The History of Leo the Deacon in Ten Books

HISTORY OF LEO THE DEACON, BEGINNING FROM THE DEATH OF EMPEROR CONSTANTINE, UP TO THE DEATH OF EMPEROR JOHN SURNAMED TZIMISCES. BOOK ONE.

ARGUMENTUM.

^A 1. If there is any other good thing of great use in life, history is no less beneficial than it, or indeed even more so, being a truly useful and salutary thing. For since it is a messenger of various deeds of every kind—whatever the course of time and the nature of events tend to bring about, and especially the will of men engaged in affairs—it teaches men to grasp and pursue some things, while rejecting and spurning others; so that they do not, through ignorance, thoughtlessly neglect useful and superior things, and entangle themselves in things that are to be avoided and harmful. Therefore, since it is acknowledged that history is a fruitful thing among the other safeguards of life, and that it restores life or youth to mortal affairs, and does not permit them to be snatched away and overwhelmed in the whirlpools of oblivion: for this reason, ^B because many monstrous and truly wondrous things have occurred within my own memory, and because I deemed it worth the effort that these things—both the many that have occurred and especially those that happened in my own age—should be recorded, lest oblivion erase them and almost completely abolish them.

^A Wonderful portents and religious omens appeared in the heavens, and earthquakes occurred that were past belief; lightning bolts were cast down, and heavy rains descended; battles were fought, and armies were moved about ^B here and there across the world; towns and regions were displaced, so that it seemed to many that the regeneration of mankind was immediately impending, and that the second coming of the Savior and God was before our very doors. It seemed to me, therefore, not right to pass over in silence matters so full of horror and worthy of wonder, but to proclaim them openly, so that they may serve as a lesson for those who come after—if, indeed, it has not been determined by Providence ^C to bring the small boat of human life, even now and immediately, into the harbor of the consummation and to alter the fashion of this world. But may it be granted to me, since I have undertaken a task so far beyond my powers, not to fall short of my longing, but on the contrary to rise to the height of the events that have taken place, and to relate them in the manner that is fitting. This history, as much as in me lies, [is related] item by item. ^D

ANNOTATIONS OF C. B. HASE

(2) Agathias 4, B. Since many great wars happened in my time in many parts of the world, and broke out unexpectedly, and—as follows. (3) From St. Paul, 1 Cor. vii. 31. He alters *the fashion of this world*—where, however, what is in Leo as active should be understood in the middle voice. See Schleusner, Lexicon in Nov. Test. II, 392. It would be better, I think, if for the previous phrase Leo had written *to harbor*, not *to alter*. (4) See Agathias 5, C. where he uses this. *But it would be worthy of me to do this with zeal*. Correct from Leo, as the sense absolutely demands, *But it would be worthy of me to do*. *May it happen to me, that I may accomplish something worthy of my desire, or my zeal.* In passages where it indicates a wish with a following infinitive, there is nothing more frequent. See Viger, De Idiotism. 237. Plutarch, M. Bruto 1002. Josephus, Antiquit. Jud. 645, C. 670, G. The same word is to be restored in the place of the Council of Lateran III. 864, A. *But wherever the...* Should be written *different*, as in Cyril, *Dialog. de S. Trinitat. V. 1. 468, C.* whence these things have been taken. At the same time, correct the preceding: *And from the Acts of the same Council, 863, wonderfully translated by the interpreter: "That it is the same nature according to operation and is indissimilarly equal, it will not have anything in part, from which things it is created."* Emend: "That it has the operation of the same species and is equal without any difference, from which it cannot have a difference in some things." For these Greek words must be translated thus: Although in St. Cyril, from whom these things are likewise translated, they are slightly different. Add that the plural form of the same word *eien* is also sometimes used in such a way that it can be understood as *let them be*. Which is something I note because some have blundered in it. As in the corrupt passage of Eusebius in *Psal. I. 388, E. May there be cities of Judea?* Montefalconius translated: *Was there a city of Judea?* But let us say consequently that it is the heavenly Sion, where there are many mansions with the Father. It should be read, so that the sense is: By these words, the cities of Judea, consequently to the heavenly Sion (of which I spoke just above), can be understood to be those many mansions which exist with the Father. Therefore Gentianus Hervetus did not interpret the passage of St. Gregory of Nyssa in *Cantic. canticor. I. 552, A* badly: *But if perchance they may be the angelic powers, which...* etc. The verb has the same meaning, except that it asserts more. St. Athanasius, *Orat. II. contra Arian. I. 525, C.* says that these words, *in the beginning He made...* mean the same as, *He began to make*. Where again Montefalconius erred a little. In the same sense are used by the scholiasts and Greek commentators, as *to receive* among the Latins, so that they are to be translated as *to expound*, *to interpret*, especially in an allegorical and anagogical sense. Regarding the verb later. Among the meanings of the words, both of which are noted in the Lexicon of the great man Schneider, I will place here some examples. St. Basil, *Comment. in Isaiam, I. 889, D.* for they interpret *basan* as *ignominy*. Eustathius, 1396, 27. *They say that they interpret Odysseus as a philosopher.* A fuller phrase in St. Gregory of Nyssa, *In Cantic. canticor. I. 544.* See also Eusebius, *Præparat. Evangel. 310, C.; 474, B.* The verb is used thus by Origen, *Contra Cels. 318, C.* when looking is understood *spiritually*. The same in *Matth. I. 484.* "By the name of Pharisees we can understand the teachers of the Jewish traditions." Huetius incorrectly: "Pharisees can be taken for the teachers of Jewish traditions." Concil. Ephesinum, 1282, B. Where the common interpreter saw absolutely nothing,

^A he nevertheless rightly understood the meaning. The same might be said regarding the rest of the history, as far as in me lies.

C. B. HASE ANNOTATIONS.

In *Deitate* truly these lies exist: "they are suspected, and to us the cause of blame and condemnation." *Sense*: These, since they are understood regarding the Divinity, and are falsely attributed to us as the cause of just condemnation, "bring it." This same word "exakouo" (I perceive or I supply), others have already noted, such as Eusebius in *Praeparatio Evangelica* 675, C.; Porphyry in *De abstinentia* 54, A. "But we, exposing the latter transgression [1. *perceiving*? No, rightly *exakouo*, and not interpreted incorrectly]. Basil the Great in *Hexaemeron* 1, 74, B. In *Isaiah* 839, C. *Adversus Eunomium* 11, 51, D. And by the ignorance of the many, those who humanly perceive [supply] the generation of the Son, as if they were receiving the generation of the Son as a created one: where note, *exakouo* is constructed with the genitive. Photius, *Epistola ad episc. Aquileiens.* 533, A. "It is not mine," which the Savior did not say, "perceiving [supplying] it": No, the Savior did not say so, those who understand. I do not wish to heap up authorities which occur in great number. What is more to be wondered at, Fronton du Duc and Hardouin have tripped on this word; Dionysius Alexandrinus, in his epistle to Basilides, *Concil.* 1, 187, A. "But more wisely perceiving [supplying] it," those who (this word) understand in a sounder sense, or a more sensible one. They interpret "wisely" as "the auditors." This signification makes *exakouston*, to be understood: which when others have used, especially St. Clement of Alexandria. As in *Paedagogus* 89, C. "What even more should be supplied," *Stromata* 356, A. ibid., 614, D. Another meaning of the verb *exakouo*, rarer indeed, and in Lexicons, as far as I remember, omitted, is to sub-understand [to understand implicitly]. In which sense even sometimes people do not say it, as Quintilian, *Inst. rhet.* IX, 3, 58. Greeks commonly *ennoo*. Eusebius, *Demonstratio Evangelica* 383, B. "Your, again, perceiving [supplying] of us, which that, yours we understand." *Etymol. Magn.* 211, 55, in a corrupt place, "The active verbs, first and second person, are not." Correct it: "The active verbs of divine things, where the word is sub-understood, i.e., God." For it is about impersonal verbs: "It rains," "It thunders," and the like; which the Greek grammarians want to be sub-understood as *God*. Nor do you find it with any other signification than *prosapakouo* [to supply/add to], to sub-understand. Philo, ^B *De migratione Abrahami* 309, G. Clement of Alexandria, *Stromata* 753, A. Paul the Alexandrian, *Apotelesmata* 54. John Philoponus, *De creatione mundi* 208, B. Polychronius in *Isaiah* II, 358, A. "In order that this be supplied," with which Eusebius sub-understands [it], in *Psalms* I, 48, A. "Our supplying of the Lord, and we receiving the common [part] from him," which Montalconius, in his ignorance of technical terms, has strangely rendered: "to whom we answer, the Lord they have not invoked," and what follows we take in a common sense: note that *prosapakouein*, that is, to answer. But the sense is this: *so that we sub-understand the Lord*, and through a figure, those whom they call by a common name, we resume what follows. I have said these things at length, perhaps because I have seen that others, less learned, have understood the words poorly: there will be a more opportune time to pursue this place in the Glossary of words and in the Greek scholiasts and commentators, a peculiar usage of the same, which I started long ago, when I strongly hope it will be published by my editors—and for the erudite, it will be especially useful.

(5) Regarding the word *ikesthai* from Agathias, 5, C. "Of the magnitude of works as closely as possible *ikesthai*," whence similarly Xiphilinus in *Adoratione crucis* 469, A. "Analogously of the magnitude of the subject *ikesthai*." *Analogos* is better constructed with the dative, as in Plutarch *De placitis philosoph.* 896, B. "Analogously to the sphere of the whole heaven," regarding the soul, 1022, A. Also St. Epiphanius, *Adversus haereses* I, 931, 955, C.; 970, B. Antiochus, *Homil. XXI*. *De virginitate*, 1061, C. Among some, however, more recent [writers], with the genitive, as in Xiphilinus in the manner mentioned above. Epiphanius himself, 953, D. "Analogously of the same quality." The same Philopatris, Lucian III, 609, 10. "The *chrea* will be multiplied, analogously of the payment," where without cause, I think, Gesnerus suspects that *ana logon tes ap.* should be read. But usually *analogos* is placed adverbially without a case: as in St. Mark the Hermit, *De lege spirituali*, 873, A. "They who themselves fulfill the spiritual laws [i.e., not the law] and are partakers of grace." Which itself, and what follow, St. Macarius the Egyptian wrote out, *Hom.* XXXVII, *De paradiso*, 433, A. Also without case, ^C *analogos* is in Stephanus of Byzantium, *De urb.* 381, sub v. *Elis*: "The citizen from Elis [genitive] is *Elideios*." Stephanus, without reason, calls it *Elideios*. I will add further, at a given opportunity, some synonymous forms of speaking which have been very well instructed in the Greek language and have often been a source of deception. Therefore, *analogos*, the Greeks say, as "adverbially," which is known to the crowd, and already illustrated by Stephanus in the *Thesaurus*. One may marvel more at how Huetius erred in *Origene Commentar. in S. Matthaeum*, I, 244, C. "Having washed... cleanly... those which were washed with water [namely, hands], not symbolically, *analogos* to that which is according to the Law of Moses," [thought these were] "facts done [hands] of them which had washed away water, when it does not respond in proportion to Moses according to the literal law." But Origen pursues the Pharisees, with their traditions, expounding in a literal way: as if to mean: "hands they thought were made clean, not symbolically, but according to the Mosaic literal sense: it was washed." But the preposition *ek* [out of] is sub-understood. 2. *Ek tou analogou*. Origen, *Homilia XIX in Jeremiam*, I, 187, B. "Such a thing he does *ek tou analogou* to the father and the physician, O God." In which place Balthasar Corderius, slipping and rendering it, [says] something of this kind regarding the father and physician, as if the divinity of the father, for whose cause the medicine acts, makes [it so]. Sense: "Something of this kind," God does, "by a certain similitude which he has with father and physician." But Huetius, amending this error of Corderius: from the newest edition of Origen by Carolus Delarue, page 265, D. he says better: "The same, the proportion being kept, as father and physician, he is God." "For we can join another similar [thing], which many others have applied, then Nemesius in *De natura hominum*, 73, B. Two elements derived *ex analogias*." 3. *Analogos*, for "in proportion," *analogie* is used by the great man Schneider, [though] omitted by him, and by Gregory of Nyssa, quite frequently. *Contra Eunomium* II, 211, C. "Analogously of each of those things which are said about God toward things that are led to a higher conception." *Oratione de perfecta Christiani forma*, 717, D. He is seized prematurely by these, 763, A. Various constructions *di' analogias*, *ep' analogia*, *kat' analogian*, and its very word *analogia*, [have] various significations, in which for interpreting them, the learned are often offended, [which] as already explained conveniently by Stephanus in the *Thesaurus*, here I shall not make long, but will cease.

^A located by the Tmolus cliffs, near the source of the Caystrus river, which, flowing past Celbiana and offering a most pleasant sight to those who behold it, crosses into the gulf of the renowned and noble city of Ephesus, having formed an estuary. But let us now come to the recounting of public affairs, so that we may prize truth most highly, since it is that which pertains especially to history. For those skilled in eloquence maintain that to rhetoric belongs the faculty of speech, to poetry the invention of fables, and to history the truth. Therefore, whatever occurred during the time of the Emperor Constantine, the son of Leo, who was surnamed Porphyrogennetos (at whose birth and death they say a comet appeared in the heavens, foretelling his birth and his departure from life), I think should be omitted: for they have been related sufficiently and copiously by others. ^B But the events that followed, which I have seen partly with my own eyes (since eyes are more trustworthy witnesses than ears, according to Herodotus), and partly have diligently inquired into from eyewitnesses, these I shall set down in writing.

[P. 3] ^C β'. Now, in the month of November, in the third indiction, in the year six hundred and sixty-seven, the aforementioned Emperor Constantine having departed this life, ^D [alt-version omitted]

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS.

^A his son Romanus, who was passing from childhood into young manhood, assumed the administration of the empire. He was otherwise a good man, of honest countenance, of charming speech, and handsome appearance, full of every probity, and kind and gentle toward all his subjects; yet he was also too much given to youthful pleasures and pastimes. Those who cultivated these things for him, he brought into the palace, contrary to what was appropriate. It had occurred to this Emperor Romanus to overthrow, with the help of God, the power of the Cretan Arabs, which was haughty and breathed slaughter against the Romans. For, having been puffed up beyond measure by the defeat recently inflicted upon us, they were making great depredations along the maritime border of the empire. I shall now tell how the Romans suffered this calamity. Emperor Constantine, being unable to bear the arrogance and sudden incursions of the Cretans, having hired an excellent army and equipped many triremes with fire-bearing devices, undertook an expedition against Crete, intending to occupy the island in a first assault. But because of the cowardice and inexperience of the leader—who was a chamberlain eunuch, a man who lived in the shadow, sprung from Paphlagonia, Constantine by name and Gongyles by surname—although he gloried in the highest dignity of the patricians, all this army, except for a few men, was slaughtered by the barbarians and perished.

3. Wishing to retrieve this defeat, Emperor Romanus ^C appointed Nicephorus Phocas, who was prominent among the masters and in command of the Oriental armies (which dignity the Romans call Domestic of the Schools), ^D a man energetic and industrious, brave in war, and, if ever there was one, a leader capable of conducting the Cretan war.

^A Having been invested with supreme command, Nicephorus, with the Asiatic forces collected by the emperor’s order and embarked upon the ships, made use of rapid navigation with a great number of fire-bearing triremes (which the Romans call dromons) and landed at Crete. There, when it seemed the time for disembarkation, he demonstrated in practice what experience he possessed in the works of war. For he had brought ladders onboard the transport vessels; by extending these onto the shore, he conveyed the armed cavalry, together with their horses, from the sea onto the dry land. The barbarians, astounded at the novel and strange spectacle, remained in their place in bands, keeping their phalanx solid and impenetrable, and awaiting the arrival of the Romans toward them.

^B The Roman general Nicephorus, having arranged the phalanx in three divisions, and having condensed it with shields and spears, sounded the war cry, and with the standard of the Cross ordered to be carried in front, he marched against the barbarians with hostile signs. A fierce battle having erupted, and missiles falling like hail, the barbarians could not withstand for long the bristling phalanx of the Romans; but, turning their backs and breaking their ranks, they made for their own fortifications with as much speed as they could. The Romans, following them up, wrought an incredible slaughter of them. Such a propitious end did the first encounter and battle bring to the Romans.

And when, as I have related, the barbarians had been shut up in their own walls, the general summoned his forces and fortified a camp before the town of the Cretans; and he ordered the triremes and the rest of the light vessels to be moored together in a safe station, and at the same time to blockade the sea, and if they should see any barbarian ship having ventured out, to pursue it and burn it with liquid fire. These things having been diligently constituted and completed, he entrusted a band of picked soldiers to the general Nicephorus, surnamed Pastilas, a man who, by the virtue he possessed, having finished very many wars, as often as he had been captured by the Saracens, so often had he escaped from their hands, nor did he carry few marks of wounds received in war upon his face and breast. ^C Then, having been made commander of the Thracians, and having received a cohort, he was sent to ravage and scout the island, with Nicephorus earnestly beseeching him to be attentive and watchful and not to surrender himself to sloth and softness, lest some calamity be contrived for them by the adversaries: they were rather to patrol the region, and having performed some brilliant feat, to return to the camp as quickly as possible.

^B 4. For indeed, pure goods are not destined to remain with human beings forever, but are intermingled with evils. Misfortunes follow upon prosperous fortune, and sorrows upon pleasures, not allowing one to enjoy the given prosperity in purity. Just as it came to pass for the Romans at that time.

NOTES BY C. B. HASE

^B Xalxelos, brazen. S. Epiphanius, *On Weights and Measures*, II, 183 D. Among the Alexandrians, silver coins are called *chalkina* (brazen). Mathematically, there are four *chalkoi*. ^C ...a brazen [piece] intertwined. B. He himself says: *brazen fir*. ...*I have no brass*. A. ...being beaten in a copper-smith's shop... 106, ...horses shining with harness or bridle, or *sarabara* (trousers?), brazen drums, throwing out their sound from afar out of pride. ...*halchanna*, *halana*, *chalkeia*, *chalkeion*, *Chalkheuterion*, *chalkotypeion*, ...if they should receive any slight damage in the forge... This is in the forge well perfected... he was the first to invent... B. To those struck by the *chalkitis* lizard; ...color. But the *chalkodes* (brazen-like) which is in silver... *chalkos*, ...Book having repaired (or mended); *Kattuonta*. ...of the apostolic faith being mended. ...concerning... by his disciples the things... the equipment of the church.

^C ...*chalkos* when it is to be explained as an *as*, that is, a brazen, minimal coin. Plutarch, *Apophthegmata Laconica*, 226 D. Of *tranquillity*, 470 F. *Two chalkoi for a choinix*. Artemidorus, *Onirocritica*, 267. ...Rigaltius not very accurately, *I surely have no brass*; that is, not even an *as*. ...*meion*, workshop of an iron-smith, brings it forward from Nicomachus, *On Music*. Add Philo, *On the Cherubim*, 94 A. *Materials being drawn in a copper-smith's shop*, and Iamblichus, *On Arithmetic*. Nicomachus of Gerasa, 171 R. *Chalkodes*, for which I do not know if anyone has produced authority, Theophrastus used in *On Signs of Weather*, 440 A. In which passage, if the reading is true, you would not say it signifies trousers, as elsewhere, but rather a musical instrument, not unlike, I believe, cymbals. And if this is the true sense, it seems to follow that in the sixth century Roman magistrates made an impression in public with cymbals and clanging brass, which is now written concerning the powers of the Turks.

To these words, altogether new I believe, I will add some rarer forms and explanations of words already noted that are different from the common ones. Among these, however, I do not refer the word *halchanna*, occurring more often in the alchemical and medical glossaries of the Royal Library: it is written corruptly for *alchanna* (henna) or *alhana*, signifying the herb henna, with which women throughout the Orient stain themselves, as Salmasius already saw in *Exercitationes in Solinum*, 1324 B and 1353 C. But we can recall the word to that sense so that it might be, e.g., a copper workshop. Philo, *On the Construction of Weapons*, 60 C, says iron joints break if they have received the slightest harm in the workshop. Although perhaps it might be more conveniently translated here as "during the forging." More beyond controversy, *chalkeia* is the workshop of an iron-smith in Hero, *Belopoeica*, 134 E, concerning the *epizygis*:... But in *Antiquities of the Jews*, Josephus, 7 E, ...he must be explained concerning the smith's art, he was the first to invent the copper-smith's art. In the same sense, in the rhetorical Prolegomena ^D published by Montfaucon in *Bibliotheca Coisliniana*, 590 D, one reads: *Vulcan [invented] the copper-smith's art*: where Montfaucon [interprets it] too generally, the smith's art.

Concerning the word *chalkitis*, when it signifies alum or a stone, others have explained it learnedly. Add here a third signification, which is found in Nonus, the physician, *On the Curing of All Particular Diseases*, 313: it is interpreted by Hieremias Martius, "from the strike of a green lizard": it seems to be a venomous lizard of the species of salamanders. In the title of the same chapter in Nonus, however, [it is written] *chalkitis*, perhaps by a mistake of the scribe. Note furthermore the word *Kattuo*, I build/repair, occurs frequently among the Fathers of the Theodosian age and thereafter. *Kattuousan*: S. Epiphanius, *Adversus haereses*, I, 2, C. Anonymus in Psalm, 88 A. *Kattuonta*: S. Epiphanius, 651 C. *Kattuontes*: Anonymus in Psalm I, 761 C. *Kattuonton*: S. Epiphanius, 222 D. S. Epiphanius uses the Aorist twice, ibid., 629 D and 257. A. Present passive: Theodoret, *Epist.* cix, III, 977 D. Imperfect: S. Epiphanius, 722 B. Perfect: Theodotus, *Inst. Oriental.*, 806 C. *Kekattumena*. Compound *epikattuo*, Leo himself below, 52 C. ...Vigerus, *De idiotismis*, 195 C.

(21) The manuscripts have *parpontai*. See, however, Zeunius on Vigerus, 195 C.

(22) In the codex, with the letters *e* and *n* interchanged contrary to the rule of etymology, it is written *eutepia*, but here and 40 C, *euteria*. In the same way, *eutepia* is written in many ancient codices, where now editions have *euteria*. Philo, *De Abrahamo*, 284 F. Concerning the seeking of erudition, *De congressu*, 351 A. Josephus, *Antiqq.*, 44 A. Ptolemy, *Tetrabiblos*, 80 A. The passage concerning the instability of fortune, which Leo had in mind, is in S. Nilus, *Epist.*, p. 70.

^A Since, however, upon invading the territory, they found an abundance of every kind of luxury—for the land was prosperous and heavy with an agreeable bounty of ripe fruits and juices, rich in fodder and livestock—they ought to have maintained the general's commands, as was expected. But they set these aside as trivial, and having bade them a long farewell, they inclined toward sloth and luxury. When the barbarians observed them—lying in wait in the most strategic and thickly wooded parts of the mountains, seeing them act without discipline or guard—they crept out of the woods and hiding-places, drew up in a phalanx, locked their shields, and advanced upon them. Although trembling from drunkenness and intoxication and unsteady, our men nevertheless went out to meet the barbarians and resisted them vigorously. And while the general Pastilas was fighting stoutly and breaking through the barbarians' phalanx, the horse on which he was riding was pierced in the chest by arrows and spears, crumpled, ^B and expired. Pastilas immediately leapt from the horse, and for a short time defended himself against the attackers with his sword, wreaking much slaughter among the barbarians. But when he had become depleted of blood and riddled with missiles, he fainted and fell in the space between the front lines. Upon his fall, the Romans turned to flight and were slaughtered by the barbarians like sheep, so that only a few of the aforementioned band escaped back to the camp. Nicephorus Phocas, learning of this disaster and greatly blaming the fallen for their imprudence and sloth, and fearing the changeable and fickle nature of fortune, decided no longer to delay, nor to waste time—which would give the barbarians confidence to both commit acts of brigandage and ambushes, and even to fight in pitched battle—but to end this war with all strength and by all possible means.

Chapter V

^C As this man was thus resolving and deliberating (for he was sharp-witted and energetic, most adept at discerning what was advantageous and bringing all things of which we have knowledge to completion, temperate, not yielding to pleasures, and furthermore clever in managing the seasons and the affairs of the state) while he was thus occupied, another thought occurred to him—or rather, a new plan suggested itself to his mind (for, as he was talented, energetic, and of all those we know, the most successful in both discovering and executing salutary counsels; moderate, yielding in no way to pleasures; remarkable in his ability to seize the fitting moment and to understand the urgency of affairs). ^D [index: entries preserved]

^A For he is said to be invincible in might and strength: it is related that when one of the most valiant barbarian warriors once stood against him, and aimed his lance at the chest of Nicephorus, he received it with both hands, and the impact was so vehement—for he thrust it forward—that it passed through the body and pierced through both sides of his breastplate. An idea, then, entered his mind to ride around the city and inspect it carefully, so that he might bring the war to bear wherever a place offered itself. ^B Having made the circuit, he saw that it was altogether difficult to capture or approach; for on one side it had the sea as a secure defense, and on the other it was situated upon uneven and level rock, upon which the foundations relied. Furthermore, it presented a new and unusual type of fortification: for they had constructed it with goat and swine hair, mixed together and tightly compacted, which was so wide that two chariots could easily pass one another along the top; it rose to a sufficient height, and moreover, two trenches of the greatest possible width and depth had been dug around it. When he understood the city to be so fortified, and perceived that it was utterly difficult to capture, he devised this stratagem against it. ^C Beginning from the shore that faces the south and continuing to the other shore, he fortified the space where the sea leaves off with a rampart, and cut off the city of the Cretans from the sea, so that the barbarians could no longer easily exit onto the land when they wished, and it would depend upon him whether or not to engage in battle, if that too should seem advantageous. Thus, the rampart having been quickly completed, Nicephorus pressed on to another victory, which the narrative will straightway make clear. But first, having summoned the commanders into the headquarters, he spoke in a clearer voice and began as follows:

6. Now the raw and bestial nature of the children…

^A of Hagar, their raids and the enslavement of the inhabitants—and how savagely they have treated the Romans (even though they dwelt on an island subject to them, yet through the cruelty of fortune it had come to pass for those among the Hagarenes)—I suppose is known to no one among you. For is almost the entire coastline not uninhabitable because of their abductions? Are most of the islands not deserted because of their raids? Why, therefore, did Providence not endure forever that these liars, these most wretched beasts, these idle bellies ^B should consume the Christ-named people? But by the impulse of the sovereign Ruler, He has confirmed us here to render to them sevenfold the requital, just as they have pitilessly paid us back. A proof of what I say is our recent victory. For having barely crossed the sea, and not even having fully shaken off the seasickness from the voyage, [P. 7] upon stepping onto the island, by the aid of the Almighty, we put the sword to most of the barbarians; and those who were left over, we shut up into the town without any labor. I implore you, therefore, fellow soldiers, not to yield to sloth ^C and luxury; for the example of the fall is immediately before us. For if those who were sent out to scout the country had heeded my injunctions, along with Nicephorus Pastilas, and had not slipped into luxury and other pleasures, they would not have perished in such utter ruin. But now, having disregarded those things, they have brought upon themselves their own folly.

At the same time, the Cretans took up their entire fleet and were ravaging the coastline of the Thracesians, and taking captives. And to such an extent did they dare—they were not only attempting to raid the seashore, but also to march with drawn sword against those who were dwelling on the mountain which is so called, Latrus, and who were embracing the monastic life, and to make them the prey of the Mysians. The region now called the Thracesian theme was formerly and at first called Asia Minor. ^D ... of the most holy Theotokos of Sela, that is to say of Saint Paul of Latrus ... Saint Christodoulos, because of the raid, carrying with him as many books as he could. [alt-version omitted]

^A attend; and with all diligence, strength, and effort, let us investigate and track down the savage beasts lurking here, so that, having dragged them from their dens and hiding places, we may consign them to destruction. Finally, let us not waste time in sloth and drunkenness, but as Romans, let us manifest the brave and noble spirit of our lineage in these contests."

7. Having spoken this exhortation, the general gave the signal, and indeed the army, with spirits raised, applauded, and, drawing their swords from their sheaths, became most ready to follow wherever he wished and to obey his commands. He nonetheless warned them at that time to hold back and stay quiet until he should himself give the order to advance to the action, at whatever time he deemed necessary. ^B In the dead of night, however, having taken with him the bravest and most expeditionary men, a selection from his cohorts, he departed the camp in silence, lest the barbarians, learning of his departure, might cause some calamity to the army remaining behind. Setting out from the camp and having traveled through a part of the region, he learned from captives that a barbarian army of forty thousand was being assembled at a certain high place, with the intention of making a surprise attack on the Romans, driving them from the island, and liberating their own people from the siege of the town. Having learned these things, the commander ordered the picked band he had with him to rest for the whole of that day; then, setting out late in the evening and having obtained local guides for the journey—as the light from the full moon shone upon these stars—he pushed forward at a rapid pace and did not slacken his speed until he had encircled with his troops the hill ^C on which the barbarians were held in deep sleep. Then, having ordered the trumpets to be blown and the drums to be struck, he attacked the mountain. Hearing the din of arms, the barbarians, naked and unprepared, terrified by the unexpected incursion, commended themselves to flight. But there was no possibility of escape, because the roots of the mountain were held by the Roman line. Thus, in a small moment of time, the multitude of forty thousand barbarians was utterly destroyed and cut to pieces by Roman weapons. With this new trophy, the commander adorned yet another triumph. He ordered the heads of the slaughtered multitude to be cut off and, stored in sacks, to be carried back to the camp, affirming that for everyone who brought a head to him, he would pay a silver coin as a wage. This edict was received with enthusiasm by the rest of the army, and especially by the Armenian cohorts, who cut off the heads of the enemies and placed them in sacks. The commander returned to the camp by night. ^D

^A 8. On the following day, as soon as the day-star had crossed the horizon and moved toward the celestial arc, the commander ordered the heads of the barbarians to be impaled upon spears and set in rows along the small wall which he himself had built, while others were to be hurled into the city by means of the stone-throwing engines. The Cretans, when they caught sight of the ordered row of spears with the heads fixed upon them, and saw others being hurled into the city and crashing against the battlements, and recognized clearly that these were their own countrymen and kinsmen, were immediately seized by terror and a sense of distraction, and they stood frozen at the pitiful and unexpected sight. From that point on, the wailing of men and the lamentations of women were heard, and the city was held by the state of a sack, as everyone was mourning and bewailing their dearest ones. But even so, they were not disposed to yield to the Romans again and make terms; rather, trusting in the fortifications of their own small city, they goaded themselves to courage, and, armed, they watched the movement of the Romans, so that if anyone approached, they might defend themselves. The commander, having signaled the war with the trumpet and having exhorted them to risk the danger with a stout heart, brought the army up to the wall. And when the battle had broken out, one could see deeds of hands and daring performed, with spears being hurled in many places, and missiles being sent forth like winter snow-flakes, and often stones ^B being discharged from the stone-throwing engines, and crashing against the battlements. But the barbarians also, under the pressure of necessity, fought bravely, and resisting from the walls with arrows they engaged in the battle, casting down double-edged axes from above, and rolling down stones of enormous size; in the end, no form of military defense provided any advantage.

^A The barbarians also, compelled by necessity, fought vigorously, defending themselves from the wall and shooting arrows, casting down axes from above, and launching stones weighing a talent; indeed, nothing that served for defense in war was missing for them ^B (35), and they resisted no less than they suffered. For the manifest danger and the despair of salvation kept them fighting beyond their strength and standing against their enemies in a desperate manner ^C (36).

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS.

(35) ^A *Amynteria* in the codex... [the remainder of this column and the subsequent column consist of a linguistic and textual apparatus detailing the usage of various Greek terms—*niphades*, *amynteria*, and *parabolos*—across various patristic and classical authors, citing Chrysostom, Cyril of Jerusalem, Josephus, Plutarch, and others]. ^D [index: entries preserved]

^A 9. For this reason, Nicephorus, the commander of the Romans, when he saw the circuit of the city was quite solid, and otherwise difficult to approach and impregnable (for it could by no means be scaled by a sudden assault, since the wall was raised to a great height and was girt with two trenches dug to a proportionate depth), and seeing that the despair of the barbarians and their resistance exceeded all measure, he decided not to grapple further from below with men who were desperate and bent on death, nor to attempt a task that was resultless, being pelted from above, and wearing down the Roman battle line to no purpose. Instead, he decided to deliver the city up to famine, until he should have properly prepared the siege engines and everything devised for wall-fighting. For this reason, he delayed the war, and having recalled the military phalanxes with the trumpet, he returned to the camp. And having sufficiently fortified this ^B on all sides with a fence and a trench, he exercised his army, and by daily training, he imparted great skill to the phalanxes, and he had the siege engines constructed through a selection of artisans, and made excursions and skirmishes as opportunity permitted (37), and there he wintered the whole army before the city (38).

^C C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS. (37) *Ex Agathia* 87, D. Regarding the rarer form of expression, see Viger, *De idiotism.* ed. Herman, 429, B. That *eikō* signifies "I yield, I concede, I permit," is well known. Thence the phrases *ek tou pareichontos* and *kata to pareichon*, "as opportunity permits." Philo, *De vita Mosis* 530, A: "For it was the custom always, as opportunity permitted, to philosophize primarily on the seventh day, as I have indicated also before." [Notes on variants continue.]

(38) In this winter, that is, at the end of the year 960, or the beginning of 961, the abbot of the monastery of St. Paul on Mount Latros, near Miletus, seems to have sent word to Nicephorus in Crete, intending to complain about the stubbornness of a certain person, as we are taught by the *Life of St. Paul of Latros*, the manuscript of which Harlesius, *Bibliotheca Graeca* X, 307, A, says was composed by Nicephorus Blemmydes. This life, since it is both accurately written and contains matters useful for knowing the geography and history of those times (for Paul of Latros departed this life in 956, three years before the death of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, from which time Leo began his history), I shall refer in its entirety to a subsequent volume: here I shall subjoin (a) those things which pertain to Nicephorus Phocas. The author had demonstrated that St. Paul of Latros, even after death, brought aid to those who fled to him for help. Then he proceeds: "As he was propitious toward those, so again, ^D toward the unjust and perverse, he was terrible and implacable in regard to correction. Of which thing a clear proof is the case of the monk Ignatius, he of the surname Charzanas, a grievous and most pitiable death. For this man, being one of the monks, after the departure of the father, withdrew from the laura and armed himself against the laura; as it seemed to him, under a just pretext, but in truth, out of total malice and a manic love of authority. The one then presiding over the laura, having spoken against his evils and envy, and having performed other duties for those worn out by destitution and grief, and indeed, not long after this, having gone to Nicephorus, who was already setting out against Crete, wishing to encounter him, and to instruct him both in the grave offenses of Ignatius, and then to seek from him satisfaction and the ending of the evil. While he slept, the Great One stood over him and threatened him sternly, and stayed his impulse, and ordered him to return to the laura immediately: 'I,' he added, 'have managed the affairs of Ignatius, as is fitting.' And not only to him, but also to the monk accompanying him, as much as he appeared in dreams. 'But as for the thing the saint was to manage, as was fitting,' he said, 'a certain wild and bold man, having met Ignatius as he was walking, hacked the wretch into parts and limbs; then, having placed his head upon a stone, and with a heavy rock crushed and shattered it, and having utterly demolished the whole body, he went off, and has remained invincible to this day.'"

BOOK TWO

ARGUMENT. — The Cilician War. Chapter 1. Leo Phocas, having defeated the Huns in Europe, is sent into Cilicia against the Saracens (2). His oration to the army (3, 4). The defeat and flight of Chambdan. The triumph of Leo Phocas (5). Nicephorus Phocas besieges Candia again (6), takes it by applying siege engines (7). Crete being subdued, a new city, Temenos, is founded. The triumph of Nicephorus (8). His expedition into Asia. Sixty Saracen castles captured (9). The death of the Roman Emperor. Basilius and Constantine, his infant sons, with their mother Theophano, assume the empire (10). Nicephorus, victor, returning from Asia, avoids the snares of Joseph the chamberlain (11). By the action of Patriarch Polyeuctus, he is proclaimed Praetor of Asia by the senate (12).

^A 1. In this manner the commander of the Roman forces, Nicephorus, having crossed over to the island of Crete, as has been mentioned above, had destroyed some of the native barbarians in pitched battle; those who remained, having quickly and with little effort been driven into the city, he held besieged in that same place, and trained his soldiers daily for war. While these things were going on, Chambdan, the prince of the Saracens bordering on Cilicia, a man sharp and energetic, who had been practiced in the usage of military affairs from boyhood and was beyond controversy preeminent among all his countrymen, when he understood that the Roman forces had undertaken a maritime expedition against the Cretans, considered it a suitable time to invade with impunity whatever of the Orient was held under Roman power, and to devastate it with an unopposed soldiery: from which he expected to carry back both very great wealth and perpetual glory.

^B C. B. HASIUS ANNOTATIONS. "…who was surnamed Charzanas, a bitter and pitiable death. For this man, when he was among the number of the monks, after the departure of the holy Father, revolted from the laura and took up arms against it: as indeed seemed to be under a just pretext; but in reality, he was impelled by a completely perverse spirit and an insane love of dominion. He, therefore, who was then in charge of the laura, struck by his malice and enmity, did certain things that those who are oppressed by want and sorrow are accustomed to do, and then betook himself to Nicephorus, who not long after gained power, and had already set out for Crete, wishing to speak to him and to commemorate what grave injuries Ignatius had committed, and then to demand from him vengeance and an end to the evil. To him, while he was sleeping, the Saint appeared, threatening him severely, and restrained his attack, and ordered him to return to the laura at once. 'I,' he said, 'have taken providence concerning the affairs of Ignatius, as far as it pertained to me.' Nor to him alone, but also to the monk who was his companion on the journey, did he appear in a similar dream. But that the Saint said he had taken providence, as far as it had pertained to him, a certain rustic and wild man, meeting Ignatius on the road, cut the poor wretch into pieces limb by limb: then he placed his head upon a stone and crushed and pounded it with another heavy one, so that he completely flattened it: which done, he fled, nor has he been captured to this day." The following matters, as alien to the Cretan expedition of Nicephorus, I relegate to that Tome of which I spoke, in which I am going to produce for public view the lives of other holy men, pertaining both to these times and to the times of the Iconoclasts. Moreover, two authors treat of this Cretan war: another, Simeon the Logothete, in his Chronicle edited by Combefis, Scriptores post Theophanem 401. A. – 498. D. Another, an Anonymous author, whom first Joannes B. Bianconius at Bologna in 1779, in folio, and then Ignatius Hardt at Munich and Leipzig… edited: see Harles, Bibl. Graec. VI. 144. D. But in the edition of both Bianconius and Hardt, Julius Pollux ends at the beginnings of Gratian Aug.; in the Vatican Codex No. 163, it pursues not only the entire reign of Gratian, but even matters of the Eastern empire up to the middle of the Xth century, three times more ample than the editions. Therefore I fear that this Chronicle was wrongly attributed by Hardt to Julius Pollux. For it is constant, even from the name, that this Pollux is much older; and the Chronicle, if you look at either the words or the sense, so that it is next of kin to the times of the Tzimiscian era, is utterly alien to the Justinianian century, let alone the Theodosian. Which things, however, in this Chronicle, which I would say are rather the Anonymous author's, are related concerning the Cretan expedition, for that reason I do not put them here, because nothing can be read therein that is not also read in Simeon the Logothete 498. A. B. and the uncertain Continuator 297. C. D. [alt-version omitted]

^A in such a way that it was flourishing and firm, he led the army which he had collected into Roman territory; he burned and plundered everything he encountered. The Emperor Romanos, becoming aware of his incursion and his open and violent raid, sent against Chambdanus, Leo Phocas ^B (41), who was a blood relative of Nicephorus and was in command of the European military registers (the Romans call this office Domestic of the West), a noble and young man, remarkably clear-headed, and, of all those we know, the most adept at divining what was to everyone’s benefit in times of crisis; whom some divine power, I believe, aided in battle, subduing the entire adversary and rendering them subject to treaty. P. 11] (2) For although many wars erupted for him during the time of his command, never did he depart from the one opposing him while at a disadvantage, but always carried away the palm of victory. ^B And so, when the Scythian army (they call the nation the Huns) had crossed the Ister at that time, and the general Leo was unable to engage him in open battle because the enemy line was exulting in an innumerable multitude, while he himself was leading a small and infirm band of soldiers, he decided not to carry them headlong into obvious danger to himself and those following him ^C, but rather to attack the Scythians secretly, and to do something noble and manly, and to claim for himself a glorious reputation. Having just run hidden through the woods, and having observed the encampment of the Huns from afar and scouted the multitude with precision, at the dead of night he divided the phalanx into three parts and attacked the Scythians, ^D and by a sudden incursion he caused such slaughter in a moment of time that from the very great multitude only a few escaped. [C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS. alt-version omitted]

^A This general, Leo, the Emperor Romanus sent over into Asia, to see if by any means he might check the pernicious incursions of the barbarians and repress the evils which they did not fear to inflict with impudence. The general, having set out from Europe, arrived in Asia; and when he heard of the audacity and stubbornness of Chambdan, saw temples and towns burnt down, castles destroyed, and the region desolate of inhabitants, they having been violently abducted into captivity, he thought it worth his while not to cast the forces he led into open danger, nor to join battle in open conflict with such a multitude of barbarians, who had already carried off many victories and, beyond expectation, as they had experienced, were puffed up by a fortunate turn of events—especially since they were bringing against him troops of nearly numberless men, well-armed and dense—while he himself led a small and weak troop, fearful on account of the Saracens' success, which was so favorable, and on account of the trophies which they were daily erecting. But [he decided] rather to occupy the most opportune and precipitous places, and by laying ambushes to watch the enemy passing to and fro, and by encountering them in those slippery and hazardous narrow passages of the roads, to fight them bravely in their transit.

3. Thus, having focused his mind and deliberated, it came to the general Leo to sharpen his army with words also, and to encourage them with exhortations, when it should be time to move the standards against the barbarians, and to render them more eager for war. Thus, ascending the platform, and having kept silent for a little while, he began an exhortation of this kind: ^B “All your legions, fellow-soldiers, our common lord and emperor, knowing that you were steadfast and endowed with no less virtue in wars than experience in military affairs, has sent me, having entrusted the supreme command to me, into Asia, which is now exhausted and failing from the incursions and ravages of Chambdan. Therefore, I exhort and urge you, not that you should act bravely against the adversaries (for I do not think you lack exhortation, you who have displayed virtue and audacity from boyhood), but that you should overcome the enemy with the most prudent counsel. For war is not accustomed to be won so much by violent impetus as by the prudence of judgment and by victories achieved ^C opportunely through craft." ^D

^A You know full well that the forces of the enemy poured out over these fields are too numerous for us; and I myself admit that our army is intrepid and eager in courage and spirit, though no one would easily call it most powerful for battle in terms of its multitude and the size of its battalions. Therefore, since we are Romans, we ought to employ the necessary acumen and counsel, so that in the difficult situation in which we are placed we may find suitable measures and adopt plans that are useful rather than destructive. Let us not, therefore, rush into manifest ruin through thoughtless impetus and rash daring. For unbridled audacity is accustomed to cast one into danger, while hesitation joined with judgment is able to save those who employ it.

