Tricennial Oration (In Praise of Constantine) 6.1–8.9
Greek text: Heikel, GCS 7 (Greek text: Ivar A. Heikel, Eusebius Werke 1 (GCS 7, 1902), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890).
Chapter 6
6.1Heikel
Ὁ δὲ τῶν ἀμοιβαίων τὰ ἐχέγγυα προμνώμενος τριακονταετηρικοὺς αὐτῷ διανέμει στεφάνους χρόνων ἀγαθαῖς περιόδοις ἀποτελεσθέντας, τριττούς τε ἤδη δεκάδων περιελθὼν κύκλους πανδήμους μᾶλλον δὲ κοσμικὰς ἑορτὰς πᾶσιν ἐφίησιν ἀνθρώποις ἐκτελεῖν.
Ho de tōn amoibaiōn ta echengya promnōmenos triakontaetērikous autǭ dianemei stephanous chronōn agathais periodois apotelesthentas, trittous te ēdē dekadōn perielthōn kyklous pandēmous mallon de kosmikas heortas pasin ephiēsin anthrōpois ektelein.
And he, providing pledges of reward, distributes to him the thirty-year crowns, completed in good periods of time; and, having now gone round three circles of decades, he allows all people to celebrate public, or rather universal, festivals.
Notes and citation
Summary: God crowns Constantine's thirty years and grants universal festivals.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.2Heikel
τῶν δʼ ἐπὶ γῆς θεογνωσίας ἄνθεσι φαιδρυνομένων, οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ ἂν εἴη καὶ τὰς ἐν οὐρανῷ χορείας φύσεως νόμοις ἑλκομένας τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς συγχαίρειν, αὐτόν τε τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων βασιλέα πατρὸς ἀγαθοῦ δίκην ἐφʼ υἱοῖς ἀγαθοῖς θεοσεβοῦσιν εὐφραίνεσθαι, καὶ ταύτῃ μάλιστα τὸν καθηγεμόνα καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν αἴτιον πολυχρονίοις γεραίρειν τιμαῖς, ὡς μὴ ἀπαρκεῖν τρεῖς ἐν δεκάσι περιόδους τῇ βασιλείᾳ, νέμειν δὲ αὐτὴν ἐπὶ μήκιστον κὰι εἰς μακρὸν παραπέμπειν αἰῶνα. 3 αἰὼν δʼ ὁ σύμπας ἀγήρως καὶ ἀτελεύτητος οὔτʼ ἀρχὴν οὔτε περιγραφὴν θνητῶν λογισμοῖς πεφυκὼς ὁρᾶσθαι, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐκ μέσου κέντρου λαμβάνεσθαι οὐδὲ τὸ νῦν αὐτοῦ λεγόμενον ἐφιεὶς τοῖς ἐθέλουσι περιδράττεσθαι, μήτι γε τὸ μέλλον ἢ τὸ παρῳχηκὸς τοῦ χρόνου· τὸ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ δὴ παρῆλθεν, τὸ δὲ μέλλον οὔπω πάρεστιν, διὸ οὐδʼ ἔστιν, τὸ δέ γε νῦν αὐτοῦ λεγόμενον ἅμα νοήματι καὶ φωνῇ λόγου θᾶττον διαδιδράσκει. οὐκ ἔστιν δʼ ὅλως αὐτοῦ ἐπιλαβέσθαι ὡς ἑστῶτος. ἢ γὰρ μέλλοντα προσδοκᾶν ἢ παρελθόντα συνορᾶν ἀνάγκη· ἅμα γὰρ ἐννοίᾳ διολισθάνων φεύγει. οὕτως ὁ σύμπας αἰὼν οὐ φέρει θνητῶν λογισμοῖς καθυποτάττεσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἀναίνεται τὴν παρὰ τούτοις δουλείαν.
tōn dʼ epi gēs theognōsias anthesi phaidrynomenōn, ouk apo skopou an eiē kai tas en ouranǭ choreias physeōs nomois helkomenas tois epi gēs synchairein, auton te ton epi pantōn basilea patros agathou dikēn ephʼ huiois agathois theosebousin euphrainesthai, kai tautę̄ malista ton kathēgemona kai tōn agathōn aition polychroniois gerairein timais, hōs mē aparkein treis en dekasi periodous tę̄ basileią, nemein de autēn epi mēkiston kai eis makron parapempein aiōna. 3 aiōn dʼ ho sympas agērōs kai ateleutētos outʼ archēn oute perigraphēn thnētōn logismois pephykōs horasthai, allʼ oudʼ ek mesou kentrou lambanesthai oude to nyn autou legomenon ephieis tois ethelousi peridrattesthai, mēti ge to mellon ē to parǭchēkos tou chronou; to men gar ouk estin ho dē parēlthen, to de mellon oupō parestin, dio oudʼ estin, to de ge nyn autou legomenon hama noēmati kai phōnę̄ logou thatton diadidraskei. ouk estin dʼ holōs autou epilabesthai hōs hestōtos. ē gar mellonta prosdokan ē parelthonta synoran anankē; hama gar ennoią diolisthanōn pheugei. houtōs ho sympas aiōn ou pherei thnētōn logismois kathypotattesthai, allʼ anainetai tēn para toutois douleian.
As things on earth are brightened with the flowers of the knowledge of God, it would not be off the mark to suppose that the choirs in heaven, drawn by the laws of nature, rejoice with those on earth, and that the King over all himself, like a good father over good and godly sons, is glad, and in this way above all honours the leader and cause of good things with long-lasting honours, so that three periods of decades are not enough for his reign, but he extends it to the greatest length and sends it on into a long age. [3] But the age as a whole, ageless and endless, is by nature not to be seen by mortal reasonings, either in its beginning or its limit; nor can it be grasped from the middle point; it does not even allow what is called its 'now' to be grasped by those who wish to seize it, still less the future or the past of time. For the past is not, since it has gone by; the future is not yet present, and so it too is not; and what is called its 'now' escapes faster than thought and the sound of a word. It is not possible at all to lay hold of it as standing still; one must either await it as future or look back on it as past, for it slips away and flees as soon as it is conceived. So the age as a whole does not allow itself to be subjected to mortal reasonings, but refuses to be their slave.
Notes and citation
Summary: Heaven rejoices with Constantine's thirtieth year; but the 'age' (time) as a whole cannot be grasped by human thought.
- The printed numeral 3 marks section 6.3, which the staging did not separate; it is kept here as [3]. 'Age' renders αἰών, which here means time as a whole.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letter; OCR letter-shape slip): θεογνωςίας → θεογνωσίας; λεγόμνον → λεγόμενον.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.4Heikel
τὸν δʼ αὐτοῦ βασιλέα καὶ δεσπότην ὁμολογεῖν οὐ παραιτεῖται, φέρει δʼ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ νώτων ὀχούμενον, ἐναβρυνόμενος τοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ καλλωπίσμασιν. ὁ δὲ ἄνωθεν αὐτὸν ἡνιοχῶν, οὐ σειρῇ χρυσῇ κατὰ τὸ ποιητικὸν ἐνδησάμενος, σοφίας δʼ ἀρρήτου δεσμοῖς ὥσπερ τισὶν ἡνίαις χαλινώσας, μῆνας ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ χρόνους, καιρούς τε καὶ ἐνιαυτούς, νυκτῶν τε καὶ ἡμερῶν ἀμοιβαῖα διαστήματα σὺν ἁρμονίᾳ τῇ πάσῃ κατεβάλετο, ποικίλοις αὐτὸν ὅροις καὶ μέτροις περιδήσας. ὁ μὲν γὰρ εὐθυτενὴς ὢν καὶ εἰς ἄπειρον ἐκτεινόμενος, τήν τε τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐπηγορίαν ὥσπερ ἀεὶ ὤν εἰληφώς, αὐτός τε αὐτοῦ ὢν τοῖς μέρεσιν ἐμφερής, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀμερὴς ὤν καὶ ἀδιάστος, εἰς μόνην εὐθεῖαν μηκυνόμενος αὔξει· ὁ δὲ μέσοις αὐτὸν διαλαβὼν τμήμασι καὶ ὥσπερ εὐθεῖαν γραμμὴν εἰς μῆκος τεταμένην διελὼν κέντροις πολὺ πλῆθος ἐν αὐτῷ κατεβάλετο, ἕνα τε ὄντα καὶ μονάδι παρεικασμένον παντοίοις κατεδήσατο ἀριθμοῖς, πολύμορφον ἐξ ἀμόρφου τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ ποικιλίαν ὑποστησάμενος.
ton dʼ autou basilea kai despotēn homologein ou paraiteitai, pherei dʼ auton epi nōtōn ochoumenon, enabrynomenos tois ex autou kallōpismasin. ho de anōthen auton hēniochōn, ou seirę̄ chrysę̄ kata to poiētikon endēsamenos, sophias dʼ arrētou desmois hōsper tisin hēniais chalinōsas, mēnas en autǭ kai chronous, kairous te kai eniautous, nyktōn te kai hēmerōn amoibaia diastēmata syn harmonią tę̄ pasę̄ katebaleto, poikilois auton horois kai metrois peridēsas. ho men gar euthytenēs ōn kai eis apeiron ekteinomenos, tēn te tou aiōnos epēgorian hōsper aei ōn eilēphōs, autos te autou ōn tois meresin empherēs, mallon de amerēs ōn kai adiastos, eis monēn eutheian mēkynomenos auxei; ho de mesois auton dialabōn tmēmasi kai hōsper eutheian grammēn eis mēkos tetamenēn dielōn kentrois poly plēthos en autǭ katebaleto, hena te onta kai monadi pareikasmenon pantoiois katedēsato arithmois, polymorphon ex amorphou tēn en autǭ poikilian hypostēsamenos.
Yet it does not refuse to acknowledge its own King and Master, but carries him riding on its back, priding itself on the ornaments from him. He drives it from above, not binding it 'with a golden chain,' as the poet says, but bridling it with bonds of ineffable wisdom as with reins; and he laid down in it months and times, seasons and years, and the alternating intervals of nights and days, with all harmony, binding it with various limits and measures. For it, being straight and stretched out to infinity, having taken the name of 'age' as being 'ever,' and alike to itself in its parts, or rather without parts and without intervals, grows lengthening only in a straight line. But he, dividing it by intermediate sections and, as it were, dividing by points a straight line stretched in length, laid down in it a great multitude; and though it is one and like the unit, he bound it with numbers of every kind, establishing in it a manifold variety out of the formless.
Gen 1:14 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God, who rules time, has divided endless time into months, seasons and years, giving form to what was formless.
- 'With a golden chain' alludes to Homer, Il. 8.19. 'Age' (αἰών) is derived from ἀεὶ ὤν ('ever being'), a common etymology. The text reads ἀδιάστος for ἀδιάστατος.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip): χρυςῇ → χρυσῇ; ἐνδηςάμενος → ἐνδησάμενος; τιςὶν → τισὶν; ὑποστηςάμενος → ὑποστησάμενος.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Il. 8.19 (Homer, Iliad; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.4 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.5Heikel
μίαν μὲν γὰρ πρώτιστα πάντων ἐν αὐτῷ τὴν ἄμορφον ὕλην ὥσπερ τινὰ πάνδοχον οὐσίαν ὑφίστη, δεύτερον δʼ ἐν ὕλῃ ποιότητα δυνάμει δυάδος εἶδος ἐξ ἀειδοῦς ἀπεργαζόμενος ἐποίει, τριάδος δʼ ἀριθμῷ τριχῆ διαστατόν, εἴς τε πλάτος καὶ μῆκος καὶ βάθος, σύνθετον ἐξ ὕλης καὶ εἴδους σῶμα κατειργάζετο. διττῆς δʼ ἐκ δυάδος τὴν τῶν στοιχείων τετρακτὺν ἐπινοήσας, γῆν, ὕδωρ, ἀέρα, πῦρ, πηγὰς ἀενάους εἰς τὴν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς προὐβάλετο χορηγίαν. τετρακτὺς δὲ γεννᾷ δεκάδα· ἕν γὰρ δύο τρία τέσσαρα τὸν δέκα συντελοῦσιν ἀριθμόν. τριὰς δὲ συμπλακεῖσα δεκάτῃ μηνὸς ἀνεῦρε φύσιν, μὴν δὲ τροπαῖς δώδεκα ἡλίου περίοδον ἐπλήρου, ἔνθεν ἐνιαυτῶν κύκλοι καιρῶν τε μεταβολαὶ τὸν ἄμορφον καὶ ἀνείδεον αἰῶνα, ὥσπερ ἐν ποικιλίᾳ γραφῆς πολυανθοῦς, ἐμόρφουν εἰς ἀνάπαυλαν καὶ θυμηδίαν τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν τῆς ζωῆς διϊππευόντων δρόμον.
mian men gar prōtista pantōn en autǭ tēn amorphon hylēn hōsper tina pandochon ousian hyphistē, deuteron dʼ en hylę̄ poiotēta dynamei dyados eidos ex aeidous apergazomenos epoiei, triados dʼ arithmǭ trichē diastaton, eis te platos kai mēkos kai bathos, syntheton ex hylēs kai eidous sōma kateirgazeto. dittēs dʼ ek dyados tēn tōn stoicheiōn tetraktyn epinoēsas, gēn, hydōr, aera, pyr, pēgas aenaous eis tēn toude tou pantos proubaleto chorēgian. tetraktys de genną dekada; hen gar dyo tria tessara ton deka syntelousin arithmon. trias de symplakeisa dekatę̄ mēnos aneure physin, mēn de tropais dōdeka hēliou periodon eplērou, enthen eniautōn kykloi kairōn te metabolai ton amorphon kai aneideon aiōna, hōsper en poikilią graphēs polyanthous, emorphoun eis anapaulan kai thymēdian tōn en autǭ ton tēs zōēs diïppeuontōn dromon.
For first of all he established in it formless matter, as a substance that receives all things. Second, he made in matter quality, by the power of the dyad, producing form out of the formless. By the number of the triad he produced body, extended in three directions, in breadth, length and depth, composed of matter and form. From the double dyad he devised the tetrad of the elements, earth, water, air, fire, and put them forth as ever-flowing springs for the supply of this universe. The tetrad generates the decad, for one, two, three and four make up the number ten. The triad, combined with the decad, found the nature of the month; and the month in twelve turns completed the sun's circuit. From this the cycles of years and the changes of seasons gave form to the formless and shapeless age, as in a varied painting full of flowers, for the rest and delight of those who run the race of life in it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius describes creation in numerical terms: matter, quality, body, the four elements, the decad, the month and the year.
