and without any coverings under the open sky. "Naked, indeed," he says, "and unburdened, and wandering, they lived for the most part.") ^D (Lucretius, book V: "Nor did they yet know how to handle things with fire, nor to use/ Skins, and clothe the body with the spoils of beasts./ But they frequented groves, and hollow mountains and forests,/ And amid the thickets were hiding their squalid limbs, etc.") (Not only as concerning the soul, which the Stoics strove to introduce, but also concerning the body. Concerning the apathia of the Stoics, see what we have noted lower down regarding this same epistle.)

801 ^A nor was man merely the handiwork of divine hands.” And these things, indeed, this aforementioned divine man discourses concerning paradise; from which it is possible for the attentive reader to learn that he is a more divine creature, and superior to this corruptible creation. For if this were not so, never would that Adam, while dwelling therein, have exulted and rejoiced; never would he who was incorruptible, living in an incorruptible state, have enjoyed a blessed life. That these things are so, and that that place was of such a kind, the great Basil himself clearly demonstrated regarding paradise, discoursing as follows: “Thus also, he made the habitancy of man the work of his own hand, a place superior to the whole of creation, situated in a conspicuous spot, inaccessible to darkness, and on account of its height, easily seen; no hurricane there, no tempest, no hail, no wintry freezing; the earth was rich and soft, watered by most fertile streams. But how shall I bring into your sight the things that are in that fatherland? How shall I call you back to it from this exile?” Learn therefore from this, O sacred head, of what nature paradise is. For even if we grant, along with all the rest, that it also is bounded by the ocean which encompasses the whole earth, just as the majority have thought, nevertheless, consider it to be superior to this life which is being altered and is changing at every hour. For if this were not so, it would not have been said to be situated in a conspicuous spot; it would not have been ^B higher than the whole earth; it would not have been adorned with ever-blooming and immortal plants. That these things are so, and that paradise is above this earth, the one wise in divine things, Theodoret, also indicated, saying thus: “Out of the whole earth, then, as a certain excellent spot towards the East, God having chosen what is called Eden, in it he constructed paradise; in which, desiring to honor man whom he had created, he commanded him to dwell.” Attend therefore: for it appears from this that paradise was free from corruption. For if this were not so, he would not have placed man in it when he wished to honor him; and these things are attested by the entire holy Scripture, which testifies that this was created free from corruption. And what need is there to say many things? Paradise was free from corruption; if it were bounded by the ocean which encompasses the whole earth, as they say, that universal deluge would necessarily have reached even it, ^C and corrupted it along with the rest as being subject to corruption, since at that time the water, as the Scripture says, was raised fifteen cubits above all the mountains. It is manifest, therefore, also from this that paradise is superior to this mutable life. But if it is superior to this life, it is manifest that it is also free from corruption; and if it is free from corruption, it is an absolute necessity that all the plants in it also be superior to corruption. For if, as some think, these were subject to corruption and change, then it must be said that he who tasted of the sensible food was entirely in the state of participation in it. And what need is there to say many things? If paradise was corruptible, the most divine Ambrose and the martyr of Christ, Justin, would not have said that it was shameful to assert that the ^D of [the world...].

^A For the phrase "according to the image" signifies nothing other than the principle of rule and dominion. For just as the God of all things holds rule over all, both visible and invisible, being the creator of all, so too, having created this rational animal, He willed him to have dominion over all seen things; for which reason He also graced him with the essence of his soul, willing him to be immortal for all time. But do not doubt what is said, since even Solomon set this forth, saying: "God created man for incorruption, and [as] an image of His own eternity" (Wis. 2:23). And his state would indeed have been thus perpetual; but because he slipped through sloth and transgressed the commandment given to him, He did not even then turn away from him completely; but having deprived him of immortality, and having condemned him to death, He left him in almost the same principle of rule.

^B 5: It is not at all implausible to say that the likeness to God resides in man according to the principle of rule. For the governing of all things upon the earth has been given to him.

He was not, however, cast out of it entirely, lest the grace be found worthless, but it was mutilated. For it was not just that the one who was defeated should also be crowned, but that he should be disciplined by the fear of wild beasts.

Furthermore, even having transgressed the commandment, He did not turn away from him completely, but having deprived him of immortality, and having condemned [him] to death, He left him in that same rule. Therefore, it is clear that before the eating, man was immortal; for if he were not at that time, He would not have brought death upon him after the eating in the order of punishment, as the golden-tongued John says in his sixteenth homily. But it is worth attending here. For God did not only will to appoint him king of all things seen, but He also showed his established rule through the works themselves. For He brought all the animals to him at that time, even though He was not ignorant of the future, and so all things, standing in a servile state, received their names from him. Thus, therefore, He honored him through his intellectual soul and immortality; for if, inasmuch as he possesses reason, he holds power even today. For if you see wild beasts exercising arrogance and sometimes looking shamelessly at him, do not wonder; for even this happens by all means according to divine economy, so that from this we might be reminded, even against our will, of the sin on account of which we were condemned to fear and tremble before those subjected to our rule. ^C It is not, however, inconsistent with truth to say that the likeness to God also exists in man in respect to his capacity to rule. For the power to rule over all things on earth was given to him. Theodoret asks, in question 20 on Genesis: Some have said that man was created according to the image of God in respect to the faculty of ruling, using a most clear argument from the fact that the Creator added, “And let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and all the reptiles that creep upon the earth.” For just as He Himself holds the rule over all, so He gave to man dominion over the irrational animals. Theodoret himself was of this opinion in his comment on 1 Corinthians 11:7; also Isidore of Pelusium, book 3, epistle 95; John Chrysostom, homily 10 on Genesis; and Diodorus of Tarsus, according to Theodoret. And Augustine seems not to dissent from this in book 1 of *De Genesi contra Manichæos*, chapter 17.

Isidore of Pelusium, epistle 95, book 3, teaches that Adam's rule was indeed mutilated after the sin, but not entirely taken away. For he was not cast out of all rule, lest the grace be found empty and void, but it was truncated. For it was not just that he who was defeated should also be crowned, but that he should be chastised by the fear of wild beasts. Thus our Glycas in the first part of his *Annales*.

Moreover, He did not entirely turn away from him [who had] transgressed His commandment, but having stripped him of immortality and condemned him to death, He left him in almost the same rule. For man, by means of the reason with which he is endowed, still retains all things in his power today. Although we see wild beasts occasionally rushing at man at their own will, we ought not to marvel at this so much, since it happens by divine counsel, so that in this way we may be admonished, even against our will, of the sin for whose cause this punishment befell us: that we should fear those subjected to our rule. The same is taught by John Chrysostom, homily 9 on Genesis. Excellently, Ambrose, book 6 of *Hexaemeron*: "Nothing seemed more robust in the created order than the elephant, nothing so terrible or tall: nothing so wild as lions or tigers: and these serve man, and lay aside their nature through human instruction; they forget what they were born, they put on what they are ordered. Why say more! They are taught like little ones, they serve like the infirm, they are beaten like the timid, they are corrected like subjects: they pass into our customs, because they have lost their own motions."

Man was immortal not only as regards the soul, but the soul itself, before the first man's sin, was the provider of immortality for the body, as Thomas teaches, 1, 1, Quest. xcv, Art. 1. For he writes: For his body was not indissoluble by any vigor of immortality; but there was in the soul a certain power, supernaturally given by God, by which the body was able to be preserved from all corruption…

generation of those who were allotted to rule. Christ was born, he who was also the expectation of the nations. This man, Herod, as has been recounted, having fought alongside Augustus Caesar with his own expenses when he marched against Cleopatra, received the kingship in Judea as a sort of honorary gift from him. And concerning these matters, so be it.

When Nebuchadnezzar was boasting and speaking great things regarding the beautiful city which he had built, a voice came from heaven saying: "Nebuchadnezzar, your kingdom has passed from you, and they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts, and they shall feed you grass like an ox. And seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men." And in that very hour these things were fulfilled, and along with the others, his hair was magnified like a lion’s, and his nails like a bird’s. He suffered these things because he boasted about the vision of the image; for from that point he supposed himself to be a god. Whence he also set up his own image for the sake of it being worshipped, and he lit that furnace. After this, he sees a second dream: a tree reaching to heaven, covered on all sides with birds. A voice from above threatened the cutting down of the tree, without its root, however. Daniel clarifies this vision, and says that for seven years he would herd with the beasts on the mountains, then return to his kingdom. And this is indeed what happened.

Furthermore, when Nebuchadnezzar was boasting magnificently regarding the name of that city which, by building it, he had brought to impressive elegance, a voice from heaven was heard, which uttered words of this sort: "Your kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar, has now departed from you, and you will be driven away from the gatherings of mortals; you will live among wild beasts; you will feed on the grass of the field; and seven years will be spent by you in this way, until you acknowledge that there is a certain Most High, by whose judgment and power the kingdoms of mortals are held." When these things had been spoken, the outcome answered in that very hour. For among other things, his hair grew to the size of lion's hair, and likewise he acquired claws that matched the claws of birds. He suffered these things because, among other reasons, he had taken too great airs after the vision he saw in his sleep; for he thought he was a god. Led by this opinion, he erected his own statue so that it might be worshipped, and he even lit a furnace into which those who refused to do what was commanded would be thrown.

Following these, he had that other dream in which he saw a tree reaching even to heaven, in which birds of every kind were singing. A voice issued from heaven which threatened the cutting down of the tree, the root being excepted, however. Daniel also interprets that dream, and predicts that it would come to pass that he would wander for seven years among the mountain beasts; when that time passed, he would recover his kingdom, just as also occurred.

Nebuchadnezzar’s successor in the empire was his son, and after him another son, Belshazzar. When this man had given a banquet and invited his magnates, he sat drinking and gluttonizing, having for service at such a banquet those sacred vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away from the divine temple in Jerusalem. On account of this, God is angered. Because of this, He decrees the total destruction of those who despise Him. Belshazzar therefore sees on the plaster of the wall of the house in which he was sitting, while he was celebrating the banquet, the knuckles of a hand and letters declaring: "Mene, Tekel, Phares." Whence the king is not a little troubled by these things. He asks his wise men about them; but they swear that they know nothing. The prophet Daniel is also summoned; for the prophetic power in him had become clearly manifest when he both spoke and clarified that marvelous vision of Nebuchadnezzar. For he saw in a dream a multi-colored image and a stone cut without hands from a mountain, which shattered the image. But he had forgotten the vision. Having become awake, he sought to learn the vision. And while all his wise men were at a loss, and...

^A And thus he speaks word for word: "Enoch was pleasing to God, and he is transferred." And observe the goodness of the Master. For when he had found a man who had performed the duties of virtue, he did not deprive him of that dignity which he had bestowed upon the first-formed man before the transgression of the commandment. But what was the dignity which God bestowed upon the first man in the beginning? It was to be incorruptible, immortal, and exempt from destruction, as the argument has already clearly shown. This dignity Adam indeed received, but he lost it nonetheless, because he transgressed the commandment and because he touched the tree with a perverse design. Wherefore, so that we do not despair completely, as though we were never to recover that immortality, he transfers Enoch, deems him worthy of incorruptibility, and thus prepares him to live for ages, teaching by this that our mortal nature awaits the boundaries of that immortality ^B from which it fell through the transgression of sin. Take heed, therefore. For if this is so, what need is there to say more? For if that first man possessed this incorruptibility, which God taught that the mortal nature awaits by transferring Enoch, it appears clearly that man was created by God from the beginning such as the divine oracles declare he will rise from the dead. So do not hesitate. Reflect with yourself on what Anastasius of Sinai also set forth most clearly in his oration *On the Resurrection* concerning these things in this manner ^C: "Such a body is raised from the dead as it was from the beginning, having cast off all that had befallen it on account of sin." Attend, therefore: if it rises such as it was from the beginning—and it is certain that the body then rising will be superior to death and corruption, which the great Paul testifies: "It is necessary..." [In this section, the text follows the argumentation of the Latin doctors, in particular as noted by Augustine, *De peccatorum meritis et remissione*, book 3, affirming that Enoch and Elijah do not remain alive in any other way than the first man and his descendants, had he not sinned, would have been immortal. For if God, he says, provided for the Israelites that their garments and sandals did not wear out for so many years, what is the wonder if the same power were provided to an obedient man, so that, having an animate and mortal body, he might have in it a certain state of life without decay of years, ^D at a time which God might will, to move from mortality to immortality without undergoing intermediate death? For just as this very flesh which we now have is not non-vulnerable because it is not necessary that it be wounded, so that body was not non-mortal because it was not necessary that it die. I believe such a condition was granted even to those who were translated from here without death, while still in an animate and mortal body. For neither did Enoch and Elijah wither from old age through so long a time, nor yet do I believe them to have been already changed into that spiritual quality of body which is promised in the resurrection, etc.] [Augustine, *De civitate Dei*, book 13, chapter 20, speaks thus concerning the body of the saints restored in the final resurrection: "Not only will it not be such as it is now in every best state of health, but not even such as it was in the first men before sin. Who, though they would not have died unless they had sinned, used food like men, not yet carrying spiritual, but as yet earthly animate bodies." Chapter 23 follows: "The first man was made of the earth, earthy, into a living soul, not into a life-giving spirit, which was reserved for him through the merit of obedience. Therefore, his body, which required food and drink so that it would not be afflicted by hunger and thirst, and was restrained from the necessity of death not by that absolute and indissoluble immortality, but by the tree of life, and was kept in the flower of youth, was without doubt not spiritual, but animate; never to die, however, unless he had sinned by transgressing the judgment of the One who foretold and warned."]

^A others adopted other such notions out of poor judgment. Whence it is that even the older of the ecclesiastical expositors—Philo the philosopher and Papias of Hierapolis, who was contemporary with the Apostles, Irenæus of Lyons, Justin the martyr and philosopher, Clement the secretary, and the divine Cappadocian Gregories—while they wished to overturn these most shameful notions, yet, at the same time, looking to the divinely inspired Scripture, as Paul counsels, they contemplated all matters regarding Paradise spiritually, truly handling their own treatises for the sake of dispensation [oikonomikos].