^B 4. « I advise you, therefore, men, not to expose yourselves to danger against the barbarians on open plains by unbridled charges, but to lie in ambush in these regions and wait for their arrival and passage; then, in that moment, to attack them more vigorously and stand against them bravely. For in this way, I believe (and may it be said with God), we shall both overcome the enemy and recover all the booty taken from our fellow countrymen. For the enemy is accustomed to be subdued by the unexpectedness of attacks, ^C and their haughty and arrogant spirits are naturally broken by sudden onsets. Therefore, keeping your youthful valor and the nobility accustomed to battle, encounter the opponents when I give the signal with the trumpets. » Such was the exhortation delivered by the commander; and the army shouted and applauded, and was eager to follow him wherever he might lead, as one who gave excellent advice. Therefore, he blocked the path with ambushes, where it extended along precipitous, steep, and cavernous mountain summits, and where the lower slopes were rugged and overgrown with trees and plants of every kind. Having set up these ambushes, the general sat and waited for the arrival of the barbarians. Chambdan, relying on the multitude of those following and his crowded ranks, was insolent and puffed up, no less proud of the abundance of his spoils and the abduction of captives than he was elated; he frequently rode back and forth ^D on a mare of singular size and swiftness, sometimes closing up the line of march, sometimes preceding it, brandishing his spear, and now letting it loose to the breeze, now pulling it back, held taut. But when, having finished the level road to...

^A the difficult places, the barbarians, having been caught in the narrowest and most uneven parts of the terrain, broke their phalanx and, as best each could, made their way along the crags; then the general, having signaled the war-charge with trumpets and roused his men to rise from their ambush, confronted the barbarians.

§ 5. And all of them held their swords in their hands and, having drawn these, they turned to strike the enemy, who were exhausted by the journey, while they themselves were fresh as they approached them. And even Chambdan himself was nearly captured by the Romans, had he not, being otherwise keen and quick-witted in finding sound counsel in difficulties, ordered the silver and gold which he was carrying with him to be scattered recklessly along the path. By this means, the momentum of the Romans was distracted as they occupied themselves with gathering the gold, and he escaped the danger with a few of his bodyguards. ^B It is said that such a great slaughter of the barbarian multitude occurred in this battle that, to this day, piles of human bones may be seen across those fields. The general, having defeated and destroyed an enormous multitude of barbarians through such victories and stratagems, and having turned the arrogant boasting of Chambdan into ignoble and cowardly timidity and flight, and having compelled him, gathered his own men in one place; and then, having collected the booty—both the barbarian and also the Roman, which the barbarians had gathered during their pillaging—he distributed the greater part of it to the army. Those captives who were granted traveling money he ordered to return, each to his own home; then, having thrown the Saracens whom he had taken captive in this war into chains, and having announced the victory and offered thanksgivings to Providence for the success of the mission, he hastened to go to the emperor’s majesty, to celebrate a triumph in Constantinople. The soldiers, meanwhile, carried the general ^C on their shoulders in applause, admiring him quite rightly and proclaiming him a man such as that age had produced no other; nor did they celebrate him any less for his good fortune, as they saw that in wars everything went according to his wishes. When he arrived in Constantinople, having entered with a great quantity of spoils and many captured Saracens, he was received magnificently by the Roman emperor.

^A And having celebrated a triumph in the theater, he astonished the onlookers with the multitude of slaves and the spoils; and he received from the State rewards and honors ^B proportional to his labors. Thus, therefore, the general Leo saved Asia, having vanquished and made a fugitive and a vagabond of Chambdan.

6. Nicephorus Phocas, moreover, the brother of the aforementioned Leo (for it is necessary that we, having summarized the narrative, proceed according to the sequence of history), when he had brought his camp to the Cretan city, spent the winter there, training the army in the arts of war and constructing siege engines. ^C When everything had succeeded for him according to his wishes, and as spring was just now gently appearing, changing from the winter season [(55)], he armed the army that was at hand. Having arranged it into a deep phalanx, and having made the trumpets sound and the drums beat, he marched against the city. ^D While the general was strengthening the ranks from the front and organizing the forces into a square formation, a certain impudent, profligate, fastidious little woman—very petulant and shameless—looking out from the battlements, began to perform certain sorceries and enchantments. For they say that...

the Cretans are, and have been from of old, addicted to divinations, impious frauds, and errors, and that they received the knowledge of these things from the Manichaeans and from Mohammed. Nor did this petulant little woman merely demonstrate her manifest impudence and audacity by this act; rather, she also lifted up her tunic more than was necessary, baring her body, and cast insults and curses at the commander. Then, one of the skilled archers, drawing his bow, struck the petulant woman, who was transfixed upon the walls, and cast her to the ground, so that, having been instantly shattered, her fleeting spirit paid the penalty for her insolence with a bitter death. 36 But when a fierce battle had been joined, the Cretans resisted for some time, fighting with a strenuous and brave spirit from the walls, and wounding not a few of the Romans. ^B

7. Upon observing this, the commander quickly brought up the stone-throwers ^C and ordered that they be used to pelt the barbarians. Furthermore, he brought up to the walls the *helepolis*—the Romans call this invention a ram, because the iron which is fastened to the beam and strikes the city walls is fashioned in the shape of a ram’s head. With the stone-throwers continuously hurling great weights of stones, the barbarians were repressed with little difficulty. Meanwhile, the ram having been insinuated against the walls and shaking them with greater force, a considerable number of men, carrying the tools of stonemasons, entered the trench. From there, they started to undermine [the walls] and began gradually to cut away and pull apart the stones upon which the foundations of the walls rested. It happened by chance that a stone, because that part was more sandy, yielded quite easily and gave way. Nor did the ram meanwhile cease to strike and gradually pull apart the texture of the wall, however dense and well-joined it was. When the diggers, having gone underneath, had rendered the tops of the wall drooping and hollow—which was bound to happen—they propped them up with upright timbers, and having piled in easily flammable and dry material, they withdrew from the mine once they had set the fire. When the flame was kindled and the supports were consumed, two towers, along with the section of the wall between them, suddenly collapsed ^D and were carried to the ground in a ruin. The Cretans, stupefied by the novelty of the spectacle, stayed the battle for a while, astonished by the enormity of the prodigy. Then, once more...

taking into account the danger of captivity and slavery, they gathered into an unbreakable battle line, and received the Roman phalanx passing through the ruined walls most sturdily, fighting with demonic intensity as they risked their lives. But since many had just been slaughtered, and they were unable to stand against such an overwhelming force—for the troops were pressing hard from the rear, and the pressure was strictly intolerable—they turned to flight 16 and made for the narrow streets; the Romans followed and slaughtered them pitilessly. Those who remained, and whom the war had not yet finished off, threw down their arms and turned to supplication. The general, seeing this, spurred his horse and, quickening his pace, rode in and checked the rush of his soldiers; he persuaded them not to kill men who had laid down their arms, and not to attack the naked and unarmed in a savage and inhuman manner, saying it was inhuman to destroy and slaughter those who yielded and were made subject just as if they were enemies. By these words, the general with difficulty checked and calmed the murderous urge of the army. ^B

8. The Capture of the City and the Razing of its Walls

8. When the city had been taken by force, the general took the first-fruits, enslaved the finest of the captives, and having divided these and reserved them with the greatest care for the triumph he was to lead, he proposed that the rest be looted by the soldiers. They poured through the houses and gained much expensive plunder. For it is said that the city of the Cretans contained vast and inexhaustible wealth, because for a long time it had been not a little fortunate, having found fortune to be propitious and gentle, and had endured none of the calamities which the changing course of time is accustomed to inflict like certain plagues: ^C and especially because, by using piratical excursions and robberies to pillage the shores of both continents, it had amassed ineffable wealth by such arts. In this way the city was taken by storm and captured by Roman hands. After all the furnishings had been carried off, Nicephorus ordered the circuit of the walls to be dug up and pulled down; and when this had been destroyed in many places, he led his forces back out into the countryside. Having ravaged this and reduced its people to slavery, and having brought under control without bloodshed whatever had remained hostile, he occupied a high and steep hill not far from the razed city. ^D

^A And he commanded that a wall be built upon it, for the place seemed safe and suitable for a fortification, as it had a view of the valley and precipices on both sides, and gushed with perpetually flowing springs from the summit, by whose waters it was irrigated. ^B Having constructed the fortress most securely and stationed a just garrison there, he named the town Temenos. And after having transformed the island into a more civilized state, and bringing into the colony a mixture of Armenians and Romans, and having left fire-bearing triremes behind for its protection, he himself set sail for Byzantium, having taken up the booty from the captives.

When he arrived, he was received magnificently by the Roman Augustus, and brought the triumph into the theater, with all the people gathered and admiring the quantity and beauty of the spoils. For the immense power of gold, and barbarian coins of the most refined gold were seen, garments woven with gold, purple tapestries, and all manner of precious household goods, crafted with the most exquisite skill, gleaming with gold and stones ^C; shields plated with gold, and spears and shields and recurved bows, a number beyond counting (anyone present would have said that the entire wealth of the barbarian land had been brought into the theater), and they were so great in number that they seemed, one might say, like an overflowing river. And the enslaved barbarians followed these things, gathered into a most numerous crowd.

9. Nicephorus, after the triumph ^D and after being honored by the Augustus with most magnificent gifts, and the [rest] of his life —

C. B. HASE'S ANNOTATIONS.

^A The text says "steep and high," or perhaps "steep and rocky." The codex says: "he ordered a wall to be built... It seemed an insecure place, indeed, and to be fortified, as it had precipices on both sides, which were impassable and ravines, and it gushed forth perennial springs from the summit, and being irrigated by these waters... The fortress having been most safely and firmly constructed, he assigned a force sufficient for the region, named the city Temenos, and settled the island..."

^B The manuscript adds: "barbarian gold... and purple tapestries, and every kind of treasure, worked to the highest degree of art, glittering with gold and stones... panoplies and helmets, and swords, and recurved bows, a count beyond telling (someone present might have said that the entire wealth of the barbarian land had been gathered there in the theater), and they were so great in quantity that they resembled a river flowing abundantly. The enslaved barbarians followed these things, gathered into a numerous crowd."

^C See the annotation on the triumph at Constantinople, up to the Hippodrome. The Emperor bestowed most generous gifts upon the Magister and those with him, and sent him back to the East. Nearly the same [account] exists in the Anonymous Continuation of the Historians of the Theodosian era, p. 300. C. D. and in Cedrenus, II, 643. B. From here the city was called Chandax, about the beginning of the 16th century, though earlier it was afflicted by the earth, as some rather absurd [accounts] exist.

^D Regarding the taking of Candia: the account of Nicephorus Phocas, which follows here, is [found] in the last part [of the text] of the Anonymous [writer], which Julius Pellicemus has edited: "The Magister Nicephorus [was gone] for eighteen months and more [there is a lacuna here in the codex, omitted perhaps]," and when the Cretans arrived at the Magister [there is a lacuna]. "Then, there was fear... and the Cretans surrendered... and [he was] to see the Cretans gathered with their wives and children, and the spoils, lamenting and groaning; and with a great cry [the crowds] were gathered."

[Regarding the annotations concerning the Greek text and variants, original-script column: see facsimile.] [index: entries preserved]

CAPUT IX

^A ...had moved the people to admiration, the Roman emperor gave him magnificent gifts and entrusted to him the administration of Asia. ^B Once more exalted by the dignity of Domestic, he crossed the Bosporus, and led the forces, which he had organized into an invincible and insuperable phalanx, into the lands of the Agarenes. They, having heard of the arrival of Nicephorus, did not think that they should join battle there, so as to lie in ambush or fight in set formation. They decided to retreat into their fortresses and, from those fortified places, to repel the attack if possible, having prepared for minor skirmishes. For they greatly ^C feared to engage in set battle against a man so stout-hearted and pertinacious. But he, like a lightning bolt, began to devastate the entire surrounding region, laying waste to the fields and reducing to his power villages crowded with a multitude of people. And when he had vexed all that lay in his path with fire and sword, he brought his forces to the fortresses, most of which at the very first...

assault he captured. ^A And if any of these were fortified with walls or a multitude of guards, he brought engines against them and waged an implacable war, exhorting his men to fight sharply. Everyone obeyed his commands promptly; for he was not only a motivator and encourager of courage in words, but also in action itself, always fighting wondrously before the phalanx, and receiving the danger that descended upon them, and powerfully beating it back. Having therefore, and in a short space of time, captured and razed more than sixty Saracen fortresses, and having carried off very much booty, and having obtained a most glorious victory, such as no one else had obtained before, he recalled his soldiers from there and sent them back, each to their own homes, when an immense quantity of wealth had been gathered, and a victory most illustrious—such as no other had bound about his brow—was achieved, from thence he...

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS

^A having gathered the spoils (for they had amassed untold wealth), he himself hastened toward the emperor, intending to receive the rewards of his labors.

10. Now when the general was in the middle of his journey, a certain rumor met him, announcing the departure of the monarch Romanus 72 from human affairs. Stunned by the unexpectedness of the report, he halted his march and remained in that place. It is said that the emperor Romanus departed this life in the following manner. At the beginning of his reign, he had shown himself to be good, moderate, and beneficent to his subjects; but afterward, certain men—base, serving their bellies and what is beneath the belly—crept in and, cajoling the man, corrupted the noble character of the youth, enticing him to luxury and unbridled pleasure and stirring up his appetite toward unnatural desires. From then on, during the time of the fasts, which God-bearing men had instituted for the purification of souls and as a guide to higher things, those pests 73, having taken hold of Romanus, went off hunting for deer, driving their horses through rough mountains. Having set out from there, they brought the emperor back, suffering grievously and breathing his last. Some say that a spasm occurred in him around his vital organs because of the untimely riding; but the suspicion of the greater number is that poison had been given to him by the gynaeceum. Whether it was in this way or that 74, Romanus, in the flower of his age, passed from this life after he had held the imperial rule for three years and five months. Upon his death, his sons Basil and Constantine, being infants 75 and still in the care of nurses, received the imperial rule, which was entrusted to them by the patriarch Polyeuctus and the senate, together with their mother Theophano. This Theophano, born of an obscure family, but ^B remarkable for her beauty and the elegance of her body, in- ^C

- ^A fact, excelling all the women of that time, had been united in marriage to the Emperor Romanus. ^B But Nicephorus—for I return again to the sequence of the narrative—having heard of the change in the supreme authority, was tossed about in every direction, troubled by various cogitations. For the treacherous slipperiness of affairs and the reversal and instability of fortune did not allow a man to remain in a tranquil state, especially since he held the power of Joseph in suspicion. For he was a eunuch, and possessed the greatest influence in the imperial court (rejoicing, as he did, in the dignity of the chamberlain), and he was exceedingly hateful to Nicephorus.

11. He decided, therefore, to immediately stir up new movements; but because he had fewer troops at hand than was necessary (for the legions, by his own order, had departed each to their own fatherland), he feared to undertake so great a contest at that time. ^B Therefore, it seemed best to him to defer the uprising, and, having returned to Constantinople, where he might lead a triumph—if the emperors had entrusted the army to his fidelity (for he knew that, while he survived, there was no one else who would dare to oppose himself to the onslaught of the barbarians)—that he might then resume his forces and contend for the highest matters with a safe plan. With this resolution therefore settled and deliberated in his mind, he came to Constantinople: where, having been received most enthusiastically by the senate and the people, and having led in triumph the booty he had brought and deposited the barbarian riches in the treasury, he remained at home. Joseph (for he feared the stay of Nicephorus in the city, lest he might plot any new measures against the princes, especially since the military orders significantly favored him, and the populace admired him on account of his trophies and the deeds most excellently performed in war) ^C kept him in his private quarters. ^D [From the Annotations of C. B. Hasius:] "Having learned of the death of the emperor Romanus, he restrained his impulse, and gave orders to each of the commanders who were with him that those Saracens who had been captured, and the spoils, should be brought together into one place within Roman territory. ^D In the palace there were left behind, being acclaimed, the Augusta Theophano and her two children, Basil and Constantine, through the diligence and wisdom of the grand-chamberlain Joseph, who governed the subjects in justice. Then they decided by letter that Nicephorus, the Magister and Domestic, should also come to the city. He, having entered, celebrated a triumph with all the spoils together with the captured Saracens in the Hippodrome, the crowd of the city and the assembled multitude being present. Then the citizens named the Magister and Domestic of the Schools, Nicephorus, 'Victor,' and all loved the hero as their own soul." (i.e. *Nicephorus*, where it speaks of the death of the Roman Emperor, *he checked the impulse: he orders the individual prefects who were with him to bring the captured Saracens and the booty to one place in the Roman domain. The Augusta Theophano and her two sons, Basil and Constantine, were left in the palace, being managed with the diligence and prudence of Joseph the Chamberlin, who managed the subjects sensibly. These therefore ordered by letter that the Magister and Domestic Nicephorus also come to the city. He having entered* [in the month of April, a. 963: see above 204. C.] *brought the booty together with the Saracen captives through the circus in a triumph, the urban multitude and the commons being gathered. The citizens named the Magister and Domestic of the Schools Nicephorus 'Victor,' and all loved him, because he had carried himself most excellently in war, not otherwise than their own soul.*) Note, that Joseph the Chamberlin, who bore so many troubles with Nicephorus, is to be praised rather than censured in the matters set forth above; whence you may infer that that history was brought to light only after Nicephorus had been cut down, perhaps while Tzimiskes, or Basil II, was reigning.

^A His intention was to call him to the palace, to see if he might somehow find him stripped of his power, deprive him of his sight, and send him into exile. But the General, perceiving the evil and crafty design of Joseph (for he was exceedingly astute and highly skilled at detecting the malice of a man), betook himself to the Great Church. He entered into conversation with the prelate Polyeuctus, a man who had meditated deeply on divine and human philosophy, having chosen from his youth a monastic and unencumbered life, and who possessed a boldness beyond human measure—a confidence not granted to him by nature, being a eunuch and an old man of extreme age, but by his renunciation of worldly goods and a blameless, simple, and austere way of life. Having spoken with this Polyeuctus, Nicephorus said: ^B "Fine indeed are the rewards I reap for such great struggles and labors from him who presides over the palace. He thinks he can hide from that great and unerring eye, and yet he has never ceased plotting my death—I who, by the grace of God, have extended the borders of the Roman Empire, and have not yet committed any offense against the state; rather, I have contributed as much as no other man of this time, having laid waste the territory of the Agarenes with fire and sword and razed so many cities to their foundations. I thought that a man of senatorial rank ought to be gentle and moderate, and not harbor vaine and fruitless malice."

^C 12. Having heard these words and being inflamed with zeal, the Patriarch went to the palace, taking Nicephorus with him; and having summoned the Senate, he said: "It is not just that those who have spared no concern for themselves for the sake of the Roman prosperity, and have endured labors and dangers, and have shown themselves honest and moderate toward their fellow citizens, should be treated with abuse and dishonor, but rather that they should be held in honor and crowned. If, therefore, you will believe me and follow my advice for the better, I shall state my opinion at once. It is fitting..."

are we to determine? As we are Romans and governed by divine laws, we must preserve the young children of the Roman emperor in their ancestral honor—since they have been proclaimed emperors by our vote and that of the entire populace—and we must render them the same reverence that we paid to their ancestors. Since, however, the barbarian nations do not cease to tear at the Roman domain, I advise that we appoint as leader ^A of the Asian forces (pointing to Nicephorus) this individual—a man, as his skilled nature proves, highly experienced in military affairs and valiant in war, since he has brought back very many victories, as you yourselves acknowledge, and whom you honor above others—and that, binding him with an oath of allegiance, we proclaim him supreme commander so that he may restrain and repel the barbarian onslaught. For Romanus, the emperor, even while he was alive, granted him this dignity, and in his dying testament ^B he provided that a man so well-disposed should not be removed from such a command." When the patriarch had delivered his opinion in these words, the senate approved, and even Joseph the chamberlain himself assented, not indeed of his own volition, but constrained by the zeal of the senate. Thus, having bound Nicephorus with fearful oaths so that he might not plot any evil against the majesty of the infant Augusti who survived, and having themselves sworn that none of the leading ^C men would, against Nicephorus’s will, remove him from his position or promote him to a higher dignity, but that they would govern the republic by his counsel and common agreement; once they had proclaimed him supreme commander of Asia, they dismissed the council and, departing from the palace, each repaired to his own home.

BOOK THREE

ARGUMENT. — Nicephorus’s war against the Tarsians. Joseph again plots against him (1). He entices Marianus and John Tzimiskes to oppose him by letters (2). In opposition, Tzimiskes encourages Nicephorus to defect (3). Nicephorus is hailed as emperor by the army at Caesarea (4). His speech to the army (5). Nicephorus prepares to march on Constantinople; he creates John Tzimiskes Domestic of the East (6). Joseph, having tried in vain to hold the city, is forced to flee when internal disturbances arise (7). Nicephorus enters the city and is crowned. A description of his body and mind. Nicephorus adorns his relatives and friends with the highest honors (8). Nicephorus takes Theophano in marriage. Polyeuctus the patriarch bars him from the church; but soon returns to favor with him (9). In the following spring, Nicephorus leads an expedition against the Saracens. He attempts Tarsus in vain, but takes other enemy fortresses (10). Mopsuestia, long besieged, is taken by force. Nicephorus winters in Cappadocia (11).

1. Now, in the middle of spring, when the Morning Star was gradually directing its course toward the arctic pole and was moving toward the Taurus [P. 2]

^A in its transit, Nicephorus departed from Byzantium and reached the region of Asia opposite. And having arrived in Cappadocia (the nation was formerly called Troglodytae, because they used to withdraw into caverns, and crevices, and labyrinths, as if into dens and subterranean ^B retreats (85)), and having pitched his tent there, he sent dispatches in all directions, gathering together and summoning the army in full force to himself. While the troops were assembling, he trained those whom he already had with him in the arts of war; he whetted their spirits, and strengthened them with daily exercises (86), and practiced them in armed maneuvers, frequently commanding them to echo the sound of trumpets, to beat drums, to strike the cymbals, to leap onto horses, to aim at a target with bows, and to hurl javelins with great accuracy; and nothing of the devices invented for the art of war was omitted by him.

While the general was training the army and awaiting the arrival of the rest of the troops (for it had been decided by him to march primarily against Chambdanus and the people of Tarsus), Joseph the cubicularius, considering the astute mind and the deliberation of Nicephorus, and furthermore his masculine and noble bearing, and fearing lest, when the army was gathered around him, he might attempt some revolution, felt his heart pulsing and reproached his own rashness, that when he held the warrior like a man captured and enclosed in a net (87), he had not crushed him, but by imprudent counsel had fortified him with such forces. Totus igitur, filled with anxiety, he could find no rest, and led a life that was hardly a life. As he considered and turned over in his mind many reasons as to how he might remove the Domestic from such great power, a certain fraud came to his mind whereby he might… ^C

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS.

83. Cymbals. See infra 82. A.

After the holy resurrection of the sixth indiction and the passing of the days ^D of leisure, the Magister Nicephorus was sent to the East to defend against the impious Chambdanus, so that he might not invade Roman territory, after the death of the Emperor Romanus had been heard. They also demanded from Magister Nicephorus a written guarantee that he would never plot an insurrection against the emperors; which he indeed did. Now Joseph the cubicularius, with his own agility and intelligence, managed the affairs of the state; with him sat Michael the Magister, the Rector and Logothete of the Drome, and Simeon the Patrician and Protoasecretis.

(85) The vocabulary Leo took from the Odyssey V, 404. There, some read: *For there were no harbors for ships, neither roadsteads.* Instead of *roadsteads* the editions now use *epilogai*. On the meaning of the word see Albert. ad Hesych. II, 1466.

(86) So that it may be clear how childishly Leo [alt-version omitted]

(87) As for "men of blood," others also, see 25, B, 65, C. Leo has taken the whole passage of the chronicle of Scylitzes, and from him Cedrenus, Comp. Hist. II, 646, D, converted it for his own use. Certain traces of imitation you have even in Glycas 305, B.

^A and found his life unendurable. Revolving many thoughts as to how he might remove the general from such great power, one device occurred to him, by which he thought he could cast off that authority ^B as if it were an axe hanging over his neck.

2. Having therefore called in Marianus, a man honored with the dignity of patrician and already in command of the Italian legions, but otherwise a man of restless and ardent spirit, he conferred with him in private and revealed his hidden intent, saying: "If you trust me, and receive the position of Domestic of the East, I shall shortly make you Augustus and set you upon the imperial throne." ^C Marianus, at this proposal, said: "God forbid! Cease wishing to stir up an ape and commit it to wage battle against an armed giant, whom not only the surrounding nations fear, but whom the sun, from its rising to its setting, looks upon. But if you wish me to offer some advice to you in your perplexed and gloomy state, I will not keep silent. You know John, whom they call Tzimiskes, a man no less ambitious and remarkably eager for preeminence than he is brave in war: he is held and honored in the army in the position next after the Domestic. ^D Why do you not, if it seems good, entrust the management of the legions to him? For having his audacity and singular spiritedness, he will, I believe, undertake the task; and wherever he leads, the force will follow him, and you will arrive at your goal. Otherwise, take care not to think that you can shake that tower, which is unshaken and unassailable." Joseph, having followed this advice, strips of their offices those who were joined by kinship to Nicephorus and other necessary men of his, and casts them into exile; he sends sealed letters to John, of whom it has been spoken, the patrician and leader of the Eastern ^A army.

16.

CHAPTER III.

a man vigorous and young, and possessed of a spirit difficult to restrain or resist. ^A The message of the letter declared exactly this: “Being suspicious of the wickedness and malice of Phocas, and wishing to cut off the criminal design which he harbors within himself, I have decided to reveal this secret matter to your Excellency, so that if possible, with your cooperation, we may restrain his unbridled impulse. For he has determined, as soon as may be, to tyrannize and to usurp the imperial authority. ^B Therefore, in order to cut off his headstrong impulse, I am immediately stripping from him the command of the armies and am entrusting it to your Glory. And shortly I shall raise you to the very summit of the empire. Do you then, having put in chains the glorious and arrogant Phocas, transmit him to us with all speed.”

[P. 24] ^C 3. John, having received such a letter, and having unfolded it and perused the mandate within it—for the writing announced to him the government ^D of the East and, in turn, the authority over all things and the command of these—as I have already said, moved from the place where he was staying, provided that he could move Nicephorus from the army and relieve the multitude of him, and hastened toward the commander. Having stepped before the commander’s tent, he sat down beside him (for John was the cousin of Nicephorus on his mother’s side). “You indeed,” he said, “O noble one, are sleeping a deep sleep, more than Endymion, as they say; but the head of the imperial palace, that frugal Joseph, with a furious and cruel impulse is machinating your death, and as far as it depended on him, the invincible commander of the Romans would have perished, and his blood would have been shed.”

^A Oh, the labors! Oh, the battles! Oh, the virtue! And this at the hands of a ^B manikin, a man of ambiguous sex, an emasculated creature, a sham woman, knowing nothing beyond what occurs in the women’s quarters! But rouse yourself, my friend, and let us recover our senses, lest we perish like slaves; let us perform a noble and bold deed, so that Josephus and anyone else who supports him may realize that they are not contending with delicate, pampered little women, but with men endowed with ^C an invincible strength, whom the barbarians tremble at and fear. Having said these things, he brought the letter forth from his bosom and handed it to the Domesticus. When he had read it through and recognized the sad and troublesome contents, he remained silent for a while, overcome in spirit (for he happened to be suffering from somewhat poor health at that time). As he recovered himself, he said, “Tell me, most brave man, what is there in this affair to be considered?” Then he: “What? You say you wish to consider further what you think should be done? ^D Are you not waking up, even if late, my Nicephorus? Will you not shake from your eyes this great lethargy, when we are caught in certain danger and you ask what should be done? I am of the opinion that we must trust the outcome of all things to chance. We are in charge of so many forces, such an army, no less proud for its greatness of spirit than it is flourishing in the strength of its bodies. For it seems absurd and intolerable to me that we, the commanders of the Romans, should be led by a wretched eunuch, who has crept into the state from the solitude of Paphlagonia, and be pulled hither and thither by the nose like slaves. Therefore, follow immediately, unless you wish to be taken captive and suffer the ultimate evils.”

4. Nicephorus, having been roused to virtue by this exhortation of John, took up arms and, together with John and the whole army, marched toward Caesarea. There, having pitched camp, he received the army. A few days later, with all the forces of Asia gathered to him, as the day was dawning,

^A the rays of the sun were being poured out upon the earth (as July was beginning), the commanders of the army, together with John the Magister, girded the praetorium with drawn swords (this had been commanded beforehand by John to the tribunes and centurions, as he felt bitterly that an idle eunuch was directing military persons according to his own will along with suckling boys). They proclaimed Nicephorus Emperor of the Romans and powerful Augustus, praying for imperial rule for him for many years.

He, at first indeed, refused such supreme power, fearing the envy of the highest eminence, and pleading the death of the wife and son of Bardas—who, drawing the vital spirit of youth, his cheek already glimmering with tawny down, had not many years before, in a playful exercise, been struck in the eyelid by his cousin (the youth was named Pleuses) with a spear; perturbed by this wound, Pleuses let the spear fall from his hand; but it happened that, as the shaft struck the earth, the rebound was so violent that the ^B point, driven through, pierced the skull completely, and Bardas fell from his horse instantly without a word.

Putting forward such an excuse, Nicephorus declined the command and conceded it to John Tzimiskes, that, having been raised to this dignity, he might claim the scepter. Yet, neither did anyone in the army at all tolerate such words, nor did John himself; but with conspiratorial minds, wishing him well, they saluted him as Augustus and Emperor of the Romans. ^C Then, in truth, he accepted the empire and put on the red buskins, which are the greatest insignia of sacred dignity, thinking little of the dire religious obligations by which he had bound himself to Patriarch Polyeuctus and the senate. Indeed, regarding the instability and uncertain events of fortune no less than the enmity and perfidy of Joseph, he hastened to forestall his malice in such a way that his own affairs...

^A should be settled, and as securely as possible. Wherefore, esteeming his previous safety of secondary importance, he held the oath of no account. Having in this manner accepted the beginning of his reign, Nicephorus emerged from the tent, girt with a dagger and leaning upon a spear; ^B and having stood in an elevated and prominent spot under the open sky, he spoke as follows:

5.

“But animated by that love with which a father loves his children, I counsel you as loving sons not to look toward sloth and luxury. It will be necessary to keep watch, to be vigilant, and to endure trials with a fortified mind. I do not think the matter will be decided without bloodshed. For the higher the pinnacle of empire is to ascend, the more grave is the envy and the contention ^C that arises over it. And indeed, the struggle you face now is not with the Cretans, nor with the Scythians and Arabs, whom you have conquered by your virtue, but with the city of the Romans, which abounds on all sides with every good thing, and which cannot be captured in a moment like some small fort. Surrounded by the sea and fortified, circled on all sides by strong ramparts, filled with a great population, it surpasses other lands in gold, wealth, and ornaments. Wherefore it behooves you, having renewed that noble virtue which you exercised in battles when you defeated all your adversaries, to exert yourselves now, especially against these enemies, even more than you think yourselves able. ^D Although I trust that in this struggle I shall also have God as my helper. For it is not we who have violated our pacts and oaths, but the dissensions of Joseph, who then without any cause drove my kinsmen into exile.

^A And against me, though I was entirely innocent of these things, he cruelly and inhumanly plotted death. [P. 27] But treaties are not usually dissolved by those who are the first to take up arms, but by those who, during the truces, plot against their fellow citizens. Thinking, therefore, upon my glory—by which, under my leadership, you have achieved countless trophies—and provided that you rouse that innate virtue of yours as perhaps never before, follow me without turning back, wherever Providence leads, and I myself shall press forward.

6 Having heard these things at the audience of the army, Nicephorus confirmed the spirits of all, and instilled such inexpressible zeal into their souls ^B that no force of war seemed able to resist or oppose such a movement. For the soldiers loved him in a superhuman way, and there was absolutely no one who did not glory in his praises. For, having been engaged in wars from his youth, and displaying himself as formidable in regular order and in the feats of battle, he was not only unconquered in strength and wonderfully skillful, but was also endowed with a disciplined mind and was, without dispute, peerless in every kind of virtue. 2 Immediately, therefore, he went into the church of the Caesareans, ^C and from there returned to the tent. Having honored John with the dignity of Magister, he proclaimed him Domestic of the East, and sent mandates and edicts everywhere throughout the Roman Empire. Having appointed generals for the Euxine and for all the coasts, he ordered them to hasten to Abydos with the utmost speed, doing this—I suppose—as he was meditating that, before the rumor of the election could spread, he might secure the straits and the maritime passages. For he thought that in this way affairs would proceed according to his intent, and that fortune would not be angry with him, but rather would smile upon him cheerfully and gently, if he hastened the occupation of the most strategic places. ^D Having accomplished these things, and having compacted the phalanxes into an unbreakable shield-wall and secured them with suitable equipment, Nicephorus set out from Caesarea and marched towards the imperial city. And having written a letter and handed it to Philotheus, the bishop of Euchaita, he sent it to Polyeuctus, who held the helm of divine matters, and to Joseph, who governed the tyranny, and to the senate. The gist of the letter was roughly this: «That they should receive the Emperor himself, who would protect the sons of the Roman Augustus until their confirmation of age, and would cherish their bodies. Furthermore, that he would be of the greatest use to the state, and to the Roman empire.»

He would also increase its prosperity through his deeds of valor in war. But if they were not willing to do this, ^A they would later repent of their folly, when matters would be decided by iron and slaughter; and there would be no room for excuses for those who had chosen the worst instead of the best.

7. Having received this message ^B as a sort of Scythian ultimatum, Joseph, struck in the heart as if by a goad or spur, ordered the bishop to be imprisoned and shackled. He then attached to himself Marianus, Paschalius, and the Tornikioi—men known for their boldness—and bestowed the Macedonian cohort upon them. He resisted fiercely, blocking Nicephorus's entrance into Byzantium. With matters standing thus in doubt, Leo, the brother of Nicephorus, whose military victories the narrative has already mentioned in passing, seized an opportunity (for he happened to be staying in Constantinople at the time) and, having donned peasant clothing, slipped through the tunnels of the wall. He boarded a boat and sailed to Nicephorus, who was already arriving near the palace at the Heraeum and disposing his army. At the same time, Bardas, their father, one of the magistroi, a man of advanced age, fearing danger from Joseph and seized by terror, became a suppliant at the Great Church. He had been versed in wars and battles from his very youth and had long been adorned with the office of Domestic of the Schools.

Meanwhile, Marianus and Paschalius, having sent the Macedonian cohorts around through the streets, were themselves gnashing their teeth with empty haughtiness and arrogance, never ceasing to cause new disturbances by the hour. To such an extent, in fact, that the raging populace turned to violence and, engaging in close combat, resisted them and drove them into open flight—treating them like delicate youths inexperienced in battle. ^C In this conflict, they say that a certain woman snatched a pottery vessel full of earth—of the kind used for gardens—from a roof with her hands and hurled it at Marianus, striking him on the temple. The blow was so heavy that his skull was fractured and his brain damaged; he died the next day. Taking heart from these events, Basil the eunuch—who had also been adorned with the rank of cubicularius during the times of Emperor Constantine, being a bastard son of the elder Romanus emperor by a Scythian woman, a man energetic and by no means lacking in reason for executing his plans, as he was of mixed race—who at that time was estranged from Joseph and had long been nursing feuds with him, [armed] his own homeborn servants with breastplates, helmets, and shields.

as well as spears and swords—numbering more than three thousand, and attacked the house of Joseph along with those who were collaborating with him, including the populace. Having subjected these to pillage, plunder, and ruin, he set off for the shipyards, and there, with the approval of the people and the senate, he made arrangements for the fire-bearing triremes to set sail for Nicephorus. ^A Upon arriving there, Nicephorus immediately headed for the monastery of the Abramites, which they also call the Achiropoieton; and from there he sent men to occupy the palace. When Joseph saw them approaching, trembling and struck by great fear (for the guards around him had already joined Nicephorus), he abandoned the palace and fled in haste to the church. Thus he was seen to be the man who, a short time before, had arrogantly raised his eyebrows above his forehead, now a miserable suppliant, terrified by the very rumors, demonstrating by his own example that there is nothing in human affairs that is firm or stable: that all things are mutable and fleeting, tossed and shuffled back and forth like dice. Consequently, his flight to the church was the reason that Bardas, the father of Nicephorus, was liberated from there and returned safely to his son.

8. Nicephorus, since events were proceeding according to his wishes, laid aside his private clothing and, having cast off his tunic, donned the imperial and royal mantle, and adjusted himself to a more imperial dignity; having mounted a spirited, white horse, decorated with imperial trappings and purple carpets, he rode through the Golden Gate, being applauded and honored by all the people and the magistrates. The sixteenth day of the month of August was passing, ^B in the sixth indiction, in the year six thousand four hundred and seventy, when this was taking place.

^A Then, when he had entered the most celebrated temple of God and had received the customary honors from the body of the priests, he was crowned with the imperial diadem by Polyeuctus, who held the office of patriarch, as he was entering his fifty-first year. His appearance was nearly as follows: his face tended more towards a dark than a fair complexion; his hair was long and black; his eyes were black, as if saturated with deep thought, and set beneath thick eyebrows; his nose was of a medium size between thin and thick, gradually inclining to an aquiline shape; his beard was of moderate length, with some gray hairs scattered about his cheeks. His stature was round and sturdy; his chest and shoulders were very broad; and in strength and power he was comparable to the celebrated Hercules. In wisdom, however, temperance, and a singular aptitude for counsel, he surpassed all men born in his time. ^B Having thus been crowned with the imperial diadem, he ascended to the imperial palace, accompanied by the people and the magistrates, and having entered, he sat upon the royal throne. One could then see Fortune, gloating and exulting in these events, claiming all human affairs for herself, and ensuring that nothing earthly belonged to anyone. Now Nicephorus, once he had received the empire, having occupied the helm of state safely and securely, adorned Bardas, his own father, with the dignity of Caesar; he appointed John, surnamed Tzimiskes, who had aided him from the very beginning of the movement, as Domestic of the East and Magister; he declared Leo, his brother, Curopalates and Magister; and Basil, who had broken the wealth of Joseph, as I have said, by instigating the movement, he raised to the dignity of Proedros.

Chapter IX

^C He himself pretended that he would maintain his customary, inviolate temperance, shunning the company of his wife and at that time refusing the eating of meat. But those who cultivated the monastic life, and who were indeed directing his own life (for he revered the brothers with marvelous devotion), did not allow the man to continue in such habits, but encouraged him both to embrace his marriage and not to abstain from the eating of meat as if it were an unholy act. For they feared that, with a spirit prone to pleasures and banquets, he might fall into base delights, such as ...

the liberated soul is wont to improvise, and rule itself. ^A Yielding, therefore, to the admonitions of the monks, he cast aside his familiar and accustomed mode of life. He took to wife the spouse of Romanus, a woman truly beautiful and a pure Lacedaemonian, and passed from his previously austere daily regimen to a more luxurious diet, consisting of meat. A rumor, however, was whispering—and the marriage was considered unlawful and almost abhorrent to the laws—because Nicephorus had been the godfather to the children of the Emperor Romanus and Theophano, having received them from the sacred font. When this rumor with winged speed reached the ears of Polyeuctus, the prefect of sacred matters [patriarch], he strove with all his might to keep the Emperor away from the holy bounds. For the man was filled with a burning zeal for the worship of God, and being unassailable in every kind of knowledge and virtue, he did not even fear to rebuke princes. ^B The Emperor, however, partly by entreating the patriarch and partly by offering his own defense—that he had not been the godfather of the children of Augusta Theophano, but rather Bardas, his own father—so bent the patriarch’s mind and soothed him completely that he gladly allowed his union with Augusta Theophano. Since matters had thus flowed according to his will, he bestowed upon Theophano, his consort and Augusta, immense imperial finery he had amassed, as well as vast estates of fertile land, full of a variety of juices and produce of every kind, separated from the rest. He himself, wintering at Constantinople, did not neglect to reward the authorities with equestrian games, spectacles of all kinds, and the largesse customary for emperors. ^C And as for all the domestic forces that followed him in his service, he made sure to habituate them daily to martial affairs: to draw the bow straight, to take aim with the arrow pulled to the breast, to brandish and hurl javelins nimbly in this direction and that, to swing swords through the air with direct strikes, and to leap onto horses lightly—so that at the time of combat they might not be found inferior to the enemy, especially since they would have to be the first to risk danger and to come into the battle line.

10.

^A and transformed into serene pleasantness, he issued orders for an expedition against the Saracens and set out from Byzantium. After pausing in the land of the Cappadocians and assembling a force sufficient for combat, he marched against the city of Tarsus—a city which, both by the courage of its men and by their numbers and their skill in the art of war, was at that time haughty and exceedingly arrogant, making frequent and unexpected raids in the open. When he arrived there, he fortified his camp well and, having stationed guards around the city, began a siege. The Saracens within, being then well-stocked with necessary provisions and relying on the defensive strength of the city (for the construction of the walls rose to an infinite height, surrounded by a double circuit: and it was also encircled by a trench, dug to a very great depth, faced with polished white stone, and terminated by battlements ^B), did not consider the Cydnus any less of a protection, as it flowed through the center of the city. It pours forth from its very source as a copious, cold, and clear stream, providing no small defense to Tarsus, and is crossed by three bridges within the city. But when war threatens them, they divert it into the trench, which it floods within the space of one hour. Relying on this, the barbarians mocked the emperor, hurled shameless insults at him, and repeatedly pouring out of the city, they made sorties and slaughtered many of the Romans. Emperor Nicephorus, having spent a sufficiently long time there and having recognized that he had undertaken a very difficult task, moved from there ^C and, changing his route, attacked the fortresses surrounding Tarsus. He captured Adana and Anabarza and more than twenty other such castles at the first assault. Then, having attacked Mopsuestia and surrounded it with a ring of troops, he besieged it vigorously, assailing it from every side with projectile engines. The townspeople themselves also resisted strenuously, casting fire-bearing arrows and heavy stones against the Romans and defending themselves from the towers with all their might.