- Pythagorean number symbolism (monad, dyad, triad, tetrad, decad), used by Eusebius to celebrate the thirtieth year. The digital text repeats αἰῶνα; the repetition is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in accent; dittography in the digital text; joined words separated): μὶαν → μίαν; ἐξὕλης → ἐξ ὕλης; αἰῶνα, αἰῶνα, → αἰῶνα,.
Topics: Creation
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.5 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.6Heikel
ὡς γὰρ καὶ τοῖς ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι βραβείων ἐν ἀγῶνι τοὺς δρόμους διεφανύουσι σταδίοις ὥρισται τὰ διαστήματα, τοῖς τε μακρὰς πορείας ὁδοιποροῦσι σταθμοῖς τισι καὶ σημείοις περιγράφεται ἡ λεωφόρος, ὡς ἂν μὴ εἰς ἄπειρόν τις τὴν προσδοκίαν ἐκτείνων ἀποκάμοι τὴν προθυμίαν, τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τρόπον καὶ τὸν σύμπαντα αἰῶνα σοφίας θεσμοῖς ὁ τῶν ὅλων βασιλεὺς περιβαλὼν ἄγει καὶ φέρει, ποικίλως ἡνιοχῶν ᾗ καλῶς ἔχειν αὐτῷ καταφαίνεται. ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς χρώμασιν ὡραίοις καὶ νεαροῖς ἄνθεσι τὸν πρὶν ἀσχημάτιστον ἀμφιεννὺς αἰῶνα, λευκὴν μὲν ἐφαίδρυνεν ἡμέραν ἡλίῳ, νύκτα δʼ ὑποστρώσας μελαντέρῳ χρώματι ὥσπερ τινὰ χρυσοϋφῆ ψήγματα στίλβειν ἐν αὐτῇ τὰς τῶν ἀστέρων λαμπηδόνας ἐποίησε, φωσφόρου δʼ ἐξάψας λαμπρὰς ἀκτῖνας σελήνης τε ποικίλα φέγγη ἄστρων τε συνόδους πολυαυγεῖς τὸν σύμπαντα οὐρανὸν οἷον μέγαν πέπλον παντοίοις γραφῆς κάλλεσιν ἐστεφάνου. ἀέρα δʼ ἐκτείνας εἰς βάθος ἄνωθεν ἐξ ὕφους, πλάτη τε καὶ μήκη τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου τῇ τούτου ψυχώσας δυνάμει, πτηνοῖς ἅπασιν ἀνῆκε μορφοῦσθαι, τοῖς διʼ ἀέρος φερομένοις ἀφανέσι τε καὶ ὁρωμένοις μέγα πέλαγος ἐξαπλώσας διανήχεσθαι. γῆν δʼ ἐν μέσῳ κέντρου δίκην σταθμηςάμενος, ὠκεανῷ ταύτην περιέβαλε σμαραγεῖ τε πόντος ἐπʼ αὐτῇ, τῷ τῆς περιβολῆς κυανῷ χρώματι καλλωπιζομένην.
hōs gar kai tois epʼ elpidi brabeiōn en agōni tous dromous diephanyousi stadiois hōristai ta diastēmata, tois te makras poreias hodoiporousi stathmois tisi kai sēmeiois perigraphetai hē leōphoros, hōs an mē eis apeiron tis tēn prosdokian ekteinōn apokamoi tēn prothymian, ton auton dē tropon kai ton sympanta aiōna sophias thesmois ho tōn holōn basileus peribalōn agei kai pherei, poikilōs hēniochōn hę̄ kalōs echein autǭ kataphainetai. ho dʼ autos chrōmasin hōraiois kai nearois anthesi ton prin aschēmatiston amphiennys aiōna, leukēn men ephaidrynen hēmeran hēliǭ, nykta dʼ hypostrōsas melanterǭ chrōmati hōsper tina chrysoÿphē psēgmata stilbein en autę̄ tas tōn asterōn lampēdonas epoiēse, phōsphorou dʼ exapsas lampras aktinas selēnēs te poikila phengē astrōn te synodous polyaugeis ton sympanta ouranon hoion megan peplon pantoiois graphēs kallesin estephanou. aera dʼ ekteinas eis bathos anōthen ex hyphous, platē te kai mēkē tou sympantos kosmou tę̄ toutou psychōsas dynamei, ptēnois hapasin anēke morphousthai, tois diʼ aeros pheromenois aphanesi te kai horōmenois mega pelagos exaplōsas dianēchesthai. gēn dʼ en mesǭ kentrou dikēn stathmēsamenos, ōkeanǭ tautēn periebale smaragei te pontos epʼ autę̄, tǭ tēs peribolēs kyanǭ chrōmati kallōpizomenēn.
For as for those who run races in a contest in hope of prizes the distances are marked off by stades, and for those who travel long journeys the highway is marked off by stations and milestones, so that no one, stretching his expectation to infinity, may grow weary in his eagerness, in the same way the King of all, enclosing the whole age by laws of wisdom, leads and carries it, driving it in varied ways as seems good to him. He himself, clothing the age, formerly shapeless, with beautiful colours and fresh flowers, brightened the white day with the sun; and spreading night beneath in a darker colour, he made the gleams of the stars glitter in it like gold-woven spangles. Kindling the bright rays of the morning star and the varied lights of the moon and the brilliant conjunctions of the stars, he crowned the whole heaven like a great robe with every beauty of painting. Stretching the air in depth from on high, and animating by its power the breadth and length of the whole world, he let it be shaped by all winged creatures, spreading a great sea for the invisible and visible beings borne through the air to swim through. Setting the earth in the middle like a centre, he surrounded it with ocean, and the sea roars upon it, adorned with the dark blue colour of its surrounding.
Gen 1:14–18 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God gives time measured intervals, adorns day and night with sun, moon and stars, and sets earth in the midst surrounded by the sea.
- The text reads διεφανύουσι (διανύουσι), φέρρει, σταθμηςάμενος, σμαραγεῖ τε πόντος (probably σμαραγεῖν τε πόντον); translated by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips): ἄει καὶ φέρρει → ἄγει καὶ φέρει.
Topics: Creation
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.6 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-6
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-eusebius-laus-constantini-6-6) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.7Heikel
ταύτην δʼ ἑστίαν καὶ μητέρα καὶ τιθήνην ζώων ἁπάντων τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ καταδείξας ὀμβρίοις τε καὶ πηγαίοις νάμασιν ἀρδεύσας, χλοάζειν παντοίοις καὶ φυτοῖς καὶ ὡραίοις ἄνθεσιν εἰς εὔθυμον ζωῆς ἀπόλαυσιν ἐδωρήσατο. ζώων δʼ ἐν αὐτῇ τὸ τιμιώτατον καὶ αὐτῷ φίλον κατʼ εἰκόνα τὴν αὐτοῦ πλασάμενος, νοῦ καὶ ἐπιστήμης ἐπήβολον, λόγου τε καὶ σοφίας ἔκγονον, λογικὸν ἄνθρωπον, τῶν λοιπῶν ὅσα κατὰ γῆν ἕρπει καὶ νέμεται ἀρχικῇ δυνάμει κρατεῖν τούτῳ ἔδωκεν. ἄνθρωπος γὰρ ἦν αὐτῷ ζώων τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς τὸ θεοφιλέστατον, ᾧ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀλόγων γένη δουλεύειν οἷα πατὴρ παραδέδωκεν, ἄνθρωπος, ᾧ καὶ θάλατταν πλωτὴν ἀνῆκε καὶ γῆν παντοίοις φυτοῖς ἐστεφάνωσεν, ᾧ καὶ τὰ ἐν βυθοῖς ἕρποντα πτηνῶν τε τὰ μετάρσια ὑποχείρια πεποίηται, ᾧ καὶ δυνάμεις ἐπιστημονικὰς εἰς παντοίων μαθημάτων ὑποδοχὴν ἐδωρήσατο, ᾧ καὶ τὰς οὐρανίους ἐξεκάλυψε θεωρίας, δρόμους ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης τροπὰς περιόδους τε πλανήτων καὶ ἀπλανῶν ἀστέρων ἐκφήνας, ἄνθρωπος, ᾧ μόνῳ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς τὸν πατέρα γινώσκειν τὸν ἐπουράνιον καὶ τὸν μέγαν τοῦ σύμπαντος αἰῶνος βασιλέα γεραίρειν ὕμνοις διετάξατο.
tautēn dʼ hestian kai mētera kai tithēnēn zōōn hapantōn tōn en autę̄ katadeixas ombriois te kai pēgaiois namasin ardeusas, chloazein pantoiois kai phytois kai hōraiois anthesin eis euthymon zōēs apolausin edōrēsato. zōōn dʼ en autę̄ to timiōtaton kai autǭ philon katʼ eikona tēn autou plasamenos, nou kai epistēmēs epēbolon, logou te kai sophias ekgonon, logikon anthrōpon, tōn loipōn hosa kata gēn herpei kai nemetai archikę̄ dynamei kratein toutǭ edōken. anthrōpos gar ēn autǭ zōōn tōn epi gēs to theophilestaton, hǭ kai ta tōn alogōn genē douleuein hoia patēr paradedōken, anthrōpos, hǭ kai thalattan plōtēn anēke kai gēn pantoiois phytois estephanōsen, hǭ kai ta en bythois herponta ptēnōn te ta metarsia hypocheiria pepoiētai, hǭ kai dynameis epistēmonikas eis pantoiōn mathēmatōn hypodochēn edōrēsato, hǭ kai tas ouranious exekalypse theōrias, dromous hēliou kai selēnēs tropas periodous te planētōn kai aplanōn asterōn ekphēnas, anthrōpos, hǭ monǭ tōn epi gēs ton patera ginōskein ton epouranion kai ton megan tou sympantos aiōnos basilea gerairein hymnois dietaxato.
Showing it to be the hearth and mother and nurse of all living things on it, and watering it with rain and spring water, he granted it to grow green with plants of every kind and lovely flowers for the cheerful enjoyment of life. Of living things on it he fashioned the most honoured and dear to himself after his own image, capable of mind and knowledge, offspring of reason and wisdom, rational man, and gave him power to rule over the rest that creep and graze on earth. For man was to him the most God-loving of the living things on earth: man, to whom as a father he has handed over the races of irrational animals to serve; man, for whom he opened the sea to sailing and crowned the earth with plants of every kind; to whom he made subject the creatures that creep in the depths and the birds on high; to whom he granted powers of knowledge for receiving every kind of learning; to whom he revealed the contemplation of heaven, showing the courses of the sun, the phases of the moon, the periods of the planets and the fixed stars; man, to whom alone of things on earth he appointed to know the heavenly Father and to honour with hymns the great King of the whole age.
Gen 1:26–28 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 8:6–8 (8:7-Ps LXX) (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God made the earth fruitful and created man in his image, giving him rule over creatures, knowledge, and the knowledge of God.
- Gen 1:26–28 and Ps 8:6–8 underlie the passage.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter; OCR letter-shape slip; OCR slip; stray digit and split word): καταδείξαις → καταδείξας; πλαςάμενος → πλασάμενος; παραδέδωκε3 ν → παραδέδωκεν; ἐπτστημονικὰς → ἐπιστημονικὰς.
Topics: The image of God
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.7 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-7
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.8Heikel
ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἅπασιν ὁ κοσμοποιὸς τέτταρσιν ἐνιαυτοῦ τροπαῖς τὸν ἄτρετον αἰῶνα περιεζώννυ, χειμερίους μὲν ὥρας ἔαρι περιγράψας, ἔαρ δέ, ἐνιαυσίων ὡρῶν ἀρχήν, ἰσορρόποις ταλαντεύσας ζυγοῖς, κἄπειτα ἔαρος πολυκαρπίᾳ τὸν σύμπαντα στεφανώσας αἰῶνα, θέρους ἀκμῇ τοῦτον μεταπαραδέδωκεν, εἶθʼ οἷα καμάτου διαναπαύσας ἀνεκτήσατο μετοπωρινῷ διαστήματι, ὑγραῖς τʼ αὐτὸν ὄμβρων χειμερίων φοραῖς ὥσπερ τινὰ βασιλικὸν ἀποσμήχων ἵππον καὶ τοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ νάμασι λαμπρὸν ἀπεργαζόμενος, τοῖς τʼ ἐξ ὑετῶν αὐτάρκως πιάνας ἀρδεύμασιν, αὖθις αὐτὸν ἔαρος ἐν προθύροις ἵστησι πύλαις.
alla gar epi toutois hapasin ho kosmopoios tettarsin eniautou tropais ton atreton aiōna periezōnny, cheimerious men hōras eari perigrapsas, ear de, eniausiōn hōrōn archēn, isorropois talanteusas zygois, kapeita earos polykarpią ton sympanta stephanōsas aiōna, therous akmę̄ touton metaparadedōken, eithʼ hoia kamatou dianapausas anektēsato metopōrinǭ diastēmati, hygrais tʼ auton ombrōn cheimeriōn phorais hōsper tina basilikon aposmēchōn hippon kai tois ex autou namasi lampron apergazomenos, tois tʼ ex hyetōn autarkōs pianas ardeumasin, authis auton earos en prothyrois histēsi pylais.
Besides all this, the maker of the world girded the unchanging age with the four turns of the year: bounding the wintry season by spring, and weighing spring, the beginning of the yearly seasons, in balanced scales; then, crowning the whole age with the abundant fruit of spring, he handed it over to the height of summer; then, as though resting it from its toil, he restored it in the autumnal interval; and with the wet showers of winter rains, washing it down like a royal horse and making it bright with their streams, and fattening it sufficiently with the waterings of the rains, he stands it again at the threshold of spring.
Notes and citation
Summary: God orders time by the four seasons.