But perhaps you produce the great Basil, the golden-tongued and divine John, the blessed Epiphanius, and the most divine Cyril, and you say that they went through all matters in Paradise according to the letter. We know this also, and we would not deny it. But observe the dispensation [oikonomia] of the divine, God-minded Fathers; observe that Davidic utterance receiving its completion in them, which says: “A wise man will dispense his words in judgment.” For when they found the execrable Origen allegorizing the entire Hexaemeron into mythical tragedies, understanding nothing according to the letter—for he spoke vacuously of Adam and the Paradise as incorporeal, and understood all other things intellectually—they decided to leave aside the allegorists and to interpret their own treatises on the Hexaemeron according to the letter, and most wisely so. For they would not have called the fig tree a fig, and the fig again the tree of eating, if they had heard anyone speaking vainly about that first woman in relation to a tree of eating. ^B That Adam did not experience sensible eating in Paradise, the golden-tongued John himself, who used such great condescension [synkatabasis], clearly showed in his homilies on the Hexaemeron, by saying: “Adam had a wonderful life; for just as an angel, so did man dwell upon the earth, clothed in a body, yet existing outside of bodily needs.” If, therefore, he was superior to bodily needs, how or in what manner was he drawn to eating, neither exhaling his flesh through transpiration, nor being compelled by nature itself, as he possessed total freedom from passions? It appears, therefore, from this that that eating was something else, which the plants in Paradise provided to Adam, if indeed sensible eating is the replenishment of that which flows out secretly. And thus matters stand in this regard.

Do not approach the divine Scripture in a cursory manner, nor choose to attend to some teachers while thoughtlessly overlooking and turning away from others; for this is not without danger. But strive to reconcile all of them together with good will, as having spoken in one and the same Spirit. If they seem perhaps to differ among themselves, blame not the teachers themselves, but the times and the circumstances. For these, too, according to the blessed Paul, ^C striving for all things, by means of dispensation...

^A sleep, sweat, and all such things as entered into human life after the transgression. And why? In order that, having refined all these in the fire of the divinity, he might purify humanity and restore it again to the ancient dignity of incorruption, and impassibility, and immortality. For this reason, also, in becoming incarnate, he did not see fit to wear the body of the first Adam; for that body, being incorrupt, as that divine man already mentioned ^B says, had no need of healing. Rather, he assumed my flesh, which had fallen ill and turned aside, that he might heal it and deliver it from the passions to which man fell subject after sin; and that he might bring us back to himself—we who, because of wickedness, had flowed away from existence, as the divine Theologian Gregory says—through his incarnation. He is, therefore, as has been said, a man even as we are; he does all things and suffers for our salvation all those things that are recorded in the holy Gospels; finally, he is nailed to the cross, he is put to death, ^C and is deemed worthy of burial according to the Jewish law. Then why does he rise naked from the tomb, leaving the burial cloths there? He did this altogether to show that his most holy body was transformed into the incorrupt and immortal, and that it became such as the body of Adam was from the beginning, when, being naked, it was not in need of any covering, since it was not lacking the immortality bestowed by grace.

Thus, therefore, most holy one, the Lord’s body also, because it was subject to corruption before the passion, necessarily ^D stood in need of the protection of garments. But after the passion and the resurrection, having become incorrupt, it no longer stood in need of any covering. It was transformed, and as has been said, became incorrupt through the divinity of the Word dwelling within it, so that the whole nature of men might share in incorruption from that source and return to the ancient dignity of immortality. For if this were not the case, if he did not intend to renovate man, who had been broken by sin, and restore him to be as he was from the beginning, what else would have compelled him to become man as we are, and to do and suffer everything that the evangelical account has taught us? Let them go, therefore. For see how the Theologian Gregory also presents this very thing, discoursing thus: "A head of the mysteries of Christ is my perfection, and recreation, and return to the first Adam." If therefore, most holy one, God came to us in the flesh in order to refashion man who had been broken, and to renovate him who had grown old through sin, and to bring him back to his original dignity—that is, to that immortal and indestructible state, as the discourse has argued above—then those who dogmatize otherwise from their own heads, and who do not walk in accordance with the orthodox mind of the Church, are in error. Let them therefore go...

^A ...those who in their ignorance ended their lives in impiety; we made before Him such a response, saying: "For the salvation of mankind [the Word] truly became man." On which one might also be at a loss, saying: "Why did the events of the Incarnation not take place in the times before, so that from this everyone might have known the mystery concerning Christ?" But since we have heard the Lord in the Gospels saying: "Father, the hour has come," that is, the proper time, which was foreordained before the foundation of the world for the salvation of men (for if this were not so, He would not have said, "The Son of man goes according to the appointed time"), who is so confident in himself as to oppose so clearly those things which the Lord himself affirms? And this time seemed fitting, and suitable to the divine will, because that most holy Virgin ^B who was to serve the mystery concerning Christ was then brought into the world, and because at that time the disease of wickedness was waning (according to the divine Gregory of Nyssa), which had from the beginning afflicted the nature of humanity. For if He had become man beforehand, the wickedness that dwelt within would not have easily yielded to the remedies; nor would the nations, being called at that time, have heard; for a malady that is crude, as a certain wise man said, does not yield—that is, a corrupted humor that has penetrated into the depths is not easily drawn forth by the applications of medicines.

^C ...When the cursed demons, with the devil leading them, left nothing in order, but were filled with every injustice and greed; and knowing no satiety of the evil they wrought, drove men to the furthest extreme of passions—then, even then, the King of all, the Word of the Father, having hated the tyranny of the one side and pitied the calamities of the other, putting on human nature, stood in the battle line. Therefore, some trophies stood, others were being raised, and others were in hope. And the barbaric troop of demons, with their commander, lamented their misfortunes; but human nature ran back toward liberty. "When the wicked demons with their leader the devil had not allowed anything to remain in order, but gorging themselves on every kind of iniquity and violence, and finding no satiety in any injury or insolence, had driven men to extreme evils: then truly, then that King of all, the Word of the Father, and having hated the tyranny of those [demons], and having pitied the distresses of these [men], assuming human nature, emerged into the battle line. Wherefore, ^D trophies partly stood fixed, partly were erected, and partly remained to be hoped for: and that ferocious throng of demons with their evil leader grieved over the blow they had received: but human nature was restored again to liberty." Cyril of Alexandria also, in his book against the Anthropomorphites, chapter 24, discourses at length, and affirms that human nature was assumed by the divine Word when the darkness of wickedness had grown to its highest measure, and sin had superabounded. He himself also uses the example of the physician, but clearly to insinuate the opposite. Furthermore, Glykas discourses on these same things in the second part of his Annals.

ANNALS PART III. FROM THE REIGN OF CAESAR UNTIL CONSTANTINE THE GREAT

^A Maccabaeus, who, moved by a certain divine zeal, slew the royal commander and performed countless other glorious deeds. But King Antiochus, having set out against Persia, and returning in dishonor, seized by a most grievous disease, recognized his state, saying: "It is just that I suffer for those things which I have committed against Jerusalem." And casting forth worms, he breathed out his soul. ^B After him, his son Antiochus Eupator, during whose reign Judas Maccabaeus, having routed the commanders of Antiochus, stirred up Antiochus against himself with an infinite multitude and fifty-five elephants, upon which were wooden towers, each containing thirty-two armed soldiers. Then, indeed, then Judas performed great deeds, so as even to receive the high priesthood from the people. During his time, Jesus, the son of Sirach, having composed the all-virtuous work, was known to the Jews.

The affairs of the Romans were previously conducted by consuls for 464 years ^C until Julius Caesar, the "Caesar" — that is, the one not born by natural birth; for his mother having died in the ninth month of her pregnancy, they cut her open and brought him forth, whence he was called Caesar, from whom all the Roman emperors were called Caesars. He was dictator for ten years.

*PART III. FROM THE REIGN OF CAESAR UNTIL CONSTANTINE THE GREAT.*

Joannes Meursius, a Dutchman, a man excellently deserving of the literary republic, especially in publishing Greek writers—at Leiden in the year 1618, first published and translated into the Latin language the *Roman History* of Theodore Metochites from Julius Caesar to Constantine the Great, adding very brief notes, with a preface concerning Theodore Metochites himself, whose deeds he pursues, and Nicephorus Gregoras’s "Nenia" or Funeral Oration upon the same. ^D But the learned man was deceived in his opinion, and led many into error, whether deluded by some little Greek who sold this fragment of our Glykas to him, or to the Reverend Father Andreas Schottus (from whom he confesses to have received it) as if it had been compiled by Theodore Metochites; or whether the name of the possessor, which the title "Metochitov" displayed, transitioned into the appellation of the true author, which in this case was missing; or for whatever other reason. Therefore, the book of the singular *Roman History* is nothing other than the third book of Michael Glykas, and that not entirely complete—namely, from page 204 of this Royal edition to 245, where the unhappy death of Galerius Maximianus is described.

Concerning what else may be lacking in our work, we shall diligently compare the edition of Joannes Meursius with other manuscript codices which we have used thus far, and we shall attach his notes and emendations, designated by the capital letters JM.

Roman affairs were administered by consuls for 464 years-—564 years, according to Constantinus Manasses, at PG 157. The Alexandrian Chronicle holds for 393 years. To our Theodore (correct this, reader, and replace Theodore with Glykas), Cedrenus agrees, and he is the author of other things as well. Florus counts up to Augustus. Indeed, the opinion of Manasses is closer, which is confirmed by the Capitoline Fasti, from which it is thought that from the first consuls to the monarchy of Julius were 460 years—namely, as I am accustomed to think, from the year of the City 245, in which Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus first entered the consulship, up to the year 705 of the same Rome, in which C. Julius Caesar, created Dictator by Marcus Lepidus, prefect of the City, abdicated the dictatorship after the eleventh day, when he had been declared consul for the following year. On the same page, write for "eight" [in the text]. In the codex JM, mistakenly for "Ibidem" [it says] "eight." Leunclavius in his manuscript seems to have read "12," and thus translated "12 years," from which Joannes Meursius wrote this note: "Glykas [counts] 12 years, Cedrenus counts 4 years, 7 months," from which the Sicilian Fasti do not deviate. But instead of our Metochites (the *palimpsest* volume, which it is a wonder he did not recognize from the mutual comparison of the Leunclavian version as being indeed Glykas himself), the Capitoline Fasti prevail, which explicitly attribute the years to him. But falsely. For how many you will have counted from that first dictatorship initialized in the year U.C. 705, up to the Ides of March of the year 709, not yet finished, in which he perished, struck by many wounds in the Senate; you will have rightly declared that so many monarchs have existed.

^C They cut open her womb and he is said to have been taken out alive and unharmed from there. From this they say he was given the name Caesar, from which all the emperors of the Romans were called Caesars; for in the Roman tongue, cutting is called *Caesar*. This Julius Caesar was called dictator, that is to say, monarch; for he alone and first held the Roman scepter for 18 years. He gave laws to the Romans, and introduced the indictions and the leap year, and named the month of July, which was formerly called Quintilis. ^B After Julius, the one who from infancy was Octavius, but later was called Augustus because of his brilliance—though some others say he was the son of Octavius—reigned for 56 years. From him the emperors of the Romans were called *Sebastoi* and *Augusti*; and the month which was formerly called Sextilis was named August. Now Augustus or Caesar is called among the Romans as one who is something more than human; for all the most sacred and venerable things are called *augusta*. For this reason they also called him *sebastón* (venerable), from being revered, as a kind of sacred person. ^C Caesar, after having conquered his opponents, including Antony himself in a naval battle, held all power and became a monarch. And at the place of the camp, having built a city, he named it Nicopolis. He also set up bronze statues of a man and a donkey. For it is said that while it was still night, on the day the naval battle took place, he encountered a man driving a donkey; and when asked, he said: "For me, the name is Eutyches (Fortunate), but for the donkey, Nicon (Victor)." ^D These statues were later brought to Byzantium and set up in the Hippodrome. But he also, having conquered Cleopatra and subjected all of Egypt, destroyed the kingdom of the Ptolemies, which had lasted for 290 years. And having mastered the whole earth and having abolished the local rulers, he killed those who had murdered his uncle Julius. Then, truly then, the prophecy of Isaiah reached its end: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation." For the local governorships and kingdoms and the wars between them were abolished. Or do you not know? When these things were being prophesied, one was ruling over Jerusalem, another over Samaria, and another over the Moabites. And Christ being born according to the flesh under the Roman Empire...

all the dominions of all nations were subject to its rule. ^A Here, note that from the rebuilding of Jerusalem, which took place under Nehemiah and Ezra, up to the last high priest Hyrcanus, whom Herod put to death, the number of his years is completed. From then on, and up to the manifestation of the Lord in the Jordan, the remaining seven weeks are counted, according to the prophecy of Daniel, which says thus: "Seventy weeks have been narrowed to destroy the vision and prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies," that is, Christ himself, the Son of God and God. However, after the killing of Hyrcanus, the high priests were appointed unlawfully; for they were not descended from him.

It is also said of Augustus Caesar that he was quick to anger, but was changed very quickly. ^B This man had pronounced the death sentence upon many people, but a certain wise man of that time, having written on a paper, threw it before Caesar. The letters said: "Executioner, cease judging." Reading these, Caesar departed from the throne and rendered all his decrees void. He was very fond of women, and especially of those who were married; and, what is worse, he would order husbands, even against their will, to be servants of such filth. But a certain wise Alexandrian by the name of Athenodorus, having often advised Caesar regarding such things, and being unable to persuade him at all, takes another route. For, having seen a certain man in the senate lamenting—for he was forced to enclose his own wife in a covered litter and send her to Caesar—he urged him to mourn no longer, but to enclose himself in the litter in place of his wife and be sent to Caesar. The man is persuaded, though with difficulty. And what transpired after this? Athenodorus enters, carrying a sword, and is thus sent through the litter to Caesar. Caesar receives him and breaks the seals. Athenodorus comes out brandishing the sword. Caesar is terrified, and promises by oaths never again to be defiled by alien beds. After this, Athenodorus, departing to the one who had brought him, and knowing Caesar to be temperamental, yet quick to change his mind, bows to his ear as though ^C as if to...

Apollodorus, the rhetorician of Pergamum, who became the teacher of Caesar Augustus, and who taught him together with the philosopher Athenodorus of Tarsus, lived for eighty-two years, the same as Athenodorus. ^D [Note: This section refers to scholarly discussion regarding the identity of Athenodorus.]

you have given me the command to carry out my duties for the remainder of my life, as if to someone who is about to defile the marriages of others. Upon this, Athenodorus, on the point of returning to his homeland—knowing that the Caesar was a man of precipitous anger, but of a kind that would suddenly burn out—leaned toward his ear as if to kiss him, and said: "Caesar Augustus, one thing only is still wanting to you. Do not pass sentence upon the accused before you have recited the twenty-four letters to yourself." Moreover, Caesar was so beloved by his subjects that a certain Roman citizen, when about to depart from life, commanded his children to offer thank-offerings to the gods, because he left Augustus alive behind him. When Caesar himself was departing from life, he said: "I found the city earthen, I have left it adorned with beautiful towers and marble." Furthermore, he said that he wished for many to clap their hands for him when he died, as is accustomed to be done at the death of a mime or a player. These words, in truth, looked to nothing else than that he was mocking this life. And so much for these matters.