11. The emperor, as he was prompt and marvelous in finding remedies for difficulties, having circled and inspected the place, where it was opportune, in the dead of night ^D ordered men, brought to the towers, to gradually undermine the wall, having begun from the bank of the Pyramus river flowing by there, so that the barbarians might not notice and the undertaking might not come to naught. They began to dig, casting the excavated earth into the current of the river.

^A When the work was finished, and the two towers were perfectly separated from the wall connected to them, and being overhanging, were suspended on timber so that their structure would not collapse just as the solar ray was illuminating the earth, the Saracens, dressed in white as is their custom, leaned out from the towers, and stretching their bows, and having prepared other engines, were reviling the Emperor with insults. But he, having ordered fire to be applied to the underground supports of the towers, went forward himself, fully armed, arranging his phalanxes. As the supports were easily consumed by fire, whatever was hanging over and hollow in the wall was shaken and fell to the ground, ^B dragging down with it the Saracens who had climbed upon it, most of whom were crushed and breathed their last on the spot; others, taken captive by the Romans, lamented the fate that had befallen them. The Emperor, since the ruined wall provided a passage to those who wished it, attacked Mopsuestia with his entire force and enslaved it, and he sent the remaining barbarians ^C into servitude. He himself set aside the most beautiful [spoils] ^D of the booty, and having dedicated them to the imperial treasury, and having recalled the soldiers from the sacking of the town, because the sun had passed through the sign of Sagittarius and was moving toward Capricorn, and the intensity of winter was drawing near, he moved his camp from there and withdrew to the Roman borders. And having now entered Cappadocia, he rewarded the army as was fitting.

having removed [the spoil], and having dedicated it to the royal treasury, he called the army from the plunder of the city, and when the sun was passing the Archer and [moving] toward the Goat, and the severity of winter was intensifying, rising from there he led [the army] back toward the Roman empire. And having arrived at the multitude of the Cappadocians, he treated them with his accustomed kindness, commanding them to return to their homes, and reminding them ^A to return to him again at the approach of spring, having repaired their panoply, sharpened their swords, and taken the utmost care of their horses. Thus the multitude departed for home. But he himself wintered in the same place with those who remained ^B, and prepared what was necessary for the war.

BOOK FOUR

ARGUMENT. — Nicephorus plans a new expedition against the people of Tarsus (Chap. 1). His severity in military discipline (2). Battle at Tarsus (3). The city having surrendered, he returns to Byzantium (4). Embassy of the Bulgarians regarding the Bulgarian war (5). The Russians are incited against the Bulgarians. Nicephorus, fearing plots due to the hatred of the populace, fortifies his palace (6). Urban disturbances, in which Leo the Deacon takes part. The Sicilian expedition (7). Its unhappy outcome (8). Earthquake at Claudiopolis, a huge rainstorm at Constantinople (9). Nicephorus’s Syrian expedition: Antioch attempted in vain, Edessa taken. The Ark taken by force (10). Eclipse of the sun. A castle having been built near Antioch, Nicephorus returned to the city (11).

^B 1. Thus, as I have said, Mopsuestia was taken by the Emperor Nicephorus, and the neighboring fortresses were captured on his march. He himself, while wintering in Cappadocia, was tormented in his soul that he had not been able to take Tarsus as well on his first assault, but rather had been repulsed from there like a weapon aimed at a wall but striking with a weaker impact, having performed no brilliant or brave deed. And he deemed the affair a disgrace and an indelible insult, if Nicephorus Phocas — who had long ago been numbered among the commanders and subsequently created Domestic of the Schools, and who at times had razed and destroyed countless cities, at others had brought fertile regions into subjection, and had vanquished and led away warlike nations in pitched battle, they not even possessing the strength to look directly at his might and his unconquerable force in arms — should now, having attained the Roman empire through his virtue and skill, and having brought forward an army numbering up to four hundred thousand, have been repulsed ^C, having fought a battle purely in shadow. And he was repulsed not by Babylon, which Semiramis fortified with seven walls; nor by the older Rome of the Quirites, whose might she built up; nor by the walls of Judea, whose solid height, though accepted by rumor, perhaps seems a fable to those who have not looked upon them: but by Tarsus, an august town situated on a level plain, full of

^A both incoming settlers and indigenous inhabitants 33. He spent his time turning these matters over, reflecting 34, and feeling distressed, consumed by an inconsolable despondency should the Tarsians—who had become a war zone to those around them—exchange servitude for liberty, and should they alone of all the rest escape, having those who had avoided the edge of the sword go free, while they openly mocked his prowess and disparaged 20 his military experience. For this reason, he diligently trained those around him for battle and waited for the appropriate season of the year. But as soon as the sun shone forth 35, and the wintry sharpness began to soften into the warmth of spring, the forces assembled before the emperor in accordance with his command. Having firmly equipped the army, which numbered over forty thousand, he raised the standard and marched toward Tarsus. ^B

2. While he was making his journey, a light-armed soldier, exhausted by the difficult terrain (for it happened that the army was making its way through a very deep valley, enclosed by cliffs and caverns), cast aside and threw off the shield he was carrying upon his shoulders. The emperor, passing by, caught sight of this and ordered one of his attendants to pick up the shield. No sooner had he arrived at the quarters where they were to lodge than he inquired under which centurion that man served who, without battle or danger, had thrown away his shield and stripped himself of his own weapons. When the culprit could not hide, but was immediately apprehended, the emperor, looking at him with a fierce and sidelong glance, said, "Tell me," ^C

^A base wretch, if anyone had approached from an ^B 36 obscure and sudden quarter, what protection would you have used against the enemy, since you have thrown your shield onto the road?" He, struck dumb with terror,

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS

36 The conjecture of "sudden" (ἀπροόπτου) is useless; for here it is correctly translated as "from an obscure place," as it is elsewhere. Leo uses it in the sense of the "unseen." Indeed, the word is found with a fourfold significance, which, if I am not mistaken, has not yet been sufficiently explained. Wherefore it will not seem unwelcome to those who love more diligent learning if I bring forth the notes I have made on this word.

The first meaning is when "obscure" (ἄποπτος) has a force almost of negation, so that it is "eluding sight" or, in the word of C. Celsus, "invisible." Sophocles, *Oedipus Tyrannus* 762, "unseen by the sight of this city." The old scholiast interprets it as "the unobserved," and mentions "secret knowledge" for "obscure knowledge." ^C They place the camp "in an obscure place." And the leaders of the Volsci, attacking the Romans "from an obscure place," when they were not expecting it, suddenly.

"Who then, having considered from an obscure heart / The theater of life, full of shame, / Should not extinguish the play with mocking lamentation?"

For time calls on him who is able to see from afar, as if "from an obscure" and most central vantage point. "From obscure and high ground. From some peak." ^D Being, for he was standing in an obscure place with his concubines. Herod looking from an obscure place. And like some eagle soaring in heaven, which from above and from a high point might see over a long distance; so too this man, hovering about the royal hearth of his own fine city, secretly discerned a terrible trap for the souls among the Phoenician nation, a watchtower. [index: entries preserved] And so from an obscure place and from a watchtower crying out, a vantage point. "Obscure" to [the Romans]. As for the temple of Concord — into the forum and the assembly, "obscure." "Obscure" and "manifest" was the camp and "obscure." [53E] For he had the things that were happening as "obscure." The breach having become "obscure," the "obscure." He was tortured from an obscure place, but when Petronius appeared from an obscure place, in an obscure place to the enemies.

"Not to watch the voyage from an obscure place rather than from nearby." ^A "You speak as if watching from an obscure place; but we know more accurately, we who go through the experience." (Not only were they unable to set foot in the land, but not even to behold the ancestral soil from an obscure place.) They might behold the ancestral soil, clearly from an obscure place, "obscure" from "obscure," "obscure."

^B Hasius explains further the four significations of the word "obscure," which I have seen as yet but little distinguished by scholars. Nor, if you except the Lexicon of Schneider and a few others, do I think anything truer than what Frid. August Wolf, the supreme arbiter of these matters, says in *Beiträge zur Geschichte des Somnambulismus* 403. C, complaining about

the condition of the Greek dictionaries: "The Greek words are still poorly explained, or rather, not explained at all, in the best lexicons," etc. Therefore, I believe there is nothing that contributes more to an inner knowledge of the Greek language than if everyone, following analogy and logic, brings forward from their own store what they have noticed in order to distinguish the various powers of the same word, so that lexicographers, like grammarians, can select what they wish, weigh it, and translate it, and use it for their own purposes.

^A stood stupified. But the emperor ordered the centurion that he should lead the man, who had dedicated himself to death, around the camp, beaten with rods and with his nose cut off. But in truth he, whether seized by compassion for the man, or softened by money handed over, sent the soldier away unscathed. The next day, having caught sight of that same man passing by, the emperor ordered the centurion to be called in, and said: "O you stubborn and rash man, how did you dare not to carry out what was commanded? Do you think that this army is of less concern to me than to you? I had determined, to instruct the others, that he who had cast away his arms should suffer such a penalty, so that others, imitating his neglect and sloth, might not do the same, and at the time of battle, caught naked of their arms, perish instantly, oppressed by the enemy." Thus, having severely beaten the centurion and cut off his nose, he struck fear into the whole army, so that they no longer behaved carelessly regarding their own equipment.

Chapter III

who contended ^A with a spirit fiercely raging, a man of extraordinary audacity and one who proved himself as zealous as anyone, although in stature he was somewhat short of the average, like the mythologized warrior Tydeus; but there was in his unseemly body a certain heroic strength and intensity. When the Emperor commanded the martial trumpets to sound, one could see the Roman phalanxes move with an irresistible force, and the whole plain flashing with the brilliance of their arms. The Tarsians could not withstand such weight; being pressed from behind by the impact of spears and by the skirmishers casting missiles, they straightway turned to flight and were shamefully shut up within the city, having lost a great many of their own men during this engagement. A terrible fear likewise seized them after they saw such an immense army advancing in order. Thus, they strengthened the wall of the city, which they had occupied, with defensive engines, and, hidden behind the fortifications, they held out, awaiting the arrival of the enemy. ^B

Chapter 4

Emperor Nicephorus, knowing clearly that the city was difficult of access and of capture, and that it could not be taken by immediate assault, determined not to expose himself to danger through an inconsiderate desire for battle, but to deliver the city over to famine, which would by cruel necessity overcome it even against its will. Having entered upon this plan, he encircled the city with diligent guards. The Tarsians, so long as the intensity of hunger had not yet completely exhausted them, kept casting missiles at the Romans from the towers. But later, when the wretchedness [of hunger] was consuming them and the lack of necessities was wasting ^C their bodies, one could have seen the ultimate desperation, a harsh gloom that had seized the city, and the men themselves bearing no resemblance to anything other than phantom shadows. For the calamity of famine is most wretched and utterly lethal; for it withers the bulk of the body and extinguishes the natural heat with coldness, until it makes the skin hang upon the bones like a spider's web, and, as if calling it forth, invites death to approach little by little. When, therefore, they were no longer able to contend either against the irresistible suffering of famine or against such a great army, they made a pact with the Emperor and submitted to him, on the condition that those who wished should have the power to travel freely to the interior of Syria. When he had granted this, and a truce had been made, he commanded them to depart from the city without delay, carrying with them only their own bodies and necessary clothing. Thus, with the city occupied, part of the booty, the countless riches ^D

^A gathered together, he distributed to the army; and, having recovered the figures of the cross—which the Tarsians, having fashioned them out of gold and precious stones, had captured in various battles while routing the Roman forces ^B—he secured the city with a sufficient garrison and set out for the imperial city. Having arrived there and been received by the people with great magnificence, he set up the captured crosses in the famous and divine temple, and regaled the populace with horse races and other spectacles. For the Constantinopolitans are more fond of spectacles than other men.

5.

everywhere ^A evil is heaped upon evil, and the woody and thicket-filled region is succeeded by a cavernous and craggy one; then again, it is marshy and spongy; for the country is extraordinarily watery, and extremely woody, and everywhere enclosed by impassable mountains, situated by Haemus 47 and Rhodope, and surrounded by the greatest rivers). The emperor Nicephorus, having observed this, did not think it right to expose the Roman forces, marching in disordered array through insecure places, as cattle for the slaughter by the Mysians. For they say that not once have the Romans fallen into the straits of Mysia and been slaughtered to the point of extermination.

6. He decided, therefore, not to risk danger through difficult and treacherous ^B places. Consequently, he recalled the army and returned to Constantinople; and having honored Calocyres with the rank of patrician—a man who was, moreover, reckless and of a hot-headed temperament—he sent him to the Tauroscythians, whom the common tongue is accustomed to call Russes, in order that he might distribute to them the gold that had been entrusted to him, amounting to fifteen centenaria, and lead them into the territories of the Mysians, which they were to occupy. Thus, Calocyres went off to the Tauroscythians; while he [Nicephorus] himself went up into the circus to preside over equestrian games. Among these things, he ordered the scholae [regiments], descending into the arena to be separated into opposing phalanxes and, with drawn swords, to engage one another for the sake of the game and thus to be exercised for war. The Constantinopolitans, however, being ignorant of military operations, terrified by the flashing of the swords and alarmed by the rush and clashing of the soldiers, and being struck with fear at the novelty of the spectacle, turned to flight and ran hastily to their own homes. From the pushing and the disorderly rush ^C, no small slaughter occurred, as very many were trampled and wretchedly suffocated. This calamity became a source of the city’s hatred toward the emperor. Added to this was the iniquity of his brother Leo the Curopalates, who, having abandoned the manly and military way of life, had transferred himself to a sedentary and profitable one; and, yawning with greed and cupidity, he brought about both a shortage of grain and a monstrous scarcity of the necessities of life. For he sold grain bought at a low price for a high one. A whispering began to circulate through the city, with the populace spreading complaints that the twin pair of brothers, having the public calamities as a source of profit, ^D were pouring them into the same bulging purse.

For indeed, the emperor also introduced new taxes that had not been thought of before ^A with merciless greed, stating that he needed a great deal of money for military expenses, and with these he oppressed his subjects. It is said, whether by some observer of the celestial bodies, or by one of those who had chosen a solitary and celibate life, that a report reached the emperor’s ears that he would end his life within the palace, killed by his own countrymen. Becoming fearful at this oracle, he began to build a wall on one side of the palace facing the sea, extending it to the other side likewise looking toward the sea; and with a wall that is still seen today, truly high and strong, he fortified the imperial threshold, as he supposed.

7. Chapter VII

As the emperor went out for the procession of the Lord’s Ascension, according to custom, outside the walls to the so-called Pegae (a temple of wondrous beauty has been built there to the Theotokos) ^B, a skirmish occurred between the Constantinopolitans and the Armenians, such that many of the citizens were wounded by the Armenians. And when, towards evening, the emperor was riding back to the palace, the urban mob cast invectives upon him openly. Moreover, a certain woman, together with her young daughter, proceeded to such a pitch of madness that she peered from the roof and threw stones at the sovereign. For this, she was captured the next day by the praetor and, suffering punishment along with her daughter in a suburb called Anarata, she was burned by fire. At that time, I who write these things was also staying in the city of Byzantium, an adolescent, for the sake of learning letters and education. Thus, seeing the emperor Nicephorus going along on horseback at a walk through the city, and that he was undisturbed by such insults ^C, and maintained a steady mind, as if no new or strange event had occurred, I admired the tranquility of the man, just as...

the night, coming on, dispersed the sedition. The emperor, being otherwise high-minded and not easily given to anger, considering the insolence directed at him the day before by the city populace to be due to drunkenness rather than the rash impulse of the crowd, buried it in oblivion. Again, however, he sent to Sicily fire-bearing triremes, safely ballasted, and vast merchant ships loaded with soldiers and arms. ^A Over the fleet he placed Nicetas, a pious and venerable man, though he was a eunuch, as commander; and over the cavalry, Manuel, his cousin, a man himself adorned with the dignity of patrician, of heated temperament, rigid, and accustomed to be carried by blind impulse. After they had crossed the upper sea and reached Sicily, they disembarked the army and drew up the battle line, using such good fortune at the beginning that at their first onset they occupied the noble and celebrated Syracuse and Himera, and furthermore held Tauromenium and Leontini without bloodshed. But so far was fickle fortune from favoring them with a fair wind to the end, that it blew back strongly and hostiley, overwhelming their affairs with its waves. ^B The narrative will now clearly demonstrate these things.

C. B. HASHI ANNOTATIONS

(52) Saint Nicephorus, bishop of Miletus, was present at this same expedition, and is different from the Saint Nicephorus who was patriarch of Constantinople circa 806. Although in the manuscript life of our own Nicephorus (in Cod. Reg. 1181), after the words "an ancient script was erased, a new one was added," an error crept into the Catalog of Greek Manuscripts of the Royal Library II, 227. For this Nicephorus is that bishop of Miletus whose life, sent by Combefis to Henschenius, Le Quien (*Oriens Christianus* I, 920 A) says is to be published among the *Acta Sanctorum*. He was born in the large and very famous village named Basileion, in the theme of the Buccellarii (a); he was educated at Constantinople, and having been co-opted into the college of palace clergy, he later accompanied the army of Nicetas to Sicily as an advisor and curator of spiritual matters. ^C When he had frequently foreseen that the venture would turn out badly, due to his own keenness and the incompetence of the commanders, and because of the prophecy of a certain holy man then dwelling near the Sicilian strait, by the name of Prasinacius, he returned to Greece after the defeat and was later made bishop of Miletus. Let us hear the Greek words: Cod. Reg. 1181, fol. 199 recto.

(53) Combefis translated [the text]: ^D "cities long celebrated": it seems he read *kleistas*. From the ascripta, which illustrate the defeat of Nicetas, it is evident furthermore that the author of that *Life* was a Sicilian, living perhaps near his city, Tauromenium, [and that] the Romans fought badly at that time. Lupus Protospata, in Muratori *Scriptores Rerum Italicarum* V, 39 (where for *Manuyci* one should perhaps read *Manuili*), refers the expedition itself to the year 965, and Luitprand (*Legatio ad Nicephorum* 150) agrees, writing that three years before 968, when he himself was in Constantinople, Manuel had been defeated by the Saracens.

^A Since the Sicilians were unable to withstand the impetus and unassailable spirit of the Romans, they abandoned their cities and retreated into the rough country, gathering in places favorable to them. For the island is for the most part mountainous and wooded, and quite suitable for anyone wishing to provide himself with a ready-made stronghold. Manuel, therefore, instead of taking possession of the cities and guarding the country—which was productive and suitable for horses—and cutting off the fugitives from fodder and other provisions (for in this way, exhausted by famine, one of two things would necessarily have occurred: either they would have surrendered themselves to the Romans, or they would have perished from a lack of necessities), being of an impetuous nature, ^B and restless in his temper and youth, and not possessing the energy and foresight that was required, and puffed up—as if by sudden vanity—by his previous victories beyond what was reasonable, advanced through those treacherous regions, searching for the fugitives. When, however, his phalanx was broken up in the rough terrain and was proceeding in disorder through crags and ravines, the Barbarians, having laid an ambush, rose up from their hiding places with shouting and strange cries, and suddenly attacked them. ^C Stunned by the unexpectedness of it, and hardly able even to see the light of the sun on account of the thickness of the foliage, they turned to flight. The Barbarians, rushing upon them, slaughtered them mercilessly, like victims; and they did not cease killing the soldiers until their strength and fury failed them. Manuel himself was also killed there; and as many of the Romans as escaped the sword were taken captive by the Hagarenes. When they had destroyed the infantry, the enemy ran down to the shore where the Roman triremes were anchored, and at the first assault they took possession of most of them. The patrician Nicetas was also captured ^D and sent to the king of the Africans. Thus, of so great an army, only a few escaped in reduced numbers and arrived before the Emperor Nicephorus; who, upon learning of the destruction of such great forces, was indeed saddened, and...

^A his soul was pained at such a great defeat and at a set of circumstances so strange. Yet, calculating the instability of human affairs, he bore the event with nobility, being a man of firm resolve and knowing how to keep his soul unbowed in difficult circumstances. Once again, he prepared an army against the Hagarenes inhabiting Syria.

^B

CHAPTER IX

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS

[Anonymus] says it happened in the 11th indiction [year 968] on the 4th of the Nones of September, at the twelfth hour of the night... He subjoins many things about warm waters and brings forward the opinions of many as to why they are tepid, such as St. John Damascene, who compares those waters to a heated wire, carried off and ignited through narrow iron orifices; but perhaps we shall speak of these physical collectanea at another time.

...For this is very often called by the Fathers the figment of mythology and of gentile theology. Andreus Cretensis, *On the Cross* 102. B. St. Hyperechius, *Exhortation to Monks* 131. D. In Latin, *vaniloquentia*, which you might properly render in Greek with a word omitted in the lexicons, but used by Philo, *On Dreams* 869. A. [alt-version omitted]

^A a custom apparent to those who see, so that perhaps even by this means having feared, men might refrain from evil deeds and refrain from those things which are praised. But in this way, then, the whole of Claudiopolis was overturned from its foundations by the force of the earthquake, and was brought to confusion, having drained the cup of divine wrath unmixed. Beside this, during that same year, in the very middle of the summer season, just as the sun was stepping into Cancer, a downpour broke over Byzantium and the parts adjacent to it, such as had never before occurred. For as the day was declining (it was a Friday), the disaster began at the ninth hour and ended; so violent was the downpour ^B that one did not see raindrops falling as usual, but rather, as it were, certain pipes filled with water. Truly, not a single temple or any building of the nobility was left that was not filled with water from above from the roof, even though the inhabitants were laboriously baling it out into the streets; but as much as had flowed out, just as much flowed back in, so that the evil was without remedy. For the space of three hours the rain held sway, and it was possible to see rivers surging through the narrow streets of the city, and destroying whatever living creatures were swept along. The people lamented piteously, wailing, and suspecting that a flood had fallen upon them again, according to that which is rumored; but the compassionate and man-loving Providence, having fixed the bow through the clouds, dispersed the gloom of the rain by its brightness, and again restored the fabric of nature to its former state. Although it happened later also that it rained again, turbid and mixed with ash as if from the soot of a furnace, and it provided a lukewarm quality to those who touched it.

10. Nicephorus, Emperor of the Romans

10. Now the Emperor Nicephorus (for the account returns again to where it had turned aside from its path), having taken up the Roman ^C power, marched against Antioch in Syria, and having pitched his camp there, since it was sufficiently provided with the necessities, and being puffed up, it did not endure to make a peace treaty at once, and not wishing to cause it to collapse with siege engines (for he knew that [the populace] was being restored to its former state. It happened also ^D and again a downpour bringing down turbid [water] mixed with ash, as if from furnace soot, and it provided a lukewarm quality to those who touched it. 10. Now the Emperor Nicephorus (for the account returns again to where it had turned aside from its path), having taken up the Roman power, marched with great haste against Antioch in Syria; and having placed his camp at the city, since it was abundantly furnished with necessary things and was arrogant, and because of its pride refused to surrender immediately, he himself did not wish to [destroy] it with siege machines...

knowing that in a short time, if he besieged it for only a small space of time, he would obtain it through victories and military preparations, and by terrifying the townspeople with the numbers and order of his army. Having then moved his camp, he passed through the inland region, which they also call Palestine, for it is entirely fertile and flowing with milk and honey, according to the holy Scripture; and he had Cilicia and the coastal regions on his right. When he had taken Edessa, and had entered the temple of the divine confessors and propitiated the Divinity with prayer, he refreshed his army. For he had heard that the image of the Savior and our God, imprinted upon a tile, was preserved in this town. They say that it was impressed in the following manner: when Thaddaeus, one of the divine Twelve, was sent by the Savior to Abgar, the toparch of Edessa, to deliver him from a long-standing illness by means of a divinely-human imprinted image, ^B he is said to have hidden there, while passing by, the napkin on which Christ had imprinted the form of His own appearance by an ineffable miracle, placing it among some tiles lying in a remote spot outside the town, with the intention of retrieving it the next day. It happened, however, that the tiles shone with an incredible brilliance of light throughout the whole night. In the morning, Thaddaeus, having taken up the napkin, continued on his way; but the tile, which the napkin had happened to touch, had retained the divinely-human image of the Savior perfectly imprinted upon it. This very tile, once lifted, the Barbarians preserved in the fortress with wonder and reverence. Then, indeed, the Emperor Nicephorus, after the town was taken, took that same venerable tile from there, and having later fashioned a casket of gold and gems, he enclosed the tile therein with reverence, and ^C consecrated it in the temple of the Theotokos, which is in the Palatine buildings. After he had received the surrender of the fortress of Mempetze, he crossed the mountain of Lebanon by a transverse path and moved his army toward Tripoli; when he saw that it was fortified and more difficult to capture than the other towns, especially since the ships

^A driven back by the winds were delayed, he passed this by and decided to besiege the fortress of Arca, which contained an unbelievable amount of wealth inside. From there, having surrounded it with three lines of entrenchment, he besieged it most fiercely, and having demolished its towers with siege machines, he devastated it for nine whole days and carried off from there an unspeakable amount of wealth. He also took many other fortresses at the first assault.

11. While these things were being done by the Emperor in Syria, an eclipse of the sun occurred around the winter solstice, of a kind that had never happened before, except for that which took place on the earth during the Passion of the Lord because of the madness of the Jews, who, being blinded, nailed to the cross the Creator of all things. The appearance of the eclipse was as follows: the twenty-second day of December was passing, and at the fourth hour of the day, with the sky clear, darkness covered the earth, and all the brighter stars became visible. Everyone could see ^B the disk of the sun without splendor, devoid of light, and a certain dark and thin gleam, like a narrow band, glowing around the boundary at the extreme edges of the disk. But gradually the sun passed by the moon (for the latter appeared directly in a vertical line, obscuring it), emitted its own rays, and once again filled the earth with light. Terrified, therefore, by this new and unusual spectacle, men set out to appease the Divine with suppliant prayers, as was proper. At that same time, I myself was staying in Constantinople, devoting myself to the liberal arts. But the Emperor (for the narrative must now be brought back to him after having strayed from the thread), having captured the adversaries' castles without any trouble, set out with all his forces for Antioch; and having pitched a camp at its wall, and having summoned the tribunes and centurions, and having stood in a conspicuous place under the open sky, he delivered this address: ^C "The fortresses beyond this city, as you know, soldiers, we have captured beyond all expectation by the nod of Providence and by your experience combined with the valor that is yours. And I confess that I owe you the greatest gratitude because, looking toward me, your leader, you have not shirked any labor, which war is accustomed to impose in such great and annoying numbers, and because you have carried out the business with such alacrity, counsel, and fortitude that no fortress to which we have moved has overcome your virtue, nor has any been left behind which was not taken by storm. And no less apparent to me is your eagerness to destroy this city, and how much you, soldiers, desire and strive to tear it down and devastate it with fire. But a certain ^D compassion comes over me...

of, if indeed the city which holds the third place in the world for its beauty and the greatness of its walls—for you see to what a height they rise—or if you look at the multitude of its people and the infinite furnishings of its houses, should lie covered in rubble, it would be like a poor little fort. Nor does it seem reasonable to me for the Roman army to spend time in its destruction, so that what has already been conquered by us in war should be destroyed and plundered again. For I would call that commander especially diligent who vexes and destroys the positions of the enemy with ^A raids and fixed military posts; but if anyone destroys and wastes his own lands with the comings and goings of his troops, I do not shrink from calling him a man of no intelligence, or rather, of evil intent. For he acts similarly to the dogs noted in the fable, which, when they ought to repel wolves from the sheep and protect the flocks from ambush, besides not repelling the wolves, they themselves tear and rend the sheep more than those beasts do. Therefore, if it seems good to you and you believe me, since this hill seems most firm and is irrigated by waters, as you see, let us fortify it immediately and leave there a squadron of cavalry and a cohort of infantry, so that with daily eruptions, raids, and the plundering of provisions, we may render Antioch broken and compelled into the greatest straits, ^B or even force it against its will to submit to the dominion of the Romans." Having delivered this speech, the emperor, lifting a stone onto his shoulders (for he was popular and modest in such matters), ascended the hill, having ordered the whole army to do the same. Thus, within the space of three days, a fortress appeared built upon the hill, well-fenced and most strongly fortified. After he had left in this fortress a garrison of five hundred horsemen and a cohort of a thousand soldiers with suitable rations, ordering them to make daily excursions toward Antioch and to empty whatever they encountered with slaughter and rapine, the emperor himself removed his camp from there and returned to the imperial city, and having been received there in splendor, he remained.

Book V.

ARGUMENT. Nicephorus demands from the Saracens the Romans captured in Sicily. Calocyres aspires to the empire (Chap. 1). Driven by him, the Russi invade Bulgaria (2). Nicephorus sends envoys to the Bulgarians (3). Antioch is taken by force (4). The emperor is moved by a fatal prophecy. Bardas, the father of Nicephorus, dies. Theophano sets a trap for her husband (5). John Tzimisces is summoned to the city. A conspiracy to perpetrate the murder of the emperor (6). Nicephorus is cruelly killed (7). His talent and character (8). John Tzimisces seizes power. The body of Nicephorus is buried in the royal sepulcher (9).

^D 1. In the manner demonstrated above, Emperor Nicephorus, having traversed Syria and its maritime coast, after all things that were in his way or [P. 46 ]

^A that he had taken as Mysian spoils, and after having razed many small towns, and having built a strong fortress in three days in the most opportune locations of great Antioch and garrisoned it, he returned to Byzantium. Thence he sent envoys to the Carthaginian governor and dispatched, as a gift, the sword of the most wicked and impious Moameth, which he had taken as booty from one of the forts captured in Palestine. He also demanded the patrician Nicetas, who previously, in the Roman defeat in Sicily, had fallen captive and been sent to the aforesaid leader of the Africans, as our narrative has shown. By letter, therefore, he threatened that if he should delay in the return of the patrician, and not release him immediately from his bonds and send him to him, he should expect unrelenting war, and that his entire territory would be ravaged and pillaged by the Roman armies. The Carthaginian, terrified by such messages—as if by some Scythian commands, according to the proverb ^B —sent back as a gift to Emperor Nicephorus both the patrician Nicetas and those who had been captured with him, as well as all the other Romans whom he held chained in custody in various places. For fear had taken hold of him upon hearing of our land and naval apparatus. Indeed, all nations feared and were struck with awe at the unconquerable power of the Emperor, his intolerable and unapproachable strength in battles, and how easily he subdued any adversaries whatsoever as if by some divine impulse; and they hastened not to have him as an enemy, but as a friend and lord. In this way, then, the patrician Nicetas and the rest of the Roman captives, being freed from their bonds and prison, returned to Byzantium. ^C Emperor Nicephorus, as was fitting, rejoiced and held a festive day, and rendered prayers of thanksgiving to God for the liberation of his countrymen. While these things were being transacted both in Syria and in the capital by the Emperor, the patrician Calocyres, who had been sent by the imperial command to the Tauroscythians, having arrived in Scythia and formed a friendship with the ruler of the Tauri, corrupted him with gifts and bewitched him with alluring words (for the entire Scythian nation is inordinately greedy, and especially avid and prone whether one promises or provides gain). He persuaded him, having gathered a heavy army, to march against ^D the Mysians; and, having subdued them, to make the land his own and possess it as his own abode; and that he, in return, should bear aid against the Romans, so that he might obtain the empire and the princedom of the Romans.

^A He further promised that he would bestow upon him, out of the sacred treasury, great rewards which could not be described in words.

2. When Sviatoslav (for so he was named by the Scythians) heard these words, he could not restrain the impulse of his mind; but, suspended by the hope of wealth and dreaming of the possession of the Mysian land—as he was also in other respects a man of fervent spirit and bold, strong and industrious—he stirred up the entire host of the Scythians for that expedition. ^B Having therefore gathered an army of sixty thousand men in their prime, besides the infantry, ^B he set out against the Mysians together with the patrician Calocyrus, whom he had also bound to himself in the bonds of friendship as a brother. When he had already set out for the Ister and was preparing to land on the shore, the Mysians, learning the state of affairs, came out to meet them with an army consisting of thirty thousand men, having formed a phalanx and locked their shields together. ^B But the Scythians, disembarking from their boats very courageously, cast aside their shields, drew their swords, and fell upon the Mysians with great violence. The latter, not being able to withstand even the first assault, turned to flight and shamefully shut themselves up in Dorystolon (this is a fortified town of the Mysians). It is said that at that same time Peter, the leader of the Mysians, a religious and venerable man, was so severely shaken by the unexpected flight that he fell into the falling sickness ^C and, after surviving for a short time, departed from this life. But these things happened later in Mysia. ^C Meanwhile, Nicephorus, the Emperor of the Romans, when he understood these things concerning the Scythians—as he was otherwise industrious throughout his entire life, upright, never yielding to sleep, and not at all serving pleasures (for no one could say that he had seen him feasting even in his youth)—at that time applied himself to many matters at once: he drew up the infantry, armed the companies, arranged the cavalry line in depth, and covered the horsemen with scale-armor. He also constructed missile-bearing engines ^D and placed them along the battlements of the city, and having attached a very heavy chain made of iron to the tower, which they are accustomed to call the Centenarium, [he fixed it] to stakes...

and stretched it across the Bosphorus, and fastened it to the tower of the castle opposite. ^A Being a man of action and of profound judgment, if ever there was one among those we know, he calculated that it would be disadvantageous for him if he were to wage war against both nations. Therefore it seemed beneficial to him if he could win over one of the nations. For in this way he thought he would most easily overcome the one and defeat it more quickly.

3. Hence, since he despaired of any composition with the Tauri (for he knew that the patrician Calocyrus had once turned aside from the straight path and had shaken off his lordship, while [he had] much [influence] among the Sphen... ^{B C D}

Sphenodslav, and was not easily ^A swayed to make a treaty according to his will), he decided instead to send an embassy to the Mysians, who were devoted to the same religions as himself. He therefore sent envoys to them, the patrician Nicephorus, known as the Erotic, and Philotheus, the prelate of the Euchaitae, and reminded them of their common persuasion (for the Mysians beyond dispute cherish the Christian faith), and he asked for virgins of royal blood, whom he might betroach to the sons of the Roman Augustus, so that by this marriage an inviolable reconciliation and friendship might be secured between the Romans and the Mysians. The Mysians received the embassy joyfully and sent to Emperor Nicephorus the maidens of royal blood, placed upon wagons (it is the custom for the women of the Mysians to travel in wagons); they entreated that he should come to their aid as soon as possible, and that he should avert the axe of the Tauri hanging over their necks and render it void. And certainly, if he had assisted them, he would have set up trophies over the Tauri, just as over all those against whom he had brought the Roman force. But in truth, human affairs are suspended by a small moment, and held up, ^B if I may say so, by a fine thread, and they are wont to incline also to the opposite side. For some rightly opine that a certain malevolence of the deity, and likewise envy, set themselves against the most illustrious and powerful men, to deceive, overthrow, and reduce them to nothing. The same thing happened then also to Emperor Nicephorus, when everything was flowing for him with favorable course, more than for any of those who had held the principate before him. I, however, say this: that by the singular providence of the deity, the successful affairs of men are turned to the contrary, so that they may thus learn that they are mortals and frail, and that they should not be puffed up more than is sufficient. For already some who have enjoyed prosperity and are renowned in battles have not feared to proclaim themselves gods, insulting providence itself. Examples of this are the sons of Aloeus, Otus and Ephialtes, who, if we listen to the fable, attempted to ascend to heaven; and Nabuchodonosor the Babylonian, setting up a statue to himself; ^C and Alexander the son of Philip, who wished to be called the son of Ammon. Not without justice, therefore, [are] the mutable [events of human life].

for men, just as it happened then to the Romans. On losing after a short time their dominion—for they had possessed no other before it—they were at the brink of disaster; had he survived, he would have extended the borders of his empire towards the rising sun in India, and again, towards the setting sun to the very boundaries of the inhabited world. But the narrative must be led back to where it diverted from the straight path.

^B 4. In this way did the Mysians stretch out suppliant hands, beseeching the Emperor to come to their aid. While he was preparing for the expedition, news came of the great capture of Antioch, just recently accomplished according to his own instructions, which he had left for the soldiers to carry out while he was away on the other campaign. It is said that when, by reason of constant daily incursions, they were driven to the ultimate extremity of want and lacking necessary supplies, they sent the Patrician Peter—a man who was a eunuch, yet a very energetic and most valiant man, and also a man of action—into Syria. He arrived there with forces, and dispatched a certain Michael, a tribune, whom they nicknamed Burtzes, to reconnoitre the city.

When Michael had approached closer with other chosen men, he inspected the height of the walls, and having returned to the camp near that place, ^C he devised a plan for scaling certain towers. Having constructed portable ladders, and with a legion of most valiant soldiers, he went again to the walls of Antioch in the middle of the night. Having placed the ladders in silence, he and his men climbed over them; they found the Saracen sentries buried in deep sleep and dispatched them with their swords. Having thus become masters of the wall, the Romans climbed down from the towers and set fire to the city in four places.

The people of Antioch, thunderstruck by the unexpected disaster, turned to wailing and lamentation; in their extreme perplexity, they considered what they should do. ^D When they eventually decided to fight back with courage, and stood their ground fiercely against the enemy as the morning light became clear, Peter the commander, with the main force, forestalled their charge by marching into the city through the gates which the Romans had previously opened as they entered the city. The people of Antioch, unable to face such great forces, threw down their arms and surrendered as suppliants.

CAPUT IV

But he, becoming elated by expectations of wealth, dreaming of the seizure of the land of the Mysians, and being moreover a man of impetuous, bold, and valorous action, urged on the entire youth of the Tauri toward the expedition. Having assembled, therefore, an army of sixty thousand men in their prime, besides the hired troops, he marched against the Mysians together with the Patrician Kalokyros, whom he had also accepted as a brother through the laws of friendship. As he was just sailing past the Ister and hastening to land on the mainland, the Mysians, becoming aware of what was happening, formed a phalanx of thirty thousand men and advanced to meet them. But the Tauri, disembarking most vigorously from the ferries, held out their shields and, drawing their swords, struck the Mysians in a rout. The latter, unable to withstand even the first onset, turned to flight and ignobly shut themselves up in Dorystolon (this being a strong fortress of the Mysians). At that time, it is said that Peter, the leader of the Mysians—a man beloved of God and venerable—grieved by the unexpected turn of events, fell into an epileptic seizure, and having survived only a short time, departed from this life.

^A Since he realized that he could no longer expect communication from the Taurians (for he knew that the Patrician Kalokyros had once turned aside from the straight path and had become rebellious against his mistress, and, having acquired great influence with Sviatoslav, would not readily agree to the emperor’s will), he decided instead to send an embassy to the Mysians, who shared his faith. Accordingly, he sent envoys to them: the Patrician Nikephoros, surnamed Erotikos, and Philotheos, the bishop of Euchaita. He reminded them of their religion (for the Mysians undeniably profess the Christian faith) and requested maidens of the royal line, so that he might unite them in marriage with the children of the Emperor Romanos, and thus, through this alliance, a reconciliation and friendship between the Romans and the Mysians might be secured and made indissoluble. The Mysians welcomed the embassy gladly and, having placed maidens of royal blood upon wagons (for it is the custom of Mysian women to travel in wagons), sent them off to the Emperor Nikephoros, imploring him to assist them as quickly as possible, and to turn aside and render useless the axe of the Taurians that hung over their necks.

CHAPTER V

CHAPTER VI

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS.

^A and placed them in a dark cell near herself. When their conspiracy, having been conceived in wickedness and pregnant with calamity and bloody crime, was now on the point of bringing forth atrocious impiety, they gathered together again as they were accustomed and resolved to cast the Emperor Nicephorus from his throne. John, going out of the house, summoned Michael, surnamed Bourtzes, and Leo Pediasimus; having shut the cell, he plotted with them the murder of Nicephorus Augustus. It was then the tenth day of the month of December.

[§6] It is said that in the evening, around the time of prayers, a certain cleric from the palace court handed the emperor a scroll, in which were written these words: "Know, O lord, that an atrocious death is being prepared for you this night. And that these things are true, command the women's quarters to be searched, in which armed men will be found who are to accomplish your murder." Having read the scroll, the emperor ordered Michael, the prefect of the bedchamber, to make a diligent investigation of these men; but he, whether out of truth to the Empress, or through slowness, or perhaps even through treachery, passed by the cell in which the band of assassins had seated themselves, and left it unexamined.

When night had now fallen, the Empress, as was her custom, went in to the emperor and, beginning the conversation concerning the betrothed ones who had recently arrived from Mysia, said, "I am going to attend to their attire; afterwards I shall return to you: but, I pray you, leave the bedchamber open, that it may not be shut for the time being; when I return, then I shall shut it." Having spoken these words to him, she went out. The emperor spent the whole night in vigilant and customary prayers to the Supreme Divinity, and was occupied with the meditation of the sacred volumes. But when nature demanded sleep, before the venerable images of the divinity of Christ, and likewise

^B the robust and youthful men to war at intervals, whom she, receiving, kept in a dark cell near herself. ^C When, however, this work of theirs, having conceived in evil and laboring with terrible injustice, was eager to bring forth wicked lawlessness, they gathered together again as was customary and resolved to strip the Emperor Nicephorus of his power. John, having withdrawn from the hearth, summoned Michael, he who is called Bourtzes, and Leo the Pediasimus, and having invited them in and closed the room, he deliberated with them the death of the Emperor Nicephorus. December had already set in, driving toward the tenth day. Indeed, it is said that in the evening, during the time of the chanting, a certain cleric of the palace handed to the emperor a scroll, in which was written: "Know, O King, that destruction is directed against you in this very night. That these things are true, let the women's quarters be searched, in which armed men shall be found, who are about to engage in the slaughter." The emperor, therefore, having read the scroll, gave orders to Michael, who was in charge of the bedchamber, to make an exact search for the men. But he, whether struck by the Empress, or using delay, or even having been suborned by a bribe, passed by the room in which the band of murderers was sitting, unexamined. By now night had arrived, and the Empress, in accordance with custom, going in to the emperor, began to exchange words concerning those who had arrived from Mysia, saying, "I am going for their treatment, and afterwards I shall come to you; but let the small bedchamber be open, [P. 53] and let it not be shut for the present; for I shall return and shut it myself."

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS.

(96) Regarding the conjectures which I have placed in the margin, it is far better to follow the most eminent man, Krug, and the reading close to the truth, communicated to me, namely *tōn phonentōn andrōn*, of the murderer, the one greedy for slaughter.