- The text reads ἄτρετον (ἄτρεπτον), ἐνιαυςίων, τὰον.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip; OCR slip): ἐνιαυςίων → ἐνιαυσίων; τὰον σύμπαντα → τὸν σύμπαντα.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.8 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-8
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.9Heikel
ἐνθένδε δὴ ἐν τῷ τοῦ παντὸς ἐνιαυτοῦ κύκλῳ τοιαῖσδε σοφίας ἡνίαις ὁ μέγας βασιλεὺς ὧδε περιδηςάμενος τὸν αὐτοῦ αἰῶνα, ὑπὸ μείονι φέρεσθαι διετάξατο κυβερνήτῃ, τῷ αὐτοῦ μονογενεῖ λόγῳ, τῷ δὴ κοινῷ τῶν ὅλων σωτῆρι, τὰς τοῦ παντὸς παραδοὺς ἡνίας. ὁ δʼ οἷα παρὰ πατρὸς ἀγαθοῦ τὸν κλῆρον ὑποδεδεγμένος, ὁμοῦ τε πάντα ὅσα κύτος οὐρανοῦ εἴσω τε καὶ ἐκτὸς αὐτοῦ περιλαβὼν ἔχει μιᾷ συνδηςάμενος ἁρμονίᾳ, εὐθείᾳ περαίνει, σὺν δίκῃ τὰ πρόσφορα τοῖς κατὰ γῆν αὐτοῦ λογικοῖς θρέμμασιν ἐπισκοπούμενος. μέτρα τε ζωῆς τοῖς τὸν θνητὸν διανύουσι βίον διαθεσμοθετήσας, προμελετᾶν ἐν τῷδε τὰ προοίμια τῆς ὑπὲρ τὸν νῦν αἰῶνα ζωῆς ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις συγκεχώρηκεν· εἶναι γάρ, εἶναι καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸν παρόντα αἰῶνα θείαν καὶ μακαρίαν ζωήν, ἥν τοῖς εὖ διηγωνισμένοις ἐν ἀγαθῶν ἐλπίσι τεταμιεῦσθαι ἐδίδαξεν, καὶ ἐν.. τοῖς μὲν σωφρόνως καὶ εὐσεβῶς βεβιωκόσιν τὴν ἐνθένδε ἐπὶ τὰ κρείττω μετάβαςίν τε καὶ μετοικίαν γενήσεσθαι, τοῖς δὲ ἐληλεγμένοις ἐν τῷδε χῶρον ἀπονεῖμαι τὸν προςήκοντα.
enthende dē en tǭ tou pantos eniautou kyklǭ toiaisde sophias hēniais ho megas basileus hōde peridēsamenos ton autou aiōna, hypo meioni pheresthai dietaxato kybernētę̄, tǭ autou monogenei logǭ, tǭ dē koinǭ tōn holōn sōtēri, tas tou pantos paradous hēnias. ho dʼ hoia para patros agathou ton klēron hypodedegmenos, homou te panta hosa kytos ouranou eisō te kai ektos autou perilabōn echei mią syndēsamenos harmonią, eutheią perainei, syn dikę̄ ta prosphora tois kata gēn autou logikois thremmasin episkopoumenos. metra te zōēs tois ton thnēton dianyousi bion diathesmothetēsas, promeletan en tǭde ta prooimia tēs hyper ton nyn aiōna zōēs hapasin anthrōpois synkechōrēken; einai gar, einai kai hyper ton paronta aiōna theian kai makarian zōēn, hēn tois eu diēgōnismenois en agathōn elpisi tetamieusthai edidaxen, kai en.. tois men sōphronōs kai eusebōs bebiōkosin tēn enthende epi ta kreittō metabasin te kai metoikian genēsesthai, tois de elēlegmenois en tǭde chōron aponeimai ton prosēkonta.
So, having bound his age in the circle of the whole year with such reins of wisdom, the great King appointed it to be carried under a lesser helmsman, his only-begotten Word, the common Saviour of all, handing over to him the reins of the universe. And he, as having received the inheritance from a good Father, holding together all that the vault of heaven encloses within and without, binding them in one harmony, brings them to completion in a straight course, overseeing with justice what is fitting for his rational flocks on earth. Having appointed measures of life for those who pass through mortal life, he has granted all people to practise beforehand here the preludes of the life beyond the present age. For he taught that there is, there is indeed, beyond the present age a divine and blessed life, stored up in good hopes for those who have contended well; and that for those who have lived soberly and piously the passage and removal from here to better things will come, while for those convicted here he will assign the place they deserve.
Titus 2:12 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God handed the governance of the universe to his only-begotten Word, who teaches a blessed life beyond this age and a judgment according to deeds.
- 'A lesser helmsman' renders the printed μείονι κυβερνήτῃ (a reading μείζονι, 'greater', would also fit the context); translated as printed. The digital text repeats 'the great King'; the repetition is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips; dittography in the digital text): ὁ μέγας βασιλεὺς ὁ μέγας βασιλεὺς → ὁ μέγας βασιλεὺς; πρεμμελετᾶν ἐν τῷ δε → προμελετᾶν ἐν τῷδε.
Topics: Christology, Eschatology, Trinity
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.9 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-9
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.10Heikel
εἶθʼ ὡς ἐν ἀγῶνος ἄθλοις παντοίους τοῖς νενικηκόσιν ἀναγορεύσας στεφάνους, ἄλλους ἐφʼ ἑτέροις.. ἀρετῶν βραβείοις στεφανοῖ, βασιλεῖ δʼ ἀγαθῷ θεοσεβείᾳ κοσμησαμένῳ μείζονα προητοιμάσθαι κηρύττει τῶν ἐπάθλων τὰ γέρα, ὧν τοῖς προοιμίοις ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη πανηγυρίζειν δίδωσιν, ἑορτῇ τελείων ἐξ ἀριθμῶν συγκειμένῃ, δεκάδων τριάδων μονάδων τε τριπλασιόνων,
eithʼ hōs en agōnos athlois pantoious tois nenikēkosin anagoreusas stephanous, allous ephʼ heterois.. aretōn brabeiois stephanoi, basilei dʼ agathǭ theosebeią kosmēsamenǭ meizona proētoimasthai kēryttei tōn epathlōn ta gera, hōn tois prooimiois enteuthen ēdē panēgyrizein didōsin, heortę̄ teleiōn ex arithmōn synkeimenę̄, dekadōn triadōn monadōn te triplasionōn,
Then, as in the prizes of a contest, he proclaims crowns of every kind for the victors, and crowns some with one prize of virtue, others with another; and for a good emperor adorned with godliness he proclaims that greater honours of reward have been prepared, whose preludes he grants him to celebrate already here, in a festival composed of perfect numbers, of decades, triads, and threefold units,
2 Tim 4:8 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God rewards the virtuous; for the pious emperor greater rewards are prepared, foreshadowed by this festival of perfect numbers.
- The sentence continues in 6.11.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.10 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-10
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.11Heikel
ὧν ἡ μὲν πρώτη τριὰς μονάδος ἂν γένοιτο ἔκγονος, μονὰς δὲ μήτηρ ἀριθμῶν, μηνῶν ἁπάντων καὶ ὡρῶν καὶ ἐνιαυτῶν πάσης τε χρόνων περιόδου πρεσβεύουσα, ἤδη καὶ παντὸς πλήθους ἀρχὴ καταβολὴ τε καὶ στοιχεῖον εἰκότως ἄν ῥηθείη, μονὰς παρὰ τὸ μένειν ὠνομασμένη, ὅτι δή, μειουμένου καὶ αὐξομένου παντὸς πλήθους κατὰ τὴν τῶν ἀριθμῶν ὑφαίρεςίν τε καὶ προσθήκην, μόνη μονὰς στάσιν καὶ μονὴν εἴληφε, μεμονωμένη πληθύος ἁπάσης καὶ τῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς γεννωμένων ἀριθμῶν, φέρουςά τε εἰκόνα τῆς ἀμερίστου καὶ διακεκριμένης τῶν ἄλλων οὐσίας, ἧς δυνάμει καὶ μετοχῇ ἡ τῶν ὄντων ἁπάντων συνέστηκε φύσις.
hōn hē men prōtē trias monados an genoito ekgonos, monas de mētēr arithmōn, mēnōn hapantōn kai hōrōn kai eniautōn pasēs te chronōn periodou presbeuousa, ēdē kai pantos plēthous archē katabolē te kai stoicheion eikotōs an rhētheiē, monas para to menein ōnomasmenē, hoti dē, meioumenou kai auxomenou pantos plēthous kata tēn tōn arithmōn hyphairesin te kai prosthēkēn, monē monas stasin kai monēn eilēphe, memonōmenē plēthyos hapasēs kai tōn ex autēs gennōmenōn arithmōn, pherousa te eikona tēs ameristou kai diakekrimenēs tōn allōn ousias, hēs dynamei kai metochę̄ hē tōn ontōn hapantōn synestēke physis.
of which the first, the triad, would be the offspring of the monad; and the monad is the mother of numbers, the eldest of all months, seasons and years and of every period of time; it might fittingly be called also the beginning, foundation and element of every multitude. The monad is named from 'remaining' (menein), because, while every multitude decreases and increases by subtraction and addition of numbers, the monad alone has received stability and permanence, isolated from all multitude and from the numbers generated from it, and bearing the image of the indivisible substance, distinct from all others, by whose power and participation the nature of all things exists.
Notes and citation
Summary: The monad, mother of numbers and unchanging, images the indivisible divine substance.
- The text reads ἀριθ μῶν, ὑφαίρεςιν, φέρουςα.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (split word rejoined): ἀριθ μῶν → ἀριθμῶν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.11 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-11
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.12Heikel
μονὰς γὰρ παντὸς δημιουργὸς ἀριθμοῦ, ἐπείπερ κατὰ σύνθεσιν καὶ προσθήκην μονάδων πᾶν πλῆθος κρατύνεται, οὐδʼ ἔστιν ἄλλως δίχα μονάδος οὐσίαν ἀριθμῶν ἐπινοῆσαι· αὕτη δʼ ἐκτὸς ἂν εἴη πλήθους πορρωτάτω τε καὶ κρείττων ἀριθμοῦ παντός, πάντα ποιοῦσα καὶ ὑφισταμένη, τεινομένη δὲ ὑπʼ οὐδενὸς πώποτε.
monas gar pantos dēmiourgos arithmou, epeiper kata synthesin kai prosthēkēn monadōn pan plēthos kratynetai, oudʼ estin allōs dicha monados ousian arithmōn epinoēsai; hautē dʼ ektos an eiē plēthous porrōtatō te kai kreittōn arithmou pantos, panta poiousa kai hyphistamenē, teinomenē de hypʼ oudenos pōpote.
For the monad is the creator of every number, since every multitude is established by composition and addition of units, and it is not possible otherwise to conceive the being of numbers without the monad. But it would itself be outside multitude, very far removed and superior to every number, making and establishing all, but itself never extended by any.
Notes and citation
Summary: The monad produces all numbers yet stands above them.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in breathing): οὑδʼ ἔστιν → οὐδʼ ἔστιν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.12 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-12
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.13Heikel
τριὰς δὲ ταύτῃ συγγενής, ἄσχιστος ὡσαύτως καὶ ἀδιαίρετος, καὶ πρώτη τῶν ἐξ ἀρτίων καὶ περιττῶν ἀριθμῶν συνεσταμένων· ἄρτιος γὰρ ὁ δύο μονάδα προσλαβὼν τριάδος πρώτην περιττὴν ἐγέννησε φύσιν. πρώτη δὲ τριὰς δικαιοσύνην ἀνέδειξεν ἰσότητος καθηγησαμένη, ὡς ἂν ἀρχὴν καὶ μεσότητα καὶ τελευτὴν ἴσην ἀπολαβοῦσα. εἰκὼν δὲ ταῦτα μυστικῆς καὶ παναγίας καὶ βασιλικῆς τριάδος, ἥ τῆς ἀνάρχου καὶ ἀγεννήτου φύσεως ἠρτημένη τῆς τῶν γεννητῶν ἁπάντων οὐσίας τὰ σπέρματα καὶ τοὺς λόγους καὶ τὰς αἰτίας ἀπείληφεν.
trias de tautę̄ syngenēs, aschistos hōsautōs kai adiairetos, kai prōtē tōn ex artiōn kai perittōn arithmōn synestamenōn; artios gar ho dyo monada proslabōn triados prōtēn perittēn egennēse physin. prōtē de trias dikaiosynēn anedeixen isotētos kathēgēsamenē, hōs an archēn kai mesotēta kai teleutēn isēn apolabousa. eikōn de tauta mystikēs kai panagias kai basilikēs triados, hē tēs anarchou kai agennētou physeōs ērtēmenē tēs tōn gennētōn hapantōn ousias ta spermata kai tous logous kai tas aitias apeilēphen.
The triad is akin to it, likewise unsplit and indivisible, and the first of the numbers made up of even and odd; for the even number two, taking in a unit, produced the triad, the first odd nature. The triad first showed justice, leading the way in equality, as having received an equal beginning, middle and end. These things are an image of the mystical, all-holy and royal Triad, which, dependent on the unoriginated and unbegotten nature, has received the seeds and reasons and causes of the substance of all begotten things.
Notes and citation
Summary: The number three, image of equality and justice, mirrors the holy and royal Trinity, which holds the causes of all created things.
- Eusebius's description of the Triad as 'dependent on the unoriginated and unbegotten nature' is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letter; OCR letter-shape slip; OCR slip in accent): ἀδιαίρετο, → ἀδιαίρετος,; κὰι περιττῶν → καὶ περιττῶν; δικαιοςύνην → δικαιοσύνην; μεςότητα → μεσότητα.
Topics: Trinity
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.13 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-13
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.14Heikel
καὶ τριάδος μὲν δύναμις ἄρα παντὸς εἰκότως ἂν ἀρχὴ νομισθείη. δεκὰς δὲ τὸ πάντων ἀριθμῶν πέρας ἀπολαβοῦσα μέχρις αὐτῆς τὸ πᾶν ἵστησιν, πλήρης καὶ παντέλειος ὠνομασμένη εἰκότως, ἅτε δὴ πάσας ἰδέας καὶ πάντα μέτρα πάντων ἀριθμῶν λόγων τε καὶ συμφωνιῶν καὶ ἁρμονιῶν περιέχουσα. μονάδες γοῦν αὐξηθεῖσαι κατὰ σύνθεσιν τοῖς δέκα περιορίζονται· μητέρα ταύτην καὶ πηξαι ὅρον τε καὶ περιγραφὴν κτηςάμεναι ὥσπερ ἐν περιδρόμῳ καμπτῆρα περιθέουσιν.
kai triados men dynamis ara pantos eikotōs an archē nomistheiē. dekas de to pantōn arithmōn peras apolabousa mechris autēs to pan histēsin, plērēs kai panteleios ōnomasmenē eikotōs, hate dē pasas ideas kai panta metra pantōn arithmōn logōn te kai symphōniōn kai harmoniōn periechousa. monades goun auxētheisai kata synthesin tois deka periorizontai; mētera tautēn kai pēxai horon te kai perigraphēn ktēsamenai hōsper en peridromǭ kamptēra peritheousin.
