Edice: G. Wirth (post J. Haury) (ed.), Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia, vol. 3. Leipzig 1963: 1, 4–186.
Překlad: H. B. Dewing, Procopius with an English translation, vol. VI, Cambridge – Mass. 1935, 1954, 1960, online'
| 8. | |
| (22.) Τὸ μὲν οὖν εἶδος τοιοῦτός τις ἦν· τὸν δὲ τρόπον ἐς μὲν τὸ ἀκριβὲς οὐκ ἂν φράσαιμι. ἦν γὰρ οὗτος ἀνὴρ κακοῦργός τε καὶ εὐπαράγωγος, ὃν δὴ μωροκακοήθη καλοῦσιν, οὔτε αὐτὸς ἀληθιζόμενος τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν, ἀλλὰ νῷ δολερῷ ἅπαντα ἐς ἀεὶ καὶ λέγων καὶ πράττων, καὶ τοῖς ἐξαπατᾶν ἐθέλουσιν ἀποκείμενος | 22 Such was Justinian in appearance; but his character I could not accurately describe. For this man was both an evil-doer and easily led into evil, the sort of a person whom they call a moral pervert, never of his own accord speaking the truth to those with whom he conversed, but having a deceitful and crafty intent behind every word and action, and at the same time exposing himself, an easy prey, to those who wished to deceive him. |
| (23.) οὐδενὶ πόνῳ. καί τις ἀήθης κρᾶσις ἐν αὐτῷ ἐπεφύκει ἔκ τε ἀνοίας καὶ κακοτροπίας ξυγκεκραμένη. καὶ τάχα τοῦτο ἦν ὅπερ ἐν τοῖς ἄνω χρόνοις τῶν τις ἐκ τοῦ περιπάτου φιλοσόφων ἀπεφθέγξατο, ὡς καὶ τὰ ἐναντιώτατα ἐν ἀνθρώπου φύσει ξυμβαίνει εἶναι, ὥσπερ | 23 And a certain unusual mixture had developed in him, compounded of both folly and wickedness. And possibly this illustrated a saying uttered by one of the Peripatetic philosophers in earlier times, to the effect that the most opposite elements are found in man's nature, just as in mixed colours. |
| (24.) ἐν τῶν χρωμάτων τῇ μίξει. γράφω μέντοι ὧν μοι ἐφικέσθαι <οὐ> δυνατὸν γέγονεν. ἦν τοίνυν ὁ βασιλεὺς οὗτος εἴρων, δολερὸς, κατάπλαστος, σκότιος ὀργὴν, διπλοῦς, ἄνθρωπος δεινὸς, ὑποκρίνασθαι γνώμην τελεώτατος, καὶ δάκρυα οὐχ ὑφ’ ἡδονῆς τινος ἢ πάθους ἐκφέρων, ἀλλὰ τεχνάζων ἐπὶ καιροῦ κατὰ τὸ τῆς χρείας παρὸν, ψευδόμενος ἐς ἀεὶ, οὐκ εἰκῆ μέντοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ γράμματα καὶ ὅρκους δεινοτάτους ἐπὶ τοῖς ξυγκειμένοις πεποιημένος, καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς τοὺς κατηκόους τοὺς αὑτοῦ. | 24 (I am now writing, however, of matters in which I have not been able to attain competency.) But to resume, this Emperor was insincere, crafty, hypocritical, dissembling his anger, double-dealing, clever, a perfect artist in acting out an opinion which he pretended to hold, and even able to produce tears, not from joy or sorrow, but contriving them for the occasion according to the need of the moment, always playing false, yet not carelessly but adding both his signature and the most terrible oaths to bind his agreements, and that too in dealing with his own subjects. |
| 9. | |