Know, however, beloved son, that in the 42nd year of the reign of the aforementioned Augustus Caesar, our Lord Jesus Christ was born, according to the flesh, from the ever-virgin Mary. For this blameless woman was born according to a divine promise, and when she had reached her third year, she was led to the temple and spent a sufficient time in its inner sanctums, with her food provided by an angel, until she was fourteen years of age. Concerning this, the high priests, as was fitting, took counsel and offered prayers to God. At that time, she was betrothed to Joseph, God himself prompting this by means of the staff that sprouted. Then, indeed, the prophetic utterance received its fulfillment, which says: ^C "Behold, a sealed book is given to a man who knows letters," (that is, to one who had lived in marriage), "and he shall say, I cannot read it, for it is sealed." Not much time passed before a divine angel was sent to her, saying: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." She, having become startled at the word, and saying, "How shall this be, since I know not a man?" hears from Gabriel these things: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." Observe that by saying "Holy Spirit" and "power of the Most High," by which Christ is signified (for Christ is the power of God), He revealed the whole holy Trinity in this. For even if the Son alone was incarnate, nevertheless the Father and the Holy Spirit were present with Him as He was being incarnate, according to the indivisibility of the consubstantiality, as the great Athanasius says. According to this, Paul also used to say that in Him ^D dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, that is, substantially.

^B Accordingly, at that point her virgin womb conceives and swells. Joseph is troubled in no small measure by these things and considers secretly dismissing the pregnant woman. A divine angel stands by him in a dream, saying, "Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife; for that which is born in her is from the Holy Spirit." Having awakened, he took his wife, and knew her not until she had brought forth her firstborn Son. The great Basil says that Joseph knew not the all-holy one neither before the birth nor after the birth. For the word "until" is found in many places in Scripture to be indefinite, as when it says, "And the raven did not return until the earth was dried up"; for indeed, even after the drying up of the earth, the raven did not return. And elsewhere: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.'" If "until" were not indefinite, we would say the Lord ceases to sit after His enemies are placed under His feet. But the Savior Christ also said to His disciples, "And I will be with you all the days until the end of the age." If "until" were not indefinite, then after the end of the age Christ would not be with His disciples. Moreover, Paul says this: "We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." These things are dealt with in this way, but the great Athanasius says that he did not truly know her until she had brought forth the Lord. He did not know what was in her. Only when she had brought forth, then indeed he came to know. Then Joseph knew what the power of the Virgin was. Then he knew, when she had given birth and did not experience the conditions of childbirth, when she provided milk in an unusual way and a nipple strange to natural sustenance, when she gave the breast and did not undergo the veins' flowing. Do not consider this a strange thing. Since the one being born was God and man, of necessity He joined to Himself both the divine and the human. Human were the swelling of the womb, the nine-month period of gestation, the usual exit of the one being born, the nourishment of milk, and the growth from a small to His appropriate bodily stature; for according to the blessed Paul, He experienced all our attributes without the debt of sin. Divine, on the other hand, were the seedless conception, the miraculous pregnancy, and the undefiled birth. And this is what the theologian tongue said: "The laws of nature are dissolved." For among other things, the all-holy one brought forth Christ without maternal pangs; for according to the Damascene, where pleasure did not precede, reasonably neither did pain follow. That the signs of the gestation were miraculous, the Areopagite Dionysius also showed, speaking thus about

^A And God... but Adam lived two hundred and thirty years and begat a son according to his likeness and his image, that is to say, such as the image and radiance he had from the beginning, and he called his name Seth, which means "resurrection"; because he saw that miraculous form restored, for which reason even the people who lived at that time called him God. These things, then, the divine Macarius the Egyptian also seems to intimate. For through that glory which then shone upon the face of the God-seer Moses, into which no one could gaze, he represented both these things: namely, the glory which Adam had from the beginning, and that which the choir of the just will have hereafter. And hear what this divine man says word for word in his chapters: "I consider the glorified face of Moses to be a type and pattern of the first man fashioned by the hands of God." ^B And again: "The blessed Moses showed a type, through the glory of the Spirit shining on his face, of how the bodies of the saints will be glorified in the resurrection of the just." Well, therefore, did that discourse say that the resurrection is a return to that original and first life. Moreover, regarding what has already been said, the Savior showed something else by being transfigured. What is this? That glory which he is about to reveal at his second coming. And trust the Theologian Gregory, who says: "Christ will come with his body, such as he appeared to the disciples on the mount, his divinity overcoming the flesh." ^C Well, therefore, did the Lord say that the just would shine like the sun at that time. For once they have received the radiance leaping forth from the Lordly body, they will then be transformed, and although they will be seen directly, they will be like some translucent body receiving the brightness of the sun. In this regard, the all-great Paul also said that the Savior will then transform the body of our lowliness, so that it might become conformed to the body of his glory; for this reason, it is not worthy to doubt these things. For if Adam from the very beginning, when he was fashioned by divine hands, received such brightness through the divine in-breathing, it is entirely evident that the man who rises from the dead will attain the same. ^D

^A tionen, on the descent from the sublime, and other things of that sort. But do not doubt further; for such a star was not one of the many which God set in the firmament at the beginning, but a certain invisible power, transformed into such an appearance, as John the gold-tongued says. For it was necessary that at such a paradoxical birth there should also be a paradoxical star as a messenger and proclaimer, as the most divine Cyril says. For if this were not so, it would not have shone to such an extent, nor would it have surpassed the solar rays at midday. If this were not so, it would not have persuaded the Magi to rise from there and undertake so great a journey, nor would it have led them so wondrously to Jerusalem, nor, having descended from on high, would it have stood above the child who was born, nor would it have disappeared after these things. For since, being led by it, they had approached Christ and had become firmly established in the unerring faith concerning Him, they no longer needed such a guiding hand. Hence it is that, having been warned in a dream, they departed by another way to their country.

Beside these things, my beloved, you bring forward the explanation of the Archbishop of Bulgaria into the middle, and from that you persist in arguing that the worship by the Magi occurred not in the cave itself, but in a certain house. For this divine man, as it seems, taking his starting point from the words of the Gospel according to Matthew, which speak of the Magi in this way: “And having entered the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother,” ^B says as much, that after the Lord was born and reclined in the manger, it was likely that a house was found in which to receive the worship from the Magi. And that person who was discussed seems clearly to say that the Magi did not see Christ in the cave in which the manger was. But he who has a tongue of gold, reconciling both the things said about the house and those about the manger itself, speaks thus: that when she had given birth, she immediately laid him down; for since many were gathering because of the registration, there was no house to be found. He brings forward also the most divine Luke, noting this and saying that because there was no place in the inn, she laid him in the manger, but after this she took him up and had him upon her knees. ^C But also in the sixth homily on the Gospel according to Matthew concerning the Magi, he says thus: “But what sign of a kingdom did they see at all, seeing a hut and a manger and a child in swaddling clothes and a poor mother?” And after a little: “But tell me, how did the star show such a narrow place of a manger and a hut, if it had not left the sublime, descended below, and stood above the head of the child itself?” And after these things: “Since therefore it led and gave guidance, and stood them by the manger, it no longer speaks to them through a star, but through an angel thenceforth.” And in the eighth homily, word for word, he says thus concerning the Magi: “But what is it that persuaded them to ^D offer [their gifts]?”

[ENGLISH SO FAR ENDS:] ^A be deemed worthy of brightness through the grace of the all-holy Spirit. And believe the blessed David, who speaks thus concerning this: "You shall send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth." Observe, then. Since the Savior, when He was transfigured on the mount, showed in Himself what beauty Adam possessed from the beginning, and what beauty the just are soon to receive, for this reason the divine Gregory of Nyssa also said that they bear within themselves the divine image, both the man before the transgression and he who is to be resurrected from the dead hereafter.

That these things are so, and that the grace which is hoped for is a return to that first life, as we have often said, the Lord Himself showed before others. For when He embraced the prodigal son as he was returning, He said, among other things: "Clothe him with the first robe." Do not, therefore, doubt any further. For by calling it the "first" robe, He indicated clearly that the resurrection is nothing other than a restoration of the fallen into their ancient state.

EPISTLE IV

To the same. For what reason did the devil attack Adam through the serpent and not through any other of the animals, and from whence, finally, is it evident that he attacked Adam through the serpent, since Scripture does not say this clearly? And if there is truly a reason, why did Scripture completely conceal it?

Since you heard our Savior Jesus Christ saying in the Gospels, "A man's enemies will be those of his own household," and that, due to such creatures, kings and others are plotted against by men, it is not worth wondering so much, if the many-wiled dragon himself also made use of the serpent as an instrument to deceive the first man. For, according to the most divine Chry- ^{B C D}

^A For he says: “Quid tandem eis persuasit ut puerum summopere venerarentur? Nec enim Virgo speciem quamdam illustrem præ se ferebat, nec domus erat splendida.” And a little later: “Nihil istic magnum et insigne conspiciebatur, ex iis quidem rebus quæ sensu percipiebantur, sed tantum præsepe ac tugurium materque paupercula, ut nimirum hinc nudam Magorum philosophiam agnoscas.” Concerning all of which, you may observe that Chrysostom in that place, where the manger was contained, called it both a house, a tugurium, and a cave. Wherefore, let not your mind wander here and there, but pay heed rather to this golden orator, for he was a golden-beaten trumpet of the all-holy Spirit.

Christ, therefore, as it has been said, is born, and then is circumcised on the eighth day, and is brought into the temple after ^B 40 days. For scripture says: “And when the days of her ^C purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem” (Luke II, 22). And the law is of this sort: “If a woman shall conceive seed and bear a male child, she shall be unclean 40 days; but if she shall bear a female, 80 days” (Leviticus XII, 2-5). But why, I ask, and for what reason were these things instituted? And why was this period prescribed for the mother of a female doubled? Theodoret speaks in this manner regarding these things, explaining that this time of uncleanness was legislated of old for the sake of rest for women, who are burdened in the time of pregnancy; for through fear of uncleanness the law restrains husbands, and persuades them not to approach their wives at that time. And because a female offspring subjects the one bearing it to greater distress (for it is said that such a one stirs sooner in the womb than a male), for this reason the time of uncleanness was granted as twofold to those bearing females, as from this they obtained twofold rest. And such are the things of ^D Theodoret. The most divine Cyril, however, says that the male is shaped in 40 days, but the female requires 80 days for the emergence into human form. And because the male was brought to the temple for the sake of purification on the fortieth day, but the female on the eightieth, it appears entirely that such a formation stands in need of purification from God. And thus indeed the divine Fathers spoke concerning this; but the so-called *Leptogenesis*, by whomsoever it was written and how, says that after 40 days Adam entered into paradise, and Eve after 80, and for this reason both male and female are brought to the temple in such number of days, analogous perhaps to Adam and Eve. But leave it aside; for the true history of Moses shows that on the sixth day God formed Adam, and placed him straightaway in paradise; and likewise He forms Eve in paradise itself on the sixth day, having taken one of the ribs of Adam; for after the sixth day He created nothing.

^A If we believe that all men will rise again superior to corruption, answer me now: what is it that will compel them to take sensible food? But if man will live in the resurrection according to the likeness of the angels, as divine Gregory of Nyssa says (for he says, "And they shall all be as the angels of God"), how shall we say that he is in need of food and drink? This is impossible; absolutely impossible. For even if we use foods in the present time, it is because we have that very nature which compels us; but, as Nyssen says, man will then be freed from this ministry and will be disposed on an equal footing with the angels, just as the Lord said in the Gospels. But John Damascene also, in his hundredth chapter On the Resurrection, says word for word: "A natural body is sown, that is to say, dense and mortal; a spiritual body is raised, such as was the Lord's body after the resurrection, passing through closed doors, indefatigable, and devoid of the need for food, sleep, and drink. For man will then live in all things a life equal to the angels, according to him who says: 'And they shall all be as the angels of God.'"

And what need is there to say many words? If we are bound to have Christ himself before all things—those who are about to receive those good things "which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man"—they will never be brought, as I think, to participate in any other kind of diet. That this blessedness is not sensible food, but rather the intelligible joy produced in the saints through sight, the Lord himself showed when he spoke thus: "Father, those whom you have given me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory." ^B Observe then: he did not say, "that they may partake," but "that they may behold my glory." He showed, therefore, from this, as the golden-tongued John says while expounding this divine utterance, that all this rest consists in looking upon the Son of God. For just as those who gaze upon the rays of the sun and enjoy themselves in the air have a most refined delight from the sight, so too will it be then. For an intelligible joy will be excited there in the saints through sight, as has been said. This doctrine is also established by the most divine John Damascene when he treats the subject of the immaculate mysteries of Christ, and says the following: "These holy mysteries are called the antitypes of those to come, not because ^C they are allegorically [untrue or mere symbols]..." ^D

[alt-version omitted]

Therefore, some theologians falsely maintain that the blessed in heaven will also enjoy tastes and drinks and delicacies of that kind; and hence the heresy of Cerinthus is excluded, as well as those of the Chiliasts, who affirm that men, after they have risen, will reign with Christ in this world, abounding in all delicacies and pleasures. Concerning whom, see Eusebius of Caesarea, *Ecclesiastical History*, Book III, chapter 28, and Book VII, chapter 25; and Augustine, *On the City of God*, Book XX, chapter 7, to omit the others.

Thus, the learned man Avicenna rightly explains the happiness of the just after death according to the views of Muhammad, placing it in the single contemplation of God, and interpreting that which he seems to suggest concerning sensible pleasures. See his work *On the Afterlife* (De Almahad).

^A God determined that this should be, for He was to be the reproach of the pious king and the refutation of his iniquity. The Lord, however, desiring him to live, did not allow such a thing, and it was brought about by divine care and providence that David’s life was prolonged.

The first book of Paralipomenon implies that all the psalms are David’s. Theodoret also testifies to this, saying that David first ordained that God should be celebrated by the work of Asaph and his brethren. According to the same Theodoret, David reigned for thirty years and passed away around the age of seventy. I am pleased in this place to add to these also the narrative of Josephus. It came to pass sometimes that David led his troops against the Philistines, and having pursued them for a long time, he was separated from all his own by a long interval. ^B Then a certain man from the enemies, born of the race of the Giants, seeing him alone and exhausted from labor and devoid of strength, hastened to kill him; and this would have happened, had not Abishai, the brother of Joab, come up and killed the enemy, thus saving David and restoring him safely. For this reason, the whole people bound themselves with an oath, that from then on he should not meet with them in battle. Again, the Philistines pitched their camp against the Hebrews. They had with them a man six cubits tall, who had many more fingers on each foot and each hand than nature provides; for he himself was of the race of the Giants. ^C A certain Jonathan, a Shimeathite, killed this man in single combat, and thus became the cause of victory. From that point on, the Philistines ceased to fight against the Hebrews. Upon which, receiving respite from his troubles, David began to praise God and compose sacred odes.