So the power of the triad might fittingly be thought the beginning of all. And the decad, having received the limit of all numbers, sets the whole within itself, fittingly called full and all-perfect, since it contains all forms and all measures of all numbers, ratios, concords and harmonies. Units, then, increased by composition, are bounded by ten; having it as mother and source, limit and boundary, they run around it as around the turning-post in a race.
Notes and citation
Summary: The decad, limit of numbers, is full and perfect.
- The text reads πηξαι (πηγήν, 'source') and κτηςάμεναι; translated by sense.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.14 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-14
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.15Heikel
εἶτα κύκλον ἐργασάμεναι δεύτερον καὶ πάλιν τρίτον καὶ τέταρτον καὶ μέχρι τῶν δέκα τὸν ἑκατὸν ἐκ δεκάδων δέκα πληροῦσι, κἄπειτα ἐπὶ τὴν πρώτην ἀνατρέχουσιν ἀφετηρίαν, κἀντεῦθεν πάλιν ἀρξάμεναι καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν δέκα προελθοῦσαι δεκάκις τε τὸν ἑκατὸν ἀμφιδραμοῦσαι, παλίσσυτοι διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν καμπτήρων μακροὺς δολιχεύουσι διαύλους ἐξ αὐτῶν εἰς ἑαυτὰς ἀνακυκλούμεναι.
eita kyklon ergasamenai deuteron kai palin triton kai tetarton kai mechri tōn deka ton hekaton ek dekadōn deka plērousi, kapeita epi tēn prōtēn anatrechousin aphetērian, kanteuthen palin arxamenai kai epi ton deka proelthousai dekakis te ton hekaton amphidramousai, palissytoi dia tōn autōn kamptērōn makrous dolicheuousi diaulous ex autōn eis heautas anakykloumenai.
Then, completing a second circuit, and again a third and fourth, up to ten, they make up a hundred from ten tens; then they run back to the first starting line, and beginning again from there and advancing to ten, and running round the hundred ten times, they turn back through the same turning-posts and run long double courses, circling back from themselves into themselves.
Notes and citation
Summary: Numbers advance through tens and hundreds and return in cycles.
- The digital text repeats διαύουσι; the repetition is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR garbled word; dittography in the digital text; joined words separated; letter-shape slip): εἶτακύκλον ἐργαςάμεναι → εἶτα κύκλον ἐργασάμεναι; καὐντεῦεν → κἀντεῦθεν; διαύουσι διαύλους → διαύλους.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.15 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-15
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.16Heikel
τῶν γοῦν δέκα τὸ δέκατον μονάς· δέκα δὲ μονάδες μίαν ἀποφαίνουσι δεκάδα· δεκὰς δὲ πέρας μονάδων, ὅρος καὶ καμπτὴρ ἁποκαταστατικός, καμπτὴρ μὲν τῆς ἀπειρίας τῶν ἀριθμῶν ὅρος δὲ καὶ τέλος μονάδων, ὁμοῦ δὲ τριὰς δεκάδι συμπλακεῖσα τρίτον τε περιελθοῦσα τὴν τῶν δέκα κύκλων περίοδον φυσικώτατον ἀριθμὸν γεννᾷ τὸν τριάκοντα· ὅ γὰρ ἐν μονάσι τριάς, τοῦτο ἐν δεκάσι τριακοντάς.
tōn goun deka to dekaton monas; deka de monades mian apophainousi dekada; dekas de peras monadōn, horos kai kamptēr hapokatastatikos, kamptēr men tēs apeirias tōn arithmōn horos de kai telos monadōn, homou de trias dekadi symplakeisa triton te perielthousa tēn tōn deka kyklōn periodon physikōtaton arithmon genną ton triakonta; ho gar en monasi trias, touto en dekasi triakontas.
Of the ten, the tenth part is the unit; ten units make one decad; the decad is the limit of units, a boundary and turning-post that brings back: a turning-post for the infinity of numbers, a boundary and end of units. Together, the triad combined with the decad, and going round the circuit of ten cycles three times, produces the most natural number, thirty: for what the triad is among units, the thirty is among tens.
Notes and citation
Summary: Three combined with ten makes thirty, the most natural number.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter; line-end hyphenation rejoined): συμπλα- κεῖσα → συμπλακεῖσα; περίσοδον → περίοδον.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.16 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-16
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.17Heikel
ὅρος τε πάγιος οὗτος τοῦ δευτέρου μεθʼ ἥλιον μεγάλου φωστῆρος· σελήνης γοῦν περίοδος ἀπὸ συνόδου ἐπὶ σύνοδον μηνὸς κύκλον ἀπειργάζετο, μεθʼ ὅν αὖθις ἀρχὴν γενέσεως ἀπολαβοῦσα νέου φωτὸς καὶ νέων ἡμερῶν ἀπάρχεται, τριάκοντα μὲν κοσμηθεῖσα μονάσι, τρισὶ δὲ τιμηθεῖσα δεκάσι, δέκα δὲ τριάσι φαιδρυνθεῖσα.
horos te pagios houtos tou deuterou methʼ hēlion megalou phōstēros; selēnēs goun periodos apo synodou epi synodon mēnos kyklon apeirgazeto, methʼ hon authis archēn geneseōs apolabousa neou phōtos kai neōn hēmerōn aparchetai, triakonta men kosmētheisa monasi, trisi de timētheisa dekasi, deka de triasi phaidryntheisa.
This is also the fixed limit of the second great luminary after the sun; for the moon's period from conjunction to conjunction completes the cycle of a month, after which, receiving again the beginning of its birth, it begins new light and new days, adorned with thirty units, honoured with three decads, and brightened by ten triads.
Notes and citation
Summary: Thirty is the length of the lunar month.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter): σφύνοδον → σύνοδον.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.17 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-17
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.18Heikel
τούτοις αὐτοῖς τὰ τῆς κοσμοκρατορικῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ νικητοῦ βασιλέως πρὸς τοῦ πάντων ἀγαθῶν δοτῆρος τετιμημένα νέων ἀρχῆς ἀγαθῶν ἐπιλαμβάνεται, τέως μὲν τριακονταετηρικὰς ἑορτὰς ἀποπληροῦντα, ἤδη δʼ ἐντεῦθεν μακροτέρων ἐφαπτόμενα διαστημάτων προμνώμενά τε μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν ἐλπίδας ἐν οὐρανίῳ βασιλείᾳ ἔνθα στρατιαὶ φώτων ἀπείρων ἀμφὶ τὸν πάντων βασιλέα χορεύουσιν, οὐχ ἑνὸς ἡλίου, πάντων δʼ αὐτόθι τὰ φῶτα ἡλίου κρείττονα ἐπαγομένων φαιδρυνομένων τε καὶ ἀποστιλβόντων τῇ αἴγλῃ τῶν τῆς ἀιδίου πηγῆς μαρμαρυγῶν,
toutois autois ta tēs kosmokratorikēs archēs tou nikētou basileōs pros tou pantōn agathōn dotēros tetimēmena neōn archēs agathōn epilambanetai, teōs men triakontaetērikas heortas apoplērounta, ēdē dʼ enteuthen makroterōn ephaptomena diastēmatōn promnōmena te mellontōn agathōn elpidas en ouraniǭ basileią entha stratiai phōtōn apeirōn amphi ton pantōn basilea choreuousin, ouch henos hēliou, pantōn dʼ autothi ta phōta hēliou kreittona epagomenōn phaidrynomenōn te kai apostilbontōn tę̄ aiglę̄ tōn tēs aidiou pēgēs marmarygōn,
In these same numbers the reign of the victorious emperor over the world, honoured by the giver of all good things, takes up a beginning of new good things: until now completing thirty-year festivals, but from now on reaching to longer intervals, and foreshadowing hopes of future good things in the heavenly kingdom, where armies of countless lights dance around the King of all; not of one sun, but all the lights there bringing a light better than the sun, brightened and glittering with the splendour of the gleams from the eternal source,
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine's thirtieth year foreshadows the good things of the heavenly kingdom, full of lights brighter than the sun.
- The sentence continues in 6.19.
Topics: Eschatology, Heaven and eternal reward
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.18 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-18
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.19Heikel
ἔνθα ζωὴ ψυχῆς ἐν ἀγαθῶν ἀκηράτοις κάλλεσιν, ἔνθα βίος πάσης ἐκτὸς ἀχθηδόνος, ἔνθα σώφρονος καὶ παναγίας ἡδονῆς ἀπόλαυσις, καὶ χρόνος ἄχρονος ὁ μακραίων καὶ ἀτελεύτητος, εἰς ἀπερίγραφον τέλος μηκυνόμενος, οὐκέθʼ ἡμερῶν καὶ μηνῶν διαστήμασιν οὐδʼ ἐνιαυτῶν κύκλοις καιρῶν τε καὶ χρόνων περιόδοις ἀναμετρούμενος, μιᾷ δʼ εἰς ἄπειρον ἐκτεινομένῃ ζωῇ διαρκῶν, οὐχ ὑφʼ ἡλίου φωτιζομένῃ οὐδʼ ἀστέρων πλήθει καὶ σελήνης αὐγαῖς καταλαμπομένῃ, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸν ἐχούσῃ φωστῆρα τὸν θεὸν λόγον, τὸν μονογενῆ παῖδα τοῦ παμβασιλέως.
entha zōē psychēs en agathōn akēratois kallesin, entha bios pasēs ektos achthēdonos, entha sōphronos kai panagias hēdonēs apolausis, kai chronos achronos ho makraiōn kai ateleutētos, eis aperigraphon telos mēkynomenos, oukethʼ hēmerōn kai mēnōn diastēmasin oudʼ eniautōn kyklois kairōn te kai chronōn periodois anametroumenos, mią dʼ eis apeiron ekteinomenę̄ zōę̄ diarkōn, ouch hyphʼ hēliou phōtizomenę̄ oudʼ asterōn plēthei kai selēnēs augais katalampomenę̄, allʼ auton echousę̄ phōstēra ton theon logon, ton monogenē paida tou pambasileōs.
where the life of the soul is in the pure beauties of good things; where life is free of all grief; where there is enjoyment of chaste and all-holy pleasure; and time without time, of long ages and endless, stretched to an unbounded end, no longer measured by intervals of days and months, nor by cycles of years and periods of seasons and times, but continuing in one life extended to infinity, not lit by the sun nor illumined by the multitude of stars and the rays of the moon, but having as its luminary God the Word himself, the only-begotten Son of the King of all.
Rev 21:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 22:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: In heaven life is endless and free of grief, lit not by sun or moon but by the Word himself.
- The light of the Word in place of sun and moon echoes Rev 21:23 and 22:5. 'Son' renders παῖδα.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letter; OCR slip in accent; OCR slip in breathing): κὰλλεσιν → κάλλεσιν; ἀναμτρούμενος → ἀναμετρούμενος; ὐφʼ ἡλίου → ὑφʼ ἡλίου; οὑδʼ ἀστέρων → οὐδʼ ἀστέρων.
Topics: Eschatology, Christology, Heaven and eternal reward
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.19 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-19
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.20Heikel
παρὸ καὶ ἥλιον αὐτὸν δικαιοσύνης καὶ φῶς ἐπέκεινα φώτων ἁπάντων λόγων ἀπόρρητοι μυοῦσι θεολογίαι, τοῦτον δʼ αὐτὸν δικαιοςύνης ἀκτῖσι σοφίας τε αὐγαῖς τὰς παμμακαρίας καταλάμπειν δυνάμεις, τάς τε εὐσεβείᾳ παρεσκευασμένας ψυχὰς ἀντὶ τῆς οὐρανίου περιφερείας τοῖς αὐτοῦ κόλποις ἀπολαβόντα τῶν οἰκείων ἐπαγγελιῶν ἔργοις πιστοῦσθαι τὰς ὑποσχέσεις.
paro kai hēlion auton dikaiosynēs kai phōs epekeina phōtōn hapantōn logōn aporrētoi myousi theologiai, touton dʼ auton dikaiosynēs aktisi sophias te augais tas pammakarias katalampein dynameis, tas te eusebeią pareskeuasmenas psychas anti tēs ouraniou periphereias tois autou kolpois apolabonta tōn oikeiōn epangeliōn ergois pistousthai tas hyposcheseis.
Therefore the secret theologies of the sacred words initiate us into calling him the Sun of righteousness and a light beyond all lights; and teach that he illumines the all-blessed powers with rays of righteousness and gleams of wisdom, and that, receiving into his own bosom, instead of the heavenly sphere, the souls prepared by godliness, he confirms by deeds the promises of his own pledges.
Mal 4:2 (3:20 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Scripture calls the Word the Sun of righteousness, who will receive pious souls into himself.
- 'Sun of righteousness' is Mal 4:2 (3:20 LXX).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip): παρὸ καὶ ἥλιον αὐτὸν δικαιοςύνης → παρὸ καὶ ἥλιον αὐτὸν δικαιοσύνης.
Topics: Christology, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.20 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-20
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
6.21Heikel
θνητῶν δʼ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν, οὐδὲ ἀκοή τις διέγνω, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ νοῦς σάρκα ἠμφιεσμένος οἷός τε ἂν εἴη διαθρῆσαι ἅ τοῖς εὐσεβείᾳ διακοσμησαμένοις προητοίμασται, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ σοί, βασιλεῦ θεοσεβέστατε, ᾧ μόνῳ τῶν ἐξ αἰῶνος ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη τὸν ἀνθρώπειον ἀποκαθᾶραι βίον αὐτὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων παμβασιλεὺς θεὸς ἐδωρήσατο, ᾧ καὶ τὸ αὐτοῦ σωτήριον ἀνέδειξε σημεῖον, διʼ οὗ τὸν θάνατον καταγωνισάμενος τὸν κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἤγειρε θρίαμβον· ὅ δὴ νικητικὸν τρόπαιον, δαιμόνων ἀποτρόπαιον, τοῖς τῆς πλάνης ἰνδάλμασιν ἀντιπαρατάξας τὰς κατὰ πάντων ἀθέων πολεμίων τε καὶ βαρβάρων ἤδη δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν δαιμόνων, ἄλλων τουτωνὶ βαρβάρων, ἤρατο νίκας.
thnētōn dʼ ophthalmos ouk eiden, oude akoē tis diegnō, allʼ oude nous sarka ēmphiesmenos hoios te an eiē diathrēsai ha tois eusebeią diakosmēsamenois proētoimastai, hōsper oun kai soi, basileu theosebestate, hǭ monǭ tōn ex aiōnos enteuthen ēdē ton anthrōpeion apokatharai bion autos ho tōn holōn pambasileus theos edōrēsato, hǭ kai to autou sōtērion anedeixe sēmeion, diʼ hou ton thanaton katagōnisamenos ton kata tōn echthrōn ēgeire thriambon; ho dē nikētikon tropaion, daimonōn apotropaion, tois tēs planēs indalmasin antiparataxas tas kata pantōn atheōn polemiōn te kai barbarōn ēdē de kai autōn daimonōn, allōn toutōni barbarōn, ērato nikas.