^A Having said these things, she departed from there. The emperor, for his part, throughout the entire night watch, was sending up his accustomed prayers to God and was occupied with the study of the divine Scriptures. And when nature demanded sleep, before the venerable icons of the theandric form of Christ, and of the Theotokos, and of the divine Precursor and herald, he rested on the ground beside the panther-skin rug and the scarlet cap.

^B 7. Meanwhile, the ministers of John who had been received by the Augusta, having emerged from their cell with swords, were awaiting his arrival, keeping watch from the solar of the palace roof. And now the gnomon indicated the fifth hour of the night; a bitter north wind was sweeping the regions of the air, and much snow was falling. And John arrived with the conspirators, sailing along the coast in a light boat and stepping onto the land ^C where the stone lion seizes the bull (the place is commonly called the Bucoleon), and he was recognized by his helpers, who were keeping watch from the solar above, by a whistle. For such was the signal given to these men of blood. Therefore, having let down a basket suspended by ropes from above, they first pulled up all the conspirators one by one, and then John himself. Having ascended, therefore, contrary to all human expectation, and having drawn their swords, they burst into the imperial bedchamber and invaded the bed; and having found it empty and no one resting in it, they stood frozen with fear and attempted to cast themselves headlong into the sea. But a certain manikin from among the saucy ones from the gynaeceum, who had led them, pointed out to them the emperor sleeping, whom they surrounded in a circle, kicking him with their feet and leaping upon him.

^D Awakened from sleep and supporting his head on his elbow, he was struck violently with a sword by Leo, named Balantes. Suffering because of the wound (for the sword had penetrated as far as the eyebrow and the eyelid, and had gashed the bone, though without striking the brain), he cried out in a louder voice: "Theotokos, help!" while streaming with blood on all sides and becoming covered in gore. Then John, having sat upon the imperial bed, ordered the emperor to be dragged toward him. Being seized, and as he was collapsing to the floor with limbs loosened (for he could not kneel, his strength having been broken by the great force of the sword wound), he asked him with threats: "Tell me," he said, "you foolish and envious tyrant, did you not ascend to the Roman principate through me? Did you not receive this great empire through me?"

How then, having forgotten such benefits, and lashed by envy and madness ^A, have you not refrained from ousting from the command of the armies me, your benefactor? But instead, you let me while away my time in the fields with the farmers, like some ignoble exile, a man so valiant and vigorous, and more so than you, whose camps are dreaded by the adversary, and from whose hands there is no one who can rescue you now. Speak, therefore, if any justification remains for you regarding these matters."

8. But the emperor, already fainting and destitute of aid ^B, invoked the help of the Theotokos. Then John, attacking him, cruelly plucked out his beard, and the conspirators cruelly and inhumanly struck his cheeks with the hilts of their swords, so that his teeth were shaken and dislodged from their sockets. Finally, when they had been sated with his torments, John struck his chest with his foot, and, brandishing his sword on high, split his skull in the middle, and ordered the rest to strike the wretched man. In such a savage manner they finished him off with their swords, and someone, thrusting an iron spike through his back, drove it through completely to his breast. This weapon is of iron, very long, and quite similar to a heron’s beak: except that it differs from the shape of a beak in that nature bestowed a straight one upon that bird, whereas this one extends with a slight curve, and presents a clearly sharpened point. Such was the end of life that the Emperor Nicephorus encountered ^C, when he had attained an age of fifty-seven years ^D, and had ruled the empire for only six years and four months: he was a man superior to all the people of his age in both virtue and physical strength.

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS.

(98) *oiktrlatheis* [pitied] cod.

(98) From Homer, *Iliad* I. 644. II. 59. (99) It is known that an *ardeas* [heron] is a bird. Aristotle, *Historia animalium* I. 903. B. By the same name is denoted a fabulous bird, of which pseudo-Jerome reports marvelous things in *Breviarium in Psalterium* 394. B, on Psalm 101, [stating] that it is larger than all birds, and that it overcomes and eats the eagle. The *erodios* [heron], of which St. Jerome speaks in his *Commentary on Zechariah* III. 1732. E, is different from this. Du Cange transcribed the whole passage of Leo (albeit somewhat less accurately) in his *Glossarium, Addenda* 11.

...things are missing from Cedrenus, and to his words ^C... are to be added, concerning the burial and appearance of Nicephorus Phocas, which Scylitzes transcribed almost word for word from Leo 55. D. 29. D. 30. A. Next follow these words: "In Nicephorus Phocas"... ^D [Codex Coisl. fol. verso.] ... things are composed in this way. John Tzimiskes, [having seized] the affairs of the Romans...

living for fifty-seven years, and having steered the rudder of the empire for only four months and four days. He was a man ^A who, in manliness and bodily strength, surpassed his entire generation without challenge; he was most experienced and effective in warfare, and indefatigable against every kind of toil. He was unyielding and uncorrupted by the pleasures of the body, high-minded and generous in civil administration, a most just judge, a firm legislator, and not to be ranked below any of those who have been involved in such matters. Furthermore, he was strict and adamant in his prayers and all-night vigils before God, keeping his mind undisturbed during the chanting of hymns, and not letting it wander at all to vain things. [P. 35] Yet the common crowd imputed this fault to the man: that he wished for virtue to be maintained scrupulously by all, and would not suffer the precision of justice to be corrupted. Therefore, he was inexorable in their punishment, and he seemed harsh and heavy to those who stumbled, and burdensome to those who wished to live a more unbridled life. I, for my part, say that if the envious fate, begrudging the success of these events, had not swiftly snatched this man from life, the Roman state would have attained the greatest splendor, such as it has never attained at any other time. But Providence, which abhors the hard and arrogant spirits of men, breaks and crushes them and reduces them to nothing by judgments which it alone understands, steering the vessel of our life toward our advantage.

Chapter IX

^C 9. John, having perpetrated such an impious and God-hated crime, entered the magnificent hall of the imperial residence (which they call the Chrysotriclinium), fitted the red buskins to his feet, and sat upon the imperial throne. He turned his attention to public affairs, [considering] how he might become master of them and prevent a sedition by those who were related to the emperor by blood. Meanwhile, the protectors of Nicephorus, having learned of his end quite late, rushed to bring him aid, for they suspected that he was still among the living, and they attempted with all their might to pry open the iron gates. But John ordered the head of Nicephorus to be brought and to be shown through a hole to those guards of his. A certain man, coming forward—Atypotheodorus by name—cut it off and showed it to those who were rioting. They, having gazed upon the strange and incredible spectacle, dropped the swords from their hands, and, having changed their tune, unanimously proclaimed John emperor of the Romans. ^D The corpse of Nicephorus lay out in the open, in the snow, for that whole day, which was the eleventh of December, a Saturday; until, late in the evening, John ordered that funeral rites be performed for him. Thus, in a wooden coffin hastily made, just as one of

composed of many things, was carried away secretly at midnight into the holy ^A church of the Apostles, and was placed in that tomb where the body of the divine and highly celebrated Constantine rests, deposited in one of the imperial sarcophagi. But justice did not sleep after the wicked murder committed by these devoted miscreants; rather, retribution followed them all thereafter, so that whoever lent a hand to his slaughter, all of them had their goods confiscated and were reduced to extreme poverty, meeting their own ruinous ends. But the deeds of the Emperor Nicephorus, and his life and fate, have been shown sufficiently, I think. For it would be a fault of overly curious men, in my opinion, to linger and stretch out the discourse beyond measure in this place, men who, crossing the limit of writing, would wish not even the smallest detail to remain unexplored. It seems time to me, therefore, having narrowed the narrative about him and his actions, to speak to the best of my ability about the deeds of John, who was known by the surname Tzimisces (this term in the Armenian dialect means, when translated into Greek, *muzacitzes*—for he acquired this surname because he was of very short stature), so that events worth knowing and worthy of memory might not be submerged in the abysses of oblivion.

^B C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS.

(3) H. e. *pusillum*: see Ducange, *Glossar.* II. 1570. But the most learned M. Cirbied, the pride and ornament of the chair of modern Oriental languages at the Royal School in Paris, completely rejects this etymology of the name Tzimisces. There is, indeed, in Greater Armenia a city called *Tschemischgaizag* (see also *Détails sur la première expédition des Chrétiens dans la Palestine*, translated from Armenian into French by F. Martin. *Magasin Encyclopédique*, September 1811, p. 38): this name signifies a shining or purple shoe, with which women in the Orient are shod. Hence Tzimisces originates, and his name in Armenian... should be translated as "shining little shoe." Let me cite the very words of my most friendly colleague: "*Tschemischgaïzag*, which means a shining sandal of a red color worn by Oriental women on their feet, is the name of a city in Great Armenia which was also anciently called Hierapolis: it was the birthplace of John Zimisces. This latter name, which they write in Armenian *Tschemeschghigh*, is only the diminutive of the former, and it means a little shining sandal. Such is the signification of the word Zimisces." How these can be reconciled with the opinion of Leo, let those learned in Oriental letters see.

BOOK SIX

ARGUMENT. John Tzimisces is proclaimed emperor by Basil Nothus (chap. 1). Leo the Curopalates, brother of Nicephorus, is banished to Methymna (2). The form and stature, virtues and vices of John Tzimisces: Polyeuctus bars him from the entrance to St. Sophia; but soon crowns him after the emperor is dead (4). John distributes to the poor the goods he had possessed as a private citizen (5). Theodore of Colonia is constituted Patriarch of Antioch. Death of Polyeuctus (6). Creation of Basil as Patriarch (7). Embassy to Sviatoslav, prince of the Russians (8). Origins of the Bulgarians (9). Sviatoslav's response and threats (10). Expedition of Bardas Sclerus and Peter the Patrician against the Russians (11). John Alacas is sent to scout. Bardas and Peter fight with the Russians (12). The singular valor of Bardas Sclerus. Flight of the Russians (13).

^C 93 1. Nicephorus Augustus thus, as I have ^D [P. 57] explained, having been removed from the midst, John, who is called Tzimisces, takes up the reins of the empire.

^A Now when the fourth watch of the night was beginning, as the seventh day was dawning, on the eleventh of the month of December, in the thirteenth indiction of the year six thousand four hundred and seventy-eight, a troop of chosen men, marching through the streets of the city, proclaimed John as Emperor of the Romans, together with the children of the already reigning Romanus; following them at an interval was Basil the Bastard, the son of the former Emperor Romanus by a Scythian woman, adorned with the rank of President. Nicephorus was the first of all the emperors to create this honor as a reward for the man; although he happened to be a eunuch, he was otherwise an industrious and ingenious man, fittingly adapting himself to affairs in varying circumstances. He had conspired with John, and, being attached to him in the closest intimacy, he had at first feigned illness, but afterwards he was truly sick and bedridden. Therefore, having learned of the murder of Nicephorus during the night, he followed the aforementioned troop with a band of courageous youths, and proclaimed John as the august Emperor of the Romans. ^B Having done this, he returned to the palace and administered the supreme affairs with John, from whom he received the Prefecture of the Chamber. They, having held a consultation concerning matters of their own interest, immediately sent out mandates and edicts throughout the entire city, that no one should be permitted to stir up riots or commit plunder: and if anyone should dare to do anything of this kind, the penalty was to be that his head be cut off. This proclamation struck no small terror into the Constantinopolitans, and no one dared to turn his mind toward new conspiracies against the mandate. For, in changes of this kind, the idle and destitute men of the populace were accustomed to turn to the plundering of goods and the destruction of houses, and sometimes even to the slaughter of fellow citizens, as had happened in the proclamation of Emperor Nicephorus. ^C But the edict of John, by anticipating it, repressed this blind onset of the marketplace rabble.

2. In the midst of these events, Leo the Curopalates, the brother of Nicephorus, while sleeping at home, although he should have, as soon as he heard of the slaughter of his brother, scattered the vast gold treasures which he possessed along the streets and induced the urban populace, excited by this, to take vengeance upon the tyrants (for if he had adopted such a plan, he might perhaps have dislodged John from power without the shedding of blood, ^D because those who were then holding the greater magistracies had received them from Nicephorus, and because a by no means contemptible army, which was stationed under him, was present in Byzantium, all of whom, provided that he had wanted to take counsel and to set about new designs with a keen spirit, would have been ready for him), prevented the urgency of the mob and suppressed the proclamation of John.

But he, ^A disordered in mind by the magnitude of the disaster and having conceived of nothing of the sort in his heart, fled with the most rapid pace he could manage to the noble church of Divine Wisdom, committing himself to fortune and the turn of events. Meanwhile John, even before the sun had clearly spread its rays upon the earth, raised his own men to the highest dignities of the empire; he removed from public life the praetor, the drungary of the naval service, the prefect of the watch, and him whom they call the night prefect—the Nicephorians—and banished them, along with all those who were related to them, to their country estates to live there. He sent forth Leo the Curopalates, brother of Nicephorus, and Nicephorus the Patrician, son of the same Leo, having given them security for their personal physical safety, to Methymna, a town in the island of Lesbos; ^B he summoned the prefects of all the provinces and substituted his own men in their place. At the same time he also sent Bardas, the other son of Leo the Curopalates, who was numbered among the patricians and invested with the dignity of a duke, and who was then stationed at the border of Chaldea, into exile at Amaseia, having stripped him of his rank. When, therefore, he had provided sufficiently for himself and his own interests, and had removed from the city whatever seemed suspicious, he remained in the palace. He was then in his forty-fifth year of age when he took over the administration of affairs.

3. Of his appearance.

^A and in his archery, he surpassed everyone of that age. It is said that when he stood four cavalry horses in a line, leaping from one side, he would settle upon the last one ^B like some winged creature. He would shoot an arrow and aim at the target with such precision that it would pass through the hole of a ring; he surpassed by this much even the islander celebrated by Homer, who shot an arrow through axes. Placing a ball made of leather into the bottom of a glass cup and spurring his horse, he would ride past at a gallop; he would strike the ball with a stick and impel it so that, leaping from the bottom, it would be carried through the air, while he left the cup unmoved, not to mention unharmed, remaining in its place. He was magnificent in his gifts and more generous than all others; for no one who had asked anything from him went away disappointed in their hope. He performed acts of kindness for all with such benevolence and cheerfulness, ^C like a prophet dispensing the oil of charity; and had not Basil, the chamberlain, restrained his insatiable impulse to benefit his fellow citizens, he would quickly have exhausted the imperial treasuries themselves in the distribution of aid to the needy. One flaw, however, clung to John, in that he at times caroused with drinks and wine and feasting more than was fitting, and was avidly eager for the pleasures of the body.

4. Chapter IV

^A of the synod must be sent back, concerning what Nicephorus had changed against the law. For Nicephorus, whether desiring to correct certain sacred matters that he thought had been altered by some priests, or wishing to subject even divine things to himself—which was forbidden—had forced the bishops to draft a decree that nothing in church affairs should be done except by his own will. ^B Polyeuctus commanded the Emperor to do this: otherwise it was not permitted for him to enter into the sacred house. He, having accepted this condition, then removed the Augusta from the palace, and relegated her to the island which they call Prote [(20)]. Then he sent back the decree of Nicephorus to the synod, and pointed out Leo the Balans, asserting that he, and no other person, had been the striker and slayer of Nicephorus. In this manner John was admitted into the church, and having been crowned by Polyeuctus [(22)], he returned to the imperial palace, accepted by all the military and urban multitude with joyous acclamations. ^C

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS

[(18)] The sense of the word *prosapotein* here is diverted from that [meaning] when it signifies "to give in addition," or "to pay in addition." Philo, *De victimis* 633. C. Aeneas of Gaza, *Theophrastus* 374 B. Leo subjoins to it a synonym, as stated a little later, 99. line 7. That Nicephorus was severe in more than one way to the churches, the unpublished Life of St. Nicephorus, Bishop of Miletus, teaches us, written by a man both learned and almost contemporaneous with those times (for some person is mentioned by him, fol. 222 verso); it is narrated therein that when the imperial procurators were diverting the revenues from the sacred oil, which are very great in the Greek church, for the benefit of the treasury, St. Nicephorus did not fear to approach the emperor himself, and to demand from him the restitution of that right until he obtained it. [i.e., to Nicephorus Phocas, whose death is narrated subsequently]. And a little later: The author adds that what Phocas had restored, those same procurators again took away from the bishop after his slaughter. St. Nicephorus is said to have gone again to the court to complain about these things; at the same time, a wicked man named Sachacius went with him, with the intent of opposing the Saint before the emperor. Thus, when they had turned aside together and each was preparing a drink for himself, Sachacius is said to have served the Saint a poisoned hot drink from his own saucer: yet the Saint was delivered from both the poison and the danger by violent vomiting. I have added the actual Greek words; concerning this word, see above note, page 10. We learn from the same author that John Tzimiskes also won over St. Nicephorus to himself by the dignity of his character and speech, although he denies that it is his purpose to record separately what he did at court. The rest from this point—how St. Nicephorus, having renounced the world, withdrew to Mount Latrus and, having founded monasteries upon it, ended his life in the most praiseworthy manner—I omit as foreign to the secular history of these times. [(19)] *[Note omitted]* [(20)] Le Beau XVI. 162. C. mentions Proconnesus, but Cedrenus II. 664. D. and Zonaras II. 209 agree. [(21)] Glycas 308. C. says "if he himself were not to be the perpetrator," which should be corrected from our codices. In the manuscript *Chronicon* of Scylitzes, the conspirators are called the Patrician Michael Bourtzes, and Leo the taxiarch Balas, and the most trustworthy of those with Tzimiskes, Atypotheodorus. The same names appear almost word for word in Cedrenus II. 662. B., whose narrative agrees in many parts with Leo. [(22)] Cedrenus teaches that Tzimiskes was crowned at the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, in the year 969. 665.

^A Henceforth, seizing a little leisure and respite, he divided in two the property he had possessed of old. ¶ Great indeed were the assets left to him by his ancestors (for John was descended from a most illustrious lineage, being of noble birth on his father's side from the regions of the East, and on his mother's side a nephew of the Emperor Nicephorus), and property augmented by imperial gifts, which he had zealously acquired due to his triumphs in wars. One portion he permitted the neighboring farmers and those nearby to divide among themselves; the other he set aside for the hospital of the lepers situated at the opposite end of Byzantium, adding new structures to the ancient buildings of those ^B suffering from the sacred disease. And having multiplied their number, and amounting to one hundred...

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS

(23) That Leo says he did this with humanity and mercy, and that the goods were distributed to the poor, and that these acts were done by agreement with the Patriarch Polyeuctus, Cedrenus is the author, II. 665. A.

(24) Perhaps it was written thus by Leo himself, though erroneously: for a twofold usage did not present itself to us even in later writers for this word. On the contrary, St. Germanus of Constantinople has [*ἀφορίζειν*] in *De rerum ecclesiasticarum contemplat. 13*. B. Palladius, *Lausiaca 94*. St. Clement of Alexandria, *Stromata 559*. D. Theophrastus (who is much delighted by the word [*ἀφορίζειν*] and employs it nine times), *Historia plantarum I*. A. *De causis plantarum 352*. A. St. Gregory of Nyssa, *De oratione Dominica I. 752*. A. Theophrastus, *Hist. plant. 23*. D (there, by an error of the workers) and 843. D. I omit the passages of others, which are many. Add that in the Greek Church [*ἀφορίζεσθαι*] means to be separated from the communion of the sacred mysteries, which today we call the minor excommunication. For the greater is usually designated by the term [*anathema*]. *Acta concil. quinisexti III. 1695*. E. And for [*δεὶ τοῦτο πράττειν ἐπιχειροίη, ἀφοριζέσθω*], Gentianus Hervetus: "If anyone should attempt to do this, let him be deposed." Correct this to: "let him be excommunicated," or periphrastically, "let him be separated from the participation of the Eucharist by minor excommunication." For deposition is fitting only for clerics; the matter in question can happen to laymen as well. Manuel Malaxus, *Historia Ecclesiastica 129*. Martinus Crusius [sic] translated it, "he cursed them." But it should rather be written, "he excommunicated [and] separated from ecclesiastical communion." Nor has there been less error in translating the noun [*ἀφορισμός*], which as is clear from the above, denotes in laymen deprivation of Eucharistic communion, and in clerics, suspension from ecclesiastical office. Thus the Liturgy of St. Mark the Alexandrian 135. B. translates [*Joannes a S. Andrea ἀπὸ ἀναθέματος καὶ ἀφορισμοῦ*] as "from anathema and excommunication," although here it should have been rendered "from suspension," for the discourse is about a priest. Conversely, in St. Clement the Martyr, *Constitut. Apostol. 27*, Gentianus Hervetus simply says "let him be mulcted," which at least needed to be expanded to "mulcted by separation from the sacred mysteries." As to what [*ἀφορισμός*] means among the rhetoricians, Ernesti has explained it excellently in *Lexicon techn. rhet. 52*. B. Even if this Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his *Judgment on Isaeus V. 597* is rendered less aptly, I think, it should be rendered "sweetly and distinctly." For this is indeed called [*ἀφοριστικῶς*] by the Greek rhetoricians, but it must be translated as "in members," in concise and brief members, unconnected, as Grotius says on *Ecclesiastes II. 9*, or, to use a Ciceronian word, "incise," in brief incises, and almost what Basil, a most worthy scholiast on St. Gregory Nazianzen, is accustomed to call [*ἀσυνδέτους καὶ αὐτοτελεῖς περιόδους*]. Hence is to be explained the *Etymologicum magnum 296. 50*, where it is said to be an adverb [*ἀφοριστικόν*], which clearly signifies the absolute sense by itself.

(25) Combesis translated it, "those who were suffering from the sacred disease," so that it may be understood as the comitial disease (epilepsy). And, by Hercules, I have not dared to change those [words], even though Valesius has already demonstrated in *Euseb. Histor. Eccl. IV, 19*, that it ought often to be understood as leprosy or elephantiasis. And to the authors praised there, one could add St. John Chrysostom, *Oratio de poenitentia VI. 912. 37*. The anonymous *Vita Chrysostomi VIII. 336. 29*, from which I shall transcribe a few more things, which can serve as a scholion to the word: The author says that this disease spreads most easily, and therefore those affected by it were driven out of the cities and were scattered along the roads, and to these St. Chrysostom granted a suitable place with water flowing past—which all seems in no way to apply to men suffering from a greater disease. In St. John Climacus also, *Scala Parad. 126*, the words [*τῇ ἱερᾷ περιπεσεῖν νόσῳ*], on account of what follows, I would much rather interpret as leprosy than with Matthaeus Rader as the comitial disease. Compare further Leo 110. B.

(a) That part of the scholia of Basil which illustrates the double oration of Gregory against Julian and the Encomium of Heron the philosopher, together with the dedicatory epistle of Basil himself to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, was edited by Boissonade in *Notices et Extraits*, etc., Vol. XI, Paris, royal press, 1827. Later, in the year 1836, a commentary on Gregory's funeral oration for his brother Caesarius from the same Royal codex was produced by the care of Lud. de Sinner. Our thirty-sixth volume embraces all of these. Edit. Patr.

approaching, he distributed gold, and did not refuse to cherish their ulcerous limbs, broken by disease, insofar as he was able; and this he did although he was a man of the most delicate and refined habits. So great, indeed, was the compassion by which he was led, and so much did he sympathize with suffering nature, that whenever he encountered them, he set at naught the majesty of the empire and the pride of the purple. He also granted an immunity from taxes to the Armenian theme; for he was descended from there. And when the time for the distribution of the ^A *roga* arrived—which the senate and the noble leaders of the republic are accustomed to receive from the hand of the emperor—he voluntarily increased the *roga* for all who were worthy of that largesse, moved by a mind studious of glory and virtue.

6. Great Antioch on the Orontes captured by Emperor Nicephorus

^B When great Antioch on the Orontes had been captured by the Emperor Nicephorus and was widowed of its high priest (for the Saracen who had previously held sway over it had murdered the patriarch Christopher, an apostolic and divine man, by driving a spear through his chest, attributing to him as a crime his piety toward the Savior Christ), the Emperor John, desiring to provide for its marriage, applied himself with great zeal to finding someone worthy of this most exalted priesthood. When he had thought about this for a long ^C time, there came to his mind Theodorus of Colonia, a man who, from his earliest youth, having chosen a solitary and quiet life, had subdued the appetites of the soul with many ascetic labors. For, clothed in a Cilician tunic, he was not accustomed to put off the iron—which he wore to torment his body—over which it was thrown, until it had completely disintegrated and been reduced to nothing. The same man is said to have predicted the empire to Nicephorus first, and then to John. John brought this man, who was then in Constantinople, to Polyeuctus. He, together with the bishops present in the city, examined the man’s knowledge and, finding him not very practiced in secular letters, but most studiously trained in divine and our own, consecrated him patriarch of Antioch. Furthermore, Polyeuctus, having survived for but a few days after Theodorus’s ordination, departed from human affairs, having left behind as a monument to the Church the images of his virtues, and the knowledge of divine and human wisdom and learning in which he had been supremely cultivated.

When Polyeuctus had directed the reins of the patriarchate for thirteen years and had departed to the blessed rest, a desire arose in the Emperor John to place on the episcopal throne a man preeminent among many in virtues and character. Having summoned the hierarchies and the senate, he spoke thus: ^B 7. "I know of one power, the highest and first, which brought forth from nothing into being the system of the visible and invisible world. But in this life and in this earthly wandering, I recognize two authorities: the priesthood and the empire, to which the Creator and Builder of the world has entrusted, the one the care of souls, and the other the governance of bodies, so that neither part should lack its guides, but be preserved whole and uncorrupted. Now, since he who ruled the Church has paid the debt of fate, it pertains first to that eye to which nothing is hidden, and to which even before they are conceived the intentions of men are known, that a man preeminent in all things should be brought forward for the administration of divine matters. But as for me, I promote to the ecclesiastical throne this man, of whom I have had long and undeniable proof, so that he, a man preeminent in every kind of excellence, may not remain hidden in a corner, passing his life in obscurity." On the following day, therefore, having been summoned to the imperial palace ^C, he spoke such things.

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONES

^C [The note discusses the meanings of terms related to "procheiron" and "procheiresis" in various classical and ecclesiastical sources, including Philo, Origen, St. John Chrysostom, and others, arguing against misinterpretations by earlier scholars such as Combefis and Renaudotius.] ^D [The note continues with a lexicographical analysis of "procheirizesthai," noting its use in ecclesiastical writers as a formal proposal for ordination, as opposed to its secular usage meaning generally "to choose."]

"] ^A a man adorned with every kind of excellence, to whom God also granted the gift of foreknowledge. For He revealed to me many future events through divine inspiration, which came to pass in their own times." The Emperor spoke, and brought into the midst the hermit Basil, who, having chosen the solitary life from his tender years, had displayed the frequent contests of ascetic labors on the peaks of Olympus. He commanded him to move to the patriarchal residence. On the following day (which was that Sunday on which the divine Fathers confirmed the orthodox faith ^B concerning the veneration of the holy icons), Basil received the anointing of the high priesthood and was proclaimed ecumenical patriarch.

8. But the Emperor John’s mind ^B was wavering amidst many cares, as to which he should first address, being placed at a crossroads, lest he miss the right counsel. For the shortage of grain and other famine had already been consuming the Roman empire for three years; the movement of the Russians was imminent, showing no cheerful prospects; and there was the incursion of the Carthaginians and Arabs against Antioch in Syria, which had recently joined the Roman dominion. But he dispelled the insuperable evil of the famine by grain being diligently and swiftly transported from all the marketplaces everywhere. Having inhibited the force of such a great evil, he checked the assault of the Saracens with a battle line of Eastern troops, with Nicholas the Patrician acting as general: for he, being a domestic eunuch of the Emperor, possessed skill in military affairs from much training. He decided to treat about peace with Sphendoslabos, the prince of the Russian army. Thus, having sent legates to him, he declared that ^C if he accepted the reward for the invasion of Moesia from Nicephorus...

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS.

(31) The feast of Orthodoxy, for the proper observance of which Constantine Porphyrogenitus is much cited. *Cerem. aul. Byzant.*, I, 92. C. It coincided in the year 970 with February 11. It was celebrated because of the cult of images restored by the Second Council of Nicaea. Lequien, *Orient. Christ.* I, around January 16 of the same year, 970.

(32) See 969. Indict. XII: for as Cedrenus II, 660. D, *the 12th day, the 12th indiction*, write rather *the 12th*, as Xylander correctly translates. In the same Cedrenus II, 644. D, concerning the pestilence which first arose under the younger Romanus, read *until these times did not cease, it ceased*, with all the manuscripts of the Royal Library, the matter itself demanding it. Scylitza derived his account in his manuscript *Chronicon*... [index: entries preserved]

^A getting underway with the Russian armor, he decided that a proclamation should be made. And indeed he sent ambassadors to him, instructing him that, having received the reward promised by the Emperor Nicephorus for the incursion into the territory of the Mysians, he should depart for his own lands and the Cimmerian Bosphorus, leaving behind Mysia, which belonged to the Romans and was from of old a portion of Macedonia. For it is said that the Mysians are colonists of the Hyperborean Cotragoi, the Chazars, ^B and the Comans, having migrated from their ancestral lands; and that wandering through Europe, they seized and inhabited this region while Constantine, surnamed Pogonatus, was then ruling over the Romans; and that they called the country Bulgaria, after Bulgarus (who was the leader of their tribe).

9. There is also another account circulating about these matters, in this wise: that Justinian, the Emperor of the Romans, having had his nose cut off by Leontius and having been confined to Cherson, after he had found a way to escape from there by various schemes and had reached the Maeotic [Sea], he won over the nation of the Mysians to his side, ^C [promising] that they would restore his empire to him, and would receive great rewards. And that the Bulgars followed him, and once he had returned to the empire, they received the region which the Ister encompasses as far as the Macedonians; and that they made their migration thither, and caused many evils of war and enslavement to the Romans, being always eager for war and raiding the Thracian districts. That the Romans went out against them; but that the Bulgars, not being able to withstand their might, hid themselves ^D in the mountain passes of the forest-covered regions, and defeated our men through the difficulties of the terrain. And since from that time many wars have been fought there, and valiant commanders have perished, so that even that more ancient Augustus, Nicephorus, fell in battle against the Bulgars, from [the very soil of] his own…

^A ancient empire, having been defeated—by the Mysians alone, according to Constantine. ^{C B} HASI’S ANNOTATIONS.

Concerning the items that were ^A relative to him ^B.

[A and again ]the memory of those who were conquered by John Augustus—who stormed the cities of the Mysians by force—proclaims the Bulgarians; and it is reported that no other of the Romans has arisen who defeated them in their own region. But enough about these matters.

10 Sphendoslabus, elated by his victories over the Mysians and puffed up with a barbarian insolence (for he already firmly held the region), and having rendered the timid Bulgarians terrified and astonished by his innate cruelty (for, having taken the city of Philippopolis by war, he is said to have cruelly impaled, after the barbarian manner, twenty thousand of the men captured in the city, and by this means to have terrified and rendered submissive all who had until that day resisted him), gave ^B arrogant and audacious responses to the legates of the Romans. He said that he would never abstain from the fertile region, unless there were a payment of a great sum of money, and the ransoming of the cities and of all the captives they had taken in the war. If the Romans were unwilling to pay this money, they should immediately depart from Europe, to which they had no right, and cross into Asia; for only in that way did he believe the Russians would make peace with the Romans. John Augustus, when he had received this response from the Scythian, sent word back through the returned legates: ^C “The peace that has been handed down to us from the time of our fathers, and which God has preserved unbroken through His mediation, we do not think should be dissolved by us; for we believe that Providence administers all things, and we profess the statutes of the Christians. Therefore, we advise you as friends, and we exhort you, to depart immediately from a province that in no way pertains to you, without any delay or refusal, being firmly persuaded that if you show yourselves less than compliant to this salutary counsel, you are not disturbing the peace concluded in ancient times, but you yourselves are the ones violating it. And do not think that this response is ^D given by us over-arrogantly. For we trust in Christ the immortal God that, unless you depart from the region of your own accord, you will be cast out from thence by us, even against your will. Nor do I think you have forgotten the defeat of your father Ingor, who, when he considered the sworn pacts as naught, with a great apparatus and a great force of ships...

sailed against the queen of cities, but with difficulty returned to the Cimmerian Bosporus with only ten boats, having become the herald of his own people's calamities. I pass over his subsequent most pitiable death, when he made war upon the Germans and was captured by them, and bound to the trunks of trees was torn into two parts. Nor do I think that you yourself, if you compel the Roman army to set out against you, will return home, but that you will be destroyed in that very region together with all your forces, to such a degree that not even one fire-bearing ship will escape to Scythia to report your dire misfortunes." ^B Sviatoslav, angered by such a reply and carried away by barbaric fury and madness, responded thus: "I see no necessity at all compelling the emperor of the Romans to come to us; therefore, let him not weary himself by setting out for this land. For we ourselves shall soon pitch our tents before the gates of Byzantium, we shall surround the city with a fortified rampart, and we shall stoutly receive him as he sallys forth, if he persists in struggling against such great tribulation. And by deeds themselves we shall teach him that we are not from the dregs of base mechanics and those who live by their hands, but men of blood, conquering enemies with weapons; if indeed he, through imprudence, considers the Russian strength to be like that of women lurking in the shadows, and attempts to frighten us with threats of this kind, as if we were nursing infants to be terrified by some masks or other."

^C When the emperor had received this insane response with his own ears, he understood that there must be no delay, but that with the greatest zeal all things must be prepared for war, so that he might forestall his invasion and close to him the approach to the queen of cities. Immediately a troop of noble youths is chosen: these he names "the Immortals," and commands them to be present at his side. Then he summons Bardas, the Magister militum, who bears the cognomen Sclerus, the brother of Maria, who died before having been wed to the emperor, a vigorous man of singular virtue; him and Peter the Patrician, already appointed ^D prefect of the camp by the Augustus Nicephorus on account of his virtue and the most beautiful deeds performed in wars (for when the Scythians were raiding Thrace with a legion, Peter—although he was a eunuch—had stood against them; the Scythian leader, a man of immense body, well-armored, brandishing a beam-like spear, rode into the middle between the two lines and is said to have challenged to combat anyone who wished to engage with him: Peter, having summoned up strength and a greatness of spirit that surpassed everyone's expectation, having keenly applied spurs to his horse and firmly brandished his lance, is said to have driven it with both hands into the Scythian's chest; and the blow was so powerful that, having pierced...

through, the point flew from the front to the back, not even being checked by the chainmail corselet, and that monstrous enemy, without uttering a sound, was stretched upon the ground. As the Scythians were terrified by this new and marvelous spectacle, they looked to flight). These commanders the Emperor ordered to descend with their detachments into the neighboring and bordering regions of Moesia, and there to establish winter quarters; they were to exercise their forces diligently and patrol the region, so that it might suffer no calamity from the incursions of the Russians. He also ordered them to send out through the stations and enemy territories men skilled in both languages, dressed in the Scythian fashion, so that they might learn their plans, and that these might be revealed to the Emperor. Having received such orders from the Emperor, the envoys enter Europe.

12.

^A armies, the close-quarters fighting was engaged and became quite fierce, as some of the Russians—so rumor has it—relying on their strength and size of body, would ride out from their ranks at a gallop, and charging at Bardas, strike his helmet with a sword. But the blow would prove futile, the blade grazing the helmet and, due to its hardness, sliding off to the side. However, Constantine, one of the patricians, brother to Bardas, a youth of great stature and strength who was just beginning to darken his cheeks with the first down of manhood, and who overcame all things by force and impetus, charged the Scythian with drawn blade. The latter, fearing his blow, leaned his body back toward the horse’s rump and avoided the stroke. Then, the horse received the blow in its neck, which was completely severed; the Scythian, falling to the ground together with his horse, was finished off by Constantine.

^B 13. Now as the battle swayed this way and that, and fortune shifted frequently and turned to and fro on both sides, Bardas ordered the trumpet to be sounded and the drums to be struck with frequent beats. The army that had been lying in ambush rose up according to the signal and attacked the rear of the Scythians; they, struck with fear, broke into a disorderly retreat. Before the flight was yet fully manifest, a certain noble Russian, excelling all the others in magnitude of body and the brilliance of his armor, was circling between the threatening standards, encouraging his men to valor. Bardas Sclerus rode up to him and struck him upon the head, driving his sword down as far as the loin; neither the helmet repelled him, nor did the breastplate hinder the strength of his arms or the sharpness of his blade. When he was split in two and cast to the ground, the Romans shouted for joy and took heart, while the Russians, terrified by this new and monstrous blow, raised a wail, broke their ranks, and betook themselves to flight. The Romans pursued them until the late twilight and slaughtered them without mercy. It is said that in this battle fifty-five soldiers of the Romans died, and very many were wounded, with most of their horses run through, while of the Scythians more than twenty thousand perished. Such was the end of the battle waged at that time between the Romans and the Russians. The Emperor John was already urging the Asiatic contingents to be transported into Europe across the Hellespont; they were to winter throughout the regions of Thrace and Macedonia, and practice themselves in arms daily, so that, being not less capable for the impending struggle, they would not be routed by the enemy in battle, but would await the time of spring. For when, after the gloom of the wintry sky, spring emerged and changed the face of the world into constant serenity, the Emperor himself would be there, together with all those who followed his retinue, and would turn the whole weight of the war against the Scythians. ^D

of the wicked ^A, awaiting the season of spring; for when it was already emerging from the winter gloom, and transforming the cosmic state into a settled serenity, he, with the emperor himself arriving, and leading the forces with him, would join battle with the Tauroscythians with his entire host.

BOOK SEVENTH

ARGUMENT. — The revolt of Bardas, son of Leo Phocas (Chap. 1). John sends letters to him after punishing his kin (2). Bardas Sclerus is sent against the rebels (3). His letter to the Dux Bardas, who replies arrogantly (4). Dux Bardas, abandoned by his own men, flees to a fortress (6). War between the Romans and the Bulgarians during the reign of Empress Zoe. The unexpected victory of Simeon, prince of the Bulgarians (7). The surrender of Bardas Phocas (8). The Russians ravage Macedonia. John Tzimiskes marries Theodora, daughter of Emperor Constantine (9).

^B [p. 69] 1. While Emperor John was occupied against the Russians in these matters, Bardas the Dux, the son of Leo the Curopalates and nephew of the Emperor Nicephorus through his brother, having openly ^C inclined toward revolution, fled from Amasea, where he had been relegated. He had as accomplices in this business the patricians Theodore, Bardas, and Nicephorus, who were brothers to each other; they had taken the name Parsacutenoi from their ancestral home, Parsacuta, and were cousins to Dux Bardas.

The Dux therefore, slipping out of Amasea in the dead of the night, arrived by pre-arranged relay horses at Caesarea in Cappadocia. There, having tarried for a few days, he assembled a crowd of desperate men inclined toward rebellion, with those who were related to him or connected by familiarity flocking to him daily. For in those days, men were accustomed to delight excessively in turmoil, enticed by the prospect of false glory, the honors of offices, and the division of money. They strengthened this rebellion by collecting troops with all diligence, both those I have called the Parsacutenoi, and Simeon, who, having been a vine-dresser, took his surname from that very trade, being called Ampelas; he was a man born of obscure and ignoble parents, but in valor and the strength of his hands not to be put behind any of those who are praised for force and power.

When Bardas saw that a suitable band had been collected around him, such that he could now set up a camp and fight against his adversaries with arms, having removed his black boots ^D

^A he suddenly changed into red ones and was openly proclaimed Emperor of the Romans by the conspirators. He promised distributions of money and bestowed signs of rank, appointing tribunes and generals, and conferring glorious offices, such as the Emperor was accustomed to offer liberally to his faithful followers. Leo Curopalates, the father of Bardas, who was held in custody on the island of Lesbos, also supported this sedition. Through Stephanus, the bishop of Abydos, he had promised money and offices to the Macedonians, exhorting them to receive him once he had escaped from the island, and at the same time, by raising a rebellion, to lend their efforts to driving John from the empire.

2. But the Emperor, upon learning of such a revolutionary movement, was troubled, as was to be expected, but with incredible speed brought bishop Stephanus ^B from Abydos and handed him over to the courts. Once he was convicted of the crime, with the evidence brought to light, he sent him to a synod of bishops so that he might be removed from the priesthood there. However, the Emperor, having recalled his mind to leniency, did not put to death Leo Curopalates and Nicephorus, his son—who had been condemned to capital punishment by the judges—but merely blinded them both and banished them to Lesbos. Such was the outcome of the crossing into Europe that the Curopalates had then meditated, and it brought such a penalty upon him, while also depriving many of his friends of their fortunes and homes, if they had been participants in his counsel to remove the Emperor. But Bardas, having once fallen into rebellion, persisted in it most stoutly; and, elated by the multitude of men gathered around him, relying on his forces, he dreamed of the imminent possession of the empire. Thus, traversing Asia, he set fire to the homes of anyone who had not come into his allegiance and held them as Mysian plunder. The Emperor wrote to him as follows: “In knowing of the movement that recently took place in the East, we do not consider it so much a matter of your own counsel as of the madness and barbarity of your associates, who, utterly captivated by dire folly, did not hesitate to cast themselves into such danger; as if they were unaware that for those who, intent on revolutionary deeds, have raised a hostile hand against the princes of the Romans themselves, no room for excuse remains once they are defeated by arms and handed over to suffer the penalties. We, my Bardas, fear to stain the earth with civil blood. But if we wished to take action against the seditious with arms, without delay (may I say it by the grace of the Divinity!) we would reduce them to a bitter destruction: for who is so stubborn that he could withstand the force of our assault, and not immediately look to flight with a dejected spirit! Therefore, we exhort you to transfer yourselves from ^C pernicious plans to salutary ones, and, while there is still room left for remission, by casting aside your arms, you may yield to the power of our Majesty, [obtaining] impunity ^D

for so great an act of audacity, and pardon, with God as our witness, which [we] grant irrevocably. In any case, your possessions will be left to you untouched and unmolested. We advise you, therefore, to recover from such madness and to embrace the salvation offered without delay. But if, by doing shadow-battle with the tyranny, you incline ^A toward it, you will repent of your folly when, by the judgment of the laws, you are consigned to capital punishment."

3. Having received this letter, Bardas Phocas did not deign to send a reply to the Emperor; rather, after railing against him and calling him an impure and impious man, and terming him the base parricide of his own race, he ordered the tyrants to retire. ^B "For," he said, "it belongs more to him [himself] to rule the state, who can boast of a grandfather who was Caesar and an uncle who was Emperor, whereas he—the one who, not fearing the sleepless eye of justice, slaughtered in his bed, like a beast of burden, the man who was born of [our line], the dearest blood-brother, and who, having suffered the most grievous final ends for uncertain and unproven charges, deprived the sweetest light of him whom he [the emperor] should have honored—will surely be visited by justice, paying a sevenfold retribution for the kindred blood, and will be sent to total destruction for having dealt treacherously with the noble and heroic race." ^C When the Emperor John had heard these desperate words and understood that the man was suffering from an incurable malady, and perceived that he was turning with his fellow conspirators toward pillage and slaughter with the utmost cruelty and inhumanity, he decided no longer to delay or remain quiet, lest such designs...