Knowing that David possessed many soldiers of invincible strength, yet five who were altogether exceptional. Among their number was one who killed six hundred enemies in a single day, and another who would not cease from leaping upon the enemies until he had killed nine hundred. They were so bold that three of them went to Bethlehem to bring water to David, who was then in Jerusalem, and they returned through the midst of the Philistines who were encamped outside the city, and, because of this remarkable boldness, dared to expose themselves to danger. ^D And David would not drink this water, but poured it out as a libation to God, and admired the virtue of the soldiers.

After these things, Solomon, having been designated by David, sat on the throne of the Lord to reign; that is to say, on the throne given to him by the Lord. We read in the first book of Paralipomenon, written by Samuel, Nathan, and Gad, that these chronicles contain the deeds done by David. One must know that he was the same as Orniam and Adonias, as he was called by those names. He, having invited Joab and Abiathar to a banquet, was anxiously meditating on seizing the kingdom. Then the prophet Nathan, learning of these plans of Berse-

and showed his hands to the disciples, doing the one according to nature—for it is the nature of a spiritual body to pass through solid things without hindrance—but the other according to ^A economy, so that they might believe that the body which had suffered had risen; thus it is shown.” These things therefore, as the aforementioned divine Fathers say, were so that the resurrection might be believed, and so that they might learn that it was he who had been crucified, and that no other than he had risen. Consistent with this, the Lord also said to the disciples: “See my hands, that it is I myself.” If these things are thus, it is by all means irrational for us, being persuaded by our own reasoning, to interpret the evangelical and divine sayings differently, if we have those very ^B men explaining such things by the Spirit. And why must one say much? Unless, according to the golden-tongued John, we say that the figures of the nails were shown by [divine] economy for the sake of the disciples, it is absolutely necessary that those rising from the dead—of whom Christ himself became the first-born—should rise at that time just as they had been consigned to the earth, whether they had some deformity or were otherwise bearing mutilated bodies. And the body of the Lord was not a spirit, as the trembling disciples supposed. For if it were this, he would not have eaten in their presence, the women would not have ^C kissed his feet, the Lord himself would not have said: “A spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me having.” Wherefore the body of the Lord was not a spirit, but it was nevertheless subtle and light and spiritual, as being guided by the all-holy Spirit. For if this were not so, he would not have appeared in different places in a single hour; nor would he who was seen and known yesterday be invisible and unknown today. For having become incorruptible, as has been said, he was not easily seen or known by corruptible eyes, but only when he himself altogether willed it, and as he himself permitted the disciples to behold him. And this is that which the evangelist ^D John said: “Jesus manifested himself to his disciples having risen from the dead.” For by saying “manifested,” he showed clearly that the disciples would not have seen him after the resurrection unless he had used a condescension, unless he were altered into another form. For in accordance with this also, the evangelical history says that he was seen by the disciples in another form. For he shows from this that a spiritual body is not seen by the eyes of flesh, unless it be altered paradoxically into another form. For it is altered according to the intention of the one using [it].

-^Aba (for he knew God's purpose and ordinance), informs David about the matter. David, however, not wishing to have Joab punished by his own hand—since he had endured many toils on his behalf—counsels his son Solomon not to despise his youth. He gives him the same advice regarding Semei, as a seditious man, whom he himself had nevertheless tolerated, even though he had been insulted by him many times. Solomon prevails, and at that time executes his brother Adonias. But the same also happens to Joab, although he had fled to the house of God. For divine law commands that a homicide who has fled to the temple be put to death.

Solomon, ^B having sacrificed a hecatomb at one time, supplicates God, and asks for wisdom and prudence. And the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Ask what I shall give thee.” And he said, “Thou hast given unto Thy servant David my father, and I am a small youth, and I know not the going out and the coming in, and Thou shalt give to Thy servant a heart to hear and to judge Thy people in righteousness.” And the Lord said to him, “In that thou hast asked this thing from Me, and hast not asked for thyself many days, nor riches, nor the lives of thy enemies, but thou hast asked for thyself wisdom to hear judgment, behold, I have done according to thy word. Behold, I have given thee a heart wise and prudent, so that there has not been anyone like thee before thee, and after thee there shall not arise any like unto thee. And if thou walkest in My way, as David thy father, I will multiply thy days.” ^C After this, he builds a temple to God, and asks that His eyes be kept open over the divine house and that He hear them. And the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared in Gabaon, and said, “I have heard the voice of thy prayer, and I have sanctified this temple which thou hast built, and My eyes shall be there and My heart all the days. And if thou turnest away from Me, I will remove Israel from this land, and I shall cast away this house which I have sanctified to My name, and I shall cast them out from My presence.” However, when Solomon was praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifices which had been offered. Behold how great the piety of Solomon was beforehand, if fire was even brought down upon his sacrifices. And the stones of the temple were wrought without tools ^D (for they were found by divine providence in such a way that they needed no joining of iron, as Theodorus says), but he used stone-cutters for the trimming of the stones for the circuit of the temple. The length of the temple was sixty cubits, and the width twenty. Around the temple, chambers were built for the housing of the Levites and the storage of the vessels; for these were accessible only to the priests. The height of the temple was eighty cubits. Everything in the temple was overlaid with gold. All these things the grace of the Holy Spirit showed to David, and he to Solomon. He builds

^A And there is that which is in the brain, which is also called the animal [part], which through the nerves and muscles provides both sensation and movement of the whole body. For by such animal powers our entire life consists. That the animal body possesses such an expression and is constituted from thence in the way the preceding discourse indicated, is clear both from the things themselves and no less from the lawful commandments contained in the Gospel according to Mark: "For you shall love," he says, "the Lord your God with all your mind," etc. By saying heart, and soul, and mind, he indicated the different powers of the soul: the vital, which he revealed through the heart; the natural, which he signified through the soul; and the rational, which the discourse represented through the mind. For he exhorts one to love God through all the powers of the soul. ^B And now our body is enlivened in this way—wherefore it is also called animal; but then, delivered from all these things, as it has become incorruptible, it will be altogether spiritual, governed and ordered in an ineffable way by the all-holy Spirit. Hence also Paul said: "It is sown an animal body, it is raised a spiritual body." Take heed therefore: "It is sown an animal body," that is to say, dense and mortal; it is "raised a spiritual body," that is, thin and light and ethereal, and altogether freed from density and weight; but also [it is] governed by the Spirit alone, as the divine Isidore of Pelusium says. For now, even if the Holy Spirit is present with us, the soul possesses the authority of the actions; but then it [the body] will be such as to perform all things according to the laws of the Spirit; and this is what Paul meant when he said: "It is sown an animal body, it is raised a spiritual body." ^{C D}

^A three [such temples]. One of these was that which the blessed John mentioned, that is, a truly renowned woman and sister of Lazarus. The second, however, who had previously prostituted herself, approached Christ in the house of Simon the leper, as Matthew narrates. The third was also a harlot, as Luke indicates, who met Christ in the house of Simon the Pharisee, who was offended on that account and spoke to himself words of this sort: "If this man were a prophet, he would have known what kind of woman this is who touches him." I also know, beloved son, that some contend and assert that the transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ took place on that great Wednesday; but the argument on which they rely, to me at least, seems little to be probable. For if this miracle occurred on Mount Tabor, but the Lord was feasting in Jerusalem on that great Wednesday in the house of Simon the leper, it is manifest ^B that this miracle of the transfiguration occurred on some other day, and not on that Wednesday at all. For since there is an interval of about two days between Tabor and Jerusalem, how then will they say that Christ was found both on Tabor and in Jerusalem on one and the same day? He could, of course, as God, have caused Himself to be found here and there at the same time; but he did not wish to do this before the passion, so that the matter might not be thought to be something imaginary. Wherefore, according to the common nature of bodies, He was making His local transitions from one place to another.

After these things, He sends two of the disciples to a certain man for the sake of preparing the legal pascha, which He ate beforehand on the evening of the great Thursday, as John the gold-tongued says. ^C Then, reclining, He delivered His own pascha to the disciples through bread and wine, using these words: "Take, eat; this is my body," and "Drink all of you: this is my blood." And indeed, before the disciples, He Himself partook of His own body and blood. For what reason? So that the disciples might not be troubled again, as had happened before, when they heard Christ saying: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." At that time, those who turned back from Him no longer walked with Him, saying that this word was hard, which no one could easily hear. Therefore, so that something of this kind might not happen to them again, as they were about to eat flesh and drink blood, He first tasted His own flesh, wishing that they too should be filled with these things without any hesitation. And the Savior prepares this supper for the consolation of the disciples; for He saw them to be not a little fearful and broken in spirit because of His departure from them. ^D Therefore, as has been said, He communicates His own body and blood with them, adding these words: "Do this in remembrance of me." Judas also partakes besides the others, and then goes away to the Jews, revealing to them the things done by the Lord.

^A And the Evangelist, indicating this, said that even he, having taken the morsel, went out; and it was night. He goes, therefore, to those with whom he had agreed to deliver up the Lord. And the Lord, indeed, arranges the final things for his disciples; then thus he comes to a place that the betrayer also knew, who immediately, having taken the band of soldiers and ministers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes there with lanterns and torches. Then he questions them; they fall to the ground. Peter cuts off the ear of Malchus, though he was not able to cut off his head; for this was what he was striving to do. Then, truly then, the Lord said to him: "Dost thou think that I cannot now beseech my Father, and he shall present to me more than twelve legions of angels? How then may the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" These things the Savior said to the disciples, striking fear into them and persuading them from then on not to busy themselves with any of the things happening. For if to the Scriptures, he says, this seems good—that is, for me to suffer—how do you oppose, using swords? The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it? ^B Having, therefore, bound Jesus, they led him away to Annas first, and there he is judged. He is questioned regarding his teaching and his disciples. He answers as is fitting. He receives a blow, and says: "If I have spoken evil, and so on." Thence, therefore, he is led to Caiaphas, then to Pilate when it is morning; before the cock crows he is led to Caiaphas, but in the morning to Pilate. The Evangelist shows that during the entire half of the night he was interrogated by Caiaphas and was convicted of nothing, and for this reason he sent him on to Pilate. And indeed Mark, recounting the matter regarding the cock-crowing, says thus: "Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice" (for when he had denied once, the cock crowed the first time, but when he had denied the third time, it crowed the second), explaining more accurately the weakness of Peter, having learned from the teacher himself, for he was also a student of his. But Matthew, having said that "Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice," indicated the whole cock-crowing, that is, the first, which occurs through various utterances, just as the second cock-crowing does, and the third. Therefore, in having said "Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice," Matthew seemed to say, as it were, that even before the first cock-crowing arrives, thou shalt deny me three times. However, after the Lord is judged by Pilate, his back is scourged with braided thongs; for such, in fact, is what the whip is. Then, thus, he is delivered up to be crucified. And all these things have been done by the untimely cowardice of Pilate; for [he wished to appease the Jews regarding the things of which they accused him, showing him to be a rebel, to...]

have him crucified, having first scourged him with lashes. For this reason, Pilate is also worthy of punishment, because, although he was able to release him (for he says: "I have power to release you, and I have power to crucify you"), he did not do so, fearing the Jews, and especially those crying out: "If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar." Consequently, he is condemned; and this is made clear by what the Lord said to him: "He who delivered me to you has the greater sin."

However, the evangelist John, while demonstrating the time when Pilate sat in the place called the Pavement ^A in order to judge the matters concerning Jesus, said: "It was the preparation of the Passover, and it was about the sixth hour." But why is the sixth day of the week called the preparation of the Passover by the evangelist John? The reason is clearly set before you. Just as the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, yet is called Sabbath—that is, rest—because of the rest that occurred on it from all works (for then the servant, the beast of burden, and all others rest), so the preparation is indeed the sixth day of the week, but it is called "preparation" because on it the Jews prepare and, so to speak, make ready those things for the Sabbath. For on that day, they are not permitted to light a fire, nor collect wood, nor even simply prepare food. So, ^B because the sixth day makes these preparations by the evening, it has been named "Preparation." Therefore, the evangelist John, calling such a day the "preparation of the Passover," clearly showed that at that time the Jews were preparing for the first feast of the Passover according to the ordinance of the Law. For from the sixth hour of the fourteenth day of the moon, all leavened bread was destroyed by fire, and they prepared the unleavened bread according to custom. If these things are so, it is clearly evident that that which was given by Christ through bread and wine on the evening of Great Thursday was leavened, because the time for unleavened bread had not yet arrived then, contrary to the common opinion of the many. Therefore, dismiss the words of the many, and attend to the sequence ^C of the sacred oracles. That the lamb was to be sacrificed on the day of the Preparation, not on Great Thursday, is evident from many other things, and not least from what we are about to mention. They were accustomed to call that day, on the evening of which the Passover was sacrificed, both "day of unleavened bread" and "Passover" alike, definitively from its evening. For because the lamb was sacrificed and the unleavened bread was eaten on the evening of the fourteenth, for this reason this fourteenth day was called both "Passover" and "day of unleavened bread." And we find that these names had also been given to the Great Preparation. And attend, if you will, to what is said. The first of the unleavened bread is called the...

