Oracles of Leo the Wise

The Oracles of Leo the Wise (Greek Tou sophōtatou basileōs Leontos chrēsmoi; Latin Oracula Leonis or Vaticinia Leonis) is a Greek collection of oracles attributed to the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise (886–912).

In actuality, the collection was first put together in the twelfth century by an anonymous editor probably working in Constantinople.

These ten form the first part and are vaticinia ex eventu, records of past events written as prophecy.

[1] This set of fifteen or sixteen oracles is mostly written in iambic verse in a high register of Greek.

[3] A second set of seven longer poems in popular Greek was attached to the collection probably in the fourteenth century.

The third is symbolized by a cross-bearing eagle from the South and a unicorn who will fall suddenly on wet ground.

[12] A new Latin translation was made around 1577 by Francesco Barozzi, who interpreted the text for his patron, Giacomo Foscarini, as prophesying Christian victory over the Ottoman Empire.

[13] Two bilingual manuscript copies of Barozzi's work illustrated by Georgios Klontzas survive.

[14] Old Slavonic translations of the Oracles are also known in Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian recensions.