"The eye of mortals has not seen, nor has any ear perceived," nor could a mind clothed in flesh discern "what has been prepared" for those adorned with godliness, as also for you, most godly emperor, to whom alone of all from the beginning God himself, the King of all, has granted to purify human life already here; to whom he also showed his own saving sign, through which he overcame death and raised the triumph over his enemies. Setting this victorious trophy, which averts the demons, against the idols of error, you have won victories over all godless enemies and barbarians, and now over the demons themselves, those other barbarians.
1 Cor 2:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 64:4 (echo, low confidence) · Col 2:15 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: What God has prepared for the pious is beyond knowing; Constantine, shown Christ's saving sign, has used it to conquer enemies and demons.
- Adapted from 1 Cor 2:9 (compare Isa 64:4). 'His own saving sign' is the cross, which Constantine saw in his vision (Eusebius, Life of Constantine 1.28–31).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip; OCR slip): προητούμασται → προητοίμασται; καταγωνιςάμενος → καταγωνισάμενος.
Extrabiblical texts: Eusebius, Vit. Const. 1.28-31 (Life of Constantine; allusion)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 6.21 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/6-21
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
Chapter 7
7.1Heikel
Δυεῖν γάρ τοι φύσεων ἐν ἡμῖν συμπελεγμένων, ψυχῆς λέγω καὶ σώματος, καὶ τοῦ μὲν ὁρωμένου τοῖς πᾶσι τοῦ δʼ ἀφανοῦς καθεστῶτος, δύο τούτοις ἐναντία βάρβαρα καὶ πολέμια γένη, τὸ μὲν ἀφανῶς τὸ δʼ ἐκ τοῦ προφανοῦς παρετάττετο. καὶ τὸ μὲν σώματα σώμασι προβεβλημένον, τὸ δʼ ἀσωμάτοις παντευχίαις γυμνὴν αὐτὴν ἐπολιόρκει τὴν ἀνθρώπου ψυχήν.
Dyein gar toi physeōn en hēmin sympelegmenōn, psychēs legō kai sōmatos, kai tou men horōmenou tois pasi tou dʼ aphanous kathestōtos, dyo toutois enantia barbara kai polemia genē, to men aphanōs to dʼ ek tou prophanous paretatteto. kai to men sōmata sōmasi probeblēmenon, to dʼ asōmatois panteuchiais gymnēn autēn epoliorkei tēn anthrōpou psychēn.
For since two natures are woven together in us, soul, I mean, and body, the one visible to all and the other invisible, two barbarous and hostile races were drawn up against these, the one invisibly, the other openly. The one set bodies against bodies; the other, with incorporeal weapons, besieged the naked human soul itself.
Notes and citation
Summary: Humans, made of body and soul, faced two enemies: visible barbarians and invisible demons.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
7.2Heikel
εἶθʼ οἱ μὲν ὁρατοὶ βάρβαροι, νομάδες τινὲς ἄγριοι θηρῶν οὐδὲν διαφέροντες, ἐπὶ τὰς ἡμέρους τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐφοίτων ἀγέλας, χώρας δῃοῦντες, πόλεις ἐξανδραποδιζόμενοι, λύκων ἀπηνῶν δίκην ἐκ τῆς ἐρήμης τοῖς κατὰ πόλιν ἐπιόντες, κἄπειτα λυμαινόμενοι ὅσοις ἄν δύναιντο οἱ δʼ ἀφανεῖς ἐχθροί, ψυχοφθόροι δαίμονες, οἳ δὴ βαρβάρων ἁπάντων ἀπηνέστεροι, ἀμφὶ τὸν ἀέρα τόνδε ποτώμενοι πᾶν τὸ θνητὸν γένος μηχαναῖς πολυθέου κακίας ἐξηνδραποδίζοντο, ὡς μηκέτʼ αὐτοῖς εἶναι θεὸν τὸν ἀληθῆ θεὸν ἀλλά τινα πολὺν καὶ ἄθεον πλάνον· τοὺς γὰρ μηδαμῆ μηδαμῶς ὄντας οὐκ οἶδʼ ὁπόθεν παραγαγόντες, τὸν ὄντα καὶ μόνον ἀληθῶς ὄντα ὡς οὐκ ὄντα πάρεργον ἐποιήσαντο.
eithʼ hoi men horatoi barbaroi, nomades tines agrioi thērōn ouden diapherontes, epi tas hēmerous tōn anthrōpōn ephoitōn agelas, chōras dę̄ountes, poleis exandrapodizomenoi, lykōn apēnōn dikēn ek tēs erēmēs tois kata polin epiontes, kapeita lymainomenoi hosois an dynainto hoi dʼ aphaneis echthroi, psychophthoroi daimones, hoi dē barbarōn hapantōn apēnesteroi, amphi ton aera tonde potōmenoi pan to thnēton genos mēchanais polytheou kakias exēndrapodizonto, hōs mēketʼ autois einai theon ton alēthē theon alla tina polyn kai atheon planon; tous gar mēdamē mēdamōs ontas ouk oidʼ hopothen paragagontes, ton onta kai monon alēthōs onta hōs ouk onta parergon epoiēsanto.
Then the visible barbarians, savage nomads no different from wild beasts, attacked the tame flocks of humanity, ravaging lands and enslaving cities, falling like cruel wolves from the desert on those in the cities and destroying whomever they could. And the invisible enemies, soul-destroying demons, more cruel than all barbarians, flying about this air, enslaved the whole mortal race by the devices of polytheistic wickedness, so that for them the true God was no longer God, but a manifold and godless error. For, bringing in from I know not where beings that in no way at all exist, they made the One who is, and alone truly is, into a side issue, as though he were not.
Eph 2:2 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Barbarians ravaged the empire while demons enslaved humanity to polytheism, pushing aside the true God.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in breathing): οἹ δὴ → οἳ δὴ.
Topics: The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
7.3Heikel
ἔνθεν αὐτοῖς ἡ τῶν σωμάτων γένεσις ἐνομίσθη θεός, καὶ πάλιν ἄλλος ἐναντίος τούτῳ θεός, ἡ τῶν αὐτῶν διαφθορὰ τε καὶ λύσις. ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν πρῶτος αὐτοῖς ὡς ἄν γενέσεως ἀρχηγὸς Ἀφροδίτης ὀργίοις ἐτιμᾶτο, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος ὡς ἄν πολὺς καὶ τοῦ θνητοῦ κατισχύων γένους Πλούτων καὶ Θάνατος ὠνομάζετο. ὡς γὰρ μὴ ἑτέραν ἤ τὴν διὰ γενέσεως ζωὴν εἰδότες οἱ τότʼ ἄνθρωποι τὴν ταύτης αἰτίαν γένεσιν θεὸν εἶναι ἀπέφαινον· καὶ ὡς μηκέτʼ ὄντες μετὰ θάνατον νικητὴν ἁπάντων καὶ μέγαν θεὸν τὸν Θάνατον ἀνηγόρευον· εἶθʼ ὡς εὐθύναις οὐθαμῶς ὑποκείμενοι διὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου λύσιν τὰ μυρίων θανάτων ἄξια δρῶντες διῆγον, βίον τε ἔζων ἀβίωτον, οὐ θεὸν ἐν νῷ λαμβάνοντες, οὐ θείας κρίσεως δικαιωτήρια προσδοκῶντες, οὐ τῆς σφῶν κατὰ ψυχὴν οὐσίας τὴν μνήμην ἀναζωπυροῦντες, ἑνὶ δὲ δεινῷ προστάτῃ τῷ Θανάτῳ χρώμενοι, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τούτου τῶν σωμάτων φθορὰν λύσιν τοῦ παντὸς ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι πείσαντες, μέγαν θεὸν καὶ πλούσιον, παρὸ καὶ Πλούτωνα, τὸν Θάνατον ἀνηγόρευον. καὶ Θάνατος ἦν αὐτοῖς θεὸς οὐ μόνος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ πρὸ τούτου τίμια, τὰ δὴ πρὸς ἡδυπαθῆ ζωὴν αὐτοῖς συμβαλλόμενα.
enthen autois hē tōn sōmatōn genesis enomisthē theos, kai palin allos enantios toutǭ theos, hē tōn autōn diaphthora te kai lysis. allʼ ho men prōtos autois hōs an geneseōs archēgos Aphroditēs orgiois etimato, ho de deuteros hōs an polys kai tou thnētou katischyōn genous Ploutōn kai Thanatos ōnomazeto. hōs gar mē heteran ē tēn dia geneseōs zōēn eidotes hoi totʼ anthrōpoi tēn tautēs aitian genesin theon einai apephainon; kai hōs mēketʼ ontes meta thanaton nikētēn hapantōn kai megan theon ton Thanaton anēgoreuon; eithʼ hōs euthynais outhamōs hypokeimenoi dia tēn ek tou thanatou lysin ta myriōn thanatōn axia drōntes diēgon, bion te ezōn abiōton, ou theon en nǭ lambanontes, ou theias kriseōs dikaiōtēria prosdokōntes, ou tēs sphōn kata psychēn ousias tēn mnēmēn anazōpyrountes, heni de deinǭ prostatę̄ tǭ Thanatǭ chrōmenoi, kai tēn ek toutou tōn sōmatōn phthoran lysin tou pantos heautous einai peisantes, megan theon kai plousion, paro kai Ploutōna, ton Thanaton anēgoreuon. kai Thanatos ēn autois theos ou monos, alla kai ta pro toutou timia, ta dē pros hēdypathē zōēn autois symballomena.
From this they took the generation of bodies for a god, and again another god opposed to it, their corruption and dissolution. The first, as the author of generation, they honoured with the rites of Aphrodite; the second, as manifold and prevailing over the mortal race, they named Pluto and Death. For the people of that time, knowing no other life than that which comes through generation, declared its cause, generation, to be a god; and, as though they would no longer exist after death, they proclaimed Death the victor over all and a great god. Then, as though in no way subject to account because of the dissolution brought by death, they went on doing things worthy of countless deaths, and lived a life that was no life, not taking God into their minds, not expecting the courts of divine judgment, not rekindling the memory of their own substance as souls, but having one terrible patron, Death; and persuading themselves that the corruption of bodies that comes from him was the dissolution of everything, they proclaimed Death a great and rich god, hence also Pluto. And Death was not their only god; so also were the things they valued before it, those that contributed to a life of pleasure.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans deified generation (Aphrodite) and death (Pluto) and, expecting no judgment, lived wickedly.
- Pluto (Πλούτων) is derived from πλοῦτος ('wealth'), hence 'rich god'.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter; OCR slip): σωμέτων → σωμάτων; τούτοτυ → τούτου.
Topics: Eschatology, Paganism
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.3 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
7.4Heikel
θεὸς γοῦν αὐτοῖς ἦν ἡ τῶν σαρκῶν ἡδονή, θεὸς ἡ τροφή, θεὸς ἡ τούτων βλάστη, θεὸς ἡ τῶν ἀκροδρύων φυή, θεὸς ἡ διὰ μέθης τρυφή, θεὸς ὁ τῶν σωμάτων πόθος, θεὸς ἡ τούτων ἡδονή. ἔνθεν τὰ Δήμητρος καὶ Φερεφάττης μυστήρια καὶ Κόρης ἁρπαγὴ ὑπὸ Ἀϊδωνέως καὶ πάλιν ἡ ταύτης ἀνάδοσις. ἔνθεν Διονύσου τελεταὶ καὶ νικώμενος Ἡρακλῆς ὡς ὑπὸ κρείττονος θεοῦ τῆς μέθης, ἔνθεν Ἔρωτος καὶ Ἀφροδίτης ὄργια μοιχικά. ἔνθεν Ζεὺς αὐτὸς γυναικομανῶν καὶ Γανυμήδους ἐρῶν, φιληδόνων τε θεῶν καὶ φιλοπαθῶν ἀσελγῆ μύθων ἀναπλάσματα.
theos goun autois ēn hē tōn sarkōn hēdonē, theos hē trophē, theos hē toutōn blastē, theos hē tōn akrodryōn phyē, theos hē dia methēs tryphē, theos ho tōn sōmatōn pothos, theos hē toutōn hēdonē. enthen ta Dēmētros kai Pherephattēs mystēria kai Korēs harpagē hypo Aïdōneōs kai palin hē tautēs anadosis. enthen Dionysou teletai kai nikōmenos Hēraklēs hōs hypo kreittonos theou tēs methēs, enthen Erōtos kai Aphroditēs orgia moichika. enthen Zeus autos gynaikomanōn kai Ganymēdous erōn, philēdonōn te theōn kai philopathōn aselgē mythōn anaplasmata.
So for them the pleasure of the flesh was a god; food was a god; its growth was a god; the growth of fruits was a god; luxury through drunkenness was a god; bodily desire was a god; its pleasure was a god. From this came the mysteries of Demeter and Pherephatta, the rape of Kore by Aidoneus and her return again; from this the rites of Dionysus and Heracles overcome by drunkenness as by a stronger god; from this the adulterous orgies of Eros and Aphrodite; from this Zeus himself mad for women and in love with Ganymede, and the licentious fictions of myths about pleasure-loving and passionate gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans deified pleasures, which gave rise to the mysteries of Demeter and Kore, Dionysus, Aphrodite, and the immoral myths of Zeus.
- 'Adulterous' renders μοιχικά.
Topics: Paganism
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.4 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
7.5Heikel
τοσούτοις δῆτα βέλεσι θεομάχου πλάνης οἱ δεινοὶ βάρβαροι καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν ὅλων ἐχθροὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς κατεπόνουν, καὶ εἷλόν γε τὸ πᾶν γένος ὑποχείριον, ὡς ἁπανταχοῦ γῆς ἀθεότητος ἀνεγεῖραι στήλας νεώς τε καὶ ἱερὰ ψευδωνύμου θεολογίας καθʼ ἑκάστην γωνίαν συνίστασθαι.
tosoutois dēta belesi theomachou planēs hoi deinoi barbaroi kai tǭ basilei tōn holōn echthroi tous epi gēs kateponoun, kai heilon ge to pan genos hypocheirion, hōs hapantachou gēs atheotētos anegeirai stēlas neōs te kai hiera pseudōnymou theologias kathʼ hekastēn gōnian synistasthai.