Great Thursday, as being before the unleavened bread. For just as Mark calls the Preparation "the day before the Sabbath," as being before the Sabbath, so too does Matthew call the Great Thursday "the first of the unleavened bread," as being before the unleavened bread, as the golden-tongued one says: "He clearly indicated the Great Preparation." Likewise, Luke also, in saying that the day of the unleavened bread had come—that is, had approached—hinted at the same things as Matthew. Moreover, John also, by saying that the supper took place before the feast of the Passover, called the Preparation itself by that name, and the things that follow clarify this; for he says: "And they themselves did not enter, so that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover," and again, "It is a custom for you that I should release one to you at the Passover," that is, the one now imminent. Furthermore, indicating the time when Pilate sat in a place called the Pavement, he says thus: "And it was the Preparation of the Passover, and it was about the sixth hour." And proceeding further, "For that day of the Sabbath was a great day." He would not have called it great in any other way unless that first day of the unleavened bread—which is also called holy by the Law—had fallen upon that Sabbath. All these things clearly suggest that, by agreement, the Passover was slaughtered on the evening of that Preparation. For this reason, he called it the Preparation of the Passover, as preparing those things for the Passover that was truly imminent. Therefore, without any argument, it appears that the Passover took place on the evening of the Preparation. For if this were not the case, the evangelist John would not have said, "And they themselves did not enter the praetorium so that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover." ^B And attend, if you wish, to the great Cyril, who, before others, seals such things, saying that while they were honoring the type—that is, the lamb—and on this account were not choosing to enter the praetorium, they were insulting the Truth himself, Christ; for they were intending to sacrifice the Passover according to the Law, which had no power among them. If these things are so, they are clearly speaking in vain who say that the typical lamb is eaten on the evening of Great Thursday; for in competing to establish the unleavened bread, they attempt to maliciously corrupt the truth. And do not oppose me with John Chrysostom, in his eighty-fourth homily on Matthew, who says that the Jews, having unexpectedly seized Christ, also chose to overlook the feast of the Passover then falling at that time. For you have him in his interpretation of the [Gospel] according to John, when it is said: "And they themselves did not enter, so that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover," completely nullifying such a conjecture. Hence it is that we refrain from inquiring into the things of the divine man when he is even more contradictory to himself, having no strength; we judge that such things ought to be honored in silence, especially if it is more reasonable to hold to the later [statements], because these appear to be in harmony with the explanations of the other Fathers. For he says that Christ ate the Passover one day early,

deferring his own slaughter to the day of Preparation, when the legal Passover was wont to be slaughtered. That the bread which the Lord gave to the apostles at the supper was leavened bread, not unleavened, as those [others] assert, this most divine man clearly indicates to you. For, speaking concerning the Old and New Covenants, ^A he says: "There was the letter; here is the spirit. There was the ark; here is the Virgin. There was Aaron’s rod; here is the Cross. There was the lamb; here is Christ. There were the unleavened loaves; here is the bread." These things have been written down for you in summary, as you see; for the time does not permit us to dwell longer on discussions concerning these matters. Next, our Lord Jesus Christ is delivered up to be crucified; and see what things followed. For from the sixth hour, darkness covered the whole earth until the ninth hour, God being indignant, as is to be supposed, at the things which were being dared. For that it was not an eclipse, as Chrysostom says, but rather wrath and divine indignation, is clear even from the time itself; for the darkness lasted for three hours, whereas an eclipse happens in a single moment of time. Such is the argument of Chrysostom. That divine man, ^B Dionysius the Areopagite, however, does not speak simply so, but reports that the universal darkness happened in a new and unusual manner by the opposition of the lunar body obstructing the sun. For writing to the hierarch Polycarp concerning the fact that the sophist Apollophanes did not accept the Christian religion, he sets forth these words: "Say to him—to Apollophanes—‘What do you think of that eclipse which happened at the time of the saving passion? For we both were in Heliopolis at that time, and standing together, we saw the moon in an unusual manner falling upon the sun; for it was not the time of their conjunction. And then again we saw it from the ninth hour until the evening, in a supernatural manner, having moved to the diameter of the sun.’" And he himself was so struck with fear at the time that he turned to me and said: "These, Dionysius, are the vicissitudes of divine things." In this manner does Dionysius speak of this. The prophet Zechariah speaks in a wonderful way ^C of that same darkness which occurred at the time of the saving passion. He says: "In that day there shall be no light (namely, when Christ shall be crucified), but there shall be cold and frost for one day, and that day shall be known to the Lord." For God has advance knowledge of all things. It shall not be a day, nor yet a night. For it could not properly be called a day because of that three-hour darkness, nor truly night because of the light which existed until the sixth hour and returned after the ninth. The prophet, signifying this, said, "And towards evening there shall be light." These things, my beloved, not only did the prophets foretell, but they are found also in many Greek commentaries; for even a great earthquake...

is said to have occurred at that time, and such darkness that the stars appeared. Then, truly then, he also brings forth the prophetic word on the cross which says: ^A "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He said these things in Hebrew: *Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani*. For what reason? So that these things might be clear even to the Jews. But those men, being so licentious and shameless, as the man of golden tongue says, thought he was calling Elijah. And these were thus. But that voice also tore the veil and opened the tombs. Yet those foolish men, even seeing such things, did not want to understand at all. Rather, they were saying, "Let him come down from the cross, that we may see and believe." But he, remaining on the cross, as the Golden-mouthed says, showed this abundantly in the bodies of his servants; for if it was a great thing for Lazarus, who had been dead four days, to come out, ^B it was far greater for many of those who had fallen asleep long ago to appear alive all at once. And pay close attention to the most divine Matthew speaking about these things: "And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and they entered the holy city and appeared to many after his resurrection." But here it is worth your attention. For if, according to John of the Golden mouth, these bodies were raised while Christ was still on the cross, how does the evangelist record that they appeared after Christ's resurrection? I fear lest "his" ought to be read instead of "their"; for those bodies, after their resurrection from the dead, entered the holy city and appeared to many. Then, truly then, that prophetic utterance also received fulfillment which says to those in bonds, "Come forth," ^C and to those in darkness, "Be revealed." And according to the sixth hour, as the Scriptures say, the Lord is crucified, but according to the ninth he entrusts his spirit into the Father's hands. But if you also hear of his holy soul descending to Hades, do not marvel at this, nor say that it is impossible for it both to have descended to Hades and to have been entrusted into the Father's hands. For the hand of God, that is, the power holding all things, is both above in heaven and below on earth, and never ceases from the recesses of Hades. So that even if the holy soul of Christ was descending to Hades at that time, yet it was not separated from the power that holds all things, as we have said; rather, the power of the Father is Christ himself, as Paul says. He therefore entrusts his soul to the Father's hands, so that from this ^D and to all

the souls of the just, the journey to the regions above and to the heavens might be granted: for he did not die in vain and without purpose for us. He descends, however, to Hades, so that he might preach to those who were detained there as well, and instruct and demonstrate that religious piety of which they had previously been ignorant. Have faith in this matter in that chief, Peter, who discourses on these things in the following manner: "He went and preached also to the spirits that were in prison, which sometime were disobedient." Following these words, Gregory the Theologian reflects upon this matter as follows: "Did the Lord, having manifested himself in Hades, save all, or only those who had believed?" Do not, I say, doubt this. For just as he announced a message of peace to men living upon the earth, and to those who believed he became the author of salvation, while to the disobedient he was proof of their own incredulity, as John Damascene speaks, so also did he deal with those who were in Hades. Nor, beloved son, should it seem a marvel to you if some souls held in Hades did not admit the preaching of Christ. For just as we see that when God caused the foundations of the prison to be shaken for Paul's sake, the jailer himself immediately embraced the faith, while the other captives persisted in their incredulity, even though they saw their own iron fetters suddenly broken and torn apart, so you must believe it happened with those who were held in Hades. ^B But if you also wish to know the reason why the Savior preached even to the souls who were in Hades, know that it is this. The Savior assumed our nature in the year 5500 from the creation of the world. Why at that time? Because at that time that which was to serve the mystery of Christ was brought to light, as the great Basil says. For the disease of vice, as that divine Gregory of Nyssa speaks, which had invaded human nature from the beginning, had already lost its strength. For the Gentiles were then about to believe through the call, as that great Paul also signifies with these words: "When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son." Rightly, therefore, in the year already indicated, the Lord assumed flesh, because it was altogether appropriate and convenient for this purpose. But since some of those who had closed their lives in ignorance of piety were endowed with such excellent souls that, had they been called, they would surely have approached and embraced the Gospel concerning Christ, if indeed they had seen him dwelling on earth with the flesh in previous ages, for this reason he does not refuse to descend even to Hades and to preach to the souls detained there, so that in this way no place for excusing themselves would remain for anyone, nor would the good lose their own goodness, nor could the wicked reply with words of this kind: "If we had seen, we would surely have believed." Let these things be said concerning these matters.

^A It was necessary that they take part in the blessing. That the life of man was angelic and equal to the angels, this is shown more clearly from whence the nature is found at the point where marriage finds its origin. Since, therefore, the construction of Eve was urgent, as has been said before, God anticipated it and made her even before Adam fell. For after his fall, there was no longer a time for creation, but rather one of curse and anger, pain and grief, sweat of the brow, a life of suffering, the donning of garments of skin, and a turning back to the earth. At such a time, therefore, to remove a rib, to build Eve, and to bless them, was, as I suppose, unacceptable and entirely improper. For that was not a time for blessing, but for anger, for a curse, for turning away, and for death. "For earth," he says, "you are, and to earth you shall depart." Why then, even before Adam fell, did He bring Eve forth from his rib? By way of indulgence, absolutely, as was said before. For if this were not the case, the great Paul would not have said, "It is good not to touch a woman." And why is it necessary to say much, that He brought forth the female, if he would not later, through Paul, advise not to touch a woman? He who brought her forth from the beginning was the one speaking in Paul, and if he did not bring forth the female at that time by way of concession, he shows from this that before the production of the female there was another type of noble life that was equal to the angels. For according to this, he also drew upon it elsewhere, saying, "Let him who is able to receive it, receive it." ^B That these things are so, and that before the production of the female there was a lofty and angelic state, the expectation of that state makes manifest. And do not marvel on account of this. For if the Lord promises celibacy in the life to come—"For they shall be," he says, "all as the angels of God"—and for this reason the Nyssen says it is a return to that ancient and first life, what needs to be said regarding the first Adam and his way of life other than that he was equal in honor to the angels, and that he lived an angelic life, just as has been said before? Pay attention, therefore. For the condition of that Adam clearly presents what the expected grace is, inasmuch as it is a return to that first state, as has already been said. For even if we are bound by the law of marriage today, yet this law was not given from the very beginning, but by way of indulgence later, because of the fall from perfection, on account of which one is also deprived of crowns, as the golden-tongued one says. If, therefore, as has been said, the female herself was brought forth by way of indulgence, and marriage was given, it is entirely necessary that these all pass away at some point, ^C and that there be found then two such persons, who will be raised from the dead, such as that first Adam was, as the great Athanasius says to Antiochus. But the most divine Anastasius is also found speaking of these things thus: "We shall then put aside everything foreign that has entered into us because of sin." If, however, these things are so regarding the female herself, what is there to say? If for this reason [the female was produced]...

^A resurrection was such that, if it had occurred secretly, the thing would have been suspicious; therefore Pilate allowed the tomb to be sealed as they wished. Since these things are so, do not search too curiously into the divine words, nor seek three days and three nights in the burial of Christ and our Savior, especially when you have the most divine Isidore measuring out this interval for you. The Lord was crucified at the sixth hour of Friday. From this hour until the ninth hour, darkness occurred: consider this as a night for me. Again, from the ninth hour until evening, there was light: consider this again as a day. Behold, you have a day-night ^B interval. Again, the night of Friday and the day of Saturday constitute a day-night interval; behold, you have two day-night intervals. Again, the night of Saturday and the dawn of Sunday make a day-night interval; behold, you have a third day-night interval, in which the Lord also rose, although the hour of the resurrection was unclear, just as the hour of his second coming will also be.

I remember, beloved son, that among other things you also inquired about this: for what reason the burial of the Lord was for three days, and not for a longer or shorter ^C interval. It was fitting that Christ should die for the entire nature of humanity, that is to say, for those who had already died before, for those still living, and for those who were to be born in the future, since there are also three times: past, present, and future. He saved those who had already died by descending into Hades; he saved those living at that time as having believed in him; and those who were to come after, as having believed in the preaching of the apostles and having been baptized. If, therefore, he took our whole nature, it is clear that he also refashioned our whole nature. ^D Thus, the burial of the Lord was properly for three days.

The Lord rises from the dead, therefore, but he is not immediately taken up to the heavens. For according to the opinion of the great Athanasius, the Lord spent forty days on earth because he wished to confirm the disciples. For this reason, he manifested himself to them at times and conversed with them in peace, showing the scars in that divine body, eating and drinking with them—not as one in need of food, but to provide proof—and doing all the other things that were accustomed to strengthen those who were weak. First of all, he was seen by two women, at which time they held his feet and embraced them. Then he appears to the Magdalene alone; after this to the chief, Peter, just as Paul also says: "The Lord, having been raised from the dead, was seen first by Cephas." He was seen by those with Luke and Cleopas, he was seen by the ten, then by the eleven; he was seen by them in Galilee, likewise

^A Abraham the rich man; for if he did not know him, how could he have called him by name? No one, I think, will consider this impossible. Is it not possible for this child, and this woman, and that old man, to recognize each other then, even if they rise with one age and one figure? For here there is no recognition from signs and figures and ages; but with the insightful eye of the soul we shall all recognize all, as it pleased our Maker and Creator. This very thing the most divine Anastasius sets before you more clearly, and thus he says: "And there will not be recognition then from signs." Nor do these generative parts represent the female and the male, because neither is there male and female in Christ, as Paul says. If then these things are so, and according to great Athanasius we all rise as one man in the regeneration—for there is one age among all, one creation, one form, one figure and size—it would be superfluous to seek a difference in figures; for if corruption introduced such a difference, it is absolutely necessary, now that incorruption has come, for all these things to pass away along with corruption. And thus indeed [thinks] Athanasius, who is truly wise in divine matters: that the difference of figures and the beginning of marriage were on account of sin; for in the beginning there was no such thing, since the multiplication of human beings was intended to be as the angels, as has been said before; and from this there was no need of help from the female; and indeed if Adam had not been seen as disobedient, there would have been no need of marriage, and of the construction that subsequently serves for marriage. For to what purpose would it have served, if it was not forbidden for [the human race] to advance [in numbers] without it?

The discourse has previously discussed this for you ^B more clearly. But if these things are so, if marriage had its beginning on account of disobedience and the corruption that comes from death, as he of the golden tongue says; if after the height of creation God brought upon man the property of irrational construction, as he of Nyssa says; if the difference of figures is of the second creation, according to the divine Sinaite Anastasius; if all rise according to that first man in one form and one figure, as the great Athanasius says, seeing that the difference according to male and female was later fashioned by God for a reason which has been discussed above—what must one say in regard to the proposed question? ^C These things we ask to learn.

If John Damascene also seems to counter the things that have been said. For in the forty-fourth of his Dogmatic Chapters, he is found saying these things concerning the first man: "God, however, fashioned this man male, having imparted to him His own divine grace, and furthermore also rule over all earthly things." From this, therefore, he seems to be in opposition; for by saying that that first man was fashioned by God as male, he has placed before us no minor difficulty. For if, as the great Athanasius says, we shall all rise as one in the regeneration, that is to say, similar to the first man in figure and creation; [and if] he is male...

toward Tiberias; he was seen by James, the brother of God; he was seen above five hundred men. And lastly, he appeared to them on the Mount of Olives, in which place he also made his ascent from the earth after the fortieth day, as has been said. If you wish to learn why he spent these forty days on earth after his resurrection from the dead, and not more or fewer, behold, the great Epiphanius shall resolve such a mystery for you in few words: "For in the same way," he says, "that after his birth Christ was laid in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and after forty days was brought into the divine temple and presented to God according to the law of Moses, so too, having become the firstborn from the dead, he remains on earth for forty days, and then returns to the Jerusalem above, to appear before the face of God on our behalf." And be persuaded by the great Paul, who says: "For Christ did not enter into sanctuaries made by hands, which are copies of the true ones, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God on our behalf."