C. B. HASI ANNOTATIONS.

(51) It seems this is the meaning intended by the version. Among all the significations of the word ῥοπή, which are many, none is more frequent among writers of the age of Leo than this, meaning aid or help. See Leo 3, B 6. D. 10, D. It denotes in these phrases what in the Western Church we are accustomed to call divine grace. Add this signification to Suicer, *Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus* II, 918, where he discusses this word at length. And it occurs so often that it is to be wondered at that Erasmus of Rotterdam, on St. John Chrysostom, *Homily IV on the Acts of the Apostles*, translated ^D it thus: "that we might win his propension toward us"—correct this to: "his aid, his grace." Nor did Andreas Schottus fare better in Isidore of Pelusium, *Epist.* cccxv, 90, where he lets "nature of petition" break the force [of the word]. Less wrongly, Egidius Morellus, 654, D, [translates it] so that the "nature of petition" might attract "help." With the same significance, St. Athanasius, *Supplement to Commentaries on the Psalms* (Collectio Nova Patr. Graec., II, 76; Montfaucon, "gifted with divine conversion"). For there it should be read ῥοπή throughout, and translated: "having obtained divine help." Suicer in *Thesaurus Eccles.* II, 911, has already explained another signification of the word ῥοπή, "a point in time." Hence, in the case of Cosmas Indicopleustes *Topographia Christiana* 263, one should understand [it accordingly]. The translator is wrong [in saying]: "to him, from a simple inclination of the will, he is united." For the meaning is that [God the Word] is united to him [man] in an indivisible point of time, which is evident from what follows, so that the assumption of our humanity is not understood to precede the union by way of an impetus or contention. *Rhepe* is used by Leo 2, B. 20, D. 24, B. 40, D. for the inclining of wars, and for a nod or will 60. C.

(52) The word συνορῶ: I hold it to have, among writers of middle Greek, and especially in the Acts of the Councils, the peculiar signification "I resolve, I decide, I decree," which I see is omitted both in the *Thesaurus* of Suicer and in the Glossary of Ducange. Nor does Reiske satisfy us regarding Constantine Porphyrogenitus, *Caerim. Byzant.* II, 126, C. I shall therefore cite a few more examples of this usage, the trouble caused by which for translators can hardly be expressed. The present [verb] is read in *Concil. Chalced.* II, 542. The vulgar version: "Per-video, I was coming to entreat clemency." Correct it to: "I decide, so that he may entreat clemency." Constantinus Porphyrogenitus, *Caerim.* I, 234 (Reisk: "when he allowed it and it was convenient for him": read "when you decide"), [f. *Concil. Chalcedon.* II, 562, vulgar interpreter: "If the holy synod perceives it." The sense is: "If the holy synod so decides." In the same *Concil. Chalced.* II, 639,

^C mus, and later six times 1348, E. 1350, D. 1352, A. E. 1353. C. E. In the Seventh Ecumenical Council 140, we perceive or we consider; and 142, D, or worse, we have inspected. Finally in the letter of Germanus the Patriarch to Thomas of Claudiopolis, ibid. 243. E. We perceive in detail regarding this; the holy elders [decided] to do him that [favor] there, to go through thoroughly those things which pertain to this matter, we decided to pursue. The third person plural in a manuscript Life of Abbot Dorotheus: "the holy elders decided to make him there a hospital," with the subjunctive. Constantine Porphyrogenitus, *Cerimon.* II. 405. C. Nor is that expressed word-for-word by Reiske. It remains to subjoin an example of the aorist participle, both active and passive. Active in Gelasius of Cyzicus, *Histor. Conc. Nic.* 265, "with the rest—in the third commentary I decided to write down." A version by Harduin, "reputing myself to report." Example of the aorist passive in the ^D Sixth Ecumenical Council, both in the singular, III. 1163, and plural, ibid. D. Vulgar version, "according to those things which were considered." Emend, "which were resolved." Nor was Leo ignorant that the verb is used by good writers in the sense: for it has *egno* 5, C. 9, B. 11, A. 23, D. 37, A. 38, D. 44, A. 63, R. 74, D. 77, B.

(53) *The clients*—it seems that Leo meant aggressors: as below 86, B. those clients we perceive as those who fight; Du Cange, who transcribed the passage in the *Glossarium* 1142, F, wishes read *pelatas*. And certainly a little before 86, A. they are spoken of. Perhaps also Leo believed *pelatēs* and *stratiōtēs* (soldier) to be synonyms, from a poorly understood gloss or from Suidas III. 72, A, or something of that kind.

(54) *Detorta phrasis* from Agathias 13, B.

honors of commanders, generals, and patricians. Having ordered these to be received, intending to make them acknowledge their mistake and renounce the tyrant’s authority, and to incline them toward submission to the Emperor. ^A The commander Sclerus, having crossed the Bosporus and reached Dorylaeum, there recalled the army, arranged it into a phalanx, and trained it with daily exercises. And seeing already that the collected force was sufficient, so that, if the opportunity arose, it was strong enough to join battle with the opponents, he signified these things to the Duke Bardas, his kinsman by marriage (for Constantine Patricius, the brother of Sclerus, had taken the sister of Phocas as his wife):

4. ^B “You have taken counsel recklessly and most dangerously, having behaved with impudent insolence against those in power. You have meditated a calamitous tyranny, taken up arms against your own countrymen, and defiled the sanctuaries of holy houses with the plunderings of uneducated conspirators. You have been deceived in vain, Patricius, by goading a sleeping lion, the invincible Emperor. For you know that he, appearing in battles, has put vast armies to flight by his reputation alone. How then, having been persuaded by the counsel of corrupt men, have you ensnared yourself in such a disaster? But, if it seems good, believe me, as a kinsman and a friend, and one who advises you for the better: reject this wicked tyranny from you, and lay hold of your salvation by asking for forgiveness ^C for your error (I myself guarantee that you will suffer nothing of the unpleasant things, neither from our lord nor from any other, but that an amnesty for your rashness will be given to the band that follows you). Do not wish to arm the imperial wrath against yourself, which is altogether inexorable to those who do not wish to be wise. Having returned to your own senses, do not abandon the final anchor, but, while loving-kindness is set before you, embrace this, which you will not find if you seek it later on, and you will lament much, blaming yourself for your lack of judgment.”

But Bardas Phocas, having gathered the power of the letter, replies in this way: “I know well that advice is a good and ^D divine thing, having myself read the volumes written by men of old; but I judge that it is strong only when matters admit of a remedy. But whenever they are in danger at the very vitals and have been driven to ultimate evils, I think advice has as much weight as nothing at all. For I, reflecting on the fortunes to which the unholy and bloodthirsty John has reduced my family, in that he cruelly slaughtered the Emperor and my uncle, his own benefactor, like a sleeping lion, and for no reason confined me, both him who begot me and my brother—

and blinded them most cruelly and inhumanely for no pretext, I deem life unlivable. Do not, therefore, weary yourself in urging me to commit my life into the hands of an avenging enemy. For you will not persuade me. Rather, being a man myself, and girt with a sword, I shall contend for those who have fallen (56) of my kin. In any case, as fortune fluctuates between two things, one of these two results will come about: either I shall attain the splendor of imperial dignity and will exact full retribution from the parricides; or I shall bear my fate bravely, having been freed from an impure and unholy tyrant." ^B 5. When Bardas Sclerus had received this letter and had despaired that the man who, out of rashness, had slipped into madness could be recalled by advice, he drew up the army in wings and divisions and marched toward the Dipotamon. When he had arrived there, he suddenly sent scouts into Phocas's camp in the guise of beggars, who were to declare to the commanders of the forces the promises of the Emperor and the amnesty for the things they had dared to do, and furthermore to announce that, if they did not break away from the rebel quickly and strike a truce with the Emperor, the commander would attack them with his own force, lying in wait for the opportune moment, and would treat them as enemies. Upon hearing these words, and pondering that it was to their advantage to prefer the honors offered by the Augustus to vain labor and uncertain fortunes, when night came, they abandoned Phocas's fellowship and defected to the commander. Among these, the leaders were the patrician Andralestus, a cousin of Phocas, and Simeon Ampelas. Bardas, recognizing their flight and how suddenly they had defected from him, took the matter gravely, as was to be expected, and implored those who remained with suppliant words, praying that they should not betray him, and likewise God, whom they had called as witness and inspector of their oath; nay, that they should rather fight for [the sake of] ^C masculine courage. ^D [index: entries preserved]

and assist him who had suffered such terrible things. For, he said, Sclerus had no power to stand against them if they did not move to the battle sluggishly and slackly. And while he was imploring them with such entreaties, they, slipping out of the camp once more, joined the general Sclerus. ^A It is said that when deep night had just begun, Phocas, feeling distressed by the flight of the conspirators, was sleepless and agitated, trying to appease God with prayers, chanting that Davidic verse: "Judge, O Lord, those who wrong me." Suddenly, it is reported, a voice carried from the air rang around his ears, ordering him to proceed no further with the psalm, as the general Bardas had already claimed those very words of the psalm against him. When this voice had been heard by him three times, he was struck with terror at the strangeness of the oracle, ^B and he rose trembling from his bed, awaiting the light of dawn.

6. Now, when the day was steadily dawning, he mounted his horse to ride through the army, and cast his eyes upon his sandals. As he did so, a strange vision appeared to him. For those [sandals] did not seem red to him, but entirely black. He asked those about him why they had committed such a mistake, in providing him not with imperial, but with private footwear. They replied that they were purple, and advised him to look at them more carefully. Then he looked at them, and realized they were red, just as they had been from the start. Phocas considered this second portent a dire omen, ^C and seeing that his army was also divided and insubordinate, he resolved to seek by any means possible to save himself. Therefore, in the middle of the night, he took three hundred of his most devoted, well-armed men, and having left the rampart secretly, he [went] towards the camp of the Tyrants, which ^D [index: entries preserved]

is called Antigous; which, fearing the inconstancy of fortune, he had long since fortified, having gathered there grain and every kind of provision. The place, however, in which the army of Bardas Phokas was dispersed, was called Bardaetta of old. Meanwhile, the Magister Bardas, having learned of the flight of Phokas, set out with chosen cavalry and immediately pursued him. Although he did not catch him, because he had arrived in the fortress safely, he did, however, take prisoner as many of the conspirators as he could, and deprived them of their sight, as had been ordered by the emperor. And the place where such a calamity befell the wretches is therefore called Typhlovivaria. In this matter, it is surprising to observe how, as if moved by some instinct, the ancients aptly and conveniently gave names to places based on the events that occurred there. For they assert that the eyes of Leo Phokas, the uncle of the great Bardas, were also cruelly gouged out, and they designate the place where he underwent that punishment as Oeleonta, or Goleonta, in rustic fashion. Thus, places of punishment have been given such names since ancient times. Nor will it perhaps seem irrelevant if I demonstrate, in passing, how Leo was blinded.

7. On the death of Emperor Leo

^A it is said that a message was brought to Leo by one of his guards, stating that Romanus, the Drungary, had weighed anchor, caught the wind in his sails, and was speeding toward Constantinople with the intention of seizing the empire. Leo, grievously affected by this bitter report, broke his ranks and, turning his back on the Moesians, hastened toward the Queen of Cities, hoping that, by outstripping the voyage of Romanus, he might seize the reins of the Roman government for himself.

Simeon, seeing this unexpected and strange flight of the Romans, at first hesitated for a moment, fearing that there might be some treachery involved and that a trap was being set for the Moesians who followed in pursuit. But when he learned that they were fleeing at full speed, he followed them and slaughtered the infinite multitude pitilessly. And to this day, heaps of bones are to be seen at Anchialus, ^B where the Roman army, then fleeing, was shamefully cut to pieces.

Leo, because he arrived too late in Constantinople and his hope was thwarted (for Romanus had already occupied the palace and been proclaimed Father of the Emperor), crossed into Asia by way of Abydus. He defected and caused much trouble for Romanus and the state, making incursions, intercepting the annual tributes, and routing those who strove against him. But now, as his predatory band had dwindled with the passage of time, and the plan had resulted in an outcome contrary to his intent, he committed himself to flight, was apprehended, and was cruelly blinded by having his eyes gouged out.

8. Concerning the rebellion of Phocas

8. While Phocas was at that time hurrying toward the fortress and bringing up the rear of his men, someone from the pursuers, bold and insolent, rode out ahead of the others, attacked him, and attempted to strike him with a raised sword, accompanied by threats. ^C He admonished him to turn back immediately, fearing his current fortune: that he ought, as a mortal, necessarily to dread the instability and faithlessness of fortune, and not add new grief to the misfortunes of a calamitous man. It was enough that such evils had surrounded him, which had driven him to such a state of distress that he who had once commanded the Roman armament was now seen as a fugitive.

^A Since he disregarded these words, he came closer, attempting to strike. But Bardas, grabbing a helmet he was carrying suspended, suddenly turned and struck the man upon the helmet; his helmet and skull shattered at the same time, he was cast to the ground without a sound. In this manner, Phocas reached the fortress unharmed. When Bardas, the commander and Magister, had surrounded it with his army, he advised Phocas to flee to the clemency of the prince and to leave the fortification as soon as possible. He, when he had been reduced to extreme distress and great scarcity of supplies, after having weighed and considered many opinions, resolved to yield to fortune and submit himself to the Rulers, provided that he could obtain impunity for himself as well as for his loved ones. Thus, having immediately requested a pledge that he would suffer no harm, and having received this from Sclerus, he descended from the fortress with his wife and children. He kept them, once received, unharmed: he reported the terms to the prince, asking what needed to be done. Emperor John replied that Bardas Phocas, having been made a cleric and tonsured, should be sent away with his wife and children to the island of Chios: he himself, having withdrawn his troops, should cross into Europe through the Hellespont, and should winter in the winter quarters that were located in those places; for in early spring he himself, the Emperor, with the scholae, would move against the Scythians: for he would no longer endure their unbridled insolence.

^B 9. For the Scythians, having learned of the departure of the commander Bardas from Europe, [the Scythians] who, because of the sedition just stirred up by Bardas Phocas, had been sent by the Emperor into Asia, as I have already mentioned, were harassing the Romans greatly, and by making sudden incursions were wickedly plundering and ravaging Macedonia: because John the Magister, by the nickname Curcuas, to whom the care of the forces in those parts had been entrusted, being excessively given to sloth and drinking, was managing affairs unskillfully and imprudently; from which the spirits of the Russians had raised themselves to arrogance and boldness. Since the Emperor could not endure their proud insolence and manifest insults, he was making haste to repel and cast them down with every force, once battle had been joined with standards engaged. ^C Therefore, he also ordered merchant triremes to be loaded, and a great supply of provisions to be brought to Adrianople by grain-carrying ships, ^D and likewise fodder for the pack animals, and as much weaponry as was enough for the soldiers, so that nothing of these things would be lacking to the Romans at the time of the fighting. While these things were being prepared, Theodora, [daughter] of the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus,

when the Romans were lacking in the time of the contests. While he was preparing these things, John took to wife Theodora, the daughter of the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus; she was not so remarkable for beauty or the elegance of her body, but she excelled all women without controversy in modesty and every kind of virtue. The month of November was then present, in the second year of his reign, when the wedding solemnities were performed. At which time a joy, such as cannot be described, took hold of the people, because the emperor ruled his subjects with a mild spirit and great facility of manners: being praised especially because he was magnificent and endowed with a royal disposition; and at the same time because he showed himself kind and just to the citizens, liberally bestowing alms upon the needy. Thus, having pleased the plebs ^A with largesses and theatrical games, he wintered at Constantinople and awaited the coming of spring, daily exercising the chosen band around him in armored evolutions in both directions, and in all those practices of warfare that have been devised by the bravest men for the needs of battle ^B.

BOOK EIGHTH

ARGUMENT. — John Tzimiskes prepares an expedition against the Russians. The fleet, set out near Constantinople, is sent ahead to the Ister (Cap. 1). John, having left the city, places his camp at Adrianople. His address to the leaders of the army (2). He confirms their spirits with an address again (3). John descends into Bulgaria. The battle at Prosthlabus (4). Prosthlabus is besieged (5). It is taken chiefly through the boldness of Theodosius. The King of the Bulgarians with his wife and children is captured (6). The next day the citadel is also taken by force (7). The Emperor offers conditions to Spheudosthlabus (8). Which being rejected, he proceeds with the army; the battle lines are drawn up on both sides (9). The first battle at Dorystolum. The Russians retire into the town (10).

^C With the winter squalor changed into vernal serenity, the Emperor, having immediately raised the standard of the Cross, hastened his march against the Tauroscythians. And having indeed risen from the palace, he went to the chapel of the Savior Christ, which we venerate in the Chalce, intending to propitiate the Deity ^D.

^A. Seeing that this oratory was narrow and scarcely able to contain fifteen men within, and that it had an ascent that was winding, difficult, and like a tortuous labyrinth or a small hut, he immediately ordered it to be rebuilt from the foundations, larger and holier; and he himself fashioned the circuit of the walls. It was raised to that appearance and size which is still seen today, as if by some divine inspiration and his own practiced skill. Thence he went to the divine and illustrious temple of the Wisdom of God; and having prayed that an angel be given him to go before the army and direct his way, he proceeded with the singing of hymns to the house of the Mother of God honored at Blachernæ. ^B There, too, having duly propitiated the divine power with prayers, he ascended to the palace that is situated there, intending to inspect the fire-bearing triremes. They stood in order in the bay of the Bosphorus, where there is a safe and tranquil port for cargo ships, extending with a gentle curve up to the bridge and the river which flows into the sea at that place. The emperor, having watched the navigation and maneuver of the triremes, performed with military practice and in good order (they were more than three hundred ships, with the addition of small cutters and skiffs, which are now commonly called galleys and moneria), distributed donatives to the rowers and the men-at-arms, and sent them to the Ister to guard the crossing of the river, so that the Scythians, if by chance they were to betake themselves to flight, might be deprived of the opportunity of returning home and sailing back into the Cimmerian Bosphorus. ^C They claim that the Ister is one of the rivers flowing from Eden, by the name of Phison: that, risen from the East, it is again, by the supreme wisdom of the divine Architect, hidden under the earth, and then afterwards erupted from the Celtic mountains, to be rolled through Europe and, split into five mouths, to flow into the Pontus, which is called Euxine. Others think that Phison is the river which intersects India, commonly called the Ganges, where the emerald stone is found. ^D

^A Joannes the emperor, setting out from the city, came with all his forces to Adrianople. They demonstrate that this town was founded by Orestes, son of Agamemnon, when he had remained in error after the slaughter of his mother Clytemnestra; and that from this circumstance it was first called Orestiades. Later, Adrian the Caesar, while campaigning against the Scythians, being captivated by the situation of the place, fortified it with sturdy ramparts and named it Adrianople. After the emperor arrived there, he was informed by scouts that the paths leading into Mysia—difficult, indeed, and very narrow, which they call *Clisurae* because they are as if closed—were being guarded by the Scythians not at all. Wherefore, having summoned the centurions and tribunes, he spoke in this manner: "I thought, fellow soldiers, that the Scythians, having long expected our arrival toward them, would have with all their might blocked the most opportune and narrow places, the paths, with some battlements and enclosures, so that it might not be easy for us to advance forward. But since the coming of the divine Pascha has caused them—so that they might not meanwhile obstruct the path of our troops—to be little persuaded that we, having left behind the processions, pomps, luxuries, and shows that accompany the great feast, would turn toward the labors and hardships of war, it seems to me best to act ^B by immediately seizing the opportunity, and, having armed ourselves with all speed, to cross the narrow way before the Tauroscythians, upon learning of our arrival, seize the mountain passes by force. For if we are first to cross these dangerous places, we shall—

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS

C In this sense, which Xylander translates as 'having given orders to the citizens,' *suntassesthai* means to say goodbye, as many others have demonstrated by examples, and as Ducange shows in Glossar. II. 1487. D. (74) See the places collected in Ducange’s Notes to the *Ann. Comn.* 300. D. (75) The sense of the verb *eskeuazomai* (and the active form *eskeuazo* ranges more widely) I have observed often among good writers, especially; I shall explain it here a little more clearly: 1.) The primary meaning is undoubtedly: I ornament or clothe, especially in a theatrical or unconventional manner, as I take or put on. Plato, *Crito* 53. D. I see this sense used by others, as by Artemidorus, *Oneirocritica* 84. C. Also by Philo, *De Temulentia* 187. E. It is not to be accepted in the sense of the wages of a harlot (668. C, *Legatio ad Caium* 678. C). 2.) Especially in Plutarch, *Comparative Sertorius and Eumenes* 369. D, namely, having been armed with the weapons and garments of the barbarians; and Otho 1069. D. Just as I would like to say about the same, in *Agis and Cleomenes* 822. C. For *eskeuazomai* is not found entirely outside this place in Plutarch, nor in the others in this meaning. Note further the construction: to make oneself similar to someone by means of a taken garment, *in jemanden verkleiden* (to disguise oneself as someone), as in Porphyry, *De physica fabulari* 117. A. From this primary meaning flowed another: I take, I put on, simply, so that what is put on does not necessarily have to be theatrical or unusual. Philo, *De somniis* 872. Plutarch, *De orac. ^D defect.* 431. C. Animus clothed with a body. St. Gregory of Nyssa, *Oration in XL Martyrs* III. 205. The third meaning is: I adorn, I contrive, especially insidiously; I do not know if anyone uses it more frequently than Josephus. As in *De bello Jud.* 712 and 771. E, and 810. In all of which places it signifies the same as *skeuoro*, which is read in *Antiquities* 574. B, *De bello Jud.* 767 and 771. F. There is a place where you might render it: I invent crimes, as in *De bello Jud.* 730. C. From this meaning, I adorn, another flowed: I prepare myself for action, I prepare. This is how it must be interpreted in Leo, both in this place, and at 99. B, and 106. B. In Longus as well, *Pastoral*—, Jungermann correctly translates: armed at early dawn: and in Methodius, *Convivium decem virginum* 204, Leo Allatius: act like men and arm yourselves for battle. Leo uses it in the active voice at 100. C, where it seems to mean to pack up, to use the Terentian word, that is: I take away among bundles, I carry off. Curiously, in Plutarch, *Sylla* 468, it signifies 'instead of being used,' 'to interpose,' 'to retract,' and Tyrannio—

we might anticipate them, before the Tauroscythians ^A become aware of our approach and rush to arms in the face of their misfortunes. For if we anticipate them in crossing these treacherous places and attack them unexpectedly, I think—and may it be spoken with God’s help—that we shall capture with a shout the city of Presthlaban, the royal seat of the Mysians; and, using it as our base of operations, we shall most easily crush the Russian madness.”

3. But when the emperor had spoken these words, to the generals and commanders it seemed a piece of untimely boldness and folly, and to be descending into mindless, reckless rashness, to be urging that the Roman forces be led over a cavernous and precipitous path into a foreign land. Wherefore, when they had remained silent for some time, the emperor, having recovered his composure and swelling with indignation, said: “That it is ^B not reasonable in time of war to behave in an arrogant and rash manner, as this is wont to provoke danger and irreparable total destruction, I am myself aware, having from my youth up been engaged in battles and having, as you know, carried off not a few trophies and victories. But when fortune, poised as if on the edge of a razor, does not permit one to act according to one's own judgment, then it is necessary to seize the opportunity boldly and conduct the affair; and I do not think that you, who have gathered much experience from the uncertain and doubtful outcome of wars, would deny this. Wherefore, if you trust me as one who counsels what is better, while ^C the Scythians are given to sloth and have not yet learned of our approach, let us seize the opportunity, and victory shall attend our passage through the defiles. For if they learn that we intend to cross and take up an opposing battle line upon the narrow passes, I fear that the matter will not have a desirable outcome, but rather that it will turn into the greatest peril and difficulty. Therefore, easily be of stout heart, and reflecting that you are Romans, who in times past have subdued all adversaries with arms, follow quickly, demonstrating your virtue by your deeds.”

4. Having spoken these words, and girt in splendid armor, mounted upon a proud and spirited horse, and carrying a very long spear on his shoulder, he set out upon the road, having ^D the company called the Immortals — beautifully armored — going before him; and there followed him of the most valiant legionaries fifteen thousand, and of cavalry thirteen thousand. The rest of the army, with the baggage and the camp servants, carrying the siege engines and machines of every kind, followed after at a slow pace.

together with the proedros Basil, to whom the emperor had entrusted the care of these things. When he had traversed the dangerous and precipitous places beyond all expectation, he halted after completing the march [P. 82] rapidly; and on a hill fortified by nature, which had on either side a river flowing past, providing an abundance of water, he refreshed the cavalry and the soldiers from their journey. At the first light of day, he rose, and having drawn up the army in deep phalanxes, he marched toward Presthlaba, commanding them to sound the war-trumpets frequently, to strike the cymbals, and to beat the drums. Then all things resounded with an ineffable din. The mountain ridges of the region echoed with the drums; the arms clashed, the horses neighed, and the men shouted to one another and encouraged themselves for the battle, as is natural. ^B The Tauroscythians, seeing the army approaching with military experience, were seized with hesitation and fear, as the event had happened beyond their expectation. Nevertheless, they quickly seized their arms, and having slung their shields over their shoulders (these, moreover, are very strong, and to protect better, they reach to the feet), they presented themselves to the Romans in dense array on the level plain before the city, roaring like wild beasts and sending forth a strange and monstrous howling. The Romans, having joined battle with them, fought vigorously, and performed marvelous feats of war, the battle having proved equal for both. There, the emperor ordered the Immortals to attack the left wing of the Scythians at full gallop. They, ^C spurring their horses on, threw themselves upon the enemy with leveled lances. Since the Scythians—as they were infantry—could not withstand the points of their spears (for they have neither the custom of fighting from horseback, nor are they trained in such things), they gave themselves to flight and shut themselves into the walls of the city; the Romans, pursuing them, cut them down without mercy. They say that in this very assault, eight thousand five hundred Scythians were slain.

5. Those who remained, when they had been shut into the city, resisted bravely by hurling missiles from above from the battlements. At that time, it is said that the Patrician Calokyres ^D

^A having become aware of the emperor's arrival (for the brilliance of the imperial insignias could not remain hidden, radiating an ineffable brightness of gold), secretly slipped away during the deep night, and with all his auxiliaries reached Drystra (which is now called Dristra). When Calokyres had escaped, the Romans came upon them at night and recalled them from the fight. Relics were gathered the next day with the siege engines (this was the day called the Great Thursday, on which the Savior, after partaking of the mystical supper, gave commands to His disciples), ^B and in the morning, the Emperor John, having left the camp, drew up the legion into a square formation: he ordered the trumpet to sound, and, having brought the forces up to the wall, attempted to take the town in one assault. The Russians themselves, and their leader as well (he was Sphenculus, the third in rank among the Scythians after Sphendosthlabus; for he commanded everyone, stationed behind the battlements), resisted with all their might, hurling javelins, arrows, and stones from a higher position. Against them, our men, using bows, siege engines, slings, and spears, pressed the Scythians by applying force, so that it would be impossible for them to look out from the battlements with impunity. ^C The emperor himself, greatly encouraging the siege as he ordered the ladders to be placed against the wall, augmented the strength of the attack, and there was no one who did not fight bravely in the presence of the prince, with rewards corresponding to their labors being reported to them immediately.

6. As the Romans were moving the ladders to the walls, an energetic youth from the region of the East, his cheeks already darkened by reddish down, Theodosius by name, surnamed Mesonyctes, ^D seizing his sword in one hand [continues from here, but the Greek text on this page ends mid-sentence at "τῇ λαι..." ("...the other [hand]") and the Latin text ends at "districto altera" ("...the other [hand] drawn")].

")]. ^A a man named Theodosius, surnamed Mesonyctes, having drawn his sword with his right hand and held his shield over his head with his left, ^B so as not to be struck from above by the Scythians' missiles, climbed the ladder. When he reached the parapet, he struck at the sinews of the Scythian leaning out to defend himself with his spear; his head, together with his helmet, was severed and sent rolling outside the walls toward the ground. The Romans, at the novelty of this spectacle, let out a shout, and many others, emulating the daring of the one who first ascended, climbed up by way of the ladders. Mesonyctes, once he had scaled the wall and gained control of the parapet, struck the Rus who were defending it in rotation, casting down a great number of them. Soon, as many men had climbed up in various places along the fortifications and were cutting down the enemy with all their might, the Scythians abandoned the parapets and were shamefully crowded into the royal courtyard, which was enclosed by a strong wall and where the wealth of the Mysians was kept, leaving only one small wicket-gate open. While this was taking place, the multitude of Romans rushing from outside the walls cut and shattered the hinges and bars of the gates, entered the city, and committed an untold slaughter of the Scythians. It is said that at that time Borim, king of the Mysians, was also captured along with his wife and two young children, he whose chin was thick with a red beard, and was brought before the emperor. The emperor received him and treated him with honor, calling him the ruler of the Bulgarians and testifying that he had come to avenge the wrongs suffered by the Mysians at the hands of the Scythians. 7. The Romans, once they had broken into the city, moved through the narrow alleyways, ^C killing those who resisted, and plundering their goods. At that time, in the royal courtyard...

ANNOTATIONS OF C. B. HASE

^A of those who were slaughtering them and plundering the riches, and they even attacked the royal palace, where the main strength of the Rus’ force had been concentrated. But the Scythians (Rus’) standing resolutely within, were slaughtering those who were slipping in through the small gate; and they had already cut down up to one hundred and fifty courageous men. When the emperor learned of this turn of events, he spurred his horse and rode up quickly, ordering the entire praetorian cohort to press against the enemy with all their might. When he realized that little could be gained from this (since not a few of those thrust into the narrow gate were being easily dealt with by the Tauroscythians and cut down by their swords, with most being slaughtered), he checked the rash onslaught of the Romans and ordered that fire be thrown from all sides onto the ramparts of the palace. A great flame blazed up, quickly consuming everything in its path, and the Rus’, having exited the buildings, [some] more than 7,000 in number, crowded together in the open space of the courtyard and prepared to defend themselves. The Emperor pitted against them Bardas Sclerus, the Magister, with an agile cohort; nor did Sclerus, once he had surrounded them with his own battle line of most valiant soldiers, fall short in this task. Thus the battle was joined, and although the Rus’ fought fiercely, so that not one of them turned his back, the Romans, having become superior in virtue and military training, pierced them all with their spears. In the same battle many Mysians fell, who had been an aid to the enemy and hostile to the Romans, because the arrival of the enemy had been the cause of their present situation. Sphencelus, having slipped away secretly with a few others to Sphendosthlabus, saved his own life by flight; it will shortly be demonstrated that he perished later. In this manner, Praesthlaba was taken in two days and came into the power of the Romans.

8. Emperor John

as commands, he himself, after tarrying for a few days in the city ^A and fortifying the parts of the walls that had fallen, and having left behind a sufficient garrison, and having named this city Ioannopolis after his own name, he set out with his entire army towards Dristra. This city Constantine, the celebrated among emperors, built from the foundations and raised to the beauty and size in which it is seen today, at that time when, having seen the sign of the cross inscribed in the sky like a star, he defeated the Scythians who were drawn up hostilely against him and rushing on with fury. The emperor also took, in passing, the place called Pliscuba ^B and Dinea, and many cities which, having shaken off the Scythian yoke, submitted themselves to the Romans. Sphendosthlabus, when he learned of the disaster at Presthlaba, was pained and vexed, regarding this as no good omen for the future; but being mastered by Scythian recklessness and puffed up by his successes against the Mysians, he thought that he would also easily defeat the Roman power.

9. Seeing that the Mysians were rebelling against his alliance and were going over to the emperor, he pondered much, and considered ^C that if the Mysians were to defect to the Romans, the outlook for him would be far from favorable.

^A He therefore committed an impious and inhuman deed. He cut the throats of some and killed them, and the rest of the multitude he bound and shut up in prison. ^B Having then gathered together the entire panoply of the Tauroscythians, which numbered about sixty thousand men, he drew up his battle line against the Romans. But as the emperor was approaching more slowly, some of the bolder men, incited by a blind audacity, detached themselves from the ^C Russian phalanx and, venturing in a headlong act of daring, engaged in skirmishing and killed some of the scouts who were unexpectedly riding ahead. When the emperor saw their corpses cast along the path, he reined in his horse, lamented the loss of his men, and ordered a search for the perpetrators. The scouts scoured the woods and thickets diligently, seized the attackers, bound them, and brought them into the emperor’s presence; he immediately ordered them to be put to death. ^D Thus the scouts promptly cut them all to pieces with drawn swords. As they were now drawing closer to the plain before Dorystolum, which they are also accustomed to call Dristra,

^A the Tauroscythians, having thickened their phalanxes with spears and shields and formed them like a wall, remained waiting for their enemies across the open space. The Emperor drew up the Romans in battle array, stationed the fully-armed horsemen on either wing, and placed the archers and slingers in the rear, commanding them to launch missiles ^B without intermission, and then he brought up the phalanx.

10. When the armies joined battle and the fight had raged fiercely, the struggle remained evenly balanced for some time after the initial engagement. For the Russians, taking it as something terrible and grievous that, having gained a reputation among the neighboring tribes for having always been victorious in battle, they might now be shamefully defeated by the Romans and lose it, fought with great intensity. ^C The Romans, on the other hand, were seized by a sense of shame and indignation at the thought that, if they were to leave having been defeated—after having subdued all their adversaries with arms and valor—by a nation of foot soldiers who knew nothing at all of horsemanship, it would be as if they were untrained recruits unversed in the works of war, and so much glory would be snatched from them in an instant. With such thoughts stirring in their minds, the armies contended with the utmost force; yet the Russians, led by their innate savagery ^D and fury, rushed headlong at the Romans, roaring like fanatics, while our men met them with the experience and technical skill of military art. Many were killed on both sides, and as late evening approached, the victory seemed uncertain, with first one side and then the other being pushed back. But as the light-bearer was already inclining toward the west, the Emperor launched the cavalry against them with great force, and at the same time, by exhorting them to show by their deeds their native Roman valor, he emboldened the spirits of the soldiers. They fell upon them with unique momentum; the trumpeters sounded the call to battle, and a shout was raised on all sides by the Romans. When the Scythians could no longer withstand their charge, they took to flight and were pushed back to the walls, having lost many of their own men in this battle. The Romans, singing hymns of victory, extolled the Emperor with praises; he in turn rewarded them with the distribution of offices and the sharing of feasts, rendering them even more eager for the battles to come.

BOOK NINTH

ARGUMENT. — The Emperor orders the camp to be carefully fortified. The second battle is equestrian (Chap. 1). The third battle at Dorystolum. The valor of Lalacon (2). Leo Curopalates, intending to seize the empire, secretly heads for Byzantium (3). Soon discovered, he is blinded (4). In the fourth battle at Dorystolum, Joannes Curcuas is killed by the Russ (5). The fifth battle. The foul and bloody superstitions of the Russ (6). The military advice of Sphendosthlah (7). The final battle at Dorystolum (8). Joannes himself restores the wavering battle line. St. Theodore is seen in the Roman front line (9). A signal victory for the Romans (10). Peace established between the Russ and the Romans. The form and appearance of Sphendosthlah (11). The Russ, returning to their homeland, are overwhelmed by the Patzinaks. The Emperor enters Constantinople in triumph (12).

^A I. As soon as light dawned, the Emperor fortified his camp with a solid rampart in this manner. A slightly elevated hill rises at an interval before the town of Dorystolum toward the plain. Having moved his army there, he ordered a trench to be dug all around, and for the earth excavated to be piled up on the lip of the trench surrounding the camp, for a mound to be pressed to a sufficient height, and for spears to be fixed on top, and shields to be placed crosswise upon them continuously, so that the trench and the upcast mound might serve the army as a wall, and that no opportunity might be given to the enemy to break inside, and so that, if they should venture into the trench, they might be warded off from the approach. Such was the custom of the Romans in arranging their camp in enemy territory. Having thus completed the fortification, on the following day he brought up his battle line to the wall. The Scythians, looking out from the towers, cast missiles, stones, and whatever engines of war can hurl, against the Roman phalanx. But they themselves, stationed below, fended off the Scythians with slings and arrows. The battle had not advanced beyond such skirmishing when the Romans returned to the camp and refreshed their bodies. As the day was declining, the Scythians began to emerge from the walls with cavalry, and at that moment they appeared for the first time mounted on horses. For they had been accustomed always to engage in battle on foot, because they have no experience either in mounting steeds or in fighting with the enemy from horseback. The Romans quickly snatched up their arms, and having mounted their horses and seized their pikes (which they use, being very long, in battles), they rode forward sharply with a great charge. Thus the enemy,

not even knowing how to guide their horses with the reins, were struck down by the Romans, and turning their backs, they were shut up within the walls.

^B 2. At that same time, fire-bearing triremes of the Romans were seen sailing up the Ister with grain-ships. Seeing them, the Romans were filled with unspeakable joy, while fear seized the Scythians, for they dreaded the liquid fire that was being brought against them. For they had heard from the elders of their nation how the Romans had once consumed, with this Median fire in the Euxine, the immense fleet of Ingor, the father of Sviatoslav. Consequently, they quickly gathered their own small boats and drew them up before the city wall, where the flowing Ister bathes one side of Dorystolon. These our fire-bearing ships kept surrounded and guarded, so that it might not be possible for the Scythians—once they had embarked in their skiffs—to return safely to their own land.

On the following day, the Tauroscythians, having slipped out of the city, drew up their battle line on the plain, shielded by long, foot-protecting shields and armored in chain-mail. The Romans also advanced from their camp, well-armored, and both sides fought stoutly; victory seemed uncertain, with first one side and then the other pushing back. When, however, one of the Romans ran out from the phalanx and—with great spirit—pierced Sphencelos, a man of huge body and youthful boldness who was honored by the Tauroscythians as the third in rank after Sviatoslav, the Tauroscythians were disturbed by his fall, and they retreated step by step from the plain, hastening toward the city. ^C It was then that Theodore, surnamed Lalaco, a man terrifying and unconquerable in both strength and bodily vigor, slew a great number of enemies with an iron mace. He swung this with such strength of hand that it would crush at once both the helmet and the head covered by it. In this way, then, the Scythians, having taken flight, returned into the city. The Emperor ordered the signal to retreat to be sounded and recalled the Romans to the camp, where he received them with gifts and banquets, and strengthened their spirits to engage in the battle with greater vigor.

3. While matters were thus balanced and the battle was still engaged, Leo Curopalates, the brother of the Emperor Nicephorus, whom I have shown above to be held captive in Methymna on the island of Lesbos, ^D [by bribing his guards]...

rebelled; because he had uninjured pupils. For the person to whom his blinding had previously been entrusted, either by the Emperor's command (as some suspect for this reason, that when the matter was exposed, the man remained unpunished), or moved by mercy at such a great calamity, burned his eyelids but left his pupils uninjured and intact. Thus, the Curopalates, having boarded a small boat, sailed in secret to the shore opposite Constantinople and hid himself in a monastery which is called Pelamys. Thence he sent a certain man to announce to his friends and family that he had arrived. They promised their help with all their might; they would gather a band of armed men and steal the keys of the palace, through which an easy entrance into the sacred threshold would be made for him. Therefore, they undertook the task: whatever they had promised in words, they strove to carry out in deed without delay. They persuaded one of the palace doorkeepers, induced by gifts, to make an impression of the keys in wax and to give the wax to them. He, being ready for the task, handed over the shaped wax; the conspirators, hiring a craftsman, quickly had the keys forged at home.

4. When everything had succeeded according to their wishes, they summoned the Curopalates to cross the strait and arrive at Constantinople. ^B In the dead of night, having boarded a ship, he was carried to the fortress; there, by a small gate which is under that of Saint Phocas, he entered the city, dreaming that he already held the empire in his hands. But for him, in place of the gleaming purple, in place of the golden scepter, in place of the tyranny which he was plotting under an ill-omened star, Fortune—mocking the hope of the man, which turned out all too deceitful in the opposite direction—was preparing a dire blinding, a long exile, and the confiscation of his goods, and brought upon him a bitter misery of evils. For while he was staying in the house of one of those who were acting with him in the region of Sphoracius, awaiting the gathering of the conspirators, one of his henchmen slipped out of the house and approached an acquaintance of his, the procurator of the Emperor's textile workshop; ^C he announced that the Curopalates had arrived and, revealing the plan, asked that he assist him with the body of weavers. This man promised that he would quickly be at his service, and rising, he left as if to summon the duty-guard. But having been led to Leo the Patrician, the Drungarius of the fleet, to whom the care of Constantinople had been entrusted by the Emperor, he revealed everything: that the Curopalates had returned from exile, was staying in the city, hiding in a certain house, and that nothing was closer than that he should seize power. Struck suddenly by this news, the Drungarius, when he pulled himself together (as he was firm of mind in dangers and industrious in affairs) ^D sent for his guards

and immediately attacked the house in which the Curopalates was staying. When he realized that the matter had been detected and was clearly exposed, the Curopalates, with his son Nicephorus, slipped out through a back door and took refuge in the divine and great church, appearing as a pitiable suppliant instead of a haughty and arrogant tyrant. Having dragged him out from there, those around the Drungarius threw him into a small boat together with his son Nicephorus and sent him into exile ^B to the island called Calonymus; and by an imperial command, which was later brought by the emperor from Moesia, they blinded both of them and confiscated their property.

5. Thus then did the rebellion of the Curopalates Leo come to a sad and fatal end. The Russians, however, ^C

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS.

[Annotations omitted as they comprise critical apparatus regarding the usage of the term *athroos* and other lexical notes, and are explicitly excluded from translation per instructions.] ^D

^A phalange formed (for it returns to where it came from, ^B as the saying goes), they advanced onto the plain, striving with all their might to destroy the Roman siege engines. For they could not endure the missiles launched from these, as great numbers of Scythians were destroyed daily by the stones hurled at them. Now John Kourkouas, the Magister, who was a relative of the Emperor and whose duty it was to take charge of such weapons, seeing the bold rush of the enemy and being otherwise dull with wine and sleep (for it was after lunch), climbed onto his horse and rode against them with his chosen escort. But the horse, having stumbled into a trench, threw the Magister from its back. The Scythians, observing his distinguished panoply, and noticing the horse's trappings and the rest of its gear magnificently worked and heavily overlaid with gold, and supposing him to be the Emperor himself, rushed upon him in a throng, and with their swords and axes hewed him to pieces in a savage manner. They also pierced his head with a spear and fixed it upon the towers, mocking the Romans as having slaughtered their king like a beast. But John the Magister brought upon himself such wages for having, in his fury, become a source of ruin to the barbarian—it is said he had desecrated holy sanctuaries while in Moesia and had converted their vestments and sacred vessels into his own private property.

