Choricius of Gaza, Speeches 3.61-3.65
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/436
Context
Following his teacher Procopius, Choricius was the leading figure of
the rhetorical flowering at Late Antique Gaza. Although we know nothing of his career,
his evident professional success, references within his writings, and his reputation for
stylistic sophistication among Byzantine scholars all point to the status and influence
of Choricius among classicizing intellectuals of the Near East during roughly the second
quarter of the 6th century. He apparently had personal experience with Alexandria and
Caesarea, but his teaching and lecturing was chiefly based in Gaza. Among his surviving
works are declamations, laudatory and apologetic speeches, funeral oratory, and
treatises. This passage comes from his encomium to Aratius, dux of
Palaestina Prima, and Stephanus, ἄρχων, possibly delivered at Caesarea on the occasion
of Stephanus’s accession to the proconsulship in 534/5 C.E. Choricius here recounts how
Stephanus and dignitaries from Caesarea attended the public festival in celebration of
the founding of the Church of St. Stephan at Gaza.
Text
(61) περὶ οὗ τί ἂν μακρολογοίην εὐρυχωρίαν ἢ κάλλος ἢ πλακῶν ἀγλαΐαν ἢ
γραφικὴν ποικιλίαν ἢ ὡς ἐν καλῷ τοῦ ἄστεος ἵδρυται ἢ ὅτι τοῖς γείσοις ἐπὶ μέγα χωρήσας
τοὺς δεῦρο πορευομένους ψυχαγωγεῖ πόρρωθεν ἐμφαίνων τὴν πόλιν. τί ἂν ταῦτα μηκύνοιμι
λέγων οὐχ ὡς ἅπαντα πρώην εἰπών, ἡνίκα τὸν ἱερέα σκοπὸν ἔστησά μου τοῖς λόγοις; (62)
ἀλλὰ τῇ γλώττῃ μετρήσας τὴν εὐφημίαν ἐκεῖνο δ’ οὖν εἰς μέσον ἄγειν ἐθέλω. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ
εἶχέ σοι πέρας τὸ τέμενος, ἑορτὴν ἀξίαν τῶν ἔργων ἐποίεις, εἰς δὲ τὴν πανήγυριν ταύτην
πάντας τοὺς ἐν τέλει συνήγαγες πολίτας τε ἅμα καὶ ἀστυγείτονας καὶ οἷς ἡ
Καίσαρος ἐναβρύνεται. (63) ἑστιῶν δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ φιλοτησίας προπίνων καλὴν
ἐνεδείξω πρὸς ἅπαντας δεξιότητα μὴ ζηλώσας ἐκεῖνον τὸν κατηφῆ καὶ σύννουν Ἐπαμεινώνδαν.
λέγεται γὰρ Θηβαίων ἀγόντων πάνδημον ἑορτὴν καὶ διημερευόντων οἷον εἰκὸς ἐν εὐωχίαις καὶ
κώμοις ἐρομένου τινός τί δὴ μόνος οὐ μετέχει τῆς ἡδονῆς καὶ τί ποτε εἴη πεφροντικώς,
ἀποκρίνασθαι, ὅτι τῶν κοινῶν ἐπιμελοῖτο πραγμάτων. οὗτος ὁ λόγος ἀγνοοῦντα τὸν Θηβαῖον
ἐλέγχει τὴν πρὸς τὸ Ἱππονίκου μειράκιον συμβουλήν, ὡς ἀπειρόκαλον παρὰ τὰ γελοῖα
σπουδάζειν. (64) οὐ μὴν τὸ σκυθρωπὸν Ἐπαμεινώνδου φυγὼν τὴν ἀνελεύθερον Ἀλεξάνδρου
τρυφὴν ἐμιμήσω, ὃς ἐν πότῳ τινὶ τὴν λύραν ἀναλαβὼν συνῇδε τοῖς κρούσμασιν, ὥστε καὶ
ἀπέσκωψεν εἰς αὐτὸν ὁ πατήρ, εἰ μὴ καταδύοιτο κιθαρίζων. (65) σὺ δὲ τοῦ μὲν τὴν ἄκαιρον
σεμνότητα καταγνούς, τοῦ δὲ τὸ περιττῶς ἁβροδίαιτον ἀστειοσύνην τινὰ σεμνότητι
συνεκέρασας ἀμφότερα τῷ καιρῷ συμβαίνοντα πράττων τοῦ μὲν ὁσίου τῆς ἑορτῆς τὸ σεμνὸν
βουλομένου, τοῦ δὲ λαμπροῦ καὶ φαιδρόν τι προσαπαιτοῦντος.1
Textual Note
Ed. Foerster and Richsteig 1929Translation
(61) Regarding (the Church of St. Stephan at Gaza), why should I
speak at length about its spaciousness or its beauty or the splendor of its pavement or
the variety of its paintings or the fact that it is located in the best part of the
city, or the fact that it extends to a considerable length with its cornice and attracts
travelers to it, making the city visible from afar? Why should I talk at length about
these things? Have I perhaps not described them all before, when the priest (sc. Marcian
the bishop) was the subject of my oration? (62) Measuring, however, the praise with the
oration I want to bring to the audience’s attention to the following: When the church
was finished, you organized a celebration worthy of the work, and in this festival you
brought together all civic officials as well as the citizens and neighbors and those who
are the pride of Caesarea. (63) Offering to them hospitality and
making a toast for friendship, you displayed to all a charming courtesy and did not
imitate the downcast and gloomy Epameinondas. For it is said that when the Thebans held
a popular festival and spent the day, according to the custom, in good cheer and
festivities, and someone asked why he alone did not participate in the pleasure and what
was on his mind, he answered that he was concerned about public affairs. This remark
proves that the Theban (Epameinondas) was ignorant of the advice given to the son of
Hipponicus, that it is graceless to be serious in the face of foolishness. (64) Although
you avoided the sullenness of Epameinondas, you did not imitate the servile wantonness
of Alexander, who, seizing the lyre in some carousal, sang along with the music so that
even his father jeered at him unless he put down the lyre-playing. (65) And you,
considering the inopportune piety of the former as well as the exceeding luxuriousness
of the latter, intermingled a certain gracefulness with piety, since both corresponded
with the occasion. You did this since on the one hand the sacred character of the feast
required piety, while its splendor demanded something joyous.2
Translation Note
Rev. Litsas 1980Discussion Note
For Choricius’s discussion of Epameinondas of Thebes (63), see also Plutarch, Pelopidas 3.3, Sayings of Kings and Emperors: Epaminondas 6.192E, and To the Uneducated Ruler 781E. For his discussion of Alexander (64), see Pericles 1.Works Cited
- 1 Choricius of Gaza, Choricii Gazaei opera, ed. Eberhard Richtsteig and Richard Foerster, Bibliotheca scriptorum graecorum et latinorum Teubneriana (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1929), section: 3.61-3.65, p: 64.11-65.18.
- 2 Choricius of Gaza and Fotios K. Litsas, Choricius of Gaza: An Approach to His Work. Introduction, Translation, Commentary (Ph.D., Chicago, University of Chicago, 1980), p: 170-171.
Additional Bibliography
- Robert J. Penella, Introduction, in Rhetorical Exercises from Late Antiquity: A Translation of Choricius of Gaza’s Preliminary Talks and Declamations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres, 2009), xii + 323 pp
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Choricius of Gaza, Speeches 3.61-3.65,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published January 20, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/436.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Choricius of Gaza, Speeches 3.61-3.65.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published January 20, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/436.About this Entry
Entry Title: Choricius of Gaza, Speeches 3.61-3.65
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- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
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