Agathias gets his Cycle rolling

I'm becoming very fond of the proem (authorial preamble) to the Cycle of Agathias 'Scholasticus'. This sixth-century historian, our main source for the reign of Justinian, was also a keen and fine poet. His Cycle anthologised a circle of contemporary epigrammatists, including plenty of erotic and satirical ('skoptic') verse. He wove the works of his fellow authors in with his own, just as had Meleager when he compiled the first Garland seven centuries before.

Sixth-century Byzantium had a busy literary scene and was clearly a hotbed of epigram-writing. Four centuries later, Constantine Cephalas drew heavily on Agathias when compiling the prototype of our Greek Anthology.

In this blog post I offer a translation of the opening part of the proem (or rather, of the first and much the longer of the two proems). After this, Agathias moves to a long encomium celebrating the military victories of his emperor, before returning at the end of the proem to a list of the kinds of poems he has chosen to include.

I think his proem is very charming and I hope you will enjoy the version I have made. The short prose preamble I take to be by Constanine Cephalas, the 10th-century compiler of the prototype of our Greek Anthology; he loves adding little explanatory notes of this kind.

....

A collation of epigrams published in Constantinople and dedicated to Theodore the Decurion, son of Cosmas. The proems were delivered after the frequent recitations held at the time.

You gentlemen, I think, have had your fill
From this great smorgasbord of poetry,
So much that all your appetite is fled
And all the dainties sticking in your craw.
You sit there bloated: many before me
Have set before you gourmandising feasts
That sample many genres and persuade
Contempt for common fare. What now to do?
This buffet I have laid: just let it lie,
Until it rots? Or set it on a stall
At wholesale market, hawk at discount there
To barrow-men? Then who could stand a share
Of this my produce, who would buy my words
For thruppence, if not deaf? Yet hope remains —
That you may taste a sample of my wares
And like it, and be raised from apathy:
I know your custom is to judge a meal
Solely by the devotion and good will
Of those who have invited you to dine.

Agathias next spells out why his generous listeners will find their time well spent:

Further than this, the banquet I propose
Comes to you seasoned, and its condiments
Are all brand-new. It was not in my power
To single-handed lay a bill of fare
That did you fellows justice, so instead
I have persuaded many fellow-chefs
To share my toil, donate ingredients,
And amplify your menu. And indeed
These wealthy men provided generously
Of delicacies that they most enjoy;
And I, who borrowed them, take honest pride
In these exquisite dishes of their own.
And any one of them will aptly say,
Pointing to me, and speaking to his peer,
‘This new-made Muses’ dough just recently
I kneaded out myself; the batch he serves
Is one of mine.’ Just so, but such a man
Is not among the wisest of the cooks
Thanks to whose labours I alone am seen
As orchestrator of so great a feast.
For I have nerved myself to sprinkle in
A little share from my own larder store,
So I may not entirely seem to be
A stranger to the company I call.
Instead I offer tidbits from each bard,
Enough to get the taste: if you want more,
To get a bigger plate and eat your fill,
Know you must find them in the market-place.

Agathias' contemporary 'fellow-chefs' included Macedonius the Consul and Paul the Silentiary, whose many epigrams come into the Anthology through their friend's Cycle. He then continues:

To add some dignity to these my toils,
I shall begin my prologue with our king:
For then, I think, the rest will turn out well;
And since I sing of deeds that are so great,
I hope to find such words as fit the theme.

This proem-within-a-proem leads us into praise of Justinian, his all-conquering Emperor (ruled 527-565).

Edit: everyone always used to assume it was Justinian, so I did too, but (who else) Alan Cameron disputed this and now the question is open. Nowhere in the proem is he named. Sixth-century Byzantium knew many emperors, and many Theodores.