| (1.) Ἰουστινιανῷ μὲν οὖν τὰ ἐς τὸν τρόπον ὅσα γε ἡμᾶς δύνασθαι φράσαι τῇδέ πη εἶχεν. ἔγημε δὲ γυναῖκα, ἣ ὅντινα τρόπον γενομένη τε καὶ τραφεῖσα καὶ τῷδε τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐς γάμον ξυναφθεῖσα πρόρριζον Ῥωμαίοις τὴν πολιτείαν ἐξέτριψεν, ἐγὼ δηλώσω. | The traits, then, of Justinian's character, as far as we are able to state them, were roughly these. And he married a wife concerning whom I shall now relate how she was born and reared and how, after being joined to this man in marriage, she overturned the Roman State to its very foundations. |
| (2.) Ἀκάκιος ἦν τις ἐν Βυζαντίῳ θηριοκόμος τῶν ἐν κυνηγεσίῳ θηρίων μοίρας Πρασίνων, ὅνπερ ἀρκοτρόφον | 2 There was in Byzantium a certain Acacius, keeper of the animals used in the circus, an adherent of the Green Faction, a man whom they called Master of the Bears. |
| (3.) καλοῦσιν. οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ Ἀναστασίου τὴν αὐτοκράτορα ἀρχὴν ἔχοντος ἐτελεύτησε νόσῳ παίδων οἱ ἀπολελειμμένων τριῶν θήλεος γένους, Κομιτοῦς τε καὶ Θεοδώρας καὶ Ἀναστασίας, ὧνπερ ἡ πρεσβυτάτη οὔπω ἑπταέτης γεγονυῖα ἐτύγχανεν. ἡ δὲ γυνὴ ἐκπεσοῦσα ἑτέρῳ ἀνδρὶ ἐς κοίτην ἦλθεν, ὃς δὴ ξὺν αὐτῇ τῶν τε κατὰ τὴν οἰκίαν καὶ τοῦ ἔργου τούτου ἐπιμελήσεσθαι | 3 This man had died a natural death during the reign of Anastasius, leaving three girls, Comito, Theodora and Anastasia, the eldest of whom was not yet seven years of age. 4 And the woman, now reduced to utter distress, entered into marriage with another husband, who, she thought, would later on assist her in both the care of the household and in her first husband's occupation. |
| (5.) τὸ λοιπὸν ἔμελλεν. ὁ δὲ τῶν Πρασίνων ὀρχηστὴς Ἀστέριος ὄνομα χρήμασι πρὸς ἑτέρου ἀναπεισθεὶς τούτους μὲν τῆς τιμῆς ταύτης ἀπέστησε, τὸν δέ οἱ τὰ χρήματα δόντα ἐς αὐτὴν ἀντεκατέστησεν οὐδενὶ πόνῳ. τοῖς γὰρ ὀρχησταῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐξῆν διοικεῖσθαι κατ’ | 5 But the Dancing Master of the Greens, a man named Asterius, was bribed by another man to remove these persons from that office and to make no difficulty about putting in the position the man who had given him the money. For the Dancing Masters had authority to administer such matters as they wished. |
| (6.) ἐξουσίαν ᾗ βούλοιντο. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν δῆμον ξύμπαντα ἡ γυνὴ ἐν κυνηγεσίῳ ἀγηγερμένον εἶδε, στέμματα ταῖς παισὶν ἔν τε τῇ κεφαλῇ καὶ ἀμφοτέραις ταῖς χερσὶν | 6 But when the woman saw the whole populace gathered in the Circus, she put garlands on the heads and in both hands of the three girls and cause them to sit as suppliants. |
| (7.) ἐνθεμένη ἐς τὴν ἱκετείαν ἐκάθισεν. ἀλλ’ οἱ Πράσινοι μὲν προσίεσθαι τὴν ἱκετείαν οὐδαμῆ ἔγνωσαν, Βένετοι δὲ αὐτὰς ἐπὶ ταύτης δὴ κατεστήσαντο τῆς τιμῆς, ἐπεὶ | 7 And though the Greens were by no means favourable to receiving the supplication, the Blues conferred this position of honour upon them, since their Master of the Bears also had recently died. |
