Χοσρόης
Chosroes, Khosrau, Khosraw
Translated by Jennifer Benedict3 Apr 2008Vetting: high8 revisions
Translation
The Persians' king. "They praise him and they wonder at his merit -- not [only] the Persians, but even some of the Romans -- since (they say) he was a lover of literature and came to mastery of our philosophy, when the Greek writings had been translated for him into the Persian language by someone. And therefore they say that he gulped down all of the Stageirite1 even more eagerly than the Paeanian did the son of Oloros,2 and was totally obsessed with the teachings of Plato the son of Ariston3; neither could the Timaeus4 elude him, even though it is very much embellished with geometrical speculation and investigates the movements of nature, nor could the Phaedo5 or the Gorgias6 [elude him], nor indeed did any other of the sophisticated and more difficult dialogues, like the Parmenides.7 But I," Agathias says, "would never have believed that he had such an excellent education and this consummate attainment. For how would it have been possible for that purity of ancient words, free and suited and completely fit to the nature of things to have been preserved in a unrefined and discordant language? How could a man who was exalted8 from childhood by royal pomp and a great deal of flattery, who had a very barbarian9 lifestyle, who was always on the lookout for wars and conspiracies, how could a man who was set on such a course of life [be supposed] to derive enjoyment from and be trained in these teachings? Therefore, if one should praise him, although he was a king and a Persian, concerned with so many peoples and matters, because he nevertheless desired to enjoy literature somehow or other and to be exalted in his reputation for these things,10 then even I myself would praise the man and consider him greater than the other barbarians. But as many as go too far in calling him 'wise' and all but superior to those who ever practiced philosophy anywhere, [saying] that he knew the principles and causes of every art and discipline ... those men would be caught straying far from the truth and following only the rumour of the masses."
Greek original · Adler’s text
Χοσρόης· ὁ Περσῶν βασιλεύς. ὑμνοῦσιν αὐτὸν καὶ ἄγανται πέρα τῆς ἀξίας μὴ ὅτι οἱ Πέρσαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔνιοι τῶν Ῥωμαίων, ὡς λόγων ἐραστὴν καὶ φιλοσοφίας τῆς παρ' ἡμῖν ἐς ἄκρον ἐλθόντα, μεταβεβλημένων αὐτῷ ὑπό του ἐς τὴν Περσίδα φωνὴν τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν συγγραμμάτων. καὶ τοίνυν φασίν, ὅτι δὴ ὅλον τὸν Σταγειρίτην καταπιὼν εἴη μᾶλλον ἢ ὁ ῥήτωρ ὁ Παιανιεὺς τὸν Ὀλώρου, τῶν τε Πλάτωνος τοῦ Ἀρίστωνος ἀναπέπλησται δογμάτων, καὶ οὔτε ὁ Τίμαιος αὐτὸν ἀποδράσειεν ἄν, εἰ καὶ σφόδρα γραμμικῇ θεωρίᾳ πεποίκιλται, καὶ τὰς τῆς φύσεως ἀνιχνεύει κινήσεις, οὔτε ὁ Φαίδων οὔτε ὁ Γοργίας, οὐμενοῦν οὐδὲ ἄλλος τις τῶν γλαφυρῶν