Procopius

Procopius (c. 490-565)

"While cleverness is appropriate to rhetoric, and inventiveness to poetry, truth alone is appropriate to history."

• From The History of the Wars (Book I, section 1) by Procopius, translated by H. B. Dewing (Harvard University Press, originally published 1914).

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Emperor Romanos I

Emperor Romanos I (r. 919-944)

"You are here today, tomorrow you will dissolve into dust and ashes."

• From A Synopsis of Byzantine History by John Skylitzes (c. 1040-1101), translated by John Wortley (Cambridge University Press, 2010).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"The opposition is strong when the whole body is welded together and of one mind; but let there be faction, and it splits up into many parts and becomes feebler, an easy prey to its enemies."

• The Alexiad (Book XIII, section 4) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)
"Such is every barbarian - constantly lusting after massacre and war."

• The Alexiad (Book IX, section 3) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"There is no one method of achieving victory, nor one form of it, but from ancient times up to the present, success has been won in different ways."

• From The Alexiad (Book XV) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"Such is the way of Fortune: when she wishes to smile on a man she exalts him on high, crowns him with a royal diadem, and gives him sandals of purple; but when she frowns, instead of the purple and the crown, she clothes him in ragged garments of black."

•  From The Alexiad (Book III) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene  (c. 1083-1153)

"What happens to us at the hands of others should not bring war on those who have done no wrong; and if the war has no just pretext, then all is lost--ships, arms, men, the whole of our military preparation."

• From The Alexiad (Book I) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009). 

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"You can see one and the same man boasting that he will shake the whole world and the very next minute cringing prostrate in the dust - and this is even more likely to happen when they meet stronger characters."

• From The Alexiad (Book XIII) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"Such is the way of men - today they cheer, escort, treat with honour, but once they see the fortunes of life reversed, they act in the opposite manner, without a blush."

• From The Alexiad (Book IX) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"The general should not invariably seek victory, in my opinion, by drawing the sword; there are times when he should be prepared to use finesse, if the opportunity appears and events alow it, and so achieve a complete triumph."

• From The Alexiad (Book XIII) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"If we are to achieve a position of strength and absolute security, it is essential that we should decide on a common policy."

• From The Alexiad (Book II) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (Historian and princess of the Byzaninte Empire, c. 1083-1153)

"For my part, I think that to win a victory by sound planning requires courage; force of character and energy uninformed by thought are not enough - they end not in courage, but in foolhardiness."

• From The Alexiad (Book XV) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009). 

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (Princess of the Byzantine Empire, c. 1083-1153)

"It is the mark of a bad general, when all is peaceful, to incite his neighbors to war intentionally--for peace is the objective of all wars."

• From The Alexiad (Book XII) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (Princess of the Byzantine Empire, 1083-1153)

"Blaming that which is blameless (a human characteristic which was after all familiar to Homer's Muse too) only serves to belittle noble deeds, and to subject to reproach those who do not deserve such."

• From The Alexiad by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene

"it is not customary to judge a man's liberality by the amount of money he distributes, but rather by the character of the giver."

• From The Alexiad by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Isaac Komnenos (Brother of Emperor Alexios Komnenos)

Isaac Komnenos
Isaac Komnenos was the brother of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081-1118 CE. Isaac was given the title of Sebastokrator and played a major role in his brother's military and government.

"I am forced to force those whom I do not wish to force."

• This quote was recorded in The Alexiad by Isaac Komnenos' neice, Anna Komnena (daughter of Emperor Alexios). This version was translated by E. R. A. Sewter and revised by Peter Frankopan (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene
(1083-1153 CE. She was the daughter of Emperor Alexios Komnenos of the Byzantine Empire)

"Full of enthusiasm and ardour they thronged every highway, and with these warriors came a host of civilians, outnumbering the sand of the seashore or the stars of heaven, carrying palms and bearing crosses on their shoulders."

• From The Alexiad by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (1083-1153 CE)

"I must say I have never seen an evil man who in all his deeds and words did not depart far from the path of right; whenever a man leaves the middle course, to whatever extreme he inclines he takes his stand far from virtue."

• From The Alexiad (Book X) by Anna Komnene, translated by E. R. A. Sewter and revised by Peter Frankopan (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (Princess of the Byzantine Empire, 1083-1153 CE)

"Conscience is a terrible accuser."

• From Anna Komnene's The Alexiad (Book IX), translated by E. R. A. Sewter (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (Princess of the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire, 1083-1153 CE)

"The truth is, all barbarians are usually fickle and by nature are unable to keep their pledges."

• From The Alexiad by Anna Komnene, translated by E. R. A. Sewter (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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