6. The Russ, elated by such a victory, sallied from the town the following day and stood in battle array; the Romans, too, formed into a deep wedge and proceeded to meet them. There was Iemor, who led the Scythian army under Sviatoslav, the next in authority after him, a man of huge stature and youthful ferocity. Anemas, one of the palace guards and son of the Cretan satrap, catching sight of him ^C and being moved by great courage, spurred his horse, which he had with him among the cohort of attendants, and rushed to attack him, having drawn his sword from his side and goaded the animal forward. Having come upon him, he struck at his neck with his sword; he severed the Scythian's head along with his right hand and dashed it to the ground. Upon the falling of their leader, a clamor mingled with mourning arose among the Scythians: the Romans made an attack upon them. They did not withstand it, but, deeply moved by the slaughter of their commander, they threw their shields behind their backs and retreated into the town. The Romans pursued those they could and slew them. When night had begun and the full moon was shining, they went out onto the plain…

to search for their own dead; after gathering them before the wall and kindling frequent pyres, they burned them, slaughtering also a great number of the captives, both men and women, with them according to their ancestral custom ^A. And having performed these funeral sacrifices, they suffocated infants and cocks over the Ister, drowning them in the swirling waters of the river. For it is said that, being addicted to Hellenic rites 18, they perform sacrifices and libations for the departed in the Greek manner, having been initiated into this custom either by Anacharsis and Zamolxis, their own philosophers, or by the companions of Achilles. For Arrian says in the *Periplus* 19 that Achilles, the son of Peleus, was a Scythian, born in the little town called Myrmecium, situated by the Maeotic Lake: and that having been driven out by the Scythians on account of his inhumanity, cruelty, and arrogance of spirit, he afterwards settled in Thessaly. Clear proofs of this account are his style of dress with the brooch, ^B his manner of fighting on foot, his reddish hair, his sea-grey eyes, and his recklessness, irascibility, and cruelty: traits for which Agamemnon rebuked him with insults, saying thus: *To him is strife ever dear, and wars, and battles.*

For even to this day the Tauroscythians are accustomed to settle their quarrels with slaughter and blood. That the nation is reckless, warlike, and powerful, and that it attacks every neighboring people, many others bear witness, and also the divine Ezekiel, making mention of it, where he says to this effect: "Behold, I lead against you Gog and Magog, the prince of Rhos." But let this suffice concerning the funeral sacrifices of the Tauri.

^C 7. Then, as the day was already dawning, Sphendosthlabus convened a council of the first-ranking nobles, which they call *comentum* in their own tongue. He consulted with those gathered about him as to what needed to be done. Some suggested that it was necessary to board the ships in the deep of the night and to escape by every possible means; for they did not consider themselves able to stand against the cataphract cavalry, especially after they had lost their most valiant commanders, who might have encouraged the army and [sustained] the spirits of the soldiers.

But others, on the contrary, advised coming to terms with the Romans and, having received pledges of faith, to save the remnants of the army. For it was not easy, they said, to slip away secretly from the town, because fire-bearing ships were guarding the crossings along the Ister on both sides, so that as soon as they attempted to sail into the river, they would immediately burn everything to cinders. Then, indeed, when Sphendosthlabus had groaned most vehemently, he said: “The glory that follows Russian arms, ^A which until recently subdued neighboring peoples without any difficulty and recently held entire regions without bloodshed, is perished, if we now disgracefully yield to the Romans. Why, representing our ancestral virtue, do we not consider that Russian strength has remained unconquered until now, and struggle fiercely for our own salvation? We are not accustomed to return to our homeland as fugitives, but either to live as victors or to die gloriously, having accomplished deeds of brave men.” Sphendosthlabus devised such a plan. ^B

8. It is recounted regarding the Tauroscythians, that they never until this very day surrender themselves as vanquished to their enemies; but, when salvation is despaired of, they pierce their own vitals with the sword, and thus kill themselves. They do this because they hold an opinion of this sort: they say that if anyone is killed in war by enemies, they serve their killers in the underworld after death and the departure of the soul from the body. Fearing this servitude, the Tauroscythians, rather than ministering to their own executioners, seek a remedy for the situation through voluntary death. This belief has prevailed among them. ^C But then, having heard the king’s speech, they decided willingly to undergo the danger for the sake of their own salvation, and to oppose the Roman force valiantly. Therefore, on the next day (which was the sixth day of the week, the ninth day before the Kalends of August), with the sun already setting, they decided to march out of the town with all their forces and to fight with all their might: they formed a dense battle line and set out with leveled spears. The emperor, in contrast, led his troops out from the camp ^D prepared for battle. Once the engagement had begun, the Scythians fought bravely against the Romans.

They chose to risk all, forming a strong phalanx ^A and leveling their spears against the Romans. Already the battle was fully joined, and the Scythians were pressing strongly upon the Romans, harassing them with javelins, wounding their horses with arrows, and throwing the riders to the ground. There, Anemas, who had distinguished himself on the previous day by killing Ikmoros, seeing Sphendosthlabos charging madly and enthusiastically against the Romans and strengthening his own phalanxes, spurred his horse—a maneuver he was accustomed to perform, having already destroyed many Scythians in this way—and, giving the horse its full head, rushed toward him. He struck him with his sword at the collarbone and cast him headlong, though he did not kill him. For he was protected by his chain-mail shirt and the shield he had worn, fearing the Roman spear-points. Anemas, however, having been surrounded by the Scythian phalanx after his horse had been ^B brought down by many spear thrusts, killed many of them but was himself slaughtered, a man surpassed by none of his contemporaries in martial prowess.

9. Upon this reverse, the Russians, taking heart, let out a loud and savage cry and drove the Romans back. The latter began to retreat quickly, ^C seeking to avoid the unnatural ferocity of the Scythians. Then the emperor, when he perceived the Roman phalanx giving way, fearing that in their terror at the strange fury of the Scythians they might stumble into a critical situation, exhorted his attendant guard and, seizing his spear firmly, advanced himself against the adversaries. Tympani were struck, and the trumpets sounded the call to battle. The Romans, awed by the emperor’s charge, wheeled their horses and attacked the Scythians fiercely. At the same time, a whirlwind mixed with rain arose, which spread out ^D across the sky and bore down upon the enemy, while the rising dust injured their eyes. It is said that a certain man on a white horse appeared to lead the Romans and urged them to press forward against the Scythians; he miraculously shattered the ranks of the enemy and threw them into confusion. They say he had never been seen in the camp before, nor did he appear after the battle, even though the emperor searched for him in order to grant him the honors that were his due and to bestow favor for his labors. But, however much he was sought, he was not found. Whence a certain conviction grew that a great one among the

martyrs...

Theodore, whom the emperor during the struggles sought to have as his ally and assistant, was present to succor and save the whole army. They say also that a similar thing happened on the evening before the battle. A virgin in Byzantium, dedicated to God, seemed to see in a dream the Theotokos, surrounded by certain fiery men. She said to them, "Call for me the martyr Theodore." And immediately a brave and armored young man was brought. The Theotokos said to him, "Your John, Lord Theodore, is fighting at Dorystolum and is now being hard pressed by the Scythians. Therefore, go quickly to bring him aid. Unless you arrive beforehand, ^B his affairs will end in danger." He replied that he was ready to obey the Mother of my God and Lord. Having said this, he immediately departed, and thus the vision vanished from the virgin’s eyes. And thus the virgin’s dream reached this conclusion.

10. The Romans, however, following their divine leader, engage in hand-to-hand combat with their adversaries. A fierce battle ensues. At length the Scythians, being unable to withstand the force of our cavalry by themselves, and being attacked from the rear by the magister Barda, surnamed Sclerus (for he had surrounded them with his forces), turned to flight and were trampled as far as the fortifications. A foul slaughter occurred. Sviatoslav himself nearly fell, ^C bloodless and wounded, had not night supervening saved him. They report that in this battle fifteen thousand five hundred Scythians were slain, and upwards of twenty thousand shields and very many swords were captured. There were three hundred and fifty Romans killed, and not a few wounded. Such was the victory the Romans achieved in this battle. Sviatoslav, through the whole night disturbed by the destruction of his troops, was carried away by grief and wrath. Yet, since he could accomplish nothing against an invincible army, he understood that it is the mark of a good commander in desperate circumstances not to succumb to sad fortune, but to act so as to preserve his soldiers by whatever means possible. ^D Thus, toward morning, having sent envoys to the emperor John, he negotiated regarding the giving of faith and a settlement, on these conditions: that the Tauroscythians surrender Dorystolum to the Romans, return the captives, abstain from Moesia, and return to their homeland; and that the Romans, in return, grant them permission to sail away and not attack them on their journey with fire-bearing ships (for they greatly feared the Median fire, which is able to reduce even stones to ash); and furthermore, that they supply them with grain.

11 ^A The Emperor, gladly accepting such a reconciliation (for he valued peace far above war, knowing that the former preserves peoples, ^B while the latter destroys them), confirmed the covenants and the armistice, and distributed grain, measuring out two medimnoi to each man. It is said that those who received the grain numbered twenty-two thousand, from the sixty thousand ^C of the Russian army then...

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS

(28) Note in the Codex, and here above at 47. C. [in the word] *myriads*, not without some authority from the manuscripts. For in the editions indeed the genitive plural of these words is everywhere read with the acute accent. ... ^D [The following notes provide lexicographical analysis of words with the *myrio-* and *chilio-* prefixes, analyzing their usage in Church Fathers including Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, Basil, and others; noting variations in spelling and accentuation found in various manuscripts and patristic texts; and discussing the historical and philological nuances of terms such as *myriandros*, *myriokephalos*, *myriomakarios*, *myriontapiasios*, *myriopatheis*, *myrioplastos*, *myriostachys*, *myriostomos*, *myriodtropos*, *chiliontaetis*, etc. index: entries preserved]

^A sic, mortem effugerant: the remaining thirty-eight thousand the Roman spear had pierced. ^B After the truce had been proposed, Sphendosthlabus requested to come for a colloquy with the emperor. He did not reject the condition: clad in gilded armor, he rode up to the bank of the Ister, leading an innumerable troop of cavalry glittering with gold and arms. Sphendosthlabus, on the other hand, had come in some Scythian boat, sailing down the river, applying himself to the oar, and rowing the small boat together with others, just as one of the many. In appearance, however, he was of this sort: his stature was moderate, neither extended to an excessive height, nor shrunk into too much shortness; his eyebrows were thick, his eyes blue, his nose snub, his beard sparse, and he was quite hairy on the upper lip with thick, long-reaching hairs. His head was also very smooth, except that a lock of hair hung down on either side, declaring the nobility of his lineage; his neck was firm, his chest broad, and his other limbs were well-proportioned and symmetrical, although he carried a certain gloom and ferocity in his face. From one of his ears hung a gold earring, adorned with two pearls and a carbuncle placed in the middle. His clothing was white, differing in no respect from that of the others except in its cleanliness. Thus, having spoken a few words with the emperor about peace while sitting on the rowing bench of the boat, he withdrew. The war which the Romans waged against the Scythians had this end.

12. Sphendosthlabus, having left Dorystolon behind and having returned the captives in addition, according to the agreement, set sail with the forces that remained and began to make his course toward his homeland. As he was sailing away, the Patzinakites, a nomadic, numerous, louse-eating, and house-carrying people, who for the most part live in wagons, laid an ambush for him. When they had slain almost all of the Scythians, they then also overpowered Sphendosthlabus himself along with the others, so that from such a great army of the Rhos, very few arrived home safe and sound. John, the emperor, having destroyed the Rhos military strength in only four months, as the story has previously indicated, and having recovered Mysia, renamed Dorystolon "Theodoropolis" after the name of the general and martyr; and having left behind there a proper garrison, with the greatest of trophies

having renamed it Theodore, and having left a competent guard there, he returns to Byzantium with great spoils of war. Finding the city folk before the walls, they greeted him with wreaths and sceptres made of gold and precious stones. They also led a white-horsed chariot, plated with gold, to which they invited him to ascend, that he might conduct the customary triumph. ^B But he, while accepting the wreaths and sceptres and making recompense for them with gifts many times greater, could not be induced to ascend the chariot. Instead, he placed the icon of the Mother of God, holding the God-man Word, which he had brought from Moesia, upon the gold-plated throne of the chariot, having spread beneath it the purple tunics of the Moesians and the wreaths. He himself, riding a single saddle-horse, followed behind, his head encircled with a diadem, and carrying the wreaths and sceptres in his hands. Thus he conducted the triumph through the midst of the city, which was adorned everywhere with purple garments and, in the manner of a bridal chamber, covered with laurels ^C and cloths woven with gold, and he proceeded into the great church of the Divine Wisdom. Having paid his prayers of thanksgiving and deposited the magnificent wreath of the Moesians as, as it were, the first-fruits of the spoils of war to God, he then withdrew to the royal palace and, having brought forth Boris, the king of the Moesians, he ordered him to lay aside the imperial regalia. These consisted of a tiara encircled with purple, studded with gold and pearls, a purple vestment, and red buskins. He honored this man with the dignity of *magistros*. In so short a time, the Emperor John, having achieved victories beyond all expectation, breaking and casting to the ground the arrogance of the Rus and their lofty spirits through experience in warfare and the audacity of calculated bravery, and having subjected Moesia to Roman rule, returned to Byzantium, where he wintered, and entertained the populace with gifts as was fitting, and treated them with feasts.

BOOK TENTH

ARGUMENT. — Syrian expedition. Nisibis captured by the Romans (Ch. 1). The Emperor plans an expedition against Ecbatana, but the matter unaccomplished, he returns to Byzantium. Patriarch Basil is driven from his see (2). Antonius is created patriarch. The monstrous twins (3). Another Syrian expedition. Damascus, Berytus, and other cities are captured (4). Miracle at Berytus wrought in the image of the Saviour (5). A comet seen for eighty days (6). The defection of Bardas Sclerus under Basil (7). The unhappy expedition of Basil against the Bulgarians. The slaughter of the Romans portended by a falling star (8). Bardas Phocas prepares a new sedition. His end (9). Earthquakes occur at Constantinople and other calamities press upon the Roman empire (10). John Tzimiskes, returned from Syria, is consumed by poison through the treachery of Basil and dies (11).

^D 1. When summer-time drew near, and the sky was clear...

and steady in the cycle of the seasons, the Emperor set out from Byzantium against the Hagarenes who inhabit upper Syria, and undertook an expedition. ^A Indeed, having traversed the hinterland, he crossed the Euphrates. This river is the greatest of those which intersect Asia, and one of those that flow out from Eden, as we have learned from the Holy Scriptures. There, a man serving as a secretary, Nicetas by name, whom learning and wisdom had brought to a peak, and who was in the very prime of life, accompanied the Emperor on this expedition, though his father had begged him much not to do so, urging him instead to nurture his old age at the family hearth, and—since his parent stood at the very threshold of his life and was hastening toward the end of his days—to provide him with such service as he was able. But Nicetas, ignoring his father's advice as he ought not to have done, and setting no store by his instructions, set off for the camp as he was prepared. ^B Indeed, while crossing the river, he became dizzy from the swell of the water, slipped from his horse, and tumbled into the stream; swept away by the force of the current, he suffered a miserable death by drowning, receiving the drowning in the Euphrates as the reward for his disobedience. Meanwhile, the Emperor, with his entire army, was overrunning Syria, with no one among the enemy standing against him to oppose him; for they were all terrified by the rumor of his arrival and had shut themselves up in their own fortresses and towns. Thus, when he had taken Emet (which is a fortified and noble city) and brought it to surrender, and had received from the townspeople an uncountable sum of money as ransom, he moved his camp and pressed on to set out for Miepharcim. ^C This is a noble and conspicuous city, and superior to all others situated in those parts in wealth and flocks. When he had similarly brought this place under his control by agreement, and had received from the townspeople a great many very beautiful gifts in gold, silver, and garments embroidered with gold, he moved toward Nisibis—from which the great Jacob, holding the helm of the episcopate, had once warded off the Persians when they were attacking Nisibis with a vast army, by sending against them swarms of flies and mosquitoes as an army, by which means they were immediately turned to flight and the enemy was repelled in this fashion. The Emperor found this city deserted, for the inhabitants had departed from it out of fear of the Roman onset, and had taken themselves off into the interior.

^B Having ravaged the surrounding territory and placed it under a truce with the Romans, he hurried to reach as far as Ecbatana, where the tyranny of the Agarenes was established, desiring to seize by a sudden raid the immense silver, gold, and wealth of all kinds contained within. For it is said that Ecbatana is the most opulent and gold-laden city of all those under the sun. The reason for this is that it had accumulated its wealth from many regions and had never before endured a hostile raid. However, the Emperor’s momentum was checked by the lack of water in those regions and the shortage of necessities. For the so-called Carmanitian desert extends through the lands there, presenting a rugged and steep road, neither producing water 35 nor bringing forth any vegetation, but being parched and moistureless. For these reasons, he accepted the gifts brought to him by the Agarenes—valued at three million in silver and gold—and traveled back to Byzantium. He paraded the gold, the silver, the silk garments, the aromatics, and all the ^C gifts he had received from the Agarenes through the marketplace, while the city dwellers looked on and the multitude marveled at them, welcoming him with honors and escorting him with acclamations to the imperial palace, as he was glorified for such victories.

At that time also, the Patriarch Basil 36 was slandered to the Emperor by the envy of the bishops, as if he had predicted the principate to one of the powerful men, and at the same time [was accused of] not administering the Church as was established by the divine canons; thus he was summoned to the imperial tribunal. As he did not appear, but insisted that a universal council should be convened to wash away the charges—asserting that the God-breathed oracles of the Fathers willed that a supreme council be gathered for the deposition of a patriarch—he was banished by the Emperor to the monastery at the Scamander, which he himself had built. He was a man almost entirely abstinent from food and devoid of flesh, having ^D trained himself from tender youth in ascetic struggles beyond nature; he used a single garment in both summer and winter, and would not even take it off, until it had fallen apart and was of no further use 37; moreover, he tasted no food or drink at all, except for water and the juice of berries.

It is even said that he did not sleep on a bed, but on the earth throughout the entire time of his asceticism. They say that the one flaw in this man was that he placed too much importance on understanding the education and ways of men 38, being more curious and inquisitive than was necessary.

3. Thus, when Basil was sent into exile, Antony was entrusted with the reins of the patriarchate; a man who had chosen an ascetic life from his youth in the Monastery of Stoudios, and who lived an apostolic life. For he brought with him nothing more than the clothing necessary for the body, even though, due to his innate virtue, he was gifted abundantly by both the most powerful men and the emperors themselves. He did not only ^B distribute to the needy that which he received from his office (for he had previously been honored with the rank of *syncellus*), but also everything else, imitating the mercy of God, and he abounded in divine and human knowledge, as much as any other. A wondrous sweetness shone from his face and manner, even in deep old age. No one among those who lived in luxury and puffed themselves up in the theater of vanities approached him without departing immediately temperate and wise, having learned that this life is but a shadow and a dream; nor, conversely, did anyone living a life pressed by incurable sorrows approach him without departing joyful, having recognized that one must not succumb to evils, but take refuge in Him who is able to save us from miseries, and seek salvation from Him. Such was Antony in life and speech, ^C in sum, a man altogether angelic and divine. At that same time, twin men, sprung from the province of Cappadocia, were traveling throughout the Roman Empire 39 40.

C. B. Basil Annotations.

38 Regarding the word *agogē*, whereas some might prefer to translate it as "in disciplines and conversations"—for it is known that it is sometimes used for discipline, and also in a physical sense for an "eductor" or one who leads upward—I would nonetheless prefer to read it as "established regulations." Christian writers teach this abundantly in Suicer (Thesaur. Eccles. I, 72 D) and Schleusner (Lex. in Nov. Test. I, 38 B), with gathered examples that could easily be increased infinitely. Compare also the erudite discussions of this word in Bouhier (*Explication de quelques marbres antiques*, 36), and especially in Wesselingius (*Diatribe de Judæorum archontibus ad inscript. Berenicensem*, 13 A). The same word, to mention one place out of many, occurs in the canons of the Quinisext Council; Gentianus Hervetus translates it in such a way that it pertains to the care of the life and conversion of the one intervening. I would prefer the genitive with this interpretation: how providently he cares for that way of living which intervenes between committed sin and completed penance. The meaning of the verb *anastrephō* is the same, meaning to be occupied or to dwell. In this sense, St. John Chrysostom (Hom. LVIII, in S. Matth. I, 624 E) says "of them dwelling in Galilee"; the same occurs shortly after (626 C) "remaining in Galilee," although others have expounded this differently. Note, moreover, the rare meaning of the word *agōgē*. St. John Chrysostom (Hom. LXXXVI, in S. Matth. I, 889 C) uses it for "each turn," and again for a third and fourth time: "the cock is accustomed to crow... before the cock had completed one turn [of crowing], and again at the third turn [of crowing] returning into the city."

39 The pronoun *toutou* [for *touton*] mostly denotes the phrase "at the right time." First, when retained in the sense of opportunity, it is the same as "in season."

40 Theophanes, the author of the *Chronographia* (60 A), records that a monster nearly identical to this existed in Palestine. Leo Grammaticus (*Chronographia* 508 C), Zonaras (II, 162 A), and Michael Glycas (301 D) enumerate other monstrous births, twins fused into one.

^A originating from the Cappadocia region, they would often wander throughout the Roman Empire, and I myself, while writing these things, have often seen them throughout Asia, being a monstrous and strange wonder. For their limbs were complete and preserved their wholeness; however, from the armpit down to the flank, their sides were glued together, containing the small bodies and fitting them into one. And with the hands that touched each other, they would entwine their own tendons, while with the others they carried canes upon which they leaned while walking; they were in their thirtieth year of life. And their bodies were well-grown, appearing blooming and youthful. On long journeys, they would ride on a mule, sitting sideways ^B in the manner of women, and they were endowed with a disposition of gentleness and mildness beyond what can be said. But enough of these.

4. And the emperor John, when the spring shone forth ^C again (41), having assembled the Roman forces and armed them accurately, set out from the Queen of Cities and marched through Palestine, a prosperous land, flowing with milk and honey, to speak prophetically (42). There he attacked a fortress which in the Syrian tongue is Mem- ^D

-^Apetze; and having reduced it to his power by the force of war and all manner of machines, he found there the sandals of the Savior, which he carried off as a kind of heavenly gift, along with the hair of the venerable Forerunner and Herald. These he deposited in the illustrious temple of the Mother of God, which was built within the palace, like a most rich treasury; while the latter he placed in the temple of the Savior, which he himself had raised from its foundations. Departing thence, he approached Apamea, a fortress fortified and difficult to capture. Yet, after not many days, he took this also and brought it under his authority, and set out with his army towards Damascus. But the Damascenes, with gifts of great value in their hands, came out to meet the Emperor on behalf of their trading center, so that they might avert his wrath and appease him with presents. Thus, when he had imposed fixed tributes upon them and received them into the power of the Romans, he moved his camp and marched by way of Lebanon (Lebanon is an ^B extremely rugged and great mountain, which, extending through those regions, separates Phoenicia from Palestine), traveling along a cross-path, and having struggled up to the very summit of the range, he took the most fortified city of Borzo by a sudden incursion. Departing thence, he descended into Phoenicia, occupied the fortress of Balaneas, and besieged Berytus: in which town, when he had found the crucifixion of the Savior depicted, he ordered it to be taken from there and sent to the temple of the Savior, which he had built from its foundations.

5. It is said that a certain prodigious wonder occurred regarding this divine image. They say that a man of the Christian religion lived in a certain house in Berytus, in which he had placed the image I was mentioning with great honor. Later, the same man moved to other dwellings and, by the nod of divine providence, having forgotten the sacred pledge, left the image in the former house. A certain Jew had taken over these premises to inhabit ^C them, and on the following day had invited some of his own co-religionists to dinner. Those who had entered the house, and seeing upon the walls the image of the Savior affixed to the cross, they began to heap grievous curses and insults upon the Jew for...

having deserted their own religion and honoring those of the Christians. He, however, confirmed to them with oaths that he had never until that time seen that image. Then those wicked men said to him, "If you do not worship the sacred things of the Christians, give us certain proof by the deeds themselves; take this lance and pierce the side of the Nazarene's image, in the same manner as our fathers long ago pierced Him when they crucified Him." Then he, having taken the lance in his hands, as he burned with anger, and wishing most of all to convince them and to wash away the accusation brought against him, pierced the side of the image. But hardly had he driven in the point when a quantity of blood mixed with water gushed out. They say that the impious Jews were frozen at this horrible sight; and the report of the matter having spread, those who worshipped the Christ broke into the Hebrew's house, took the venerable image of the crucified Savior, which was still shedding streams of blood, and placed it in a sacred shrine and honored it with great magnificence. The emperor took this God-man image from that place and sent it to Byzantium, as I have already indicated. ^B

6.

^A sought out those who had occupied themselves with the observation of the stars, wishing to know what such a strange phenomenon might signify. They, however, not based on the proofs which the science provided, but according to the emperor's desire, interpreted the comet's appearance incorrectly, promising him victory over his enemies and a long life. This explanation was falsely put forward by the logothete and magister Simeon, and by Stephen, the bishop of Nicomedia, who were among the most illustrious of the learned men of that time. Yet the approach of the comet did not portend what they obsequiously set forth to the emperor, but rather calamitous rebellions, incursions of nations, civil disturbances, flight from towns and fields, scarcity, pestilences, horrific earthquakes, and finally almost the destruction of the Roman empire, just as we have seen in the outcome of events.

7. For after the departure of the emperor John ^B from the body, the magister Bardas, surnamed Sclerus, suffering from the disease of desiring to rule and to possess, having deluded the fickle multitude with prestige, plotted a dangerous rebellion against the sovereigns. For four years he traversed Asia, devastating provinces and razing towns; he put to flight the Roman forces that had set up camp in opposition to him, and slaughtered them cruelly. Once, when a battle was joined against the army of the patrician and praetor Peter in the field of Lapara (which is adjacent to the province of the Armenians), Peter the patrician himself, struck by a spear and cast from his horse, breathed his last in the very battle line; many of his bodyguards also fell with him. Then, under the magister Bardas Phocas, who had received from the sovereigns the office of domestic of the schools, he stood in battle array ^C against Sclerus in Pancalea, which is a plain suitable for cavalry, near Amorium. There, amidst the hostile weapons, Phocas was struck on the head with a piece of wood and fell from his horse; lying on the ground, he would have been captured by the enemy and perished ignobly, had he not been overlooked by his adversaries as one of many, because they did not know his appearance, and had he not been saved by the approaching night. But Sclerus, elated and blinded by such victories, was now considered too strong to be overcome by any force or arms. From there he took Nicaea, Abydus, and Attalea by war, and joined to himself whatever in Asia was subject to the Romans. At the same time, having acquired ^D a great many triremes and dominating the sea, he harassed the merchants and the city itself, no longer permitting it to receive grain ships as it had before, until a fire-bearing fleet was secretly sent out by the sovereigns from Constantinople. Bardas Parsacutenus, a magister, was placed in command of this fleet, which suddenly directed its course to Abydus, [where it encountered] the triremes of the tyrant.

He confounded the multitude of the adversaries and held the sea himself. Afterward, Phocas, with a very large force of soldiers gathered from the neighboring regions, attacked the troops of Sclerus a second time, and compelled the tyrant to flee to Ecbatana before the Saracens. And Phocas, having brought under his command a very large force of heroic soldiers, then attacked Sclerus, and having routed him, prepared him to flee to the Hagarenes at Ecbatana.

^B 8. Again, when the band of conspirators of the Sclerus Bardas was utterly destroyed, the emperor Basil, having taken up the forces, hastened against the Moesians (54). For the arrogance and cruelty of those people were causing the Roman Empire to suffer, and they were pitilessly laying waste to Macedonia, killing everyone [P. 106] for the reason that their malice had reached such a point. Wherefore, he was moved with more fervor than was required, and hastening with excessive prudence, he hurried to destroy them in their own land. But, by an injury of fortune, his hopes were thwarted. For when he had traversed the narrow and craggy paths, he advanced upon Sardica—which by the Scythian custom is called Tralitza (45)—and there set up the camp of his army. ^C Having fortified it, he held his position for twenty days. But he achieved nothing, because the leaders of the army (55), being addicted to indolence and sloth, had rendered the army lazy. From this, the Moesians, when they first emerged from the camp for the sake of foraging, attacked them from ambush and caused great slaughter among them, having abducted their baggage animals.

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS.

45. Fort. Tralitzan. 46. Toinun. Note that the particle is prepositive, contrary to Attic custom.

(54) Regarding this unhappy expedition of Basil against the Bulgarians, cf. Cedrenus II. 695. B. 981. (55) The word *kakopragia* in Greek has three significations, since neither Suicer nor anyone else that I know of has thoroughly distinguished them, although they might have been able to treat the subject more fully. First, the one that lexicographers have used to this day is misery or adversity, a sense in which many good writers have used the term; cf. Josephus, *Antiq. Jud.* 43. C. 54. A. 103. C. 112. C. 460. F. *De bello Jud.* 743. D. 847. C. 856. D. 858. D. 973. C. Plutarch, *Coriolanus* 230. E. *Lysander* 454. D. *Demetrius* 914. B. M. Antoninus 923. Eusebius, *Praeparatio Evangelica* 386. D. Philistus apud S. Clement. Alex. *Strom.* 260. D. Artemidorus, *Oneirocritica* 234. G. S. Basil, *Epist.* 176, and Eusebius of Samosata, II. 1028. S. Gregory of Nyssa, *Oratio contra Eunomianos* III. 262. A. S. John Chrysostom, *Oratio xxx. de ascensione Domini* 331. 27. S. Isidore of Pelusium, lib. V, *Epist.* 69. C. And others who are fond of this word in the primary sense, Philo, *De Cherubim* 87. F. ^D *De sacrificiis Abelis et Caini* 116. F. *Quod deterius potiori insidiari soleat* 140 G. *De agricultura* 154. E. 163. II. *Quod Deus sit immutabilis* 234. E. *De confusione linguarum* 251. *De Abrahamo* 281. E. 300. G. *De migratione Abrahami* 327. B. *De congressu quaerenda eruditionis gratia* 333. G. *De Joseph* 425. G. 431. E. 434. F. *De somniis* 450. G. *De vita Mos.* 524. *De creatione principis* 563. *De decalogo* 579. A. *De specialibus legibus* 619. B. *De mercede meretricis non accipienda* 668. C. *De praemiis et poena* 714. A. *De exsecratione* 722. D. 725. G. *In Flacc.* 730. F. 760. C. 763. D. 765. C. 767. A. The second signification among Christian writers and Jews is: act to be reproved, sin, and that in a general way, as they say, in a

way which [C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONES.] some others do not differentiate, which I shall explain here a little more fully. The first, which alone lexicographers have dealt with thus far, is misery, adverse fortune, in which sense many good writers have used the term; Josephus, *Antiquities of the Jews* 43. C. 54. A. 103. C. 112. C. 460. F., *On the Jewish War* 743. D. 847. C. 856. D. 858. D. 975. C.; Plutarch, *Coriolanus* 230. E., *Lysander* 454. D., *Demetrius* 914. B., *Marcus Antonius* 923. D.; Eusebius, *Preparatio Evangelica* 386. D.; Philistus in S. Clement of Alexandria, *Stromata* 260. D.; Artemidorus, *Onirocritica* 234. C.; S. Basil, *Epistle CCLVII* to Eusebius of Samosata, II. 1028; S. Gregory of Nyssa, *Oration against fornicators* III. 262. A.; S. John Chrysostom, *Oration XXX on the Ascension of the Lord* VII. 331. 27; S. Isidore of Pelusium, *Book V, Epistle LXIX* 19. C.; and Philo, who especially delights in this word, *De Cherubim* 87. F., ^D *De sacrificiis Abelis et Caini* 116. F., *Quod deterius potiori insidiari soleat* G., *De agricultura*, *De confusione linguarum* 231. D., *De Abrahamo* 281. E., 300. G., *De migratione Abrahami* 327. B., *De congressu quærendæ eruditionis grat* 333. G., *De Joseph.* 425. G., 431. E., 434. F., *De somniis* 450. G., *De vita Mos.* 524, *De creatione principis* 563. G., *De decalogo* 579. A., *De specialibus legg.* 619. B., *De mercede meretricis non accipienda* 668. C., *De præmiis et pæn.* 714. A., *De exsecratione* 722. D., 725. G., *In Flacc.* 730. F., 760. C., 763. D., 765. C., 767. A. The second signification among Christian writers and Jews is: act to be reproved, sin, and that in a general way, as they say, in a way which S. Clement of Alexandria does in his *Stromata*; S. Gregentius of Taphar, *Disputation with Herbanus the Jew* 124 [namely, they are corrupted]; Palladius, *Life of S. John Chrysostom* 59. Specifically it seems to signify interior sin, that is, a perverse operation in our mind. Thus S. Mark the Hermit, *On Baptism* I. 921. G., writes that it cannot happen that we converse at length with him whom we hate from our innermost heart. It is also used for forbidden unions of bodies. S. Epiphanius, *Against Heresies* I. 98. The third signification, which Leo also uses in our passage, is malignity, depravity, so that it is no longer an act, but a habit. In this sense the word seems Hellenistic. It is read certainly in *Wisdom of Solomon* V. 24, *Vulgate Version*: and malignity will overturn the seats of the powerful. Artemidorus, *Onirocritica* 239. Josephus, *Antiquities of the Jews* 667. E. concerning Caius Caesar; *Life of S. Nilus the Younger* 104. C. Nor do I doubt that the anonymous author in the *Martyrdom of SS. Eustathius, Theopiste, and their children* 24. B. is to be understood in this way, who makes S. Eustathius complain thus in his prayers: "for the malignity of my ..." (Combefis [renders it] less well: "which is my miserable lot").

"). ^A Having emerged from that place, I entered into rugged and difficult terrain; in these places, the Moesi, having attacked the Romans from ambush, cut down a huge number of soldiers; they captured the Emperor’s headquarters, his treasures, and the entire baggage train of the army. I myself was also present there—I who lament these things—having followed the prince in his adversity, serving him in the capacity of deacon. And my steps would not have lingered long, and I would have been offered as a sacrifice to the Scythian sword, had not some divine providence snatched me from that very danger; it caused me to urge on my horse quickly, before the steep incline was held by the enemy, and after crossing it, to fly at a gallop to the highest ridge. The remnants of the army, having escaped the raid of the Moesi with difficulty through the impassable mountains, having lost almost all of their cavalry and whatever baggage they had been carrying with them, retreated to the Roman borders.

^B Before this calamity had entirely subsided, Bardas Phocas the Magister rebelled against those in power, and brought the Roman forces of Asia under his own control; he seized the ports and small towns, except for Abydos; and having fitted out many triremes, he blockaded the strait of the Hellespont, not allowing merchant ships to sail toward the Queen of Cities. He also stationed a very large army, led by Leo Melissenus the Magister, along the coast at Abydos to provide a guard for his triremes and to besiege Abydos. He likewise placed another strong camp against Constantinople on Mount Chry- ^C

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS.

^D [For annotations on the Greek terms *diapheron* and others, regarding the confusion of ecclesiastical locations and properties, see the Greek commentary, which analyzes the misuse of the term "differing from" (diapheron) in various contexts, such as local properties (*proasteia*) and inscriptions, specifically correcting the Latin translations of the era.]

[Index: entries preserved]

^A Again, he pitched a strong camp before Byzantium on the hill of Chrysopolis, having sent thither a very large cavalry and infantry force; and he appointed as leaders of this army his own brother, the Patrician Nicephorus, and the Patrician Calocyres, also known as Delphinas. The Emperor Basil, having once more crossed the Bosporus with a sufficient force, routed these men in a pitched battle and took them captive. He put Nicephorus, the brother of Phocas, in chains and committed him to custody; and he impaled Calocyres Delphinas there, on the hill of Chrysopolis, where his tent had been placed. When Bardas Phocas learned that his army had been destroyed at Chrysopolis, that his brother had been captured and sent into custody, and that Delphinas had been affixed to a stake, he gathered the forces he had with him and descended to Abydos, intending to besiege the fortress there if he could, and then to pass over into Europe and join it to himself as well. The Emperor Basil, having been informed that the tyrant had arrived at Abydos, assembled his own army, equipped fire-bearing triremes, and took a stand against him; having crossed the Hellespont, he pitched the imperial tent in the field before Abydos, daily drawing up his legions, exercising them, and meditating ^B by what strategy he might tackle the rebel. Therefore, on a certain night, having drawn up his army in ambush, he led them along the path by the sea to attack the adversaries; and as the day was dawning, he burned all their triremes and did not cease from committing slaughter upon the enemy. Bardas Phocas, terrified by the sudden arrival and attack of the Emperor, came out of the rampart against him; there, while fighting in the midst of the hostile ranks, he suddenly fell from his horse and had his head cut off with a sword. Thus his enormous body was buried in the ground at Abydos: but the head, which they carried to the city, was fixed upon a pole, carried in triumph through the streets, and sent to the rebels in Asia. In this way, finally, the disturbance of the seditions was transformed into a stable serenity.

Chapter X

Also, the star that rises towards the west after the setting of the morning star, and rises in the evening ^A was difficult to navigate, even though [the boat] did not receive more than three men apiece; so very flimsy were they. But even these, however, found no space amid the ^B current; for many of them were dashed together and collided upon the massive ice floes. And whenever this happened, those inside the boat would leap out [(a)], sit upon a block of ice, and be carried along as if upon a transport ship. Some of them were even shattered and sank. Thus was the Dnieper acting in its fury. We, for our part, were expecting something still worse and for a longer duration, as if we were angered towards it because we were not being carried [safely]. And not many days later, the water was frozen everywhere and was strong to a great extent, so that it was safe even for footmen and horses to go across the current, and to contend in trials of strength as if on open plains.

For the Dnieper behaved like a trickster, being heavy and grievous, suspended in the air previously, and frightening all who looked upon it, but after a little it relaxed and became so softened that it was toyed with and trampled by all, appearing as a sort of bridge [(c)], having established itself upon a certain solidified base. For the currents did not resemble water, but rather appeared as [(d)] hard and stony mountains. For what is equal or similar to that which is brought down, and to water? [(C)] Therefore, our fear was changed into joy; and clapping our hands, we proceeded forward, traveling across the surface of the sea as if on horseback. Having crossed without obstruction and having arrived at the village of the Boryans, we turned to feasting and to the care of our horses, which were exhausted and worn out to the utmost. And having spent there as many days as were required to recover ourselves, we hastened to proceed towards the Black Sea.

But when all things were ready for us and nothing stood in our way, around the middle of the night (when the first star was prompting us to depart), the North wind blew most heavily, and winter in its entirety fell upon us, more severe than at any other time, so that the paths were thought to be impassable, and it was believed that no one could survive under the open sky; and it was almost impossible for one not living under a roof to survive. Fearing this, we decided to rest and await the end of it; and when I told this to my messmates, that it was not fitting to leave the house in any way, nor even to go out to relieve ourselves—the first of the stars then already making its evening appearance, and the heaven [(e)] itself—that which is called Cronus—moving towards it. For it happened that at that time it was walking at the beginning of Aquarius, the Sun running through the winter signs. The winter, then, having begun, was always becoming more grievous, and it happened that what had seemed fearful to us previously now seemed like child’s play compared to what followed; so brilliantly did the winter appear everywhere [(D)]...

[The next section, continuing from the Latin column's narrative:]

...But having spent sufficient days, at long last even the memory of returning to our own homes entered our minds, the weather having become more terrible and the atmosphere having been demonstrated [as such]. And we were going forth, accompanied by the local inhabitants as if with a bodyguard, all of them clapping their hands at me, and each one gazing at me [(f)] as if upon their own kin, and praying for the greatest things.

At that time, however, we did not even pass seventy stadia, and that with others having gone before us and having knocked away much of the snow. But on the following day, as we proceeded, we advanced with great difficulty, as if struggling against the sea upon the snow. For there did not seem to be any earth, nor was it the usual snow; but the horses were not visible up to their necks; and the pack animals, although following after us at the end, were perishing, and much was left behind. For the snow was said to be four cubits deep, and it was difficult to traverse. Many of the followers also turned back towards their homes, thinking that what had happened was beyond human strength. And that which occurred was not something familiar, for the hardships were coming from every side; snow so deep and dense from below, and the heaviest of airs blowing from above. With no respite expected from anywhere, nor any way to deduce a better course (for all things appeared useless and unavailing in the face of the hardships then present), it was not possible to kindle a fire, nor did the snow yield to us for any moment of respite.

[(D)] In the night, the shields fell [(h)]; all those things were for us both beds and coverings, deemed to be the most splendid things. For in them we rested our bodies upon the warmth, and there it was not bright. Sleep [(i)] and the phantasms of dreams, as if they too were afraid, all departed. No one held out better than another; all were disposed in the same way, both in soul and body, as if in a common misfortune. One man called the dead blessed, as those who had ceased from worrying and toiling at the same time; another grumbled about the things to come, [wondering] in what kind of dangers they too would measure out their lives. And the scouts themselves grew weary, defeated by the magnitude of the evil, and were unable to proceed, walking with such uncertainty upon the snow. But the most grievous thing of all was that we were traveling through enemy territory, and not even from this were our affairs free from fear, but the evil of the winter and the evil of the enemies were suspected in equal measure. [(j)]

Here the former fragment ends imperfectly. There follows, after about forty folios, another piece written by the same very intricate hand, which, as it stands in the ^B Codex, I append to what precedes; perhaps it pertains to an earlier time. Who that leader was, whoever he may be, that surrendered to himself the town committed to his charge, let the learned decide, those who combine a knowledge of those times and events with prudent judgment. That the matter took place in the Tauric Chersonese is declared by the mention of the "Clematas." [B.] Written in the script that they call "ligata," of the XI or XII century.

The beginning of the calamities regarding the barbarians...