καὶ ἀγκυλωτέρων διαλόγων, ὁποῖος ὁ Παρμενίδης. ἐγὼ δέ, φησὶν Ἀγαθίας, οὕτως αὐτὸν ἄριστα ἔχειν παιδείας, καὶ ταῦτα τῆς ἀκροτάτης, οὐκ ἄν ποτε οἰηθείην. πῶς μὲν γὰρ οἷόν τε ἦν τὸ ἀκραιφνὲς ἐκεῖνο τῶν παλαιῶν ὀνομάτων, ἐλευθέριον καὶ πρός γε τῇ τῶν πραγμάτων φύσει πρόσφορόν τε καὶ ἐπικαιρότατον, ἀγρίᾳ τινὶ γλώττῃ καὶ ἀμουσοτάτῃ ἀποσωθῆναι; πῶς δὲ ἀνὴρ βασιλείῳ τύφῳ ἐκ παίδων καὶ κολακείᾳ πολλῇ γεγαννυμένος δίαιτάν τε λαχὼν ἐς ὅτι βαρυτάτην καὶ πρὸς πολέμους ἀεὶ καὶ παρατάξεις ὁρῶσαν, πῶς δὴ οὖν ὧδε βιοὺς ἔμελλε μέγα τι καὶ λόγου ἄξιον ἐν τοῖσδε ἀπόνασθαι τοῖς διδάγμασι καὶ ἐνασκηθῆναι; εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐπαινοίη τις αὐτόν, ὅτι δὴ βασιλεύς γε ὢν καὶ Πέρσης, ἐθνῶν τε τοσούτων καὶ πράξεων μέλον αὐτῷ· ὁ δὲ ἐφίετο γοῦν ὅμως ἀμηγέπη ἀπογεύεσθαι λόγων, καὶ τῇ περὶ ταῦτα γάννυσθαι δόξῃ· ξυνεπαινέσαιμι ἂν καὶ ἔγωγε τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ μείζονα θείην τῶν ἄλλων βαρβάρων. ὅσοι δὲ λίαν αὐτὸν σοφὸν ἀποκαλοῦσι καὶ μονονουχὶ τοὺς ὅποι ποτὲ πεφιλοσοφηκότας ὑπερβαλλόμενον, ὡς καὶ ἁπάσης τέχνης τε καὶ ἐπιστήμης τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ αἰτίας διαγινώσκειν, ἐκεῖνοι ἂν μάλιστα φωραθεῖεν οὐ τῶν ἀληθῶν ἐστοχασμένοι, μόνῃ δὲ τῇ τῶν πολλῶν ἑπόμενοι φήμῃ.
Betacode
*xosro/hs: o( *persw=n basileu/s. u(mnou=sin au)to\n kai\ a)/gantai pe/ra th=s a)ci/as mh\ o(/ti oi( *pe/rsai, a)lla\ kai\ e)/nioi tw=n *(rwmai/wn, w(s lo/gwn e)rasth\n kai\ filosofi/as th=s par' h(mi=n e)s a)/kron e)lqo/nta, metabeblhme/nwn au)tw=| u(po/ tou e)s th\n *persi/da fwnh\n tw=n *(ellhnikw=n suggramma/twn. kai\ toi/nun fasi/n, o(/ti dh\ o(/lon to\n *stageiri/thn katapiw\n ei)/h ma=llon h)\ o( r(h/twr o( *paianieu\s to\n *)olw/rou, tw=n te *pla/twnos tou= *)ari/stwnos a)nape/plhstai dogma/twn, kai\ ou)/te o( *ti/maios au)to\n a)podra/seien a)/n, ei) kai\ sfo/dra grammikh=| qewri/a| pepoi/kiltai, kai\ ta\s th=s fu/sews a)nixneu/ei kinh/seis, ou)/te o( *fai/dwn ou)/te o( *gorgi/as, ou)menou=n ou)de\ a)/llos tis tw=n glafurw=n kai\ a)gkulwte/rwn dialo/gwn, o(poi=os o( *parmeni/dhs. e)gw\ de/, fhsi\n *)agaqi/as, ou(/tws au)to\n a)/rista e)/xein paidei/as, kai\ tau=ta th=s a)krota/ths, ou)k a)/n pote oi)hqei/hn. pw=s me\n ga\r oi(=o/n te h)=n to\ a)kraifne\s e)kei=no tw=n palaiw=n o)noma/twn, e)leuqe/rion kai\ pro/s ge th=| tw=n pragma/twn fu/sei pro/sforo/n te kai\ e)pikairo/taton, a)gri/a| tini\ glw/tth| kai\ a)mousota/th| a)poswqh=nai; pw=s de\ a)nh\r basilei/w| tu/fw| e)k pai/dwn kai\ kolakei/a| pollh=| gegannume/nos di/aita/n te laxw\n e)s o(/ti baruta/thn kai\ pro\s pole/mous a)ei\ kai\ parata/ceis o(rw=san, pw=s dh\ ou)=n w(=de biou\s e)/melle me/ga ti kai\ lo/gou a)/cion e)n toi=sde a)po/nasqai toi=s dida/gmasi kai\ e)naskhqh=nai; ei) me\n ou)=n e)painoi/h tis au)to/n, o(/ti dh\ basileu/s ge w)\n kai\ *pe/rshs, e)qnw=n te tosou/twn kai\ pra/cewn me/lon au)tw=|: o( de\ e)fi/eto gou=n o(/mws