With so many arrows of God-fighting error those terrible barbarians, enemies of the King of all, wore down the people on earth, and made the whole race subject to them, so that pillars of godlessness were raised everywhere on earth, and temples and shrines of a falsely named theology were set up in every corner.
Notes and citation
Summary: Through such error the demons subdued humanity and filled the earth with temples.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letter): δεινὶ βάρβαροι → δεινοὶ βάρβαροι.
Topics: Idolatry
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.5 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
7.6Heikel
οἱ γοῦν τότε κρατεῖν νομιζόμενοι τοσοῦτον καταδεδούλωντο τῇ πλάνῃ, ὡς ὁμοφύλων καὶ συγγενῶν φόνους τοῖς αὐτῶν καλλιερεῖν θεοῖς καὶ τὰ ξίφη θήγειν κατὰ τῶν προμάχων τῆς ἀληθείας, πόλεμόν τε ἄσπονδον καὶ ἀθέους αἴρεσθαι χεῖρας, οὐ κατʼ ἐχθρῶν ἀλλοφύλων καὶ ἀπεξενωμένων, κατὰ δὲ τῶν συνεστίων καὶ φίλων, κατά τε ἀδελφῶν καὶ συγγενῶν καὶ φιλτάτων, οἵ δὴ σεμνότητι βίου σωφροσύνῃ τε καὶ θεοσεβείας ἀληθοῦς ἐγχειρήμασι τιμᾶν τὸ θεῖον καὶ σέβειν διεγνώκεσαν.
hoi goun tote kratein nomizomenoi tosouton katadedoulōnto tę̄ planę̄, hōs homophylōn kai syngenōn phonous tois autōn kallierein theois kai ta xiphē thēgein kata tōn promachōn tēs alētheias, polemon te aspondon kai atheous airesthai cheiras, ou katʼ echthrōn allophylōn kai apexenōmenōn, kata de tōn synestiōn kai philōn, kata te adelphōn kai syngenōn kai philtatōn, hoi dē semnotēti biou sōphrosynę̄ te kai theosebeias alēthous encheirēmasi timan to theion kai sebein diegnōkesan.
Those who were then thought to rule were so enslaved to error that they offered the murders of their own people and kin in sacrifice to their gods, sharpened their swords against the champions of the truth, and raised implacable war and godless hands, not against foreign and alien enemies, but against those of their own hearth and their friends, against brothers and kin and dearest ones, who had resolved to honour and worship the divine by dignity of life, self-control and the undertakings of true godliness.
Notes and citation
Summary: The former rulers persecuted their own people, the Christians, as sacrifices to their gods.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip): σωφροςύνῃ → σωφροσύνῃ.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.6 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-6
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
7.7Heikel
ἀλλʼ οἱ μὲν ὧδέ πη μανίᾳ φρενῶν τοὺς τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν ὅλων καθωσιωμένους τοῖς αὐτῶν δαίμοσι κατέσφαττον, οἱ δὲ τῆς ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας γενναῖοι μάρτυρες καὶ ζωῆς αὐτῆς τὸν ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας εὐκλεῆ θάνατον προτιμᾶν μεμελετηκότες παρʼ οὐδὲν τὴν τοσαύτην ἐτίθεντο τυραννίδα, οἷα δὲ θεοῦ στρατιῶται καρτερίας ἀρετῇ φραξάμενοι, πάντα τρόπον θανάτου γέλωτα ἔθεντο, πῦρ καὶ σίδηρον καὶ προσηλώσεις, θῆράς τε ἀγρίους καὶ θαλάττης βυθούς, ἀποτομὰς μελῶν καὶ καυτῆρας, ὀφθαλμῶν ἐξορύξεις, τοῦ παντὸς σώματος ἀκρωτηριασμούς, λιμὸν ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ μέταλλα καὶ δεσμὰ παντὸς καλοῦ καὶ ἡδονῆς ἁπάσης γλυκίονα ἡγησάμενοι διʼ ἔρωτα καὶ πόθον τὸν πρὸς τὸν αὐτῶν βασιλέα. θηλειῶν τε ὡσαύτως νεανικαὶ ψυχαὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν οὐχ ἧττον ἠρρενωμέναι, αἱ μὲν τοὺς αὐτοὺς τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἀγῶνας ὑποστᾶσαι ἴσα τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀπηνέγκαντο βραβεῖα, αἱ δʼ ἐπὶ φθορᾷ τῶν σωμάτων ἑλκόμεναι θᾶττον τὴν ψυχὴν θανάτῳ ἢ τὸ σῶμα τῇ φθορᾷ παραδεδώκασιν, μυρίαι τε ἄλλαι πρὸς τῶν κατʼ ἔθνος ἀρχόντων, πορνείας ἀπειλὴν μηδʼ ἄκροις ὠσὶν ἐπακοῦσαι δεδυνημέναι, πᾶν εἶδος στρεβλωτηρίων πᾶσάν τε ψῆφον θανατηφόρον εὐθαρσῶς ὑπέστησαν.
allʼ hoi men hōde pē manią phrenōn tous tǭ basilei tōn holōn kathōsiōmenous tois autōn daimosi katesphatton, hoi de tēs alēthous eusebeias gennaioi martyres kai zōēs autēs ton hyper alētheias eukleē thanaton protiman memeletēkotes parʼ ouden tēn tosautēn etithento tyrannida, hoia de theou stratiōtai karterias aretę̄ phraxamenoi, panta tropon thanatou gelōta ethento, pyr kai sidēron kai prosēlōseis, thēras te agrious kai thalattēs bythous, apotomas melōn kai kautēras, ophthalmōn exoryxeis, tou pantos sōmatos akrōtēriasmous, limon epi toutois kai metalla kai desma pantos kalou kai hēdonēs hapasēs glykiona hēgēsamenoi diʼ erōta kai pothon ton pros ton autōn basilea. thēleiōn te hōsautōs neanikai psychai tōn andrōn ouch hētton ērrenōmenai, hai men tous autous tois andrasin agōnas hypostasai isa tēs aretēs apēnenkanto brabeia, hai dʼ epi phthorą tōn sōmatōn helkomenai thatton tēn psychēn thanatǭ ē to sōma tę̄ phthorą paradedōkasin, myriai te allai pros tōn katʼ ethnos archontōn, porneias apeilēn mēdʼ akrois ōsin epakousai dedynēmenai, pan eidos streblōtēriōn pasan te psēphon thanatēphoron eutharsōs hypestēsan.
So they, in madness of mind, slaughtered for their own demons those consecrated to the King of all. But the noble martyrs of true godliness, trained to prefer a glorious death for the truth even to life itself, set at nought so great a tyranny; as soldiers of God, fortified with the virtue of endurance, they laughed at every manner of death, fire and sword and nailing, wild beasts and the depths of the sea, the cutting off of limbs and branding irons, the gouging out of eyes, the mutilation of the whole body, and besides these hunger and mines and bonds, counting them sweeter than every good and every pleasure, through love and longing for their King. Likewise the youthful souls of women, made no less manly than men, some underwent the same contests as men and carried off equal prizes of virtue; others, dragged away for the violation of their bodies, gave up their soul to death sooner than their body to violation; and countless others, unable to endure hearing even with the edge of their ears the threats of the provincial rulers to give them over to sexual immorality, bravely underwent every kind of torture and every death-bringing sentence.
2 Tim 2:3 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The martyrs, men and women alike, endured every torture and death rather than deny God; many women chose death rather than violation.
- 'To give them over to sexual immorality' renders πορνείας ἀπειλήν, the threat of forced prostitution.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter; OCR letter-shape slip; joined words separated): εὐθσεβείας → εὐσεβείας; ἡγηςάμενοι → ἡγησάμενοι; ἤτὸ σῶμα → ἢ τὸ σῶμα; εὐθαρςῶς → εὐθαρσῶς.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.7 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-7
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
7.8Heikel
ἀλλʼ οἱ μὲν τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως πρόμαχοι τῆς πολυθέου στρατιᾶς ὧδέ πη τοὺς ἄθλους ψυχῆς ἐρρωμένῳ λογισμῷ κατηγωνίζοντο· οἱ δʼ ἐχθροὶ τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῆς ἀνθρώπων πολέμιοι σωτηρίας, πάντων ἀνημέρων βαρβάρων χείρους, τοιαύταις ἔχαιρον ἀνθρωπίνων αἱμάτων σπονδαῖς· οἵ τʼ αὖ τούτων ὑπηρέται τοιαύτας αὐτοῖς προπόσεις ἐξ ἀδίκου μιαιφονίας προὔπινον, πικρὰν ταύτην καὶ δυσσεβῆ πανδαισίαν ἐπʼ ὀλέθρῳ τοῦ κοινοῦ γένους αὐτοῖς παρασκευάζοντες. 9 τούτων δʼ ὧδε ἐχόντων τί ἐχρῆν τὸν τῶν καταπονουμένων βασιλέα θεὸν διαπράξασθαι; ἆρά γε τὴν τῶν φιλτάτων ἀντιπαρελθεῖν σωτηρίαν καὶ παριδεῖν οὕτω τοὺς οἰκείους πολιορκουμένους; ἀλλʼ οὔτε κυβερνήτης οὕτω ποτʼ ἄν λεχθείη σοφός, εἰ κατὰ βυθῶν αὔτανδρον τὸ σκάφος ἐκδώσει, μηδὲν παρʼ ἑαυτοῦ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἐμπλεόντων σωτηρίαν πορισάμενος, οὔτε στρατηγὸς οὕτω ποτʼ ἄν γένοιτο ἀφειδής, ὡς τοὺς αὐτοῦ γνωρίμους ἀτιμωρητὶ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς παραχωρῆσαι· ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ποιμὴν ἀγαθὸς τῆς αὐτοῦ ποίμνης τὸ πεπλανημένον ἀπαθῶς παρίδοι ἄν θρέμμα, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν εὖ ἔχοντα αὐτῷ ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ κείμενα καταλείψει, τῆς δὲ τοῦ πεπλανημένου χάριν σωτηρίας πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ἄν πάθοι, εἰ καὶ πρὸς θῆρας ἀγρίους συμπλακῆναι δέοι.
allʼ hoi men tou megalou basileōs promachoi tēs polytheou stratias hōde pē tous athlous psychēs errōmenǭ logismǭ katēgōnizonto; hoi dʼ echthroi tǭ theǭ kai tēs anthrōpōn polemioi sōtērias, pantōn anēmerōn barbarōn cheirous, toiautais echairon anthrōpinōn haimatōn spondais; hoi tʼ au toutōn hypēretai toiautas autois proposeis ex adikou miaiphonias proupinon, pikran tautēn kai dyssebē pandaisian epʼ olethrǭ tou koinou genous autois paraskeuazontes. 9 toutōn dʼ hōde echontōn ti echrēn ton tōn kataponoumenōn basilea theon diapraxasthai? ara ge tēn tōn philtatōn antiparelthein sōtērian kai paridein houtō tous oikeious poliorkoumenous? allʼ oute kybernētēs houtō potʼ an lechtheiē sophos, ei kata bythōn autandron to skaphos ekdōsei, mēden parʼ heautou pros tēn tōn empleontōn sōtērian porisamenos, oute stratēgos houtō potʼ an genoito apheidēs, hōs tous autou gnōrimous atimōrēti tois echthrois parachōrēsai; allʼ oude poimēn agathos tēs autou poimnēs to peplanēmenon apathōs paridoi an thremma, alla ta men eu echonta autǭ en asphalei keimena kataleipsei, tēs de tou peplanēmenou charin sōtērias pan hotioun an pathoi, ei kai pros thēras agrious symplakēnai deoi.
So the champions of the great King fought out the contests against the army of many gods with the strong reason of the soul. But the enemies of God and foes of human salvation, worse than all savage barbarians, rejoiced in such libations of human blood; and their servants in turn drank such toasts to them from unjust bloodshed, preparing for them this bitter and impious feast for the destruction of the common race. [9] Such being the case, what ought God, the King of those afflicted, to have done? Should he have passed by the salvation of his dearest ones, and so overlooked his own people besieged? But no helmsman would ever be called wise if he gave up the ship with all aboard to the depths, providing nothing from himself for the safety of those sailing; nor would any general be so careless as to surrender his own people to the enemy unavenged. Nor would a good shepherd look on unmoved at the straying sheep of his flock; he will leave those that are well in safety and suffer anything whatever for the sake of the safety of the one that strayed, even if he must grapple with wild beasts.
Luke 15:4–6 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 18:12–13 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 10:11–12 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons delighted in the martyrs' blood; God could not abandon his own, any more than a good shepherd abandons a straying sheep.
- The printed numeral 9 marks section 7.9, which the staging did not separate; it is kept as [9]. The shepherd recalls the parable of the lost sheep, Luke 15:4–6; Matt 18:12–13; and John 10:11–12.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter; OCR inserted letters; OCR letter-shape slip; OCR slip (β for ν); line-end hyphenation rejoined): πανδαιςίαν → πανδαισίαν; καταπονοτυμένων → καταπονουμένων; κυβερβήτης → κυβερνήτης; ποριςάμενος → πορισάμενος; πεπλαβνημένον → πεπλανημένον; σω- τηρίας → σωτηρίας.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.8 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-8
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
7.10Heikel
ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἦν ἀλόγου θρέμματος ἡ σπουδὴ τῷ μεγάλῳ βασιλεῖ, τὸ δὲ πᾶν αὐτῷ τῆς οἰκείας στρατιᾶς καὶ τῶν διʼ αὐτὸν πολεμουμένων χάριν ἐσπουδάζετο. ὧς τοὺς ἀγῶνας καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἄθλους ἀποδεξάμενος, τοὺς μὲν τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν στειλαμένους πορείαν τοῖς παρʼ αὐτῷ νικητηρίοις τιμήσας ταῖς κατʼ οὐρανὸν ἀγγελικαῖς ἐνέγραφεν χορείαις, τοὺς δʼ ἐπὶ γῆν ἐφύλαττεν, εὐσεβείας ζώπυρα σπέρματα τοῖς ὀψιγόνοις, θεατὰς ἅμα τῆς κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν δίκης καὶ τῆς τῶν πεπραγμένων ἱστορίας ἐξηγητὰς γενησομένους.
allʼ ouk ēn alogou thremmatos hē spoudē tǭ megalǭ basilei, to de pan autǭ tēs oikeias stratias kai tōn diʼ auton polemoumenōn charin espoudazeto. hōs tous agōnas kai tous hyper eusebeias athlous apodexamenos, tous men tēn pros auton steilamenous poreian tois parʼ autǭ nikētēriois timēsas tais katʼ ouranon angelikais enegraphen choreiais, tous dʼ epi gēn ephylatten, eusebeias zōpyra spermata tois opsigonois, theatas hama tēs kata tōn asebōn dikēs kai tēs tōn pepragmenōn historias exēgētas genēsomenous.