For in those days we knew we were at war with the barbarians, or, if the truth must be told, we were apprehensive, fearing that we might be forestalled ^C and destroyed by them; and we withdrew, and considered whether it was possible to take a stand against them, as all of them were equally pillaging and destroying everywhere, displaying an onslaught against everyone like wild beasts. For they did not even spare those closest to them, nor did they decide to commit slaughter through any calculation or judgment, but they had intended to place the territory they called the "Muses'" [(b)] under their own control, and they had planned it unpropitiously. Their former sense of equity ^D and justice had been turned upside down; those who previously had honored the most supreme trophies of victory, and to whom cities and nations were of their own accord [(c)] surrendering, were now, in direct contrast, established in such injustice and excess against their subjects. And they agreed to enslave and destroy the subject cities, instead of caring for them and governing them well. And the people were complaining against the powerful, and even though they were showing clearly that they were not in the wrong, they were no more able to avoid death. For a sort of madness—as it seems—has happened to human affairs, such that even the most terrifying things seem to have come about by a chance occurrence or some most irrational and harsh calamity. Cities were emptied of more than ten men, and villages of no fewer than five hundred were utterly deserted; in short, the areas neighboring and close to us were overwhelmed by the winter, and people who had done nothing, cast out into the open, became fodder for work and the sword. ^A [(B)] That such destruction, and all of us commonly being wickedly destroyed, encompassed our wretched neighbors and finally approached my own authority, was something I suspected, and I was taking great forethought so that it might not suddenly fall upon us, and so that they might not strike us unawares from the instant. But when the danger arrived openly and was acknowledged by all as clearly the greatest, I repelled that ^B then-current ruin just as I had things in hand, I myself having been in extreme danger. And from that time on, the war between us and the barbarians became one without declaration, in which they no longer associated among us (even though they were proclaiming treaties ten thousand times), nor was there combat without battle against one another ^C among us...

[index: entries preserved]

^A, and as it were emitting rays of light from afar, it kept making frequent transitions, now appearing more to the north. And the war immediately began, and winter was near to falling upon us; for the sun was still not far from... ^B. But the barbarians, having prepared a sufficient army, invaded our land with cavalry and infantry at the same time, thinking that they would take us by surprise with a cry, both because of the weakness of the wall and because of our fear. And it was not unreasonable for them to think these things, since we were making our habitation ^C in a city that had been razed, and we were making our sallies rather from a village than from a city. For the land had been razed in advance by the barbarians themselves and had been sufficiently deserted, they having torn down the walls from their foundations, and only then did I first resolve to inhabit ^D the Klemata again. Therefore, I first built a fort from what was available next to it, so that from this easily the whole rest of the city could be restored...

And the war immediately began, and winter was near at hand. For the fortress had been divided according to kinship, and they deposited the most important things in it; but whatever was superfluous lay outside somewhere along the other enclosure of the city. For the city as a whole already lay ruined; but the fortress, as if in great danger, had been prepared to save us. But the barbarians then, having lost many of their own and being put to shame, departed toward evening ^A, having kept watch for the dawn. For I myself had drawn up archers against the infantry, and against the cavalry, having drawn up the army in two parts. And it had been rebuilt with great speed, and had been fenced in with a trench. But the barbarians then, having lost many of their own and being put to shame, departed toward evening ^B, having kept watch for the dawn; but I, at the very dawn, led the army out to fight. I had at that time cavalry slightly more than one hundred, and slingers and archers more than a thousand. But as the barbarians were nowhere to be found, I set in order what was useful to me for the time, rebuilding ^C the old wall, and teaching my men to be well prepared for the battle. And I sent runners to those living near us, and I summoned them, to take counsel concerning the whole situation. And when they had arrived from everywhere, and an assembly of the best men had been formed, what I said then, and how it was fitting to lay claim to them as masters rather, and what help to try to find from them after having come, and what must be done, and everything else that I said then, I would value more than anything; it would be a long task to wish to relate everything in order. But they, whether as never having enjoyed imperial goodwill, nor caring for more Hellenic ways, but mostly laying claim to autonomous actions, or being neighbors to the one reigning ^D toward the north of the Ister, and being puffed up by the great strength and power of the army with which they fought, and not differing in their customs from those there, agreed to make a truce with them and to save themselves through them; and they all voted together that I should do these things. And I departed, so that our affairs might be saved, and I met with him as best one could manage to pray. And, having summarized everything to him in a short speech, he considered the matter more than anything else [(k)], and he gladly gave me back the whole command of the Klemata, and he added an entire satrapy, and he gifted sufficient annual revenues in his own land.

Here ends that illustrious fragment, full of new matters, which, had the treatise or writing from which it flows survived in its entirety to our age, we would know not a little more than we do now about the history of the Tauric Chersonese, lying—if I may say so—in darkness from the year 950, around which Constantine Porphyrogenitus wrote, down to the Genoese colonies established in these regions in the 13th century. We hope, certainly, that with other Greek codices of the Middle Ages combed through in various libraries, new light will be brought to this part of history as well; and His Excellency Count Nikolai de Romanzoff’s magnificence and generous spirit—by which he is stirred not only to foster all the other disciplines but most especially to see the history of the fatherland enriched and adorned—give us confidence that this will come to pass.

^A 80. *not according to law, but according to barbarous cruelty*, read *but according to*. Regarding the Acts of St. Boniface 284 B: *and the third time Candida did [something] in Rome, and prefectures*, amend to *according to the prefecture*, and note: *thrice she acted as Candida* according to the prefecture, from the Roman office of praetor, not prefecture, as the old Latin version has it. For the sons, who were Praetors, were named for that wealthy woman, Aglais, of whom it is spoken there, who had given the games, which, being held at the expense of the praetors or quaestors themselves, were on that account called "Candida." That it was the custom for mothers to supply their sons with the expenses for such an exhibition of duties, Valesius demonstrated in the Prolegomena to Possinus’s *Passion of SS. Perpetua and Felicitas* 10 A. Against Manuel Calecas, *De essentia et operatione* II 21 D: *those who among them had been purified according to the effects of [divine] energies not created and uncreated*—there is no doubt but that it should be read: *and the things of such ones*. And in the Prolegomena to the Hexapla of Origen I 101 C, *having learned their dialect, according to its elements he interpreted for himself*, read and distinguish: *their dialect and its elements, an interpretation according to*... so that the sense is—as it is rendered in the Montefalconius edition—*having learned the language of the Hebrews according to its elements, that is to say, according to the letter, he published an interpretation, but rather, having learned their language and characters, he made an interpretation for himself*, and what follows: for the phrase is taken from St. Epiphanius, *De LXX interpretibus* 1. 89 D. Similarly, the *Chronicon Paschale* 255 B must be corrected in its own words: *the same dialect, according to its elements*, read *and the elements*. Furthermore, in Theophanes’ *Chronographia* 144 D, *in the same year... the holy Arethas—was performed by the Homerites*, it seems it should be written: *according to the holy*.

I find fewer examples of the confusion of the words *κατὰ* (according to) and *κάτω* (down) among Greek writers of the Middle Ages, as in Pachymeres, *Historia* I 341 E: *at the foot of the hill of the holy Auxentius, down [κάτω] somewhere at the foot, they pitched their tents*, where it seems it should be read *according to some place [κατά που]*. There is much greater confusion of the words *κατὰ* and *μετά* (with), because of the similarity of the abbreviations for *κατὰ* and *μετά* in codices from the twelfth century on. For example, in Ephraim, *De perfectione hominis* III 290 B: *compacted together into the ark of Noah with so many animals amidst the straits: who could tell of the hardships after [μετὰ] the flood?*—scribe *according to the flood [κατὰ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν]*, especially if you look at the following: Assemanus, however, translates with the same error: *misery after the flood*. A similar error adheres to the text of the Pseudo-synod of Palamas, *Act. Conc.* edit. Paris XI 344 A: *it is revealed, not according to [κατὰ] the essence—but according to [1. κατά] the grace*, which same bad reading also flowed into the Combefis edition: however, the Latin version [is] correctly, *but according to grace*. Item, in Gregentius Tephrensis, *Disputatio cum Herbano Judaeo* 37 b B: *he was sufficient to stand with [μετὰ] the archbishop*, it is manifest that it should be read *according to [κατὰ]*—the Latin version [is] correctly, *to stand against the archbishop in the disputation*. The opposite happens in Nectarius the Patriarch’s *Responsio ad Claudium* 181 A: *before, according to [1. μετὰ] the Hebrew people, the evangelical preaching ran; did it not first go to the Greeks?* The Latin version [is] correctly, *after the Hebrew people*. And in Alexander the Rhetor, *De figuris sententiarum ac elocutione* 61 C: read *so that against others* [not *so that according to others*], and Laurentius Normannus’s version, as through many other [works] the whole of the sentiment...

place, and making the transition clear and brief; so that onlookers wondered and were struck with dread, and thought that the strange movement of the comet would not end well. And this, indeed, according to the suspicion of the many, came to pass. For as evening approached, on which custom decreed that the memory of the great martyr Demetrius should be celebrated, ^A a horrific earthquake—such as has never occurred in these ages—took place; it cast down the towers of Byzantium to the ground and leveled most of the houses, so that they became the sepulcher of their inhabitants.

ANNOTATIONS OF C. B. HASE

^B ... [the] whole city, in a short space of time, the news having spread, every one of the new, or youth, age, he who also easily shakes off sleep by the strength of his vigor, assembled. And as there were so many, that the most holy temple was stuffed with the multitude, the silver having been melted by the fire was all on the floor, like water; and the multitude of vessels flooded over it like a river. By which also, by the providence of God, the danger of the flame was overcome. For the burning of the ciborium did not throw everyone into as much despair by grief as the expectation of the flame reaching the roof of the temple melted the hearts of those beholding it. Which also having happened (for the fear which they feared came upon them, as it is written), from the iron chain hanging from the top ^C of the ciborium, from which a certain lamp and at that time a silver crater hung, by which, like a vine-branch, the fire having spread, began to scorch the roof and the so-called baskets. ^D Then some, having run swiftly across the beams, with many vessels of water, by the cooperation of God, got the better of the conflagration. After this, however, the multitude of the crowds not withdrawing but remaining inside, and those driving them away or ordering them to retreat because of the unseasonable time of the night not being able to persuade the throng, fear entered some of those caring for the all-holy temple, lest some strangers, both because of the multitude of the crowd and because it happened to be night, might attempt an act of plunder of the silver, not only of that which had been melted by the fire, but of everything hanging there for the decoration of the feast. And so, a certain memorable man, serving in the honored company of the so-called Dacian office of the most illustrious prefects of the Illyrian army, having deliberated, as there would be no way able to push the crowd out of the temple painlessly and with a plausible excuse, unless someone were to prophesy a sudden incursion of barbarians—the athlete of God moving his heart to this—he began to shout: "Barbarians are suddenly appearing at the wall, O fellow citizens! But all of you with your weapons arm yourselves for the fatherland." And these things that man indeed shouted, pretending [it], for the sake of leading the crowds out of the temple and securing the gates; so that with quietness the collection of the melted silver might be brought about. And it had been managed by providence

^A and such as had not occurred in these times, and the towers of Byzantium toward the ground of the most glorious martyr, so that the city might not be endangered by ignorance during the night. For the entire populace, having heard that unexpected cry, ran to their houses, and having armed themselves, went up onto the walls. Then they catch sight of the barbarian multitude on the field of the venerable temple of the martyr Matrona, who bears Christ—not indeed very numerous (for they were estimated by us at up to five thousand), but strong in power, because they had all been chosen and were experienced in war. For they would not have attacked such a great city in such a throng ^B unless they happened to excel in strength and courage those who had ever campaigned against them. And when the city shouted from the wall, having seen the adversaries with their own eyes (for it was now dawn, and the light of day was breaking), most of them descended, opened the gates, and engaged in close combat with them outside, with Christ and the champion martyr strengthening them; for they had already reached by the swiftness of their brutality even as far as the venerable shrine of the three holy martyrs, Chiona, Irene, and Agape, which, as you know, stands at a very short distance from the city wall. And indeed, while both sides were clashing with one another for a large part of the day, and the citizens were making their pursuits and retreats more dangerously, because the chosen flower of the entire Sclaveni nation, as has been said, stood as their opponents; finally, the martyr’s own intercession appearing, the barbarian force was driven away on that very day from these parts, retreating by the same way it had entered. And the matters of the unexpected and brutal incursion that took place at that time were thus concluded.

C. B. HASII ANNOTATIONS

^A it. It overturned the greater part of the dwellings, making them a grave for their inhabitants, and it leveled to the ground the neighboring settlements of Byzantium, and wrought much destruction upon the farmers. Not only this, but it also cast down the hemisphere of the upper story of the Great Church ^B, together with the western arch, 63 and brought it crashing to the earth: which things later the Emperor Basil reconstructed within a space of six years. And there were also most dire famines, and plagues, and droughts, and floods, and the onsets of violent winds; at which time also the pillar in the district of Eutropius 64 was brought down by the force of the waves, and the monk 65 who was upon it was wretchedly drowned in the sea surges; and the unproductiveness of the land, and the evils that ^C afflicted it after the rising of the star, all came to pass. But history will indicate these things in detail in their own times.

Chapter 11

11. Now the Emperor John, then having departed from Syria (for I am returning to the point from which I set out), was hastening toward Byzantium. Seeing by the way Longias and Drizen, 66 lands that were fertile and well-suited for cultivation, he admired them. ^D

^A The Roman army, having previously been saved for the empire by the president and prefect of the chamber Basil, was then held by him; the emperor was vexed by this, as was fitting, and felt aggrieved, and blamed the man's violent avarice. He could not, however, speak out against him at that time, fearing the prince's indignation; but he mocked his words in secret, and decided to remove his master, who had already become burdensome to him, by any means possible.

The emperor had come to the field of Atroa, situated below Mount Olympus, and had turned aside to the house of the patrician Romanus, who was adorned with the dignity of Sebastophoros. There, they say that a certain eunuch of the attendants, whether of his own accord hostile to the emperor, or suborned and corrupted by the promises of gifts from those who, wicked by nature, wished to see a change in affairs (a report which is told and believed more than the former), provided the emperor with poison prepared in a drink; and he, suspecting nothing of the kind, drank the poison thinking it a healthful draught. ^B But already on the day after, a torpor of the limbs and a relaxation of his whole body seized him; and through the sudden violence of the affliction, the science of the physicians appeared vain and of no use, nor could they easily discern this disease. The emperor, when he felt that the singular strength which he had formerly possessed was suddenly laid low, hastened to reach Constantinople; at the same time, he urged that the sarcophagus, which was being prepared for his body in the temple of the Savior that he himself had built, be completed as soon as possible. With such a strained journey he came to the city, and was received wonderfully by the people, being already languishing and breathing and exhaling with difficulty from his inner chest.

When he had betaken himself into the palace, destroyed by the poison, he already lay upon his bed. Thus, finding that he would not recover from so great a disease (for the evil, settling upon his vitals, foully consumed them), he distributed largesses with a full hand, both to the poor and especially to those lepers and those who carry about their bodies eaten away by foul scabies, whom he regarded with more care than other needy people. Then, having called in ^C Nicholas, the bishop of Adrianople, a divine and reverend man, he revealed the errors he had committed in the course of his life, and poured forth a flood of tears from his eyes, by the washing of which he wiped away the stains and filth of his sins, having invoked the Mother of God, that he might find her as his patroness on the day of judgment, when before her divine Son the actions of mortals will be weighed with incorrupt scales and weights. When the emperor had made this confession with an intent mind and a contrite spirit, he departed from this life and transferred himself to the rest which is beyond, on the tenth day of January, in the fourth indiction, in the year six thousand four hundred and eighty-five. ^D

invoking the Theotokos, he hoped to find her an advocate on the day of judgment, when human deeds are weighed by ^A her Son and God in the impartial scales and balances. Having made such a confession with unwavering purpose and a contrite soul, the emperor departed from these things and passed over to that rest on the tenth day of January, in the fourth indiction, in the year 6485, being buried in the temple of the Savior at the Chalke, which he himself had magnificently built from its foundations. Such was the end that the Emperor John found to his life; a man of low physical stature, but possessing a kind of heroic strength, having become noble and unconquerable in wars, and courageous and very daring in the face of dangers. He lived in all fifty-one years; he presided over the empire and its affairs for six years and thirty days. ^{B C}

CONCERNING THE SKIRMISHING WARFARE OF THE LORD NICEPHORUS THE EMPEROR

INDEX OF CHAPTERS

1. Concerning scouts, and at what distance each one ought to stand from the other.

^D

ANNOTATIONS BY C. B. HASIUS.

* Since it is evident from the whole book, and especially from Chapter vi, that *paradromē* properly consists in accompanying adversaries while they are on the march from the flank, with scouts and precursors stationed around, so that according to one's ability one may both keep the enemy from ravaging and not miss an opportunity for conducting affairs well, if it should present itself. The same method of warfare, when the adversaries have pitched camp, is called *paramonē* [waiting/stationing], and to remain *paramenein*. And to express the word *paradromē* when words like consertatio [engagement], assectatio [pursuit], observatio [observation], and juculatio equestris (about which we know Pliny wrote in his second book) did not in any way satisfy, I finally chose the word *velitatio* [skirmishing], which, as far as I understand Latin, seemed to render the force of the matter a little less inaccurately. Lambecius, *Comment. de Bibl. Cæs.* VII. 432, translates it too generally as "On Military Matters." That I fluctuated in translating the word *paradromē* is evident even from my diverse interpretations.

II. On the guarding of routes and on scouts. III. On the movement of the enemy, and how narrow passes may be occupied in advance. IV. On how ambushes are to be laid secretly against enemies, and how one must meet adversaries returning home. V. On the occupation of water sources in narrow passes. VI. On engaging with the mounted force, should it fall into pillaging, and how one may estimate the number of their soldiers. VII. On the concentration and movement of the army, and on the provision that merchants be allowed to enter the enemy's borders and to scout. VIII. On the method of observing and pursuing the army. IX. On the movement of the predatory band, and on the pursuit of it. X. On the separation of the predatory band from the infantry following in the rear. XI. In narrow passes, the infantry ought to be stationed on both sides of the road. ^B XII. On a sudden incursion of the enemy, before the Roman forces can be gathered. XIII. On the ambushes which are laid against ^C the measurers, whom we call *mensuratores*, in the camps. XIV. On the separation of the cavalry from the infantry with whom they had been making the journey. XV. On caution. XVI. On removing impediments. XVII. On enemies invading our provinces with huge forces, and on the method of fighting by way of ambushes. XVIII. On when a commander ought to pursue enemies in two divisions. XIX. On the formation, armor, and training of the soldiers. XX. On adversaries, if they linger too long in our region, that our army should cross over into their territory. XXI. On the siege of a stronghold. XXII. On the separation of a half, or even a third part, of the hostile forces. XXIII. On the departure of the enemy and the occupation of the narrow passes (defiles). XXIV. On nocturnal combat. ^D XXV. On another way of occupying a road that presents difficulty at a descent.

PREFACE

Cum propositum nobis sit rationem tradere, qua hostes bello observandi sint, tametsi id fortasse in præsentia minus necessarium in Orientis partibus est, quod Christus, verus Deus noster, infensa nobis vi ac potentia filiorum Ismael majore [trans: Since our proposed task is to hand down the method by which enemies are to be observed in war, although this is perhaps less necessary at present in the regions of the East, because Christ, our true God, has blunted the greater part of the hostile force and power of the descendants of Ismael against us...]

^A But since time, by bringing forgetfulness and ignorance in its train, might destroy and cause the usefulness of this method to vanish, we have thought it necessary to commit it to writing, so that if the Christians should ever need it in the future, when the necessity of the time calls for it, it might be ready as a strong helper, both for the common good and for those who put it into practice. For our part, we have not only heard of this method, but have also been taught some experience of it: partly because we obtained as teachers and instructors those who, one might almost say, invented the method; and partly because we ourselves have employed it and embraced a certain experience of it, as much as was possible for us.

This, then, is its usefulness: that those who have practiced it have achieved, with a small number of troops, most great and memorable deeds. For indeed, what the entire Roman army was unable to accomplish, or even dared not attempt when the power of the Cilicians and of Chambdan was at its peak, a single one of the best commanders—sometimes with only the troops of the province (theme) under his command—would, by prudently and skillfully engaging the enemy and by managing and directing the war intelligently, bring to completion. We say this not because we prefer a small force to a large one in battle, nor because we exalt this method above other military treatises and tactical practices, but because it stands as the best auxiliary for the greatest commanders, so that when they could not stand face-to-face against the enemies, by using this method, they could keep both themselves and their own country safe.^B

This method, as far as I know, was ^C wonderfully enriched and altogether renovated from obscurity by the divine Bardas Caesar (not to count the ancient commanders one by one, but only those known to all in our own time). He, while commanding the troops in the provinces bordering on Tarsus—Cappadocia and the Anatolic—crushed the forces of the Tarsians and the rest of the Cilicians countless times and set up the greatest trophies over them. It was from him that we, too, having been trained in this discipline, have gained such experience as we have of it. Besides him, there was also the patrician Constantine, surnamed Meleinus, who for many years, while in command of the Cappadocian troops, with this as his helper, most successfully achieved not a few things. ^D Alongside these, our lord Nicephorus, prince of immortal memory, also cultivated it marvelously; for, when...

he was in command of the armies, he was wont to employ it, and by its use accomplished many and most admirable deeds, routing the enemy, so to speak, six hundred times and cutting down their greatest forces. To write down or enumerate his glorious deeds, according to the time in which he held command, would be tedious for the readers, both because of the infinite number of them and because they are already well known to many. ^A For the Emperor, having been taught by experience that this discipline is most useful, and having himself written down how it ought to be employed for the common good, commanded me to prepare to the best of my ability a commentary on the same matter to leave to posterity. And not only concerning this [system], which is suitable for the ends of the East, but also concerning that which is in use in the regions of the West: because I commanded troops there for a long time, and I gathered into my mind the knowledge of these matters as much as my ability allowed. But of this [the Western system] we shall speak separately at another time; for the present, our intention is to discuss the other. Therefore, satisfying the prince’s command, and using as my helper divine grace, which ought to be invoked for all desirable good things, I shall begin to speak on our subject in this manner.

Chapter I. On the watches, and at what interval they should be from one to another.

Those who hold the care of the great and limitary provinces, and have within their jurisdiction ^B the mountain passes, must strive and apply themselves with every reason, counsel, and indefatigable diligence, so that they may preserve the Roman borders safe and sound from the incursions of the enemy, and station sentinels who are strong, capable, and well-versed in the routes. If high and difficult ridges separate our jurisdiction from that of the barbarians, in those places sentinels must be placed, and the stations of the sentinels must be distant from one another by three or four miles. If they perceive the adversaries advancing, let them report what they have seen by racing to the next station; and let this station with great speed signal the same to the next: ^C and so, one after another, let them report the matter to the equestrian guards posted in the flat lands, through whom the leader may be informed of the approach of the barbarians. It is fitting that the sentinels remain for fifteen days on the guarding of the roads, and carry with them enough provisions for these days: then, for the changing of these men, let others succeed, rightly chosen and instructed by the prefects, so that they may be present, whole and complete, according to the written register, and let not the prefects, ^D for the sake of base profit, keep them at home.

^A It is permitted to observe the scouts, where it is appropriate for the enemy’s encampments to be, where there is plentiful water and clear ground; and to look for others, where the road creates a bottleneck; and for others, where a river exists that is difficult to cross. And with these guarding securely, the enemy will not be able to make a secret departure. And one must send trustworthy and highly experienced men to observe them, as to whether they are guarding their assigned localities well and vigilantly. And let the assigned scouts depart with their number whole and without being missing [P. 121], and let them not leave their posts ^B or change locations and shift elsewhere, so that by lingering too long in the same places, they may not be recognized and become vulnerable to the enemy.

Chapter II. On the watch-beacons and scouts.

^B The utility of the watch-beacon keepers is necessary; and the general must also take great care of them, and set up the watch-beacons in suitable places, so that when a movement of the enemy occurs, the scouts may perceive this through the watch-beacons, and the general may have foreknowledge of the departure of the enemies, and which road they are about to take; and let the country folk (4) be warned by them and by the sweepers (5), and take refuge in the fortifications along with their livestock. And in the borderlands of the Armenian themes, since the Armenians do not perform the service of the watches well or securely, it is an obligation to observe the custom that has held from of old in the Armenian watches: that suitable men be chosen and enrolled, receiving ^C pay collected from the army, for the work that such an army ought to have performed in conducting the watches; and likewise, that they receive the ration established for each month and be changed every month, and that they guard securely the roads by which the enemies make their egress. But since not even those Armenians who are so engaged with pay and rations perform the service of the watches correctly, it is necessary to ascertain the movements of the armies from scouts who have been dispatched, and to choose brave and vigorous men—whom the Armenians call *tasinarios*—and having enrolled them in the military register, to set prefects over them, who, ^D [index: entries preserved]

in addition to courage, also possess extensive experience of the paths and regions of Syria; and to send these out continuously, so that they may descend into the enemies' territories and wreak havoc, and if possible, seize some of the enemy and bring them to the commander-in-chief, so that through them he may learn of the movements and plans of the adversaries.

CHAPTER III. Concerning the movement of the enemy, and how narrow passes should be preemptively occupied.

^A When the general is informed that the adversaries have moved, he also must assemble and arm his own troops, and proceed to the frontier, and gather all the infantry on the road by which the enemies are about to emerge. If he realizes that the adversaries are advancing with a small force, he should hasten to meet them and overcome them with his cavalry and infantry, if he has been able to lead and draw them up. And since infantry engagement is better suited to narrow paths and difficult terrain, it is advantageous to hold the higher ground with this type of arms, and to post lines of infantry on either side, if the nature of the terrain allows. Where a cavalry battle can take place, cavalry should also be joined to the infantry, so that the enemies, having perceived this preparation and the occupation of the narrow passes, may either check their forward movement and onset, or, with God’s help, be overcome. ^B But where the nature of the terrain does not allow troops to be drawn up on both sides, but only on one, that side from which it is possible to descend must also be preemptively occupied. Where the unevenness of the terrain is a hindrance, such that an attack by the armed men cannot be made from higher ground, and the road is gradually rising, rough, and forced into a very narrow width by flowing streams, it is necessary to draw up the line of infantry likewise on the higher ground, and to block and hedge in the road itself with legionary shield-bearers and javelin-men; and behind these, to post those who throw stones by hand, and together with them, archers and slingers; and likewise to post a second, reserve line behind the first. ^C But on both sides of the line that holds the middle of the road, javelin-men should be stationed, as well as light-armed troops and slingers. But if other routes are said to exist to the right and left of the line occupying the military road—which routes the frontier guards call *atrapoi*, that is, footpaths—it is necessary that these too be occupied by an infantry force and diligently guarded, lest perchance the enemies, having learned that the public road is held too firmly by a multitude of infantry, turn themselves into one of the transverse paths, and, if it is not correctly and diligently guarded, having found a passage there, and being positioned at the flank or rear of the battle lines and surrounding them, they may cause terror.^D

and confusion to the Roman army. But if both are guarded safely, the enemies, either rushing to battle, will be put to shame by God’s help, or, seized by fear, will launch their assault by another path that keeps a distance of many days. And from this, two things will follow for the enemies who have abandoned their baggage and the direct path: one is that they will be worn out by the distance of many days; the other, which even brings destruction upon them, is that they themselves will become faint-hearted and cast down in despair, while the Romans will become more eager and courageous to wage war against them. This has occurred to the unforgettably ruinous Hamdan ^A exactly three times: twice in the times of the praiseworthy and thrice-blessed Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, and once under the good Emperor Romanus, his blessed son. And all men know accurately the slaughter of the enemies of Christ that happened then. Yet the army of the people of Tarsus and the Cilician region was also routed and put to flight in different places in the narrows by the generals who were in charge of the frontier at that time. ^B

CHAPTER IV. In what manner attacks should be made stealthily against the enemies, and how one must encounter the enemies as they return home.

The general must also set this before himself and meditate upon it, and employ every effort to make attacks against the enemies stealthily and unexpectedly, if it is possible. For the general who employs such a stratagem will put to rout many of the enemies even with a small force. And if, as has been shown above, he finds a place in the narrow passes that has the convenience of attacking the enemies from both sides, he ought to descend into battle without any hesitation; and by drawing up the troops under his command well, he will, by God’s help, ^C defeat the enemies mightily. Nevertheless, it is much more expedient and appropriate to attack the enemies not when they are about to set out against Romania, but when they are returning to their own territory from our lands. For then, because of their long delay in the Roman lands, they are greatly exhausted and afflicted. But if by chance they are carrying with them a great quantity of plunder, captives, and livestock, both they themselves and their horses are found to be exhausted at the time of battle, slackened, and they hasten and desire to reach their own territory as quickly as possible. Then, which is the main point, because of the lengthening of time, the forces of the Romans, ^D and not only those who are near the mountain passes,

^A but also those stationed further away, are quickly gathered and assemble in sufficient strength, and are well equipped and prepared for battle. And then, as we have said, both by day and by night, the battle joined against them will have an undoubted victory. Therefore, the commander should never withdraw from them as they return. On the other hand, to want to meet the enemy as they break through in the narrow passes, for the sake of joining battle, is indeed less convenient, and it may well happen that the whole effort falls to nothing, because the infantry cannot be gathered and properly organized so quickly within a few days. Furthermore, which is of the greatest importance, it is more difficult to attack the enemy at that point, as they are still fresh and not yet exhausted by arms. On the other hand, it has the utility and advantage that they become timid, if, as often as they seek to break out, the narrow passes are held by arms, and so they quickly cease their continuous incursions into the Roman provinces. ^B

Cap. V. On the preoccupation of water in the narrow places.

In whatever places of the narrow passes and defiles the commander prepares for battle, if there is a spring gushing water in these places, he should take care that it is occupied by his own army, so that his soldiers may be able to draw water from there. If it flows weakly, he should take care that it is not muddied, from which no small inconvenience and necessity might befall the army. If there is no spring nearby from which the soldiers may obtain drink and refreshment, especially in the summer time, he should command that there be ten skins in every century, by which water may be carried, and at the time of the battle, it may be distributed to those who are fighting in the line for the sake of drink and refreshment. ^C But concerning these things which ought to be set in place in the narrow passes for the sake of fighting, these things are sufficient. And if it should be necessary to join battle by night in such difficult terrain, these too will be very useful. But I will explain about nocturnal fighting in another chapter. Now I shall begin to say by what means you ought to pursue the enemy: a method which, as it is most useful and necessary, so it brings it about that a great multitude of enemies, by a small and seemingly weak force, not only effects nothing, but for the most part, by the will of God, is routed and put to flight. ^D

Cap. VI. On pursuing the equestrian column which makes a predatory incursion, and by what means you may determine the number of its soldiers.

The predatory columns of the enemy, which are called *monocursa* and surge forth from their own borders without infantry...

are accustomed to march with great haste, and never halt, but proceed throughout the entire night; they allow the horses to rest only for a short time, just enough to provide them with fodder. For as a rule, these *monocursa* make their sorties with a very small and select force. They hasten with the greatest speed to reach the villages where they have planned to make their attack and raid. Therefore, when the commander is informed of their sortie by the fire-signal guards and the patrols, he should make haste with great diligence to occupy the frontier villages, sending ahead a tourmarch or some other officer from among the most experienced and capable men, along with a force of select commanders and well-mounted soldiers, in order to meet them and, with experienced judgment, observe them, remain in position, and report to the commander at the location they have reached, and, if possible, inspect and determine the size of their force. For it is possible to count and estimate them not only by direct sighting, but also by their tracks. For when the strength of the grass exists in the wilderness and is trampled by the feet of the pack animals, men who are very experienced can, from this, estimate the number of the troops, even if not accurately; likewise at the crossings of rivers, and still more accurately from their encampments after they have departed from them. The commander, having learned of the arrival of the enemy raiders and having conjectured which villages they intend to raid, should approach them; and once he has hidden himself with his men in a suitable place, and has sent out mounted patrols in every direction, as soon as he is informed of their movements, and they are seen riding out and dispersing, he should sally forth against those who are dispersed, and by attacking them, he will defeat them without difficulty. But if it happens that some of the villagers are captured by them before they set out, and they learn of the commander’s presence and which villages he has occupied, they will not dare to ride out, and will turn back to their own country in haste without having achieved their purpose, having endured nothing but exertion, exhaustion, and hardship. ^C

Chapter VII. On the assembling and movement of the army; and that merchants should be allowed to enter and spy.

If you hear that a great army is being formed and moved, at the time of year when large forces are usually accustomed to gather—that is, in the month of August, for at such a time vast numbers of men from Egypt, Palestine, Phoenicia, and Coele-Syria used to rise up into Cilicia and the regions of Antioch and Aleppo, and, taking up Arabs with them, make an incursion against the Romans in the month of September—at such a time, I say, when the assembly of the enemy's army is about to occur, it is expedient to send out scouts, or what are called *tasinacia*, and as many informants as possible from the number of trustworthy and faithful men. Likewise, it is possible for merchants

^A to feign entry and to cultivate friendship with the powerful emirs of the fortresses bordering our lands; and to write to them, and to send them men with gifts, so that by means of this multi-faceted meddling, the leader may be clearly informed of the plans and deliberations of the enemies, and the multitudes of the [P. 127] gathered camps of cavalry and infantry, and their commanders, and in which regions they intend to make their incursion. Being thus certified of the movement of the army and the path by which he is to break into the territories of the Romans, the leader ought to gather all the troops and advance to the border. He ought to send ahead either a most experienced tourmarch or some other of the great and proven commanders with picked cavalry to go and meet the enemies before they make their entry into our countries, so that they may follow them, remain near them, and report their movements to the general.

CAP. VIII. Concerning the method of observing and pursuing the army.

^B The observation of them is to be conducted in this manner: While the general, with all his forces, proceeds through a convenient and fortified place near the route, and the pagans, with all their livestock, are gathered within towns or, if no towns are available, are driven by plunderers into the most elevated, fortified, and ambush-resistant mountains, one must send out the person assigned to cling to the flank of the enemies around the second or third hour of the day. He, having received the blessing of the general, and after gathering his troop and his grooms, should betake himself to the road by which the enemies are passing. Let him leave his own baggage and camp-followers with the general, and let him carry nothing with him except one day’s provisions, and those sparse: merely hardtack, cheese or salted fish, and fodder for the horses and mules. If he arrives at a village where he may find sustenance and fodder for the beasts of burden, he should ^C refresh his soldiers and horses there until the ninth hour of the day, with pickets posted in higher locations. The commander of the column himself, having climbed a very high vantage point, should observe and watch for the dust and smoke of the enemies, whence he may deduce and make an estimation of where they are passing and where they intend to encamp. For from experienced men, the places where it is expedient to pitch camp are also recognized. When they have understood the location where the adversaries have halted, let them immediately inform the general of this matter. He, with his ^D

own army—clad in breastplates and the so-called *epanoklibana* (which must not be white)—and with each man holding his weapon in his hands, shall begin the march. When the sun is setting and the enemy’s raiders have returned from the camp ^A to their tents, along with the guards [(14)] assigned to protect them, then let him also move in and approach the enemy’s camp. He should march with careful observation, deep attention, and stealth; and he should conceal himself so as not to be seen by the enemies. Once night has fallen, let him arrive near their encampment. If there is a high hill in the place where the enemies have halted—on one side, or even on two—nearby their camp, they will easily guard their watch at that location. For two or three soldiers, dismounting from their horses and climbing the hill on foot, once they have approached the camp, will be able from those high and strongly fortified hills—which offer no easy ascent to the enemies—to see the camp, listen to the voices of the men, and hear the neighing of the horses and mules. Let him also send off four other detachments ^B to take up their positions on horseback on either side of the camp, separated from one another, so that they too may hear the neighing of the horses and mules and the clamor [(15)] of the people. If there is no such fortified hill in the area of the encampment, four detachments should likewise be sent to take their positions quietly on either side of the camp, and provide one another with agreed-upon signals for withdrawal, should that be necessary, whether by whistling, or by word and vocal call. It is also fitting that they be relieved by others, either twice in the night or at least once, so that both they and their horses may rest; and it is fitting that the *tourmarches*, or some other commander, go to relieve them, and inspect where and how they are positioned, and having properly stationed those who are relieving them, return to the place where he had stood before. If ^C a disturbance is heard, signaling movement for a raid, let the four detachments withdraw a little, but let them not go far away; and let them inform the *tourmarches* of the enemy’s departure. He himself must inform the general by what road they began their thrust, and at what hour, so that the general, learning the time and hour of their departure, may be able to make a conjecture as to which villages they might reach by morning. The soldiers sent by the *tourmarches*, wherever he is spending the night, must report to the general that the raiders have departed ^D. If they do not find him himself at that location, but rather the agents left behind by him, it is fitting that those arriving give a call: the agents, having carefully investigated and recognized the voice, [should identify themselves to them].

general, or even lead them to other agents, should the general have perhaps moved again. For he must, whether once or twice in the night, change position for the sake of greater security, so as not to be ambushed by the enemy, and he must have double pickets to guard him securely. ^B

CAP. IX. Concerning the movement of the predatory band, and the pursuit.

The general—having been informed that the predators have departed—must immediately send another officer with selected cavalry, who is to be subordinate to the tumarch following the raiding party, so that he may be guided to him. The one sent must have with him one of those who came from the tumarch to notify the general of the predators' departure, by whom he may be led, so that he may the more easily be able to join the tumarch. The general himself, moving on the track of the officer sent ahead with his own forces, should hasten to reach the tumarch, so that he, too, with the tumarch in the lead, may pursue the enemy's predators. For a diligent and wander-free pursuit must be made from the rear of the enemy, according to their footprints and tracks. The tumarch must advance toward the enemy's line three pairs, composed of skilled and suitable men chosen for this purpose, and these shall place themselves on the road of the enemy; and having instructed the first and second and third pair as to how they ought to march and pursue the enemy, he should return to his own line. ^C Accordingly, the first pair, traveling near the enemy, should listen for the clamor of the multitude and the neighing of the horses. The second pair, taking the place of the first, should advance in such a way that it can both see the one going before it and be seen by it: it should neither approach too closely nor, by falling behind, withdraw from sight. After the three pairs, he shall set up three quads, in such a way that the third pair can be seen by the first quad, and the first pair similarly by the second quad. The third quad, following the second, must have six men; so that two of them may report to the tumarch what is announced by any of the pairs, and the tumarch may report to the general. And if the enemy begins to move more quickly, the first pair must report this fact, so that the tumarch and the general may themselves also march more vigorously and not remove themselves too far from the enemy. If the enemy again moves more slowly, they should proceed more slowly, so that they may neither be recognized by approaching too closely, nor—having advanced too far—be unable to discern the state of those following, nor be discerned by them, which causes singular calamity. Especially, however, when the enemy halts… ^D

^B to feed their horses, let the general—who is warned of this—also halt his own force in a suitable place to feed his horses, sending out scouts for his own protection. And when he is informed of the enemy’s movement, he must immediately proceed to follow them, dispatching cavalrymen in groups of thirty on both sides—not far, but nearby—that they may listen for the cries of his own force. And let him have an officer following behind him with a body of cavalry, whom they call *saka* (17). Let the general travel ^C from a distance (18), taking every precaution not to be discovered as he follows behind them. He must advance safely, and instruct those who follow the enemy closely to keep a sharp lookout, lest the enemy leave ambushes for those trailing them and for the general himself—an event which has often occurred with the Tarsians. For when the *tourmarchs* followed them, failing to closely scout the ravines ahead and the places capable of concealing troops, they unexpectedly fell into their ambushes. Because of this, the one following requires great presence of mind and precision, so that such a thing does not happen. Before dawn, once the general has ^D determined in what places and districts the enemy intends to travel, he must move to the right or left of them, wherever he observes more rugged country. And by marching more swiftly and positioning himself on their flank at a distance of about two miles, before the day breaks—as has been stated—so that the enemy, not seeing the dust, might not recognize the presence of the general, he is to occupy the rugged place and conceal his own force there. Let him then, with a few horsemen, draw closer to the enemy, and ascending a high vantage point, make haste to view the enemy clearly. As they have departed for their excursion and scattered to plunder, let the general remain in his place until the third or fourth hour of the day, so that he may observe the Amir’s battle line and carefully estimate the number of his troops. But when the raiding parties have moved too far from the Amir’s standards—such that they cannot possibly return or notice a battle joined with the Amir’s main line—and as they rush in every direction to occupy villages and take as much plunder as possible, having instructed his own troops appropriately, let him [attack] the Amir’s battle line,

^A seeing that it is lightly manned, and with the cooperation of God, he will gain the victory and inflict complete destruction upon the enemy. But if he does not dare to attack the battle line when he sees that it comprises a numerous and formidable force, let him set off from the flank and from a distance by a hidden and convenient path, and with a rapid advance, with the force that is suitable, let him move to capture those who are dispersed. And let him strive throughout the entire day to harry them while they are scattered, and he will perform a notable feat with the cooperation of God. The commander ought also to have a proven officer with a few horsemen behind him, who may watch and observe the Amir’s battle line and its movements, and report back to him. If the commander encounters a body of the enemy that is numerous, which is acting as a guard for those dispersed for plunder, he should divide his own force into two, and send forward a part to engage in battle with this body. As they are fighting, the commander himself should also immediately follow close behind with his own battle line, and vehemently and ^B courageously, with shouting and clamor, let him rush upon them at full gallop, and with the help of God, he will rout them and pursue them and destroy them utterly. If, with God’s bidding, the commander has conducted the matter well, and, having suppressed the adversaries who had gone out for plunder, he has performed a great and distinguished feat, it is to be believed that the enemy will return home in disgrace. But if they have determined to remain longer in our territory, the commander, having taken his own force, should withdraw further from them—that is, to suitable places where he may refresh his own soldiers, who are exhausted, for three days, sending out daily only those who are tasked with reconnaissance, as we have already explained. But when he has learned that they have moved their standards for the purpose of returning, he should immediately gather his infantry forces by means of a proven officer sent with great speed to the roughest parts of the route, and the commander himself should strive ^D that neither by night nor by day he takes any part of rest, but with the greatest speed let him race ahead of them, and with all his infantry and cavalry forces well prepared, let him arrange the engagement against them, just as we have explained in detail above. If he does this, by the grace of Christ and by the authority and intercession of his immaculate Mother, once battle is joined with the enemy, he will prevail. And thus these things are so.

Chapter X. On the severing of the predatory hand, and on the infantry following from the rear.

Nor will it be irksome to set forth those things which we ourselves have seen. The army of the enemy, both cavalry and infantry, would repeatedly sally forth at the same time from its own borders and towns; and as they were marching together for two days, they...

would separate from one another. The cavalry, desiring to overrun and plunder our territories, would move ahead for a distance of several days, leaving the infantry behind, because they were eager to seize the inhabitants of the villages unaware and remaining at home. The baggage train, with the infantry and their gear, following behind, once they had traversed the defiles and narrow places, would scout a suitable spot for their protection and security, pitch their tents there, and encamp, awaiting the cavalry that had set out for the raid, so that they might lead them back safely through the difficult terrain. The commander, then, upon receiving word of their excursion, should send out detachments to lie in wait and carry out everything according to the aforementioned strategy. And if it is easy for the commander to catch those who have ridden out for plunder while they are dispersed, and to put them to flight, he should hasten to carry this out in action. But if, due to some errors or intervening difficulties, an obstacle presents itself, he should prepare for a battle against the camp; he should carefully examine the place where they have pitched their tents, lest there be a river or stream nearby offering them security. He should prepare himself according to the position of the place, and with great diligence gather the infantry force to himself, if possible.

