The Emperor, Friend of the Word

This Word of God, his only Son, reigns from ages that had no beginning to endless ages without limit, sharing his Father’s kingdom. And our emperor, always dear to him, who draws the source of his imperial authority from above and is strong in the power of his sacred title, has ruled the empire of the world for a long span of years. [a] Again, that Preserver of the universe orders these heavens and the earth, and the heavenly kingdom, in keeping with his Father’s will. In the same way our emperor, whom he loves, brings those he rules on earth to the Word, the only Son and Savior, and so makes them fit subjects of his kingdom. The common Savior of humankind, by his invisible and divine power, like the good shepherd, drives far away from his flock, as though they were savage beasts, those apostate spirits that once flew through the airy regions above this earth and fastened on the souls of men. And just so this friend of his, graced by his heavenly favor with victory over all his enemies, subdues and punishes the open enemies of the truth by the customs of war. [b] He who is the Word who existed before all things, the Preserver of all, gives his disciples the seeds of true wisdom and salvation, and at the same time enlightens them and gives them understanding in the knowledge of his Father’s kingdom. Our emperor, his friend, acting as interpreter of the Word of God, aims to call the whole human race back to the knowledge of God. He proclaims clearly in the ears of all, and declares with a powerful voice to everyone who lives on the earth, the laws of truth and godliness.

Once more, the universal Savior opens the heavenly gates of his Father’s kingdom to those who are leaving this world for that one. Our emperor, following his divine example, has cleansed his earthly realm of every stain of godless error, and invites every holy and godly worshiper into his imperial halls, earnestly wanting to save, with all its crew, that mighty ship whose appointed pilot he is. And he alone of all who have held the imperial power of Rome has been honored by the Supreme Sovereign with a reign of three ten-year periods. He now celebrates this festival not, as his ancestors might have done, in honor of the demons of the underworld, or the phantoms of deceiving spirits, or the fraud and cunning arts of godless men, but as an act of thanksgiving to the one who has honored him in this way, and in acknowledgment of the blessings he has received from his hands. He does not follow the ancient custom of defiling his imperial halls with blood and gore, or of appeasing the gods of the underworld with fire and smoke and sacrificial offerings. Instead he dedicates to the universal Sovereign a pleasing and acceptable sacrifice: his own imperial soul, and a mind truly fit for the service of God. For this is the only sacrifice that pleases him, and our emperor, with purified mind and thoughts, has learned to offer it without fire and blood. Strengthened in his own godliness by the true teachings stored in his soul, he sets forth the praises of God in magnificent language, and imitates God’s love for humankind by his own imperial acts. Wholly devoted to God, he dedicates himself as a noble offering, a firstfruit of that world whose government has been entrusted to him. This first and greatest sacrifice our emperor first dedicates to God. Then, as a faithful shepherd, he offers not “famous hecatombs of firstborn lambs,” but the souls of the flock in his care, those beings endowed with reason whom he leads to the knowledge and godly worship of God. [c]