But the great King's concern was not for an irrational sheep; his whole concern was for his own army and those warred against for his sake. Accepting their contests and their struggles for godliness, he honoured those who had set out on the journey to him with the prizes of victory beside him and enrolled them in the angelic choirs of heaven; others he kept on earth, as living seeds of godliness for those born later, to be both spectators of the judgment on the impious and interpreters of the history of what was done.
Notes and citation
Summary: God received the martyrs into heaven and preserved others on earth as witnesses of his judgment on the persecutors.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR garbled word): ἐν; ργραφεν → ἐνέγραφεν.
Topics: Martyrdom, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.10 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-10
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
7.11Heikel
εἶτʼ ἐπὶ τὴν ἄμυναν τῶν πολεμίων τὴν αὐτοῦ δεξιὰν ἐκτείνας, ἑνὶ νεύματι τοὺς μὲν ἀθρόως ἀφανεῖς κατεστήσατο θεηλάτοις πληγαῖς προτιμωρησάμενος, αὐτούς τε οἰκείοις χείλεσι τὴν παλινῳδίαν τῆς τῶν πεπλημμελημένων σφίσιν αὐτοῖς καὶ μὴ βουλομένους ᾆσαι καταναγκάσας, τοὺς δʼ ἀπὸ χθονὸς ἤγειρεν ὑψώσας τοὺς πάλαι ταπεινοὺς καὶ πρὸς ἁπάντων ἀπεγνωσμένους.
eitʼ epi tēn amynan tōn polemiōn tēn autou dexian ekteinas, heni neumati tous men athroōs aphaneis katestēsato theēlatois plēgais protimōrēsamenos, autous te oikeiois cheilesi tēn palinǭdian tēs tōn peplēmmelēmenōn sphisin autois kai mē boulomenous ąsai katanankasas, tous dʼ apo chthonos ēgeiren hypsōsas tous palai tapeinous kai pros hapantōn apegnōsmenous.
Then, stretching out his right hand to repel the enemies, by a single nod he made some suddenly disappear, punishing them first with God-sent blows, and compelling them, even against their will, to sing with their own lips the recantation of the wrongs they had committed; while the others he raised from the ground, exalting those long humbled and despaired of by all.
Luke 1:52 (echo, medium confidence) · 1 Sam 2:8 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God struck down the persecutors, forced them to recant, and raised up the humbled Christians.
- 'Exalting those humbled' echoes Luke 1:52 and 1 Sam 2:8. The recantation is Galerius's edict of toleration (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.17).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip): προτιμωρηςάμενος → προτιμωρησάμενος.
Extrabiblical texts: Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.17 (Church History; allusion)
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.11 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-11
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
7.12Heikel
καὶ τοῦθʼ ὁ μέγας βασιλεὺς οὐρανόθεν ἐνήργει, ὁπλίτην ἄμαχον τὸν αὐτοῦ θεράποντα προστησάμενος (χαίρει γὰρ ὧδε προσφωνούμενος εὐσεβείας ὑπερβολῇ βασιλεύς)· ὅν δὴ νικητὴν παντὸς τοῦ τῶν πολεμίων ἀπέφηνε γένους, ἕνα κατὰ πολλῶν ἐγείρας. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἦσαν μυρίοι πολλοί τε, πολλῶν ἅτε φίλοι δαιμόνων, μᾶλλον δʼ οὐδένες ἦσαν, ὅθεν οὐδʼ εἰσίν, ὁ δʼ ἐξ ἑνὸς εἷς βασιλεύς, εἰκὼν ἑνὸς τοῦ παμβασιλέως, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀθέῳ ψυχῇ τοὺς εὐσεβεῖς ἄνδρας μιαιφόνοις ἀνῄρουν σφαγαῖς, ὁ δὲ τὸν αὐτοῦ σωτῆρα μιμούμενος καὶ μόνον σώζειν εἰδὼς καὶ τοὺς ἀθέους ἔσωζεν εὐσεβεῖν διδάσκων.
kai touthʼ ho megas basileus ouranothen enērgei, hoplitēn amachon ton autou theraponta prostēsamenos (chairei gar hōde prosphōnoumenos eusebeias hyperbolę̄ basileus); hon dē nikētēn pantos tou tōn polemiōn apephēne genous, hena kata pollōn egeiras. hoi men gar ēsan myrioi polloi te, pollōn hate philoi daimonōn, mallon dʼ oudenes ēsan, hothen oudʼ eisin, ho dʼ ex henos heis basileus, eikōn henos tou pambasileōs, kai hoi men atheǭ psychę̄ tous eusebeis andras miaiphonois anę̄roun sphagais, ho de ton autou sōtēra mimoumenos kai monon sōzein eidōs kai tous atheous esōzen eusebein didaskōn.
And this the great King worked from heaven, setting forth as an invincible soldier his own servant (for the emperor rejoices to be so addressed, in the excess of his piety), whom he showed victor over the whole race of enemies, raising up one against many. For they were countless and many, as friends of many demons, or rather they were nothing, and so they are no longer; but he, one emperor from One, the image of the one King of all. They with godless souls killed godly men with bloody slaughter; but he, imitating his own Saviour and knowing only how to save, saved even the godless by teaching them to be godly.
Notes and citation
Summary: God raised Constantine, his servant, as one emperor against many persecutors; imitating Christ, he saved even the godless by teaching them piety.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip; OCR slips): ὁ μένας φασιλεὺς → ὁ μέγας βασιλεὺς; προστηςάμενος → προστησάμενος.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.12 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-12
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
7.13Heikel
εἶθʼ οἷα νικητὴς ἀληθῶς τὸ διττὸν ἐκεῖνο βάρβαρον ἐνίκα γένος, ἀνδρῶν μὲν τὰ ἀνήμερα φῦλα λογικαῖς ἐξημερῶν πρεσβείαις καὶ τοὺς κρείττονας εἰδέναι καὶ μὴ ἀγνοεῖν ἐπαναγκάζων, ἐξ ἀνόμου τε καὶ θηριώδους βίου ἐπὶ τὸ λογικὸν καὶ νομιμὸν μεθαρμοζόμενος, τὸ δ΄ ἀπηνὲς καὶ ἀπηγριωμένον τῆς ἀφανοῦς δαιμόνων φύσεως ἔργοις αὐτοῖς ἀπελέγχων ὑπὸ τοῦ κρείττονος πάλαι νενικημένον. ὁ μὲν γὰρ κοινὸς τῶν ὅλων σωτὴρ τοὺς ἀφανεῖς ἀφανῶς ἠμύνατο, ὁ δʼ οἷα μεγάλου βασιλέως ὕπαρχος τοῖς νενικημένοις ἐπεξῄει, τοὺς πάλαι νεκροὺς καὶ ἀπολωλότας σκυλεύων καὶ τὰ λάφυρα διανέμων ἀφθόνως τοῖς τοῦ νικητοῦ στρατιώταις.
eithʼ hoia nikētēs alēthōs to ditton ekeino barbaron enika genos, andrōn men ta anēmera phyla logikais exēmerōn presbeiais kai tous kreittonas eidenai kai mē agnoein epanankazōn, ex anomou te kai thēriōdous biou epi to logikon kai nomimon metharmozomenos, to d΄ apēnes kai apēgriōmenon tēs aphanous daimonōn physeōs ergois autois apelenchōn hypo tou kreittonos palai nenikēmenon. ho men gar koinos tōn holōn sōtēr tous aphaneis aphanōs ēmynato, ho dʼ hoia megalou basileōs hyparchos tois nenikēmenois epexę̄ei, tous palai nekrous kai apolōlotas skyleuōn kai ta laphyra dianemōn aphthonōs tois tou nikētou stratiōtais.
Then, as a true victor, he conquered that twofold barbarous race: taming the savage tribes of men by reasonable embassies, compelling them to know and not be ignorant of their betters, and transforming them from a lawless and beastlike life to a rational and lawful one; and exposing by the deeds themselves the cruel and savage nature of the invisible demons, long since conquered by the higher power. For the common Saviour of all invisibly repelled the invisible ones; while he, as the prefect of the great King, pursued the conquered, stripping those long dead and lost and distributing the spoils ungrudgingly to the soldiers of the victor.
Col 2:15 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine subdued both barbarian peoples and the demons, whom Christ had already conquered, distributing their spoils.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): κρείτττονος δπάλαι → κρείττονος πάλαι; ἠμέυνατο → ἠμύνατο.
Topics: The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 7.13 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/7-13
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
Chapter 8
8.1Heikel
Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ συνεῖδεν μάτην δειμαίνοντα νηπίων δίκην ἀφρόνων τὰ πλήθη τῆς πλάνης τὰ μορμολύκεια ὕλῃ χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου πεπλασμένα, καὶ ταῦτα ἐκποδῶν ᾤετο δεῖν ἄρασθαι ὥσπερ τινὰ λίθων ἐγκόμματα τοῖς ἐν σκότῳ βαδίζουσι πρὸ τῶν ποδῶν ἐρριμμένα, λείαν τε καὶ ὁμαλὴν τοῦ λοιποῦ τὴν βασιλικὴν τοῖς πᾶσιν ἀναπετάσας πορείαν.
Epeidē gar syneiden matēn deimainonta nēpiōn dikēn aphronōn ta plēthē tēs planēs ta mormolykeia hylę̄ chrysou kai argyrou peplasmena, kai tauta ekpodōn ǭeto dein arasthai hōsper tina lithōn enkommata tois en skotǭ badizousi pro tōn podōn errimmena, leian te kai homalēn tou loipou tēn basilikēn tois pasin anapetasas poreian.
For when he saw the crowds foolishly fearing, like senseless children, the bogeys of error fashioned from gold and silver, he thought he must remove these out of the way like stumbling stones thrown before the feet of those walking in darkness, and he opened to all from then on a smooth and level royal road.
Isa 57:14 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine resolved to remove the idols, which were like stumbling stones.
- The sentence appears incomplete in the Greek; translated as a statement.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR inserted letter; OCR slip in accent): τινᾶ λίθων → τινὰ λίθων; πολδῶν → ποδῶν.
Topics: Idolatry
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 8.1 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
8.2Heikel
ταῦτʼ οὖν διανοηθεὶς οὐχ ὁπλιτῶν αὐτῷ καὶ πλήθους στρατοπεδίας ἡγήσατο δεῖν πρὸς τὸν τούτων ἔλεγχον, εἷς δὲ μόνος αὐτῷ καὶ δεύτερος τῶν αὐτοῦ γνωρίμων πρὸς τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν ἀπήρκουν, οὕς ἑνὶ νεύματι κατὰ πᾶν ἔθνος διεπέμπετο.
tautʼ oun dianoētheis ouch hoplitōn autǭ kai plēthous stratopedias hēgēsato dein pros ton toutōn elenchon, heis de monos autǭ kai deuteros tōn autou gnōrimōn pros tēn hypēresian apērkoun, hous heni neumati kata pan ethnos diepempeto.
Having considered this, he thought he needed no soldiers or army for the exposure of these things; one or two of his friends sufficed him for the service, and he sent them through every province with a single nod.
Notes and citation
Summary: He sent one or two trusted friends through the provinces to expose the idols.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip; OCR slip): ταῦτʼ τὖν → ταῦτʼ οὖν; ὑπηρεςίαν → ὑπηρεσίαν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 8.2 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
8.3Heikel
οἱ δʼ εὐσεβείᾳ πίσυνοι μυριάνδρων δήμων τε καὶ λαῶν μέσον παριόντες ἀνὰ πάσας πόλεις τε καὶ χώρας πολυχρονίου πλάνης ἐποιοῦντο φωράν, αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἱερωμένους σὺν πολλῷ γέλωτι καὶ σὺν αἰσχύνῃ παράγειν εἰς φῶς ἐκ σκοτίων μυχῶν τοὺς αὐτῶν θεοὺς παρακελευόμενοι, κἄπειτα ἀπογυμνοῦντες τοῦ φάσματος καὶ τὴν εἴσω τῆς ἐπικεχρωσμένης μορφῆς ἀμορφίαν τοῖς πάντων ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐνδεικνύμενοι. εἶτʼ ἀποξέοντες τὸ δοκοῦν χρήσιμον τῆς ὕλης, χωνείᾳ τε καὶ πυρὶ δοκιμάζοντες, τὸ μὲν λυσιτελὲς ὅσον αὐτοῖς ἀναγκαῖον ἐνομίζετο ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ τιθέμενοι συνεῖχον, τὸ δʼ ἄλλως περιττὸν καὶ ἄχρηστον εἰς μνήμην αἰσχύνης παρεχώρουν τοῖς δεισιδαίμοσιν.
hoi dʼ eusebeią pisynoi myriandrōn dēmōn te kai laōn meson pariontes ana pasas poleis te kai chōras polychroniou planēs epoiounto phōran, autous tous hierōmenous syn pollǭ gelōti kai syn aischynę̄ paragein eis phōs ek skotiōn mychōn tous autōn theous parakeleuomenoi, kapeita apogymnountes tou phasmatos kai tēn eisō tēs epikechrōsmenēs morphēs amorphian tois pantōn ophthalmois endeiknymenoi. eitʼ apoxeontes to dokoun chrēsimon tēs hylēs, chōneią te kai pyri dokimazontes, to men lysiteles hoson autois anankaion enomizeto en asphalei tithemenoi syneichon, to dʼ allōs peritton kai achrēston eis mnēmēn aischynēs parechōroun tois deisidaimosin.
And they, trusting in godliness, passed through the midst of populous peoples and nations, through all cities and lands, and exposed the long-standing error, ordering the priests themselves, amid much laughter and shame, to bring their gods out of their dark recesses into the light; then stripping them of their pretence and showing to the eyes of all the ugliness within the painted form. Then scraping off what seemed useful of the material and testing it by melting and fire, they kept in safety whatever they thought profitable and necessary, and left the rest, superfluous and useless, to the superstitious as a memorial of their shame.