^B Consequently, the Lord was taken up. Ten days pass after this, and the descent of the all-holy Spirit occurs. This descent occurs after the completion of ten days, because the number ten is perfect. Since, therefore, the Holy Spirit was descending for this purpose—that he might make the imperfect disciples perfect—on that account he came upon them in a perfect number, that is, on the tenth day. That he made the imperfect disciples perfect, the chief, Peter, demonstrated. For look mindfully at how previously, having been thrown into confusion by a wretched servant girl, he denied his teacher three times; but later, having been sharpened by the all-holy Spirit, he harangued with great boldness in the midst of the people, and from there he persuaded everyone to come to Christ without hesitation.

After fifty days, then, as has been said, from the resurrection of Christ from the dead, the descent of the all-holy Spirit occurs. For what reason? Because the old law also was given on the fiftieth day after the manifestation of God. For according to the golden-tongued and divine John, or rather according to the history of the God-seer Moses, fifty days passed after the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, and at that time Moses received the God-inscribed tablets. If, therefore, the old law was given within fifty days, it was entirely necessary for the grace of the all-holy Spirit to be given on that same day, so that from this, beloved, according to both the Old and the New Covenants, the nature of the Godhead might be shown to be indivisible, and that the Holy Spirit was the lawgiver both then and now. "And there appeared to them tongues parting asunder, as of fire." Why tongues? Because there was need of preaching, and so that by his preaching, the world might be saved.

^A by God, as that man wise in divine things, John, says: what need is there to speak further on these points? For if all shall rise in a male figure, or if all according to some other figure, as God who fashioned us knows—even if he does further assert that there is neither male nor female there, because the figure is the same—otherwise, if the first man possessed the difference according to the male [sex] as innate to his existence, it was then possible to see the female immediately coexisting with him. For the male was made because of the female, and the female because of the male, of necessity, and the all-encompassing kinds of living creatures make this manifest. For none of them emerged from the earth without union; for their copulation was necessary for the succession of the race, because He did not desire that these should be multiplied like the angels.

But these things require a more elevated mind, in order for them to be reconciled with one another; but as for us, we are not only at a loss regarding these matters, but also in those where man himself, by coming down to his own level, appears to be contradicting himself. For he has already ^B beforehand stated that the first man was produced by God as a male, that he was considered worthy of divine grace, and that he was entrusted with the lordship of earthly things; but after these things, he has added these words verbatim: "But God, the foreknower, knowing that he would fall into transgression and that he would be subjected to corruption, brought forth the female from him as a helper for him according to him, for the sake of the constitution of the race by succession." For this reason we have doubted not a little. For it appears that, if he were not to have been subjected to corruption, He would not have brought forth the female from him. But if He had not brought her forth, how would the multiplication of men have taken place? But [it would have occurred] like the angels, without union, as the Nyssene says. And for what reason he says that Adam was produced at the beginning in the figure of the male, we desire to learn these things. For the divine [author] from this point ^C appears to be contradicting both the aforementioned Fathers and even more so himself, unless we say that the Saint took the word "male" here according to another meaning; for this word signifies sometimes also the active, the strong, and the perfect, as the etymology of such a word shows. For, producing him such from the beginning, God made him a participant in His own divinity and entrusted to him the lordship of all earthly things.

Pay attention, therefore. For if our generation today is animal, yet sin has become the cause of this. And if it does not burden your ears, I shall take up this discourse again a little. For God fashioned man, He placed him in paradise, and there was neither any reason for marriage in his case, nor did he need the helper of the female. For even if God, while fashioning him, saw how great the human race would be according to number, yet according to that first one, if he had not been found disobedient, all would have been produced without union; for if God was not ignorant of the future, yet He desired ^D to show what His intention was for man beforehand. For it was for this reason that He produced him alone, and honored him with immortality. According to that first one, therefore, if he had remained obedient, all the human race was to have been produced.

and so that the form might interpret the function, as that golden-mouthed one says of the tongue. For the apostles were fishermen, and they had need of the word for their preaching. And he said "parting," because the fire appeared descending [in a] uniform [manner], then was divided and distributed among the apostles. And that fire was not the Spirit himself, but a power of the Spirit. But these tongues were not cast into their mouths, but sat upon their heads; for they were being ordained as rulers and heralds of the world. For see that this custom prevails even until now; for the Gospel is placed upon the head of the one about to be ordained as high priest, and when it is placed there, there is nothing else to be seen but a tongue resting upon the head. And it appeared in the form of fire because of Him who said: "I came to cast fire upon the earth" for the sake of the passions that were growing wild like a forest.

^B And it sat upon each one of them. Therefore everyone who serves God is a throne of God; for it is for this reason that he said "it sat." And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the power to speak. Upon which also those standing by said: "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how do we hear each in our own dialect, Parthians and Medes and Elamites and the rest?" And they received the gifts of fifteen tongues for the time being, as the one who is golden of tongue says, as far as those present were concerned. For what was the need of the Persian tongue when no Persians were present? And fifteen tongues appeared for this reason too, so that the activity of the Trinity might be shown, and the twelve [apostles] as ministers. And it was possible to see the Galilean Peter speaking in the Roman tongue, a language he had not learned, just as it was possible to see each one of the others speaking in a peculiar tongue. For the Holy Spirit ordains this, so that there might not be contention among the apostles about where each ought to go. Upon which also to each one a particular tongue is given as a rule. That is, do you speak in the Roman tongue? Go away to Rome. Do you speak Persian? ^C Go away to Persia. And in one tongue, as has been said, they received the rule; but since it was necessary for them, as they departed to Rome, to pass through many nations, they received other tongues as auxiliaries, having the first [one] in place of an ordination. For every one of the apostles is found speaking in diverse tongues, since they were passing also through many nations. This is clear from what Paul says: "I thank God that I speak in the tongues of you all." Then, indeed, then the prophecy of the most divine Joel was receiving its fulfillment, which says thus: "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh," that is, upon that which has believed. For not only did the apostles receive [the gift of] tongues...

^A Hence, therefore, the teachers of the Church, having seized upon this occasion, confirmed the dogma concerning that recognition alongside others. For if here men recognize one another by means of signs, since the perspicacious eye of our soul has been darkened by sin and is unable to see as it did before, but there it is without signs—for there is one age among all, and one form, as the Scriptures say ^B—all will recognize all, as the discourse will shortly demonstrate to you. For if here all had one and the same character, no small confusion would occur in this life. For what reason? Because our mind does not currently possess the power of discernment in a healthy state, as it did formerly. Divine providence, therefore, aiding our infirmities, has permitted the variation of bodies to exist among us by dispensation, ^C so that all might thereby be recognized by one another. But there, O godlike man, there is nothing of the kind. And if you wish, hear first from John of the Golden Speech, who confirms and says these things regarding this matter: that we shall recognize not only those known to us here, but also those we have never seen. For you have not seen Abraham, nor Isaac, nor the other ancient fathers; but seeing them at that fearful ^D and common assembly, you will recognize them, and having recognized them, you will say: "Behold Abraham, behold Isaac, behold Jacob, behold Peter and Paul, and the rest in order." And for this reason, do not wonder, nor consider it something strange. For if those bodies which rose from the dead at the time of the Savior’s passion, being a prefiguration of the last and common resurrection, entered into the holy city and appeared to many—that is, were recognized (for had they not been destined to be recognized, they would not have appeared, but since they appeared, they were nevertheless known)—and [this happened] even among those who had no prior knowledge of those seen; for none of those who were present at that time, as the golden-mouthed one is found saying in his eighty-eighth homily on the holy Gospel according to Matthew, recognized the sight of the righteous who had long since fallen asleep—much more will such a recognition occur at that true and final resurrection. For when this thick flesh has become thin and light, and patriarchal, the perspicacious eye of our soul will not be hindered in the clearest way. And let that first Adam persuade you; ^A for having become awake and seeing that Eve, he recognized her, and having recognized her, he said: "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh." Do not, therefore, disbelieve what is said; for when we come to that Adam—for the resurrection is nothing else than a restoration to the ancient state of those who have fallen—we shall of necessity recognize even those whom we have never seen, O brethren; for we are one body, and all have one head: Christ. Of necessity, therefore, we shall all recognize all. For even if we were born at different times, yet of all there is one Father, God. Wherefore it is fitting that all from the beginning unto the end should gather together at the same time, and be carried forth collectively in that patriarchal joy. For on this account also, those who received the promise, according to the great Paul, shall not [apart from us be perfected].

not only spoke in foreign tongues, but also all ^A who were baptized by them received a like gift. And this is just what the Lord said: "And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues." And see what happened to those twelve men in Ephesus, as Luke relates, who, having been baptized into the baptism of John, said they did not even know what the Spirit was; but when Paul laid his hands upon them, then they received the gift of tongues. For because the Holy Spirit was invisible, it was altogether necessary that there should be some sensible proof of His presence, so that from this point on all might come to the divine laver without hesitation. This gift, however, stirred Simon also to approach the apostles and ask for baptism; for had he not seen the power of the Spirit as something sensible, he would not have approached the disciples of Christ, nor would he have appeared so needy of their work. And at that time those who were baptized received the gift of tongues by the outpouring of the all-holy Spirit; but upon those with Cornelius, ^B the Holy Spirit fell even before they were baptized, and they spoke in tongues. But why, I ask, did they receive the efficacy of the all-holy Spirit even before they were baptized? Because of the great prejudice of those who had believed from among the circumcision. For these were divided, not wishing to mingle with the Gentiles who were being baptized.

I know, however, beloved, that you also desire to learn the time at which the calling of the blessed Paul took place. And according to certain historians, and especially Hippolytus the Theban, seven years had passed after the resurrection of the Lord from the dead when Stephen, the first martyr, received his blessed end; and after this, about six months passed, and the calling of Paul occurred. But the History of Eusebius Pamphili relates that not even one year had been completed after the resurrection of the Lord from the dead, when all these things took place, both the struggles of the first martyr and the approach of the blessed Paul. But one could have seen fulfilled in him at that time the saying which declares: "Where you are going, you know; but what you are about to suffer, you do not know." For having received letters from the chief priests in order to go and slay the Christians found anywhere, he is blinded ^C in his eyes along the way; for an ineffable light from above flashed around him, and thus the lamps of his body were immediately extinguished. But he also heard a voice from above saying to him: "Saul, Saul" (that is, brother, brother, why do you persecute me?). He is then sent to Ananias and receives baptism, and thence he is enlightened in his psychic and bodily eyes. The all-great Paul then preaches for 35 years. For in the eighteenth year of Tiberius Caesar the saving passion of Christ took place.

^A know one another, when there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither Scythian nor barbarian, neither small nor great, neither male and female, neither black nor fair, neither slave nor free; but all are like the angels?’ It is entirely impossible for such as these to know or be known. And such indeed is what they think and say. But we, opposing them, say this: Those who abandon themselves to human reasonings and on this account contend that we shall not recognize one another there, will end by rejecting the very resurrection of the dead from their bodies. And this is not so surprising as it might seem to them; for a body that has flowed away, a body that has perhaps been devoured by a beast, or fish, or bird, how shall it be gathered into one again and rise? And how shall it, having been so dispersed, return to its former state? But leave, if you wish, those who pry into such things; for being "natural" (psychical) men themselves, according to the apostle Paul—if indeed one must call such a great person [by that name]—they do not receive the things of the Spirit. Leave them, if such is their mindset.

I say, then, that [the claim] that we shall not recognize one another there is destructive of the future judgment itself, as the aforementioned divine man said. For judgment is accustomed to take place with the persons being known, just as it is written: “I will convict thee, and set thy sins before thy face” (Ps. XLIX, 21). So that if we do not recognize one another, we shall not be judged; and not being judged, we shall not receive what is worthy of how we have lived. How, moreover, shall the apostles sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, ^C if they do not recognize those whom they judge? And how shall the blessed Job receive twice as many children again, if he does not recognize them in the kingdom of heaven? Since the former he received here, but the latter he had been promised he would receive in the age to come. Therefore, brethren, believing, we shall believe that we shall both rise and recognize one another as we were, but in the beauties of incorruptibility, just as it has been said before. For our first parents in paradise, even before the transgression, recognized one another when they were incorrupt, and after the transgression, when they were subject to corruption, they recognized one another likewise. Whence it must be believed that brother will recognize brother, and father child, and wife husband, and friend friend. I would add also that the ascetic will recognize the ascetic, the confessor the confessor, the martyr his fellow-contender, the apostle his fellow-apostle, and all will recognize all, so that the dwelling of all may be in God, who along with all blessings grants also the recognition of one another.

But also, as he was making his arrangements at the time when this divine man was departing [this life], he said these things word for word: “If I attain salvation, I will not cease to pray to the Lord boldly for all of you, expecting to see, receive, and embrace you one by one through the departure from the world; for I have such confidence, that His goodness will keep us all together in the age to come, just as here, if we have kept His commandments.” ^D

That we shall all recognize all, and not just the righteous those who are righteous, as some think, and in their own

^A This eighteenth year had not yet been completed when the aforementioned events occurred. The nineteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar began to run its course, and Paul began his preaching, as history relates. Thus the four remaining years of the reign of Tiberius pass; for he is found to have held power for twenty-two years in total. The four years of the reign of Gaius pass by similarly, and likewise, the roughly fourteen years of Claudius pass by. Nero succeeds this man, and in the thirteenth year of his reign, he kills the Apostle. Consequently, thirty-five years are found during which Paul preached. And he carried out his ministry so diligently that he even went to see James the brother of the Lord and received counsel from him regarding the need to shear himself and purify himself on account of the Jews.

^C This James served as the first high priest of Jerusalem; for they chose him so that Peter and John and James would not contend for the sake of glory, as Clement the Stromateus relates. This James was called "the Just" because of his virtue. This is the one who was cast down from the pinnacle and struck on the head with a club by the fuller, leading to his death. For the Jews, when Paul appealed to Caesar and was sent to Caesar by Festus—having failed in the hope for which they had concocted their plot against him—turned their attention to this James and said, "Restrain the people, since they have been led astray into Jesus; for we bear witness to you, and all the people do, that you are a just man." It was the Passover at that time. And having set him upon the pinnacle, they said, "O Just One, we all obey you. Since the people are led astray after Jesus who was crucified, proclaim to us what is the door of God." But when he replied that Jesus is seated in heaven at the right hand of the great power, and is about to come upon the clouds of heaven, they all shouted, "Alas! Alas! Even the Just One has been led astray." They cast him down therefore, and pelted him with stones. And immediately, Vespasian besieged them. ^D James was so just that the prudent among the Jews supposed these things had happened because of him. Josephus also writes: "These things happened to the Jews as retribution for James the Just, who was the brother of Jesus, the one called Christ."