| (8.) ὁ θηριοκόμος ἐτετελευτήκει καὶ αὐτοῖς ἔναγχος. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ παιδία ταῦτα ἐς ἥβην ἦλθε, καθῆκεν αὐτὰ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐνταῦθα σκηνῆς αὐτίκα ἡ μήτηρ, ἐπεὶ εὐπρεπεῖς τὴν ὄψιν ἦσαν, οὐ μέντοι ὑπὸ χρόνον τὸν αὐτὸν ἁπάσας, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἑκάστη ἔδοξέν οἱ ἐς τὸ ἔργον τοῦτο | 8 And when these children came of age, the mother immediately put them on the stage there — since they were fair to look upon — not all three at the same time, but as each one seemed to her to be ripe for this calling. |
| (9.) ὡραία εἶναι. ἡ μὲν οὖν πρώτη Κομιτὼ ἤδη ἐν ταῖς καθ’ αὑτὴν ἑταίραις λαμπρὰ ἐγεγόνει· Θεοδώρα δὲ ἡ μετ’ ἐκείνην χιτωνίσκον χειριδωτὸν ἀμπεχομένη δούλῳ παιδὶ πρέποντα τά τε ἄλλα ὑπηρετοῦσα εἵπετο καὶ τὸ βάθρον ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων ἀεὶ ἔφερεν, ἐφ’ οὗπερ ἐκείνη | 9 Now Comito, the first one, had already scored a brilliant success among the harlots of her age; and Theodora, the next in order, clothed in a little sleeved frock suitable to a slave girl, would follow her about, performing various services and in particular always carrying on her shoulders the stool on which her sister was accustomed to sit in the assemblies. |
| (10.) ἐν τοῖς ξυλλόγοις καθῆσθαι εἰώθει. τέως μὲν οὖν ἄωρος οὖσα ἡ Θεοδώρα ἐς κοίτην ἀνδρὶ ξυνιέναι οὐδαμῆ εἶχεν, οὐδὲ οἷα γυνὴ μίγνυσθαι· ἡ δὲ τοῖς κακοδαιμονοῦσιν ἀνδρείαν τινὰ μισητίαν <ἀν>εμίσγετο, καὶ ταῦτα δούλοις, ὅσοι τοῖς κεκτημένοις ἑπόμενοι ἐς τὸ θέατρον πάρεργον τῆς οὔσης αὐτοῖς εὐκαιρίας τὸν ὄλεθρον τοῦτον εἰργάζοντο, ἔν τε μαστροπείῳ πολύν τινα χρόνον ἐπὶ ταύτῃ δὴ τῇ παρὰ φύσιν ἐργασίᾳ τοῦ | 10 Now for a time Theodora, being immature, was quite unable to sleep with a man or to have a woman's kind of intercourse with one, yet she did engage in intercourse of a masculine type of lewdness with the wretches, slaves though they were, who, following their masters to the theatre, incidentally took advantage of the opportunity afforded them to carry on this monstrous business, and she spent much time in the brothel in this unnatural traffic of the body. |
| (11.) σώματος διατριβὴν εἶχεν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ τάχιστα ἔς τε τὴν ἥβην ἀφίκετο καὶ ὡραία ἦν ἤδη, εἰς τὰς ἐπὶ σκηνῆς καθῆκεν αὑτὴν, ἑταίρα τε εὐθὺς ἐγεγόνει, οἵανπερ | 11 But as soon as she came of age and was at last mature, she joined the women of the stage and straightway became a courtesan, of the sort whom men of ancient times used to call "infantry." |
| (12.) οἱ πάλαι ἄνθρωποι ἐκάλουν πεζήν. οὐ γὰρ αὐλήτρια οὐδὲ ψάλτρια ἦν, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ τὰ ἐς τὴν ὀρχήστραν αὐτῇ ἤσκητο, ἀλλὰ τὴν ὥραν τοῖς ἀεὶ περιπίπτουσιν ἀπεδίδοτο μόνον ἐκ παντὸς ἐργαζομένη τοῦ σώματος. | 12 For she was neither a flute-player nor a harpist, nay, she had not even acquired skill in the dance, but she sold her youthful beauty to those who chanced to come along, plying her trade with practically p107her whole body. |
| (13.) εἶτα τοῖς μίμοις τὰ ἐς τὸ θέατρον πάντα ὡμίλει καὶ τῶν ἐνταῦθα ἐπιτηδευμάτων μετεῖχεν αὐτοῖς, γελωτοποιοῖς τισι βωμολοχίαις ὑπηρετοῦσα. ἦν γὰρ ἀστεία διαφερόντως καὶ σκώπτρια, ἀπόβλεπτός τε ἐκ τοῦ ἔργου | 13 Later on she was associated with the actors in all the work of the theatre, and she shared their performances with them, playing up to their buffoonish acts intended to raise a laugh. For she was unusually clever and full of gibes, and she immediately became admired for this sort of thing. |