a)mhge/ph a)pogeu/esqai lo/gwn, kai\ th=| peri\ tau=ta ga/nnusqai do/ch|: cunepaine/saimi a)\n kai\ e)/gwge to\n a)/ndra kai\ mei/zona qei/hn tw=n a)/llwn barba/rwn. o(/soi de\ li/an au)to\n sofo\n a)pokalou=si kai\ mononouxi\ tou\s o(/poi pote\ pefilosofhko/tas u(perballo/menon, w(s kai\ a(pa/shs te/xnhs te kai\ e)pisth/mhs ta\s a)rxa\s kai\ ai)ti/as diaginw/skein, e)kei=noi a)\n ma/lista fwraqei=en ou) tw=n a)lhqw=n e)stoxasme/noi, mo/nh| de\ th=| tw=n pollw=n e(po/menoi fh/mh|.
Notes (10)
- Chosroes I (Persian Anushirvan), the twentieth Sassanid king of Persia who ruled 531-579; cf. PLRE IIIa s.v. Chosroes I Anoushirvan. The bulk of this entry, after the initial gloss, quotes Agathias, Histories 2.28; cf. Frendo (62-63).↩
On his grandson, Chosroes II, king of Persia 590-628, see PLRE IIIa s.v. Chosroes II Parwez.- 1Aristotle (alpha 3929), who was from Stageira (sigma 977). ↩
- 2That is, Demosthenes (delta 454, delta 455) and Thucydides (theta 414). The influence of Thucydides' style on Demosthenes is readily apparent. ↩
- 3For Plato see pi 1707. ↩
- 4Plato's dialogues generally take their names from the man whom Socrates interrogates. Timaeus was a mathematician and philosopher of the Pythagorean school: see tau 601. The dialogue contains discussions of the order and laws of the physical universe and on the ultimate unknowability of the gods. ↩
- 5Phaedo was a pupil of Socrates: see phi 154. The dialogue recounts the last hours of Socrates' life and his beliefs about the transmigration of souls. ↩
- 6Gorgias of Leontinoi was a rhetor, often called a "sophist": see gamma 388. The dialogue sees Socrates arguing that the power of rhetoric creates belief without supporting knowledge. ↩
- 7Parmenides was a disciple of one of the Ionian schools: see pi 675. The dialogue sees Socrates and Parmenides debating the existence of Platonic Forms. ↩
- 8The text of Agathias has
geganwme/nos ; the Suda substitutesgegannume/nos . ↩- 9The text of Agathias has
barbarikwta/thn ("barbaric"); the Suda substitutesbaruta/thn ("serious"). ↩- 10Quoted also at mu 533.
References
J.R. Martindale, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, vol. IIIa, (Cambridge, 1992)
J.D. Frendo, trans., Agathias: The Histories, (Berlin 1975)
J.D. Frendo, trans., Agathias: The Histories, (Berlin 1975)
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Revision history8 revisions · last 18 Jan 2026
- tweaked translation — Catharine Roth
- augmented principal note — Ronald Allen
- added bibliography; fixed cross-reference n.1, added cross-reference — Ronald Allen
- coding — Catharine Roth
- another keyword; tweaking — David Whitehead
- tweaked translation, added cross-reference — Catharine Roth
- more keywords; tweaked note numbers and other cosmetics — David Whitehead
- tweaked translation, added keyword, set status — Catharine Roth
- Translated — Jennifer Benedict