Now concerning the manner of his end—that is, his being cast down and stoned, and his kneeling and praying for them, and his being struck with a club and perfected—Clement has recounted it, while Josephus says these things: "He drank no wine or strong drink, he ate no meat, no razor passed upon his head, he did not anoint himself with oil, and he made no use of a bath." It was permitted to him alone to enter into the holy places and pray for the people, so that his knees had become hardened like a camel's from kneeling and praying for the forgiveness of the people. But the Jews killed him after the death of Festus, having found a moment of anarchy.

^A Now this James, namely the brother of the Lord, was not numbered among the twelve disciples, but nonetheless held the first rank among them. For when the Lord had risen from the dead, as Clement says, He imparted the knowledge to Peter, John, and James the brother of the Lord, and they to the rest. For before the resurrection, the brothers of the Lord were indignant at the Lord and did not believe Him, as the evangelist John says. But pay attention, beloved. For even if the Lord chose those twelve first, and even if He deemed them worthy of greater honor, and even if He promised that they would sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, and that they would be His fellow-guests on that day because they remained with Him, still we have the Lord Himself elsewhere saying to the sons of Zebedee, when they asked for a seat on the right and on the left: "It is not Mine to give this, but to those for whom it has been prepared by My Father." If, therefore, that honor is not given by grace but according to the struggles that each individual will demonstrate, do not marvel if those who, like Paul, and indeed James the brother of the Lord, have struggled, are found to be partners and sharers in the honor of the twelve. For this is what he who had the golden tongue said, that no one would be greater than Paul at that time. That the disciples of Christ were intended to be twelve in number, and not more or fewer, has been declared from the beginning. And give attention, if you will, to what is said. For in the way that this sensible sun, beginning from the first sign and having made its own cycle through the twelve signs of the zodiac, and having fulfilled all its own course in them, returns again to where it began its journey, so also the intelligible Sun of righteousness, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God, having risen upon the world as He Himself willed, and having run through the world beneath the heavens through the twelve disciples, having accomplished all His will through them, returned again to where He came from. ^B And that the twelve disciples chosen by the Lord, and indeed those who struggled like them, have obtained a better place than those patriarchs of old, the golden-tongued John showed more clearly. For He said that they would sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel, an honor which he did not give to the patriarchs. And although many shall come from the east and west, and shall recline with Abraham and Isaac, no other person shall be a fellow-sitter with the apostles. And that they, having appeared at that time under a shadow, are less than those who have flourished in the truth. And these things, indeed, were said by the golden-tongued one, while Theodore [sic]...

^B asserts that those who think and speak thus of those ancient fathers are in error. For although they did not see the Lord with their senses, they did see Him in their intellect. And how could he be inferior who receives the saints into his bosom? And what of Moses, who was transformed along with the Lord’s transformation, with Elias also present, with such majesty and glory that they could speak with Him concerning both the cross and the death to follow? This is the opinion of Theodoret. You, however, beloved son, should rather adhere to the words of that golden orator. And for what reason? Because they are in harmony with the words of the Lord, who also speaks to the apostles in the Gospel according to Luke: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it" (Luke X, 23). What, then, are these things? They are, clearly, all those things that occurred during the administration of the Word in the flesh, the sight of which was granted to the apostles alone. Wherefore the apostles excel the prophets in two respects: both in having seen Christ bodily and in having been initiated into divine matters spiritually.

And if you seek to learn how many there are who have been raised from the dead, and who they were, we will not hesitate to enumerate these very resurrections for you. There are, in total, eight such resuscitations recorded. The first, the son of the woman of Sarephta, whom the prophet Elias restored to life. The second, the son of the Shunamite, whom Elisha raised. The third, that soldier who, upon touching the relics of Elisha, leaped up as if from a fire. The fourth, the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue. The fifth, the son of the widow. The sixth, Lazarus. The seventh, the many bodies of the saints. The eighth, finally, was that most holy and Lordly body itself; although certain heretics, the Apellians, were so mad as to claim that the body of the Lord was dissolved in the tomb into the four elements of which it consisted. But those many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose ^C primarily so that through this very miracle, He who was then suffering might be publicly proclaimed to be God; and at the same time, that faith in the final and common resurrection of mortals might be confirmed, and that the liberation and return of the souls that had been held in the underworld might be made manifest. For the souls that believed in Christ as He descended to the underworld were immediately released and set free. And because it was not possible for souls to be seen with sensible eyes, by a divine plan the souls of those holy men who had fallen asleep appeared with their bodies, so that faith might be more perfect; and then they flew back again to the places destined for them. Beware, however, beloved son, lest your mind also be led astray by the fables that are rumored here and there. For if it is claimed by many that Magdalen...

Magdalene, and heard from her that Christ healed a man blind from birth, and hence remarked to her that He must have known well the minerals of the earth (for if this were not so, He would not have enlightened that blind man), we too are aware of this, but we class such a rumor among the myths. For it is impossible that Galen could have met the Magdalene, as they say, given that he mentions the Emperor Marcus in his writings to Piso, and Commodus again in the first book of his work *On Morals*; for from our Lord Jesus Christ to that very reign of Commodus, about one hundred and fifty years are found. And so much for this.

I know, however, beloved son, that you have also proposed this among other questions: Why, you ask, did the disciples of Christ and the apostles, in recording other matters, keep silent altogether concerning the Dormition of the Ever-Virgin? And it is possible to answer that the evangelists, in narrating the economy of our Savior in the flesh, proceeded up to His very ascension from earth. But the immaculate Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ is said to have reached a deep old age, as the most divine Andrew of Crete maintains. Therefore, it was impossible for the Dormition of the Ever-Virgin to be intermingled with the evangelical history, seeing that it occurred, as we said, a long time afterward. Furthermore, the disciples of Christ did not themselves record anything separately concerning this, because they were occupied with the account of the economy, and were concerned that they might make the unbelievers believers and might bring all to the blameless faith in Christ; thus they overlooked other things, especially those that did not contribute to the divine preaching.

Yet the story of that divine Dormition has not been kept entirely silent, for the divinely-inspired and great Dionysius is found to have written some wondrous things concerning it in his letters to Timothy. And pay attention, if you will, to what is said. For that divine man discusses this matter in these very words: "And we ourselves, as you know, along with many of our holy brethren, had gathered for the viewing of the life-giving and God-receiving body, and there were present also James the brother of the Lord and Peter, the chiefest of the apostles." To these he also brings forward the one who led that divine hymn, who had become possessed by God, standing outside himself and, as it were, departing for the hymnody as he was transformed. And what need is there for many words? The inspired Dionysius reveals through his own words—to Piso, about 180 years, for from our Lord Jesus Christ to that very reign of Commodus—

^A he brings food from Judea to him in such a way, such are the prodigies. The same prophet is present for Daniel, and he is not lacking for the reapers.

After Cyrus, Cambyses his son, who also had the surname Nebuchadnezzar, followed him. Holophernes was the commander of his forces, whom the prudent Judith killed, and although she possessed all his wealth, she did not become insolent in spirit, but dedicated all these things to the Lord and served Him in widowhood, living in her accustomed continence until her 85th year. After him, Smerdis the Magus, then Darius the son of Hystaspes, under whom Zerubbabel and Jesus finished the temple that had been neglected, occupied the kingdom. After Darius, Artabanus reigned, whom Artaxerxes Longimanus succeeded. In his time Sophocles, Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, Pythagoras, Thucydides, Euripides, Herodotus, Empedocles, Diogenes, Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle were famous. After Artaxerxes, another Artaxerxes arose, and others in order succeeded as kings of the Persians up to Darius the son of Arsames, who being defeated and the Persian kingdom ^B overthrown, Alexander took over and possessed the empire of the world.

From this, therefore, learn that the first kingdom was of the Assyrians, or the Babylonians; the second of the Medes, by whom the first was destroyed; then after this, the Persians, who succeeded the empire of the Medes; the fourth of the Macedonians, by whom the Persians were defeated; and lastly, the Romans.

After Alexander, his attendants and princes divided the kingdom. Ptolemy the son of Lagos ruled over Egypt, whom fifteen other Ptolemies followed in order up to Cleopatra. Antigonus occupied Asia, while Seleucus Nicator occupied Syria and Palestine, and founded two cities in Cilicia and one in Syria. Of these he named the first Seleucia, the second Antioch, and the third Laodicea, from his own name and that of his son and daughter. In his time, the Rhodians, having gained the empire of the sea, erected a statue of the sun in bronze on their island, which, because of its great size, they called the Colossus, and they themselves were subsequently called Colossians. After Seleucus, his son Antiochus reigned, and five of the same name later on. Then Antiochus Illustris, the son of Seleucus Philopator, obtained the kingdom, under whom Jerusalem was ^C captured a second time. For, having seized all of Egypt like a grasping and unjust man, he returned to Jerusalem in wrath, whither he sent a commander who brought many evils upon the holy city and forced the people to embrace the Greek religion. There existed then a certain Matthias, who had five sons, and among others, Judas, who, moved by divine zeal, initiated the military campaign. ^D

(12) Some suspect that the Rhodians were called Colossians from the Colossus of the sun which was erected, to which Glycas refers. Who this Artabanus is, whom he places between Darius the son of Hystaspes and Artaxerxes Longimanus—I know not, unless perhaps it is an error of the name; for it is Xerxes who was the son of Darius and the father of Artaxerxes. What he adds, however, that he was illustrious, Sophocles, Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, Pythagoras, Thucydides, Euripides, Herodotus, Empedocles, Diogenes, Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle, this is clearly a mistake, as in our universal library, from which I recently excerpted the chronological library of ecclesiastical and secular affairs, he demonstrates.

^A all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, that is, essentially. As that renowned Athanasius of ours says. Therefore also Paul ^B said that in Christ the whole fullness of divinity dwells corporally, that is, essentially.

In this manner she conceives in her womb, the virginal belly swells: Joseph is not a little troubled by this, and contemplates putting away the pregnant woman secretly. A divine angel stands by him in a dream, saying, “Do not fear to take Mary your wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” ^C Therefore, having awakened from sleep, he took his wife, and did not know her until she brought forth her firstborn Son. Now, the great Basil says that Joseph did not know this most pure virgin either before the birth or after the birth. For the word “until” is found in many places of the Holy Scripture to be indefinite, as when it says, “And the raven did not turn back until the earth was dried.” And indeed, the raven did not turn back even after the earth was dried. And in another place: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” If the word “until” were not indefinite, we would then say that the Lord ceases to sit after his enemies have been placed under his feet. Also the Savior Christ said to his disciples: “And I will be with you always, until the end of the age.” If the word “until” were not indefinite, it follows that Christ will not be with his disciples after the consummation of the world. And yet Paul says thus: “We shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” And these things are thus. But the great Athanasius says that Joseph did not truly know her until she brought forth the Lord. He did not know what that was which was in her. Only when she brought forth, then indeed he began to know. Then Joseph knew what was the power of the virgin. Then he knew, when she had been delivered, and he did not perceive the things of childbed, when she provided milk in a strange way and a breast alien to natural nourishment, when she gave the teat and yet did not suffer any ^D vein-depletion. But do not consider the matter strange. For because the one being born was God and man, He necessarily joined to Himself both divine and human things. Human things were the swelling of the belly, the nine-month period of the pregnancy, the customary exit of the one being born, the nourishment with milk, and the growth from a small size to the appropriate stature of his body: for, as the blessed Paul says, He experienced all our things, sin alone excepted. Again, the divine things were the seedless conception, the miraculous pregnancy, and the undefiled birth. And this is what the theological tongue said: “The laws of nature are dissolved.” For among other things, the most pure one bore Christ without maternal pangs; for according to the Damascene, where pleasure did not precede, reasonably neither did pain follow. That the things of the pregnancy were miraculous, even Dionysius the Areopagite showed, saying thus concerning

[GREEK COLUMN] Maximianus his son. After Georgius, the Confessor Theophanes, also hegoumenos of the [Monastery of the] Agros, composed the remainder up to the death of the Emperor Nikephoros, the one from the *genikoi* [officials]. Under whom Scylitzes began his chronological history from Michael Rangabe.

The Great Constantine, when he campaigned against Maxentius, then saw in the heavens the honorable cross, by which he conquered. Then, having become slothful and having rushed against his enemies, he was defeated; and, despondent, he fell asleep, and in a dream was struck on his nostrils by a rod, and the blood issuing from there he traced into the form of a cross upon a linen cloth. Having seen these things, and having become repentant for the matter, he conquered his enemies again. But after these things, he was led astray into idol-mania by his wife Fausta. But God drew him back again through leprosy; for that disease, having taken hold of him, severely straitened and afflicted him in every way. And as the priests of the Capitoline Zeus advised, infants were gathered so that they might be slaughtered and he might be immersed in their blood, and thus, supposedly, be delivered from the disease. Passing by, therefore, and hearing their mothers lamenting, and having learned the cause of the lamentation, he said: "It is better for me to suffer than to condemn so many infants to death." Wherefore, at night, the apostles stood before him, saying that he should call for Bishop Sylvester. The saint is called, therefore, and having baptized him, releases him from the leprosy. The great man afterwards fought so much for the faith that he transformed all the customs: to fast on Wednesday and Friday, to rest on Sunday, not to purchase Jewish servants, and no longer to condemn anyone to the cross because of the reverence for the honorable cross of Christ. Among other things, he also renames the days of the week, which were previously named after Cronus and Ares and the other stars. The spouse of the great one, however, Fausta, daughter of Maximianus, whom he caused to cast off her soul by heat in a bath; the cause was her stepson Priscus Crispus,

[LATIN COLUMN] ANNALIUM PARS IV.

PART IV. CONCERNING THE CONSTANTINOPOLITAN EMPERORS WHO REIGNED THEREAFTER.

[The remainder of this paragraph is fragmented and unreliable; it concerns] other things [which] are suspected and mixed with fables. He killed his wife Fausta, who was the daughter of Maximianus, in a bath that was heated beyond measure. The cause of this was Priscus, Faust's stepson, on account of a crime of the stepmother; [which story] is also found in manuscripts V and F, for which should be substituted, as all antiquity speak[s]...