| (14.) εὐθὺς ἐγεγόνει. οὐ γάρ τινος αἰδοῦς τῇ ἀνθρώπῳ μετῆν ἢ διατραπεῖσάν τις αὐτὴν πώποτε εἶδεν, ἀλλ’ ἐς ἀναισχύντους ὑπουργίας οὐδεμιᾷ ὀκνήσει ἐχώρει, καὶ τοιαύτη τις ἦν οἵα ῥαπιζομένη μὲν καὶ κατὰ κόρρης πατασσομένη χαριεντίζειν τε καὶ μέγιστα ἀνακαγχάζειν, ἀποδυσαμένη τε τά τε πρόσω καὶ τὰ ὀπίσω τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι γυμνὰ ἐπιδεῖξαι, ἃ τοῖς ἀνδράσι θέμις ἄδηλά τε καὶ ἀφανῆ εἶναι. | 14 For the girl had not a particle of modesty, nor did any man ever see her embarrassed, but she undertook shameless services without the least hesitation, and she was the sort of a person who, for instance, when being flogged or beaten over the head, would crack a joke over it and burst into a loud laugh; and she would undress and exhibit to any who chanced along both her front and her rear naked, parts which rightly should be unseen by men and hidden from them. |
| (15.) Ἐς δὲ τοὺς ἐραστὰς ἐχλεύαζέ τε βλακεύουσα καὶ νεωτέραις ἀεὶ τῶν μίξεων ἐνδιαθρυπτομένη ἐπιτεχνήσεσι παραστήσασθαι τὰς τῶν ἀκολάστων ψυχὰς ἐς ἀεὶ ἴσχυεν, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ πειρᾶσθαι πρός του τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων ἠξίου, ἀλλ’ ἀνάπαλιν αὐτὴ γελοιάζουσά τε καὶ βωμολόχως ἰσχιάζουσα τοὺς παραπεπτωκότας ἅπαντας, ἄλλως | 15 And as she wantoned with her lovers, she always kept bantering them, and by toying with new devices in intercourse, she always succeeded in winning the hearts of the licentious to her; for she did not even expect that the approach should be made by the man she was with, but on the contrary she herself, with wanton jests and with clownish posturing with her hips, would tempt all who came along, especially if they were beardless youths. |
| (16.) τε καὶ ἀγενείους ὄντας ἐπείρα. ἥσσων γάρ τις οὕτως ἡδονῆς ἁπάσης οὐδαμῆ γέγονεν· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐς ξυναγώγιμον δεῖπνον πολλάκις ἐλθοῦσα ξὺν νεανίαις δέκα, ἢ τούτων πλείοσιν, ἰσχύϊ τε σώματος ἀκμάζουσι λίαν καὶ τὸ λαγνεύειν πεποιημένοις ἔργον, ξυνεκοιτάζετο μὲν τοῖς συνδείπνοις ἅπασι τὴν νύκτα ὅλην, ἐπειδὰν δὲ πρὸς τὸ ἔργον τοῦτο πάντες ἀπείποιεν, ἥδε παρὰ τοὺς ἐκείνων οἰκέτας ἰοῦσα τριάκοντα ὄντας, ἂν οὕτω τύχοι, ξυνεδυάζετο μὲν αὐτῶν ἑκάστῳ, κόρον δὲ οὐδ’ ὣς ταύτης δὴ τῆς μισητίας ἐλάμβανε. | 16 Indeed there was never anyone such a slave to pleasure in all forms; for many a time she would go to a community dinner with ten youths or even more, all of exceptional bodily vigor who had made a business of fornication, and she would lie with all her banquet companions the whole night long, and when they all were too exhausted to go on, she would go on to their attendants, thirty perhaps in number, and pair off with each one of them; yet even so she could not get enough of this wantonness. |