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine's envoys made the priests bring out their idols, exposed them, and melted down their precious metals.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letter; OCR slip): λαπων → λαῶν; ἀπογυμνοῦτες → ἀπογυμνοῦντες.
Topics: Idolatry
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 8.3 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
8.4Heikel
οἷον δὲ καὶ τόδ΄ ἔρεξε βασιλεὺς ὁ θαυμάσιος· ὡς γὰρ καὶ τῶν νεκρῶν εἰδώλων τὰ τῆς πολυτελοῦς ὕλης τὸν ἀποδοθέντα τρόπον ἐσκυλεύετο, τὰ λοιπὰ μετῄει ἀνδρείκελα χαλκοῦ πεποιημένα. δέσμιοι δῆτα καὶ οἵδε μύθων θεοὶ γεγηρακότων τριχῶν ὑφάσμασιν ἤγοντο περιβληθέντες, κἀπὶ τούτοις ὁ μέγας βασιλεὺς ὥσπερ τινὰ πολυφεγγῆ πυρσὸν ἐξάψας, μή πη λανθάνοι κρύφιόν τι πλάνης λείχανον, ὄμματι βασιλικῷ περιεσκόπει·
hoion de kai tod΄ erexe basileus ho thaumasios; hōs gar kai tōn nekrōn eidōlōn ta tēs polytelous hylēs ton apodothenta tropon eskyleueto, ta loipa metę̄ei andreikela chalkou pepoiēmena. desmioi dēta kai hoide mythōn theoi gegērakotōn trichōn hyphasmasin ēgonto periblēthentes, kapi toutois ho megas basileus hōsper tina polyphengē pyrson exapsas, mē pē lanthanoi kryphion ti planēs leichanon, ommati basilikǭ perieskopei;
And this too the wonderful emperor did: when the costly material of the dead idols had been stripped in the way described, he went after the rest, the statues made of bronze. These gods of old myths too were led away captive, bound with ropes of hair. Besides this, the great emperor, kindling as it were a far-shining torch, looked around with royal eye lest any hidden remnant of error escape notice.
Notes and citation
Summary: Bronze statues of the gods were carried off bound, and Constantine searched for every remnant of idolatry.
- 'This too the wonderful emperor did' adapts a Homeric phrase (Od. 4.242).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip; OCR slip (δ for σ); misplaced word break): δέδμιοι → δέσμιοι; μέγα ςβασιλεὺς → μέγας βασιλεὺς; πυρςὸν → πυρσὸν.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Od. 4.242 (Homer, Odyssey; allusion)
Topics: Idolatry
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 8.4 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
8.5Heikel
οἷα δέ τις οὐρανοπετὴς ἀετὸς ὀξυωπέστατος ἄνωθεν ἀφʼ ὑψηλοῦ τὰ πορρωτάτω διεστῶτα κατὰ γῆς ἴδοι, ὧδε καὶ αὐτὸς τῆς αὐτοῦ καλλιπόλεως τὴν βασιλικὴν ἀμφιπολεύων ἑστίαν, δεινόν τι ψυχῶν θήρατρον ἐπὶ τοῦ Φοινίκων λανθάνον ἔθνους ἐξ ἀπόπτου συνεῖδεν. ἄλσος δὲ τοῦτʼ ἦν καὶ τέμενος, οὐκ ἐν μέσαις πόλεσιν οὐδʼ ἐν ἀγοραῖς καὶ πλατείαις, ὁποῖα τὰ πολλὰ κόσμου χάριν ταῖς πόλεσι φιλοτιμεῖται,
hoia de tis ouranopetēs aetos oxyōpestatos anōthen aphʼ hypsēlou ta porrōtatō diestōta kata gēs idoi, hōde kai autos tēs autou kallipoleōs tēn basilikēn amphipoleuōn hestian, deinon ti psychōn thēratron epi tou Phoinikōn lanthanon ethnous ex apoptou syneiden. alsos de toutʼ ēn kai temenos, ouk en mesais polesin oudʼ en agorais kai plateiais, hopoia ta polla kosmou charin tais polesi philotimeitai,
And as a heaven-soaring eagle, most keen-sighted, would see from on high things far off on the earth, so he too, going about the royal hearth of his own beautiful city, saw from afar a terrible snare of souls hidden in the province of Phoenicia. This was a grove and precinct, not in the middle of cities nor in market-places and streets, such as are mostly built for the adornment of cities with lavish expense,
Notes and citation
Summary: From Constantinople Constantine noticed a hidden shrine in Phoenicia, a snare for souls.
- 'His own beautiful city' is Constantinople. The shrine is Aphrodite's at Aphaca on Lebanon (Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3.55). The sentence continues in 8.6.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ἀετῶς → ἀετὸς.
Extrabiblical texts: Eusebius, Vit. Const. 3.55 (Life of Constantine; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 8.5 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
8.6Heikel
τὸ δὲ ἦν ἔξω πάτου τριόδων τε καὶ λεωφόρων αἰσχρῷ δαίμονι Ἀφροδίτης ἐπʼ ἀκρωρείας μέρει τοῦ Λιβάνου καθιδρυμένον. σχολή τις ἦν αὕτη κακοεργίας ἅπασιν ἀκολάστοις πολλῇ τε ῥᾳστώνῃ διεφθορόσι τὰ σώματα· γύννιδες γοῦν τινες ἄνδρες οὐκ ἄνδρες τὸ σεμνὸν τῆς φύσεως ἀπαρνησάμενοι θηλείᾳ νόσῳ τὴν δαίμονα ἱλεοῦντο, γυναικῶν τε αὖ παράνομοι ὁμιλίαι, κλεψίγαμοί τε φθοραί, ἄρρητοί τε καὶ ἐπίρρητοι πράξεις ὡς ἐν ἀνόμῳ καὶ ἀπροστατῃ χώρῳ κατὰ τόνδε τὸν νεὼν ἐπεχειροῦτο. φώρ τε οὐδεὶς ἦν τῶν πραττομένων, τῷ μηδένα σεμνῶν αὐτόθι τολμᾶν παριέναι.
to de ēn exō patou triodōn te kai leōphorōn aischrǭ daimoni Aphroditēs epʼ akrōreias merei tou Libanou kathidrymenon. scholē tis ēn hautē kakoergias hapasin akolastois pollę̄ te rhąstōnę̄ diephthorosi ta sōmata; gynnides goun tines andres ouk andres to semnon tēs physeōs aparnēsamenoi thēleią nosǭ tēn daimona hileounto, gynaikōn te au paranomoi homiliai, klepsigamoi te phthorai, arrētoi te kai epirrētoi praxeis hōs en anomǭ kai aprostatę̄ chōrǭ kata tonde ton neōn epecheirouto. phōr te oudeis ēn tōn prattomenōn, tǭ mēdena semnōn autothi tolman parienai.
but it was off the beaten track, away from crossroads and highways, set up to the shameful demon of Aphrodite on a part of the ridge of Lebanon. It was a school of wickedness for all the licentious and for those who had corrupted their bodies with much indulgence. Effeminate men, men who were not men, having denied the dignity of their nature, propitiated the goddess with a womanish disease; unlawful intercourse with women, adulterous seductions, and unspeakable and infamous deeds were practised at this temple, as in a lawless and unguarded place. And there was no one to detect what was done, since no decent person dared to go there.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aphrodite's shrine on Lebanon was a place of sexual licence, ritual effeminacy, and adultery.
- 'Adulterous seductions' renders κλεψίγαμοι φθοραί. Eusebius's description of the cult is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip; OCR slip (ρ for φ); OCR slip (χ for ψ)): διερθορόσι → διεφθορόσι; ἀπαρνηςάμενοι → ἀπαρνησάμενοι; κλεχίγαμοί → κλεψίγαμοί.
Topics: Ethics, Sexual morality
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 8.6 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-6
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
8.7Heikel
ἀλλʼ οὐχὶ καὶ βασιλέα τὸν μέγαν οἷα τε ἦν τὰ τῇδε δρώμενα λανθάνειν, αὐτοπτήσας δὲ ταῦτα βασιλικῇ προμηθείᾳ οὐκ ἄξιον εἶναι ἡλίου αὐγῶν τὸν τοιόνδε νεὼν ἔκρινεν, αὐτοῖς δὲ ἀφιερώμασιν ἐκ βάθρων τὸ πᾶν ἀφανισθῆναι κελεύει. ἐλύετο δῆτα αὐτίκα βασιλικῷ νεύματι τὰ τῆς ἀκολάστου πλάνης μηχανήματα, χείρ τε στρατιωτικὴ τῇ τοῦ τόπου καθάρσει διηκονεῖτο, σωφρονεῖν δʼ ἐμάνθανον ἀπειλῇ βασιλέως οἱ μέχρι τοῦδε ἀκόλαστοι,
allʼ ouchi kai basilea ton megan hoia te ēn ta tę̄de drōmena lanthanein, autoptēsas de tauta basilikę̄ promētheią ouk axion einai hēliou augōn ton toionde neōn ekrinen, autois de aphierōmasin ek bathrōn to pan aphanisthēnai keleuei. elyeto dēta autika basilikǭ neumati ta tēs akolastou planēs mēchanēmata, cheir te stratiōtikē tę̄ tou topou katharsei diēkoneito, sōphronein dʼ emanthanon apeilę̄ basileōs hoi mechri toude akolastoi,
But what was done there could not escape the great emperor. Having seen it for himself with royal forethought, he judged that such a temple was not worthy of the sun's rays, and ordered the whole to be destroyed from its foundations, offerings and all. At once, by the emperor's nod, the devices of licentious error were dismantled, a military force served the cleansing of the place, and those who until then had been licentious learned self-control under the emperor's threat,
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine had the shrine destroyed by soldiers, and its devotees learned restraint.
- The sentence continues in 8.8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; split word rejoined): α υτοπτήσας → αὐτοπτήσας; ἔξιον → ἄξιον.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 8.7 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-7
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
8.8Heikel
ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὧδε καὶ τὰ τῆς λαοπλάνου φάσματα κακίας ἐμφανῆ τοῖς πᾶσι καταστησάμενος βασιλεύς, τὸν αὐτοῦ σωτῆρα τοῖς πᾶσιν ἀνεκήρυττεν, οὐκ ἦν τε ἀρωγὸς οὐδεὶς οὐδʼ ἐπαμύνων τοῖς ἑαλωκόσιν, οὐ δαίμων, οὐ θεός, οὐ χρησμῳδός, οὐ μάντις. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔτι σκοτίῳ ζόφῳ αἱ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐκαλινδοῦντο ψυχαί, θεοσεβείας δὲ ἀπλανοῦς ἀκτῖσι πεφωτισμέναι τοῖς μὲν αὐτῶν προπάτορσι κατεμέμφοντο ἀγνωσίαν ἠλέουν τε αὐτοὺς τῆς ἀβλεψίας, σφᾶς δὲ αὐτὰς μακαρίας ἀπέφαινον ὡς ἄν δεινῆς ἠλευθερωμέναι πλάνης.
alla gar hōde kai ta tēs laoplanou phasmata kakias emphanē tois pasi katastēsamenos basileus, ton autou sōtēra tois pasin anekērytten, ouk ēn te arōgos oudeis oudʼ epamynōn tois healōkosin, ou daimōn, ou theos, ou chrēsmǭdos, ou mantis. oude gar eti skotiǭ zophǭ hai tōn anthrōpōn ekalindounto psychai, theosebeias de aplanous aktisi pephōtismenai tois men autōn propatorsi katememphonto agnōsian ēleoun te autous tēs ablepsias, sphas de autas makarias apephainon hōs an deinēs ēleutherōmenai planēs.
and so the emperor, having made the illusions of people-deceiving wickedness manifest to all, proclaimed his own Saviour to all. And there was no helper or defender for those taken, neither demon nor god nor oracle-singer nor prophet. For human souls were no longer rolling in dark gloom, but, illumined by the rays of unerring godliness, they blamed their forefathers' ignorance and pitied their blindness, and counted themselves blessed as set free from terrible error.
Notes and citation
Summary: No god defended the idols; people, enlightened, pitied their ancestors' blindness and rejoiced in their freedom.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR letter-shape slip): καταστηςάμενος → καταστησάμενος; ἀγνωςίαν → ἀγνωσίαν.
Topics: Idolatry
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 8.8 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-8
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).
8.9Heikel
οὕτω δῆτα ἐν βραχεῖ θεοῦ μεγάλου βουλῇ βασιλέως τε ὑπουργίᾳ πᾶν τὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν καὶ πολεμίων ὁρωμένων τε καὶ ἀφανῶν ἀνῄρητο γένος, εἰρήνη τε λοιπὸν ἀγαθὴ καὶ κουροτρόφος τὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων διελάμβανεν οἰκητήριον, καὶ οὐκέτʼ ἦσαν πόλεμοι, ὅτε μηδὲ θεοί, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ μάχαι κατʼ ἀγροὺς καὶ κατὰ πόλεις, οἷαι τὸ πρὶν ὅτε τὰ δαιμόνων ἐπήνθει, καὶ οὐκέθʼ αἱμάτων παρʼ ἀνθρώποις ἐκχύσεις, ὡς ὅτε τὰ τῆς πολυθέου μανίας ἤκμαζεν.
houtō dēta en brachei theou megalou boulę̄ basileōs te hypourgią pan to tōn echthrōn kai polemiōn horōmenōn te kai aphanōn anę̄rēto genos, eirēnē te loipon agathē kai kourotrophos to pantōn anthrōpōn dielambanen oikētērion, kai ouketʼ ēsan polemoi, hote mēde theoi, allʼ oude machai katʼ agrous kai kata poleis, hoiai to prin hote ta daimonōn epēnthei, kai oukethʼ haimatōn parʼ anthrōpois ekchyseis, hōs hote ta tēs polytheou manias ēkmazen.
Thus in a short time, by the counsel of the great God and the service of the emperor, the whole race of enemies and foes, visible and invisible, was destroyed; and good peace, the nurse of children, at last embraced the dwelling of all people. There were no more wars, since there were no more gods; nor battles in the country and in the cities, as before when the cult of demons flourished; nor any more shedding of blood among men, as when the madness of polytheism was at its height.
Notes and citation
Summary: With idolatry overthrown, peace came to the world, and the wars and bloodshed of polytheism ceased.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips in breathing and accent): αἹμάτῶν → αἱμάτων.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Laud. Const. 8.9 (Heikel; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/eusebius-laus-constantini/8-9
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Heikel's Greek (GCS 7, 1902; noisy digital text, OCR slips corrected and logged); compared afterwards with the public-domain English of NPNF² 1 (Richardson, 1890).