475 MICHAELIS GLYCÆ

Secundum hæc ab impiæ sententiæ sectatoribus impulsus hic Constantius antistites accersivit, ut synodus coiret, per quam decerneretur Trinitatem unius et ejusdem essentiæ non esse. Verum conatus omnis irritus fuit; nam cum gravem in morbum incidisset deque vita jam desperasset, Euzoium Antiochenum antistitem ad se venire jussit, illustrationemque divinam celeriter consecutus vivendi finem fecit. Ipso vivente pontifex Hierosolymorum erat ^A Cyrillus, vir eximius, qui ad Constantium in hæc verba perscripsit: Patre tuo regnante crux in terris reperta est. Rursum te regnante crux de cœlo est patefacta. Nam in Golgothæ loco, circiter horam diei tertiam, in ipso Quinquagesima festo, signum crucis conspectum est, de luce quadam fulgentissima compactum. Neque tantum ab uno conspectum est vel per imaginationem quamdam, sed ab omnibus et multas quidem in horas.

Post Constantium successit in imperio Julianus, annisque duobus et septem mensibus eo potitus est. Princeps hic nequissimus ante inita regni tempora, quemadmodum magnus ille Cyrillus antistes Alexandrinus commemorat, in numero fidelium erat, ipsum quoque baptismum consecutus, utut deinceps illum per sanguinem impurum et exsecrandum deposuit, et egregie sacris erat in libris exercitatus. Verum deinceps viri quidam superstitiosi cum familiares ei facti fuissent, habilis ad ipsum de fidei desertione sermonibus tandem perfecerunt ut qui sacrosanctis in ecclesiis et monasteriis educatus erat, impurorum dæmoniorum ^B evaderet: cumque facundus esset a natura, linguam suam adversus Salvatorem nostrum Jesum Christum exacuit, et libros adversus religiosum Christianorum cultum tres conscripsit. Tanto furore sanctos oppugnabat, ac præsertim illo ipso tempore quo delapsus ignis e cœlo pulcherrimum illud Antiochiæ suburbium, quod Daphnen vocant, una cum ipsis simulacris exusserat, ut aheneam Christi statuam, a muliere sanguinis fluxum perpessa collocatam Cæsareæ Philippi, quam nunc Paneadem vocant, inhumaniter confregerit; et sacras Joannis Baptistæ reliquias brutorum ossibus permistas concremaverit. Præterea Judæos adversus Christianos armabat, eosdemque juvabat in exstructione templi sui, quanquam in hoc conatu sunt impediti a vento, gravi terræ motu, et igne denique. Nam ignis e fundamentis ipsis cum prosiliisset, eos ab opere instituto deterruit et detraxit.

Sciendum est autem tibi, dilecte fili, quod in hodiernum usque diem nomen illius, qui Julianum in expeditione Persica jaculo confixit, ignoretur. Quanquam enim perscriptum reperiamus in libro ^C de sancti Basilii miraculis, quæ magnus ille vir Amphilochius litteris commendasse perhibetur, mandato perpetuæ Virginis Deiparæ per sanctum Mercurium magni Basilii precibus desertorem hunc trajectum fuisse, non tamen hæc narratio meretur ut ei continuo fidem adhibeas. Quamobrem istuc? Quoniam in eodem scripto legimus magnum Basili- ^D um archiepiscopum Cæsareæ fuisse, quum per ea loca transiret...

^A and at the time in Tiberias; he was seen by James, the brother of the Lord; he was seen by more than five hundred men. And lastly, he was seen by them on the Mount of Olives, where he was also taken up from the earth after forty days, as we have said.

If you wish to learn also the reason why, after his rising from the dead, he spent forty days on earth and neither more nor less, the great Epiphanius resolves this mystery for you in a few words: "For in the same way," he says, "that after Christ was born, he was laid in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and after forty days was brought into the divine temple and presented to God according to the law of Moses, so too does he do here; and thus he is returned to the Jerusalem above, so that he may appear before the face of God on our behalf." And be persuaded by the great Paul, who says: "For Christ has entered not into things made by hands, which are copies of the true ones, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Heb. IX, 24).

The Lord was therefore taken up. Ten days pass after that, and the descent of the Holy Spirit takes place. That such a descent occurs after the completion of ten days is because the number ten is perfect. Since, therefore, the Holy Spirit descended for this reason, that he might render the still imperfect disciples perfect, for this cause he descended upon them in this perfect number, that is, on the tenth day. And that he did show the imperfect disciples to be perfect, the chief, Peter, clearly demonstrated. For you who are diligent will see that he, who previously had been terrified by a poor little maid and had denied his master three times, later, having been strengthened by the Holy Spirit, preached with much boldness in the midst of the people, and from that point persuaded all to approach Christ without hesitation.

After fifty days had passed since the resurrection of Christ from the dead, as has been said, the descent of the Holy Spirit takes place. Why? Because the old law was also given, with God appearing on the fiftieth day. For, according to the golden-tongued and divine John—or rather, according to the history of the seer Moses—fifty days had passed from the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, and at that time the tablets which Moses received, ^B engraved by God, were given to him. Therefore, if the old law was given in fifty days, it necessarily had to follow that on that same day the grace of the Holy Spirit should be given; and from this, beloved, one can gather both in the old and in the new covenant that the nature of the Godhead is shown to be indivisible, and that the Holy Spirit was ordained both then and now.

And there appeared to them cloven tongues as of fire. Why tongues? Because there was need of preaching, ^{C D} [alt-version omitted]

lived in shadow, are entirely inferior to those who have existed in the very vigor of the truth. These things are from Chrysostom. Theodoret, however, says that those who feel and speak in this way about those ancient fathers are in error. For although they did not see the Lord sensibly, they nonetheless beheld Him by the understanding of the mind. And who is inferior and lesser than the one who receives the saints into his own bosom? Who was Moses, who, when the Lord was transformed, was himself also transformed, with Elijah also present, with such majesty and glory that they could even converse with Him about both the cross and the death that was to follow? Such is the opinion of Theodoret. ^B But you, beloved son, rather incline toward the words of that golden orator. And for what reason? Because such things harmonize with the words of the Lord, who in the Gospel recorded by Luke speaks to the apostles as follows: “Blessed are the eyes which see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” What, then, are these things? They are, by all means, the things regarding the economy in the flesh, which the apostles alone were deemed worthy to see. Consequently, the apostles surpass the prophets in two respects: both in having seen Christ bodily and in having been initiated by Him into divine matters spiritually.

^C But if you also desire to learn how many have been raised from the dead, and who they were, we will not hesitate to recount these very resurrections by listing them. There have occurred in all eight resurrections of the dead. The first: the son of the woman of Zarephath, whom the prophet Elijah restored to life, came back to life. The second: the son of the Shunammite, whom Elisha raised. The third: that soldier who, upon touching the remains of Elisha, leaped up as if from a fire. The fourth: the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue. The fifth: the son of the widow. The sixth: Lazarus. The seventh: the many bodies of the saints. The eighth, finally, was that most holy body of the Lord which was resurrected; although there were certain heretics, Apellians, who frantically claimed that the body of the Lord in the tomb was dissolved into the four elements of which it had been composed. However, those many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were resurrected primarily so that through this very prodigy it might be publicly declared that He who was then suffering was God; and at the same time, by the mystery of the 231 last and common resurrection, faith might be brought about, so that the liberation and return of their souls might be made manifest, as well as those that had been held in Hades. For those souls that believed in Christ as He descended into Hades were immediately released and set free. ^D And since it was impossible for souls thus naked to be seen by sensible eyes, by a certain divine providence the souls of those holy men who had fallen asleep appeared with their very bodies, so that faith might be increased; and afterward they flew back again to the places destined for them.

Beware, however, beloved son, lest by the fabulous tales that are spread here and there your own mind be perverted. For the rumor has gained ground among many...

that he ordered the wealthy to be destroyed and their properties to be seized. The same man, observing mud in a narrow street of Rome, ordered it to be thrown into the lap of Vespasian, a most strategic man. ^A At that time, Philo the wise and Josephus flourished. This Josephus was called a lover of the truth, because he praised the Lord's Baptist and likewise testified that Christ was a wise man and a worker of great signs, and that after being crucified, He appeared alive on the third day. But do not wonder, beloved, if even some barbarians chose what is good; for God, in fashioning man, implanted in him the discernment of good and evil. For this reason, not only did many of those who were not barbarians loathe an unjust life, but even not a few of the barbarians. For they say that the Hyperboreans dwell beyond the Rhipaean mountains, and that they practice justice, living on tree fruits and water. But also that the Brahmans practice beyond human measure, covering their bodies with leaves and living in the woods. And Anacharsis the Scythian was so possessed by the love of temperance and discipline that even when he slept, he would keep his lips and his private parts with his own hands; for he showed that these parts need such great guardianship not only when one is awake, but also when he is asleep.

^B After Gaius, Claudius held power for 13 years. This Claudius is said to have been so fearful that he would have those standing by him searched, lest they carry a sword in their bosoms. After him, Nero his son [reigned] for 14 years. This most unclean person, being about 17 years old, was the first to begin the persecution and killed the chief apostles, as some other historians say, on one and the same day, but in different years; but as Eusebius of Pamphilus says, in the same year and on the same day. But a certain Tertullian, a man among the illustrious in Rome, and Gaius, an ecclesiastical man, and Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, write that Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom at one and the same time, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Nero. And he killed Peter for such a cause as this. During the time of Nero, there was Simon the Magician, to whom the chief apostle came and found a dog chained in his entryway, devouring those who attempted to enter to see Simon without permission. ^C He commanded it to enter, and with a human voice to announce Peter. And at that time it did this, and all who were within were amazed. Simon himself did this same thing and called for Peter. Simon, however, conversing with the chief apostle, said this among other things: "If Adam had foreknowledge, why did he not foresee the deception of the serpent?" And Peter said: "If he did not have foreknowledge, how did he impose names upon his sons according to their future actions at the very moment they were born? For he named one Cain, which means 'zeal'—for being zealous, he killed his brother..."

He called the other Abel, which name signifies 'mourning'; for because he was killed, his parents were in mourning. But if Adam, who was the handiwork of God, possessed knowledge of future events, much more must that be attributed to the Creator." But that insane man ^B inferred that a certain ignorance fell upon God because the Sacred Scriptures say that God tempted Abraham; and also because they record that God spoke thus with Himself: "I will go down and look at Sodom." Then, after other illusions, Simon was raised into the air, promising that he would send down certain good things to the people from there. But I, Peter, prayed by myself, and looking fixedly at him, I said: "If I am an apostle of Jesus Christ and not an impostor, as Simon claims, I command the evil powers to let him go and hold him no longer." And immediately he was brought down to the earth and shattered into pieces. Hence the Romans keep that day as a notable one; for it was a Sabbath, on which the faithful also engaged in prayer and fasting on behalf of the teacher. This practice prevails there even to this day. Having learned these things, Nero crucified Peter. And Paul, as the golden-tongued orator says in his discourse to those who forbid solitude, he finished by the sword, inasmuch as he had instructed Eperastus, his concubine. For this reason he also stirred up the persecution; for being a lascivious man, he could not bear that his concubines should turn to the Lord. ^C The divine John Chrysostom, a man truly inspired by God, also addresses Paul somewhere in such-like words: "What place, I ask, received that milky blood of yours, seen on the garment of him who impaled you? Which indeed, rendering his barbarian soul sweeter than honey by its great power, made him who was previously an unbeliever into a believer." Both of them, as the same Chrysostom testifies, fell asleep in the city of Rome, on the 29th of June, under the Emperor Nero.

I know, beloved son, that you, while reading through the history of the Acts of the Apostles by the divine Luke, have reasonably doubted whether it is consistent that Luke, having set forth all the other deeds of Paul, should have chosen to pass over in silence his blessed migration from this life. It is possible to answer this question in this way: that Luke composed the book of the Acts at that time when Paul had arrived in Rome for the first time; and for this reason it came to be that he recounted the other deeds of Paul but omitted the testimony of his faith, as it had not yet come to pass. ^D For Paul, being free at Rome for two whole years, was carrying out the duty of preaching; and up to this time Luke was with him. Then, having returned to Rome a second time, and having taught the rudiments of the Christian religion to Eperastus, Nero's cupbearer and also his concubine, he closed his life with a blessed end. That Luke himself was not with Paul earlier, Paul confesses in the second Epistle to Timothy, which he wrote when cast into chains by Nero. "In my first," he says, "defense..."

He was the grandson of Heraclius, and reigned for 27 years. At that time, that false prophet Moameth appeared. For the Israelites, up to the time of Heraclius, practiced idolatry, worshiping Astarte—that is, the moon—whom they also called Chaber, which means "great." At that time, Moameth arose among them. Serving a certain wealthy woman, he later took her as his wife. He also suffered from epilepsy, and wishing to conceal this affliction, he claimed to see the angel Gabriel; being unable to bear his sight, he would grow faint and fall. The things concerning him appeared worthy of belief on account of a certain Arian monk who bore false witness for him for the sake of base profit. This Moameth, having gone to Palestine and encountered Jews, Arians, and also Nestorians, drew from them all and handed down a religion of his own. He does not use the law in its entirety; for he taught circumcision, but not the observance of the Sabbath. He also calls himself the gatekeeper of paradise, and says that three rivers flow within it: of honey, of wine, and of milk. He further says that only a shadow of Christ was crucified by the Jews out of envy, for God had taken Christ himself up because He loved him. To the inquiry of that time—"Did you, O Jesus, claim yourself to be God?"—he alleges that Christ replied that he did not name himself God, but that men did so. He taught that all things are determined and come to be for men from God. Moses and Aaron, he claimed, would indeed stand at the judgment of Christ, but would be sent away to punishment as deceptive men. He also said that we are to have life there through perishable food and drink. Furthermore, they secretly worship Aphrodite. This is clear from their prayer; for they say thus: "Alla alla ua, cabar alla," which is to say, "God, God is greater," and the great one, that is, the moon, the goddess Aphrodite.

After the death of the God-rejected Moameth, a comet-star appeared toward the south for thirty days, signifying the inroad of the Arabs; for at that time they seized Damascus and many other places. Their land is praised, for it is very fruitful on account of the temperate air. Moreover, the rue tree does not differ from the fig tree in height. And in Palestine there is a fountain that provides healing, in which they say the Lord washed while traveling. And a tree stands there that is a remedy for every infirmity; this tree bent down to the earth and, as it were, worshiped the Lord as He was fleeing into Egypt; it still preserves the shape of that worship. There is also the "bataritis" root, a flame-like one, to which no one dares to draw near; it is pulled up by a dog tied near the root. The root, when carried by a demon-possessed person, puts the demon to flight. Opobalsam is also cultivated in abundance there. For this reason, God gave this land to the people of Israel as something exceptional. In it, the Lord also accomplished all things. Consequently, the interpreters of the land called it the eye of the earth.