Quotes / Writers of Late Antiquity

[Giorgios]

Hi everyone. We are EOR are always looking for the support of the community to help our great project march forward, so I've decided to open a thread for quotes to use as loading screens. Our time period is 519-700, but I suppose this could be a bit restrictive for you all, so I think I may lengthen the span quotes can be drawn from to 400-800AD. Nakharar himself can review this when he sees fit.

I'll kick off with a few quotes.

"It embraced the entire world, and blighted the lives of all men, though differing from one another in the most marked degree, respecting neither sex nor age."
Procopius of Caesarea, on the Bubonic Plague of 542.

"When there was nothing left to ruin in the Roman state, he determined the conquest of Libya and Italy, for no other reason than to destroy the people there, as he had those who were already his subjects."
Procopius of Caesarea, "The Secret History"

"May I never be separated from this purple, and may I not live that day on which those who meet me shall not address me as mistress"
The Empress Theodora

[Nakharar]

great idea comeone fellow fans make your contribution

[armen]

"Death, unantincipated, is death; death, antincipated, is immortality."
—Yeghishe, History of Vardan and the Armenian War.

[Nakharar]

nice one armen its right but theres a better version that sounds better i know it in Armenian

[armen]

nice one armen its right but theres a better version that sounds better i know it in Armenian

Yeah. That is the translation of the Armenian version.

[Dr.McNugget]

Hi im new to the website but this mod made me join
im not much of a modder so i shall help with what i can a nice quote.

"Rather let the crime of the guilty go unpunished than condemn the innocent."
Justinian I

[Takverely]

"I will Kill everyone who wont bring me a head of Persian"- King Vakhtang of Kartli before the battle of Samgori.

[Giorgios]

"What profit is there in removing the turmoil of barbarism, unless we live according to law?"
Theoderic the Great

"We do not love anything uncivilised"
Theoderic the Great

"You may insult me- but you may not command me"
The Emperor Anastasius to Pope Hormisdas

"An able Goth wants to be like a Roman- but only the poorest Roman would want to be like a Goth"
Theoderic the Great

"I govern under the authority of God the Empire that was given to me by His Divine Majesty"
Justinian the Great- Deo Auctore

"We do not put our faith in our arms, nor in our soldiers, nor in our leaders in war, nor even in our own skill, but we rest all our hopes in the providence of the Supreme Trinity"
Justinian the Great- Deo Auctore

"Firm indeed must be the armour that can resist the rapid violence of our archers' shafts"
Procopius- Wars

[PlayerOne]

"Frugality is the mother of all virtues"
Theoderic the Great

"Justice is the firm and continuous desire to render to everyone that which is his due"
Theoderic the Great

"Believe, if thou wilt, that mountains change their places, but believe not that man changes his nature"
Mohammed (Mahomet) 570-632

"The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr"
Mohammed (Mahomet) 570-632

[Aethelstan]

Some nice quotes here - thx to all the contributors.

[toluas]

Some nice quotes here - thx to all the contributors.

Indeed, great quotes you gathered.

[Deutschland]

Hey everybody,

I was wondering if the educated fan base could contribute some good quotes from all sorts of sources of the time ? It shouldn't be considerably off the time frame (519-717) though ... Let me hear your suggestions please !

[Deutschland]

Some good quotes found by Giorgios:

Some nice quotes for loading screens...

"You may thwart me, Reverend Sir, you may insult me: but you may not command me"- the Emperor Anastasius I to Pope Hormisdas.

"Solomon, I have outdone thee"- Justinian the Great

"If every rebel does not have the goodness to keep quiet, I shall go up against them with sword, bow, and arrow, and I shall kill every man who persists in insubordination towards me"- Khusro I Anushirvan, Shah of Persia.

"Our whole life is taken up in cares, and all our efforts go to beating back the war-bands that surround us"- Roman clergy of the seventh century.

"God is always close at hand; but the Emperor is far, far away"- John the Almsgiver.

"The Roman Empire had become exhausted. For the Avars were devastating Europe and the Persians had trampled on Asia"- Theophanes the Confessor

"Once the Arabs were a wretched race, whom you could tread underfoot with impunity. But, for our glory, God has raised up a prophet among us"- Islamic ambassador to the court of Ctesiphon

"In this year, a sign appeared in the southern sky. It was sword shaped and remained for thirty days, stretching from south to north, and predicting the Arab conquest"- Theophanes the Confessor, 633AD.

When Muawiyah and his advisers heard of this defeat, they were quite discomfited, for they reckoned the Roman Empire was watched over by God"- Theophanes the Confessor.

Please if anybody knows good quotes from 519 - 717 AD post them!

[Deutschland]

It would be great if we gathered like two or 3 sentences from each important writer of the sixth and seventh century...

They are listed here. If anybody has some literature from or about them please look for some good quotes...

Late Roman Latin Historians

Greek writing historians

6th Century writers

Poets

7th Century writers

[Giorgios]

"The needs of an Empire in the making shut out gentleness and pity, and make punishments a necessity”- Theodoric the Great

"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity"- Gelimer, King of the Vandals, on Constantinople.

"Do not think I speak with youthful presumption or barbarian arrogance when I tell you that I shall deliver Italy from her tyrants"- Totila, King of the Ostrogoths.

"Sir, you must be told plainly that the greatest part of your army has now enlisted and is serving under the enemy's standards"- Belisarius in a letter to Justinian.

"The natural course for a high-souled Emperor to pursue is to enlarge the Roman Empire, and make it more glorious"- Procopius of Caesarea

"The Avars, and the wild Franks, the Gepids and the Getae, and so many other nations, their standards waving, make war on us from every side"- Corippus.

"You say that you trust in God, why then has he not delivered out of my hand Caesarea, Jerusalem, or Alexandria? Could I not also destroy Constantinople?" - Khusro II in a letter to Heraclius.

"My religion and my sovereignty will reach limits which the kingdom of Khusro never attained"- the Prophet Muhammad

[Deutschland]

Thes are all impressive quotes! Spoken like kings and emperors!

Thanks Giorgios! Only eighty more quotes left

[Constantius]

"For one power alone is not able to shoulder the immense burden of taking care of the organisation of the universe and one man's pulse is not able to steer everything created under the sun"-Theophylact Simocatta IV.13.7-21

[Deutschland]

Thanks constantius!

Theophylact simocatta ... what an exocit choice! Very good.

I was wondering if AoD II and EoR could share some quotes actually...

[Constantius]

I will speak to PM I am sure he will be happy to.

[Deutschland]

Thanks! Actually I believe AoD II has quite a lot in common with our mod.. will PM you one of these days.