^B When the commander expects their departure and migration to another camp, or perhaps learns of this from the interrogation of deserters, he ought to send out at night cavalry with leaders who are experienced and proven men, and to prepare two ambushes, one on each side of the road through which the passage of the enemy will take place. From these sent-out troops, he should select one hundred men and station them as a detachment to guard the villages lying near the enemy's path. And the commander himself must stand hidden with all his troops in a suitable place, and from a vantage point observe the transit of the enemy. When the enemy cavalry, searching the villages lying near these for their needs, enters the guarded villages and, having dismounted their horses, begins to rummage through the huts of the villagers, the one hundred cavalrymen stationed in the ambush should make an impression upon them, and immediately—having killed or captured as many as they can—they should betake themselves to flight, rushing along the road passing between the two ambushes, and drawing the enemy into a pursuit. Being pursued, they will cause the enemy to fall into the ambushes. Then those stationed on both sides should burst forth and make a fierce attack upon them, and with their swords they will slay a great number of the enemy.

^C When the commander sees this, he himself, with the greater part of his force, should immediately also urge himself into the line of battle of the enemy with a very sharp charge, and order the remainder of his men to circle around to the backs of the enemy and bring their standards to bear upon them there. And unless some obstacle interferes on account of our sins, they will defeat the enemy. However, if the fighting adversaries are able to offer resistance more stubbornly, and, standing their ground in the same place, they deposit the burdens from their pack animals, and, having created a rampart with many of the articles of baggage, they attempt to form a line of battle, that [process] is indeed a great

^A difficulty for the attack. But nevertheless, the commander must bring up his standards from all sides; and if there is any hope that the infantry, having made a rapid march, can arrive himself on the day of battle, he must see to it that this is done. But if this cannot happen because of the distance, he should order competent men from the cavalry to dismount from their horses, and on foot, together with the [rest of the] cavalry, join battle with the adversaries, using bows, slings, spears, and shields. The commander must also take with him his own pack animals and baggage, if they are at hand, and take up a position closer to the enemy, in order to strike fear and despair into them. ^B And if there is no possibility at all of water in that place, this, too, will not insignificantly disturb their spirits: and even if it does not wipe them out entirely, it will certainly make many of them prisoners, kill and wound many more, and break their arrogant spirit, so that they will no longer dare to make incursions into the regions of the Romans without fear. But if the commander has not learned of their transit from camp to camp—whether from deserters, as I have said, or from captives—so that he could set ambushes in their path by night, he should nevertheless openly lead his army in battle against the enemy when they have set out on the march during the day; unless he has very small and weak forces. For, to speak briefly, an attack on the baggage—since only a few armed horsemen are left as a guard for it—never causes any harm or disadvantage to our army; but whenever fighting has been concluded against it, the Roman army has always both taken many of the enemy and killed them; and it has brought many of the beasts of burden and laden mules under its control. ^C And if, furthermore, the infantry, armed and trained for fighting, can be present on the day of battle, let the commander, according to his duty, arrange the attack against the adversaries, who are surrounded on all sides, and thus reduce them entirely to annihilation. For we have not only seen such things happen against the baggage of the enemy, and also against our own when they were attacked, but we also read [of them] in writers, and we have learned [of them] from our ancestors. Therefore, an attack on the baggage is of great use, because it can bring no detriment or disadvantage at all, but can bring victory and glory in the highest degree. For the Roman army, by invading them, even if it does not achieve its object, will at any rate cause no damage. Likewise, if the enemy stay in the place where they have already sat down, and do not depart from there because of its fortifications, and are awaiting marauders, the commander must nevertheless bring up his standards: ^D lest, while he hesitates, the infantry [of the enemy], having gathered, or for some other reason, the whole marauding band should return among these, and make the whole plan of attack void. And thus the commander ought to attack them. He should scout the villages near the enemy's camp that are subject to guards; let him hide a chosen body of cavalry there in a suitable place under a very experienced and brave officer.

^A For when they come inside them to forage, they should attack them. Let other horsemen be assigned to an ambush to provide help and aid to those sent ahead: if the enemy wants to pursue them, they themselves will willingly charge against them and, having put them to flight, pursue them, because those horsemen who are left for the protection of baggage trains are always very few in number. If the enemies do not enter the villages at all—although this can hardly happen—let the commander order the scouts sent by him, who are experienced men, to observe by which part of the camp the adversaries lead their camels to pasture. Then let him designate either a tourmarch or a good deputy ^B with some sturdy horsemen; let them, having found a stream if a suitable one is nearby, creep into it and hide until they have approached closer; then, appearing, let them make an attack on the camels. The party sent out must be divided into two: so that one half drives away the grazing camels and donkeys, while the other remains in a station to provide aid for the protection and defense of the former. But if a group of the enemy acting as sentries before the camp runs into the camel-rustlers, or if cavalry flies out from the camp and pursues our men, those who are standing as reserves will defeat them. And at the same time, the commander, who is not far off but nearby ^C in an ambush, should come out against them: and just as he sees the battle joined, so let him organize the matter, either to rush headlong against the enemies or, if those sent from his hand have the upper hand, to advance in ordered and closed ranks to assault the camp. Thus, having brought out all the forces of horse and foot and having perceived the situation of the region, let him assign specific locations for each number of cavalry and infantry and, with the siege surrounded by a circle if possible, let him initiate the attack. If a river or stream is nearby, as we said above, which might offer defenses to the enemy like a trench, but permits passage in any way, let him lead armed men across it as well. Let him also see to it that the tents of the army are pitched to make it clear that he wants to establish a camp there, so as to terrify his adversaries: when these matters have been settled, let him advance the standards. And if he conducts the assault rightly, in good order, and vigorously, he will conquer magnificently. But if he cannot rout them the first day, because they resist with diligence and are strong in infantry, and at the same time are helped by the layout of the terrain, it is still necessary to encamp nearby ^D and summon greater infantry forces. At night, let it be his care that both the light-armed troops and the slingers throw missiles at the enemy: also that as many fires as possible be made in a circle around them: and let him exhort the light-armed troops to bravery and boldness, so that when the battle is joined in close quarters they may throw themselves into the fray until they have broken into the enemy's camp, and in the night have plundered horses, mules, and goods, having caused great wounding and slaughter of the enemies. And in general, if anything of this kind happens by the grace of God from one quarter, and it is seen or understood by the remaining battle lines, these too will rush with contempt of death to make plunder, inflamed by the hope of gain, and the enemies, by the grace of God...

they will conquer with little effort. But if perhaps, due to certain errors and adverse events, the commander does not destroy them completely, he will at least capture and slaughter their mules, and the soldiers will obtain much booty. While the commander is managing these things regarding the siege of the camps, it is necessary that a prefect be sent from the number of the upright and experienced men with forty cavalry, to guard the road by which the enemy's predatory band is to return. If he sees them returning toward their camps, and the troop they call the *veredum* [advance guard]—as is the custom of the Tarsites—approaching closer, he must immediately notify the commander sent to the watch that the predators are arriving. If he sees the *veredum* proceeding far ahead of the main body of the predators, ^B he should send an upright prefect with picked cavalry, who, if possible, may make an unexpected attack upon it, and he will overcome it with no effort. If it is closer and precedes the main body of the predators at a smaller interval, he should not send anyone against the *veredum*; but rather let him be content with those things which God has granted him in the siege of the camps: with all his forces, having turned his standards, let him seize suitable and more fortified places. Then, when the enemy army has crossed the difficult terrain with the intention of awaiting the arrival of the predators, so that it may lead what has been seized by them—whether slaves or livestock—safe and sound through the difficult places: the commander must take care to get ahead of them, to occupy the narrow passes with all his infantry and cavalry forces, and to manage the battle against them more skillfully, as we have shown above. And let them never be allowed to return without a fight. For if the commander draws up the battle correctly in the narrow passes, he will defeat them completely. But if, deprived of a large and firm infantry force, he cannot completely rout them, at least he will liberate those whom they are leading into slavery (even if perhaps not all), and he will both wound not a few of the enemies and take them prisoner. ^C

If, however, there is a river, ^A or a torrent, as we stated above, instead of an abatis guarding the enemy, if it in any way admits a crossing, one should station the people there too. Let him prepare to set up their tents there, so as to show that he intends to camp there, for the purpose of unseating them, and thus wage the war. And if he organizes the matters of the war well and bravely, it will turn out successfully. But if he is unable to rout them on the first day, owing to their being strong and resisting, and having an infantry force, and being assisted by the nature of the terrain, he must remain there with them and call for more infantry. And in the night let him prepare the light-armed troops and slingers against them, ^B and kindle many fires around them; and let him encourage the light-armed troops bravely to engage at close quarters and fight, until they enter among the undisturbed enemy, and seize their horses and mules and whatever things they can in the night, continually striking and killing the enemy. And if at all by the help of God such a thing happens, and it is seen and recognized by the others, they shall charge—even against death—in the hope of booty, and encouraged by the prospect of gain, and will easily overcome them, by the grace of God. But if he does not completely rout them owing to some chance errors and mishaps, nonetheless he will destroy many of them and take much booty. ^C Thus, while the commander is executing the matters of the camp, one should send a commander of the efficient and experienced men with forty cavalry, from afar, to guard the road by which the predator [enemy raider] troop intends to turn back. And when he sees them coming toward their camp, and in front of them—as is the custom of the Tarsites—the troop they call a *veredum* [dispatch-rider/advance guard] coming out near them, he must immediately notify the commander stationed at the watch. And if the commander sent to the watch sees the *veredum* coming from a great distance from the main body of the raiding troop, he shall send a commander of the efficient men with picked cavalry to make an attack against them, if possible, unexpectedly, and he will easily overcome them. But if it keeps close and near, walking in front of the raiding troop, he should not send against them, but let him be content with what God has helped him with for the war against the camp, and return with all the people, taking possession of suitable and more fortified places. Since the enemy's camp has for this reason passed through all the difficult passages, expecting the arrival of the raiding troop, so that it may save the items held by the raiding troop—whether slaves or livestock—leading them in safety through the difficult passages, the commander must strive to be in front of them and to seize the narrow passes with all the people, infantry and cavalry, and more carefully organize the war against them, as has been shown above. And let them never be left without a fight when returning. For if he handles the war well in the difficult passages, he will greatly rout them. But if, because he does not have a large and significant infantry force, he is unable to rout them significantly, at least he will rescue those whom they took prisoner (even if not all) and will both wound not a few of the enemies and take some of them prisoner.

Chap. XI. In narrow places, the infantry must stand on both sides of the road.

^A The general must also strive to rout the enemies in another way, even if the force around him is small. He should scout out a suitable and very strong place, or something like a fortress, that is nearby, so that it may be possible for that naturally fortified place to be occupied by infantry, and for the foot soldiers to be hidden in ambush on both sides of the road. The general should station himself with the cavalry behind the infantry, as close as possible to the foot soldiers. ^B Both the cavalry ambush and the infantry close to him should be positioned almost united at the rear. Let select men—up to a hundred—be sent out by the general into ambush, mounted on swift horses, having a brave and most experienced leader who knows an opportune place in which he might hide his own force. Let him occupy such a place at night and hide his men well. When it is dawn, let him climb to a watchpoint and look to see where the enemies are heading if they are on the move. If he sees them advancing for plunder and scouting the villages in order to collect booty, money, and whatever else they might be able to find, let him hold back until he observes them dismounting from their horses and searching through the villages. ^C Then, from the cavalrymen who are around him—whether 70 or 60, that is to say, more in number than it is certain the enemies have (for the number of the cavalry in the general's force must necessarily be greater than that of the adversaries)—let him order these to attack the opponents with a brave dash and the swiftest speed of their horses, and with God’s help, the affair will go well. But if it happens that they are pursued by the enemies, it is necessary to meet them with the forty who remain in reserve, and either kill the prisoners if any have been taken, or send them away, so that they might depart immediately and be brought into the fortified place. The general, however, managing the battle skillfully and resisting the enemies, and at times turning against them and at times feigning flight, shall provoke them to pursue. And if they pursue up to the places where the infantry are hiding, and some of the enemies pass these places, then the infantry, emerging from their hiding places, will confront the pursuing enemies and push them back. The enemies who have passed beyond the infantry will fall into the cavalry's ambush and all will be destroyed ^D utterly. For assisted by the terrain, the infantry will not allow the pursuers to break through; therefore, having abandoned the pursuit, they will all depart with their mission unaccomplished, having lost as many of their own men as are already surrounded within the narrow passes.

Chap. XII. Concerning a sudden incursion of the enemies before the Roman forces can be gathered.

If a sudden and sharp incursion of the enemies occurs, which in the case of

^A many often happens before the royal forces have gathered, and only the commander is present—and even he, because of the speed of their onset, has not been able to summon even the small number of troops from his own theme, but has few and countable men with him—he sees the enemies hastening and pressing forward to plunder. He must identify the region toward which they are driving their onset, which has not yet been ravaged or moved into cities or fortified places. He must dispatch either the tourmarch or other officers with great speed into such a region, that they may meet the enemies and, as much as they are able, rouse and expel the pagans and their livestock from the fields.

But if the commander sees that the enemies are already likely to attack the villages at daybreak, he must follow behind them, as we have demonstrated above, and present himself to the enemies that same night, drawn up for battle; so that in this way he may restrain their onset and keep the region unharmed. And if there is a river on the path that the enemies must cross, or a defile or difficult road, once the majority of them have crossed the river or ^B become entangled in the defiles, he should send some men into their rearguard. It is expedient for the commander himself to approach closer with the officers, mounted on choice and reliable horses, to show himself to the enemies and prepare to fight against them, just as if he were about to join battle immediately; however, he should separate the grooms and foragers from himself and send them off into fortified places or a town, if one happens to be nearby.

But if there is no river or difficulty of roads on the path, he must nevertheless show some boldness and threaten an attack, until he can harass them by night, so that when the enemies clearly perceive that the commander is following them, they may be daunted and not dare to proceed further or make an incursion into the villages. If this happens, the commander will protect and deliver the villages from the imminent ^C invasion and servitude. He should, however, perform this display and pressure with great diligence and providence, through a few and choice horsemen, as we have taught, who may return with a swift flight to the commander and the fortified place, and not rush against the enemy in a disorganized manner or more than is necessary. For if too large a force, in proportion to their strength, presses upon them, they will perhaps quickly become prey to the enemy hand; this is especially so if it happens that there is a full moon at night. But if the night is moonless and dark, they will accomplish the deed without any harm to themselves, and they will certainly obtain one of two things: either they will ensure that the enemies do not go out to plunder at all, or, if they do so, that they certainly do not go out until the sky is turning fully white, and then only a few ^D at most. For most men, because of the commander’s…

fear of the Emir’s battle line, will not depart. And if the commander acts in this way, the inhabitants of the villages will escape into the fortifications and castles, and be preserved unharmed.

CAP. XII. On ambushes to be laid against those called mensuratores (camp-measurers) in the locations of the camps.

If the enemies, having established their camp, are plundering our provinces and do not send out their raiders very far, but keep themselves guarded, you must endeavor to harm them by some other stratagem. It is necessary to reconnoiter and form a conjecture, both as to which side the enemy’s camp is on, and where they intend to measure out their camp the next day. If this place is quite far from the camp—at the sixth mile, or the tenth, or further—so that the length of the journey might make them and their pack animals weary, you should, after making an inspection near the place where they are to pitch camp, find a suitable hiding spot and conceal there three hundred chosen, able-bodied horsemen, or even fewer. In a secondary ambush, you will place your entire army in a suitable location that has a fortification for protection. If there is a town nearby, that also contributes greatly to your safety and advantage. And if the infantry are needed, they can emerge from the town, to fight alongside you and bring aid. ^B But if, as happens, some of the hostile army run ahead to capture the place where they will set up camp—whom the Romans are accustomed to call *mensuratores*—and they are occupied with this work, those whom you stationed nearby in the first ambush should quickly burst forth upon them with a great charge, and with the help of God, strike them down. And if the enemies pursue them as far as the place where you have set up your more secure ambush, you will attack them with manly and valiant force, defeat those pursuing, and raise a trophy worthy of memory over them. Finally, if it happens that huge forces of the enemy attack and resist you, nonetheless, because you have the advantage both of the fortification and of the infantry, you will confound them and cause them to return with their mission unaccomplished, having lost many of their own. ^C

CAP. XIV. On the departure of the cavalry from the infantry, with whom they had been traveling together.

You must also consider this carefully, O commander, and—if the enemies, without your knowledge, are eager to send out raiders and plunder our provinces—keep your mind alert, lest their plan and stratagem escape you. For what I am about to say, they have carried out elsewhere as well. When their cavalry and infantry are traveling together with the baggage train, just as they did on the days before and those that have passed, the…

^A baggage and the service personnel, together with the infantry, are left to guard them, and they pitch their tents according to their custom. But those who are prepared to make a raid and who intend to ravage our lands, set out for a raid towards evening, so that their dust may not be seen, and they launch their raid at dusk. ^B Those who are required to remain with the enemy’s camp, whether it be a tourmarch or some other officer, must move forward with their own men to the place where they are encamped. Since night is falling, they ought then, according to custom, to enter and approach their tents after the first or second hour of the night. But if the enemy’s cavalry are no longer in the camp, having already set out for a raid, it is certainly not possible for the officers to whom the observation has been entrusted to perceive this correctly and announce the truth to the commander, unless by the method I shall now explain. ^C It is fitting that those who are sent daily for observation should take from the leader two of the most experienced and bravest of those, who have been sent to observe the camp on previous days and who have been stationed in the quadrigae, as we have demonstrated above; so that they may be accurately instructed by them as to what each one did and saw earlier. The tourmarch should send these two, taken from one of the four quadrigae, to observe according to the previously exposed logic, so that, approaching the ^D camp, they may listen for the voices of the enemy and the neighing of their pack animals. There, those two soldiers, who have already observed the enemy in other camps when all their forces were pitched together, will be able to form a conjecture both from the roar and noise of the multitude, from the neighing of the horses, and finally from the space which they occupy with their tents. For the place will not be found to have a third of the extent that it had in the previous camps, when all were pitched together. Hence, it is possible to make an estimate and understand that the forces are lacking to the enemy in that place, and that they have not remained with them in the camp. For how can it be that they do not notice this, when some six thousand men and—up to—twelve thousand horses are absent from the camp, which those who recently observed it saw gathered together and counted? Nevertheless, so that all doubt may be removed and the scouts may perceive the perfect truth in this matter, the tourmarch who has been sent to observe ought to arrange these things besides: he should deploy eight horsemen from the most experienced, who are thoroughly acquainted with the roads, to move either from the right or from the left as a reserve, where the tourmarch has taken his stand, and to cross over past the enemy's camp until they are five hundred paces distant from the tents; as they advance, they must pay diligent attention and search for the paths. But if the enemy's cavalry has already passed by, and they were about two hundred, the station will nevertheless recognize their transit, even if they numbered up to twelve thousand.

For the tracks of such a number of horses, having recently passed through, will be clearly recognized by the scouts, and they shall quickly return to the turmarch to report this, and by which path they made their advance. The turmarch shall immediately report this with great speed to the general, and by which path they traveled. The general must deliberate upon these matters with the commanders who are with him, and the other experienced men. And if he sees that his own army has the strength to engage in battle with the enemy force, he should prepare himself for the fight against them; at least if his infantry forces are close by and can unite with him on the same day. But if the place where the enemies have encamped has a fortification that serves as a bulwark for them, or a stream that is difficult to cross, it is not proper to engage in a struggle against them.

^B But if the ground is level on all sides, and especially if his infantry can reach him on the day of the engagement, he should prepare himself for combat. But if the place has a fortification, as we have said, and the infantry forces are absent, he must move more quickly to crush the enemy raiders, and send a capable commander to follow the tracks of those who have set out to raid the enemy. The general himself, with all his troops, should hasten to approach by an oblique path at a rapid pace, as he knows the roads upon which the enemies are traveling. He should make this journey with great caution. Then, at the approach of first light, ^C he should send out scouts who will inquire about the enemies: these, having climbed high hills, should take pains to observe them. When it is daylight, the general should hide his troops, lest, by raising their dust, he might rather fall into the ambushes of his adversaries. Then, having been informed either by those who followed the raiders, or by those whom he sent out for the purpose of observation and scouting, as to where that enemy standard is—that under which their commander is—the general, taking a few men with him, should ascend to a high lookout and attempt to observe the enemy line with his own eyes. Once this has been observed, and having seen where their multitude has spread out to raid, he should estimate, in comparison with those who are together, both the forces standing in the enemy battle line and the strength of his own force. If his own army is larger than the enemy's, he should urge it against them, as we have described above; and if, with God providing aid, he can strike down and rout their battle line, he will surely perform a great deed worthy of memory. But if huge forces have stood under the enemy standards, the general ought to take care to move further on, to the villages ^D which the adversaries have invaded, so that he may come up behind them. If he catches them dispersed and exhausted by the course—both the men themselves and their pack animals—he will slay them with no difficulty throughout that entire day, and he will hunt them through the villages: he will hold them as if they were a count of slaves, and he will deal with them by his own judgment. He will deliver the peasants, and whatever of their goods they have already been able to seize, from servitude. If, however, he encounters a compact formation,

let the commander who is following ^A prepare himself for the battle against that compact formation, just as we have explained above, and by the help of God, he will gain the victory in the battle. But if the enemy have made an encounter in the night, and have not yet been able to forestall them or reach the places where they could watch the scouts, and the noise of them went before them, as I have said, before he could have received certain confirmation of the truth of this; and it happened from such an encounter that the commander was delayed and waited for the reliable report of the matter to be sent to him, and the message sent to the commander was confirmed about the ninth hour of the night or later—the commander sees the narrowness of the time, and since the raiding party of the enemy was still prevailing in the day, he made a movement, and since it was not possible for them to get far during the night, nor possible for them to be ^B prepared for battle [P. 144] in the place where they are encamped, let him be prepared both for the battle, as we explained above should be done against a compact formation. But they will not stay all day in that same place, because they hasten to join their cavalry forces that are raiding more quickly. And the commander, falling in with those who are marching, will eagerly charge into battle against them, as we have explained before concerning the marching compact formation. And doing everything carefully, the commander, having the help of God and his holy and immaculate Mother, the Theotokos, will perform a great and memorable service. ^C

CAP. XV. Concerning caution.

^A For it happens that some of our men are taken captive or desert, and from these, the enemy learns where you are heading. Therefore, for fear that they might take up their horsemen by night to attack you and catch you unawares, you must have scouts who, as soon as they hear the noise of a multitude departing among the enemy, report it immediately with great haste, so that the troops may rise and prepare for departure. Furthermore, once they have set out, they must declare by which road they are traveling, and finally, it must be reported how great a force has gone out, and from which side, and whether they are all together with the infantry, or if they are horsemen alone. Yet the commander should not put his faith solely in the signals made by the scouts, but should also have double, and sometimes even triple, stations ^B—both outer and inner—in order to guard by night the roads and places through which he suspects the enemy might break out, and by day, so that the sentries may not only watch the paths but also climb to the highest places, from which they can see without any difficulty not only smoke and dust, but also the bodies of the enemy, should they be coming. We have said that there should be many sentries so that, if one station is intercepted by the adversaries, the one that remains behind may see the enemy and be able to report their arrival to the commander. The commander ought to change his station twice every night and as many times a day. While migrating, he should take the sentries with him, but at the place from where he moved, let him leave six or eight soldiers—whom we call *hypodocharioi* ^C—together with some good officer, so that if messengers sent by the scouts arrive, they may be brought to the commander through them. The commander himself, once he has settled in a new place, should again send out outer stations from there. Let there be four soldiers in each station, so that while two are sleeping at night, two may be able to keep watch. Let there be four men at every mile, so that while two are sleeping at night, two are on watch.

Chapter XVI. On the removal of baggage train.

You must also observe this, O commander: when you wish to approach closer to the enemy, you must send the baggage train far away from you into a fortified place or a town, entrusting their care to a man of integrity and experience. To him, some capable horsemen should also be assigned, through whom the guard for the protection of the baggage may be maintained ^D. If you should need it again, command the officer entrusted with their care to move to the place where he was ordered to join you. In thus sending away the baggage, you must take with you rations for the soldiers and fodder for the pack animals for two or three days, which may be carried either by swift mules or upon horses in saddle-bags. But when you wish to pursue the raiders of the enemy by night, all the soldiers, as many as you have fit for fighting, must be armored, and each one must have in his hands a weapon suitable for battle. Have also the group that we call *saka* following behind. If the enemy makes their journey through difficult places

^A or through places where there are enemy troops, you must direct each theme or standard that is present to march separately: the general in front, and the *turmarch* following the enemy at a good distance. Thus, the rest—whether they are themes or standards—should follow in order, so that they may travel even by night without noise or clamor. And the *turmarch* who is following the enemy, as a scout, should report [to you] and be extremely careful and vigilant, lest the enemy notice that they are being followed by you, and detach their own fighting men—the majority of their force—and hide them in ambush ^B to fall upon you unexpectedly—a type of ambush by the Tarsians, such as we saw in the aforementioned places. For the dust raised by those [troops] being observed at that time is not real, but a ruse of the scout; they are few in number and of inferior quality, and they go forth themselves, and the *turmarch* who is following the scout, having been negligent and not having searched the hiding places, falls unexpectedly into them. [P 147] Therefore, so that such a thing does not happen, you, O general, must take great care and search the hollows of the places and the hidden areas ^C, having cavalrymen who have quick horses and accurate information about the places. And regarding the arrangement, divide the army in two, if the number is three thousand 63. And you must send the ones who are accompanying the horsemen's baggage, and the baggage itself, further along to a fortified place.

And you must prepare the lines of battle as follows, against the unexpected ambushes of the enemies. And if the first [line] has at its head the most capable generals, and the third part of the infantry, and behind them the *turmarch* marches—you, with the great battle line, follow the first [line], having the *saka* behind you with a few cavalrymen—if it happens that the enemy lies in ambush for you ^D and positions their fighting men in the hidden areas, and goes to attack the *turmarch* who is following them, that *turmarch* will receive them [the enemy], and the first [line] which is marching before you will come to his aid and receive them. Then, after the battle has been joined with them, when the enemies, having been scattered by the fighting, have broken their ranks, you will conquer the dispersed forces completely. If the enemies are not preparing such ambushes, but are hastening to a raid and the plundering of the countryside, you must before dawn conceal the troops of your army in such places where they cannot be noticed by the enemies, and remain in these hiding places until the third or fourth hour of the day, until the enemies have dispersed to plunder. When these have moved far enough from the standards of the Emir, so that with few soldiers left they are poorly armed, invade them, and send out three battle lines with an aligned front, which shall capture the battle; you, following the first ones with the other three or four battle lines, shall approach more closely. When the first battle lines have engaged in hand-to-hand combat, just as you see your own men fighting, so provide support. And first, indeed, the battle lines on both sides of you

^A should be sent forward to engage with the enemy, and if possible, to attack from the flank and fight at close quarters. Then you yourself, if necessary, should charge, if the enemy has not already become the superior force. [P. 148] But after a short time, as we have said, the battle line of the Emir being dispersed, the army numbered under your command will not be able to resist three thousand men. But we set these things forth ^B as experience teaches; you must act according to the urgent necessity and the circumstances of the time. For it is not theory that delivers the result, but according to how the divine help will strengthen you, so the outcome of the arms will follow. If you are with only the troops of your own theme, O commander, and the army under you is small, you must likewise act with caution, tracking the enemy’s raid from afar, so as not to be detected by them, and make your attack only upon those who have ridden out into the countryside and become scattered, as has been declared above.

CAP. XVII. Concerning enemies invading our provinces with great forces, and the method of warring by ambuscades.

If, however, the entire mass of the enemy, both cavalry and infantry, ^C having emerged with a great and heavy force, invades our provinces and plunders them, and resolves to penetrate deep into them and explore them; and if it happens that at the same time the Roman army is gathered in one place, and the enemy hears of its presence, they guard their own army with great care, not allowing anyone to be scattered through the villages without a guard. Nay, they even contrive to lay ambushes for our forces, and they hasten to seize them unexpectedly, to chase them down, and to defeat them. You must also yourself demonstrate every caution, so as not to be caught unexpectedly by them, but rather to devise counter-measures to turn the tables on them, and to perform some noble and significant deed. For when they have once received a defeat at your hands, they will not linger in our territories in order to carry off plunder. Therefore ^D it is fitting for you to examine suitable places into which the enemy outriders enter in the hope of [finding] food and spoils, and to station a cavalry ambush in them, so as to attack them. Let the cavalry who are sent for the ambush be more than two hundred, having a brave commander, and [P. 149] one most experienced in such ambushes. The commander of the entire army, provided he has five or six thousand good cavalrymen and the help of God, will not have need of more. Dividing these in two, therefore, let him station two thousand in advance in a suitable hiding place, where there is an elevated watchpoint, having a vantage point so that soldiers who are driven and pursued from afar can be seen. Behind these two thousand, the other

three thousand ^A should be placed, along with the infantry troops in an area that provides cover, provided that the terrain offers fortification. If by chance there is a castle nearby, it will also provide them with aid. But the commander should not even have this in mind, nor, if he is struck by a large number of enemies attacking him and a fierce battle arises, should he retire into the castle to save his own men. For this brings not only disgrace and contempt, but also calamity and total destruction to the province. Rather, he should stand firmly with his infantry in the fortified places near the castle, if he is hard-pressed by necessity: he would have there, along with the defensive force of the castle infantry, help coming to his aid. ^B The commander of the three hundred who were sent to keep watch over the villages, when posted at the watchtower he sees that the enemies have descended from their horses and are roaming through the villages of the pagans, should send ahead a little more than a hundred from his group of three hundred, with orders to charge the adversaries. But those who are sent must be more numerous than the enemies who have entered the villages. These, by the grace of Christ, will attack the invaders and kill many and take them prisoner. Those who remain from that troop, for as many as the enemy managed to escape, should pursue them keenly until, in the groups of the enemy, the soldiers disposed for their protection are stirred up. Seeing these pursuers, the commander of the three hundred, provided they are not in great number, but are rushing in disorder and recklessly, should wait in ^C his hiding place until those who are fleeing from his own soldiers arrive and have passed by. Then he himself, falling upon the enemy from his ambush, will perform the task with his own hand and by the power and grace of Christ. For he will strike them down and wound many, and take them prisoner; however, if the enemies are increasing in number, and those pursuing ^D our men are powerful and keep riding hard, those who are brave and excellent, and with horses that can be ridden, should carry out a turning maneuver and strike the pursuers, so that they may save their own as wounded men; or, if they are able to mount their own horses and use flight, they should carefully pursue them until the enemy groups who are standing for the protection of their companions have dispersed. Seeing those pursuing the three hundred not to be a great crowd, but following in a disordered and reckless manner, he should hold his ground in his hiding place until those who are being pursued by them have passed by. Then, in this way, bursting forth from the ambush, he should charge with great force against the enemies, and with the power and grace of Christ he will succeed. He will take them as captives, and will strike and wound many. Therefore, when the enemies are pressing upon him further, and increasing in their aggression, and are fiercely pursuing, those who are captured and restrained, along with their horses and weapons, should be sent frontward, to reach the place where the commander stands. And he should retreat in good order with those who are with him, provoking the enemies to pursue and drawing them along; but no one of his own men should know in which places the general's ambushes are set, except only their commander. If the enemies attack him with a crowd and pursue recklessly, those who are brave and very noble should make a turnaround, and with horses that are fit—

^A and fresh, they should strike at the pursuers, in order that they may rescue the wounded of their own people, and mount others who are exhausted or are being struck, and cause them to be saved. Thereafter, by slacking their reins, they should ride away a little distance from the pursuers with a gallop, so that they may be slightly relieved of the weight of the pressing enemies, and they—those driving their horses for the pursuit—may be rendered sluggish and disheartened. When those of our people who were being pursued approach the place of the ambush, they should pass by, whether to the right or to the left, so that the enemy coming out from the ambush does not meet them in that same place and they cause harm to each other. After that, those who were being pursued should turn back, together with those who are in the ambush with them. And from two sides [the energy] of their assault coming against the enemies, this will also be ^B for the benefit of our people.

Let the place of the ambush be suitable for hiding them well; the exit should by no means have narrowness or difficult terrain, but should be level and spacious, not at all hindering the rush and sharp attack against their enemies, especially if they are around two thousand in number. For because of such a number, the exit from a place of this kind must be wide and straight. And the observation post where the leader of the people in the ambush stands watching should be suitable, so that he can see the pursuing enemies from a great distance, and estimate the amount of their people, and understand how they are conducting the pursuit. When those who are pursuing approach the ambush, having called upon the help of God, they should rush against them with a sharp, most vigorous, and strenuous assault, with shouting and loud cries. The ones being pursued should also turn back; and from two sides [P. 154] the assault made against the enemies will turn out to the benefit of our army. And if all things are carried out in accordance with the present order, having above all else the help of God also co-operating with them, the destruction and slaughter of the enemies that will occur, those who have had experience of such things well know. For how, indeed, when the horses are exhausted by the long and intense pursuit, and the men have failed from the ^C labor of battle, will the ultimate evils not happen to them?

But if—which is entirely unhoped for—the enemies are strong enough to resist, all their force having arrived in such a conflict, and a hard battle occurs with them fighting with their whole army, because their defeat had to be recalled, and this happens as a second consideration: the commander of the army must, by some signal and arrangement and a retreat-sounding trumpet, separate his own men from the hand-to-hand battle, giving their backs (only not with galloping and disorderly flight, but orderly), and irritate the enemies to pursue. When the enemies press on, those fleeing, having passed by from one side of the hiding-place, as we said, where the greater ambush has risen up against the enemy, they themselves also should immediately turn back, and hostile banners should be brought against the adversaries on both sides: which will be of great help to the army. If the followers, having advanced as far as the ambush, rush into it rashly, our men, leaping out from the side against them with an audacious and strenuous onset, by the grace of Christ will magnificently overcome them, and they will attain great glory. But if, because of some errors, they could not completely shatter the ranks of the enemies, because they were fighting fiercely with an infinite multitude and all their gathered forces, nevertheless, because you have infantry bringing their standards up at the same time, you will manage affairs better than they. And even if you do not overcome them completely, at the very least you will finish off many of them with the sword, you will reduce more into servitude, for ^D

^A you will strike great fear into them so that they will no longer dare to run about the countryside and ravage it, but will rather make haste to reach their own territory. These things, then, are what those before us have handed down to us, and what we ourselves have put together from the experience of long time. But it is fitting for you to be prepared for the contingency that happens to be likely. For it is not the wills of men, but supreme Providence that weighs each thing, and thus the outcomes of warfare ensue.

Chapter XVIII. Concerning the fact that, when the commander must pursue the enemy, he ought to divide his force.

If the enemy linger, even though this is hardly to be believed of those who are so badly off, and with their camp established they burn your lands and ravage them with pillaging, and they do not dare to send their soldiers too far away for the sake of foraging, the general ought to send off a capable force to the other side where he himself is not present, and whatever shall wander three or four miles from the camp, he ought to attack and harass from two sides and prevent them from foraging, and thus they will be compelled by want of food to return home. And if you see, commander, that the enemies are guarding themselves and are not going off too far for the collection of provisions, but are sending out those who make the ambush, you must consider the bands of the enemy ^C who have gone out too far from the camp to guard the provisions. Of these, if anyone lingers awaiting his comrades while others are off scouting villages near the camp, hurry to surround this group. And by employing scouts familiar with the enemy, you will be able to penetrate their group where it is stronger by making ambushes against the adversaries with a larger number of picked cavalry; and you should order a few of your own men to put on rustic clothes; let these be mixed with some of the pagans and farmers. All of them must be unarmed, with heads bare, and some even barefoot ^D; all must ride horses, carrying short wooden sticks while feigning to be farmers; and by thus deceiving the enemy and giving them confidence, so that they believe them to be not soldiers but certain pagans who are called guards of the borders. And when you pick out a detachment of your own men of proven strength, place a brave and experienced leader over them, and command him to pick out a few of those under him—only a few—who wear the rustic clothes to mix with them, and all should be unarmed, with heads bare, and some even barefoot, and on horseback.

^A Nor should they be more than twenty. Let him bring them into the villages, six at a time, or even more, so that they are not far apart from each other, and let them have beasts of burden in the villages themselves, whether these be cattle like oxen, or horses and mules. Let him command these, at about the eleventh hour of the day, to show themselves to the enemy, and from village to village to run about in a panic and make a great show of acting as if they wish to retrieve their own cattle and drive them into fortified places. The enemy, keeping watch in groups, when they observe these men partly dragging their cattle along and partly driving them ahead of them, thinking they are farmers and peasants, will pursue them in a scattered and reckless manner. Those who have taken on the persona of guards and farmers, if they are harassed, will hasten to reach the place where the hidden troops have taken their position: the enemy, pursuing them, will inadvertently fall into the ambush. For when they have approached them, our men, with a calm mind and coordinated movement, should rise up and meet them. ^B It is evident that in such a situation the enemies will not resist for even a moment; but, turning their backs, many of them will fall and be taken prisoner. If, however, the enemy's line of battle is nearby where these things are taking place, and the main body of the enemy's force pours forth in great numbers to protect their own men who are fleeing, the commander should place a second force to the rear of these ambushes in a suitable location, in a hiding place that is two miles distant from the first ambush. And if, as we have said, the enemy's force pursues the soldiers of the first ambush, those who are in the second hiding place, flying out upon them, will both save their fellow soldiers and inflict loss and death upon the adversaries. ^C This stratagem, O commander, you ought to employ toward sunset: so that, even if the enemy's force presses hard upon those in the ambush, the coming of night will break off the battle and keep your men safe.

Chap. XIX. On the status, equipment, and training of soldiers.

But if they dare to scatter as marauders, you must use skill and energy to invade them, having sent one of those who serve under you—a man endowed with virtue and experience—with an armed force sufficient to pursue, kill, and take prisoner the scattered enemies. However, do not break up your own battle line: so that if it happens that you encounter groups of the enemy that are significant in number, who have pursued the marauders for the sake of protection, you will have your own line drawn up and will join battle with that group like a skilled and experienced commander, as we have explained, so that you may defeat them and utterly destroy them to a man. ^D These things, O commander, we have advised for the sake of preserving your own safety and that of your soldiers, if your own forces are small and meager, and the enemy's forces are more numerous.

^A But if your fighting force numbers about five or six thousand, you should strive rather to draw them up in formation against the enemy. And if you employ mechanical strategies and skillful maneuvers—and, if the occasion requires, even unexpected attacks upon them—and if you wage war against them both intelligently and expertly, with the invincible aid of Christ our God helping you in the fight, you will erect great trophies of victory over the enemy. Yet it is not possible for you to prepare yourself for war in a commanding and learned manner unless you have first drilled and trained the force under you, accustoming and exercising it both in the handling of weapons ^B and in enduring the severity and hardship of labors and trials, so that they do not surrender themselves entirely to softness, sloth, drunkenness, luxury, and other vices. It is also fitting that they receive full rations and provisions, and furthermore, donatives and gifts beyond those customary and prescribed, so that, having satisfied their needs from these, they may be able to procure for themselves the finest horses and the rest of their armor, and may be willing, with joyful minds and a prepared and eager spirit, to expose themselves to danger on behalf of our holy emperors and the entire Christian commonwealth. ^C But the best and most necessary thing of all—that which excites their alacrity, increases their virtue, and ultimately spurs them on to attempt even the seemingly impossible—is that not only their own houses and those of the soldiers serving under them, but even all their dependents, should enjoy immunity from all burdens. This custom was maintained from the beginning in ancient times regarding them, and persisted; you will find this same thing both declared and written in the military books of those holy and blessed emperors of old. Besides immunity, it is also necessary that they receive their due honor, and that they not be held in contempt or suffer injury. For I am ashamed to say that men of this sort, ^D who count their very lives as nothing so long as they perform their duty to the holy emperors and liberate and avenge the Christians, are even beaten—and that by wretched tax-collectors who contribute no benefit to the state, except only that they despoil and crush the needy, and from the injuries and the abundant blood of the poor, hoard up for themselves great heaps of gold. Nor should they be subjected to insults by provincial judges and dragged about like slaves, beaten, and thrown into chains and stocks—O hateful thing!—those defenders and, after God, saviors of the Christians, who, I might almost say, die daily on behalf of the holy emperors; for the law itself commands that every commander should have authority over his own forces and should judge them. And to whom else does the provincial soldiery belong, save to the leader alone whom the divine prince has appointed in that province? For which reason, even among the most ancient Romans, authority was granted by law to the leader in his own province, so that he might judge [cases] relating to military causes [index: entries preserved]

and administer the affairs arising within the theme, having the judge as a collaborator and having those working under him as collaborators; and having to work also with the protonotary and the others who have been entrusted with public duties. The tourmarch also had, by law and by imperial decree, authority over the judgments within his own tourma, according to the forms then in use and their prerogatives. If, therefore, the army of the holy emperors takes up the ancient state of affairs, and the things that cause grief and lead into poverty are removed far from them, they will take on great zeal, and joy, and gladness; and they will be braver and bolder, and will appear invincible and unconquerable to the enemies. And with these things happening in this way, our holy emperors will not only avenge their own provinces, but will also subject to themselves many others that obey the enemy.

CHAPTER XX. Concerning adversaries, if they linger for a longer time in our region, that our army should cross over into their lands.

But if the enemies are patrolling our lands with a great and heavy force, wasting and destroying them, and contemplating the siege of fortresses, while guarding themselves against being ambushed by the Roman armies, and even devising schemes to ambush them instead; if an adequate Roman force is not available for a pitched battle against them, one able to defeat them, this is what you, O general, ought to accomplish, just as was done in times past, as the military handbook compiled by the renowned and most wise Emperor Leo sets forth, just as those who have read it clearly understand the matters to be discussed. For at that time, when the entire race of the Cilicians had swarmed with massive forces into the Eastern theme and was besieging the fortress of Mistheia with great violence, the reigning emperor commanded the leader of the army who was in charge at the time to march against the land of the Cilicians with the themes and the regiments; but to leave behind two of the generals, of the Anatolic and the Opsician [themes], to stand against the enemies for the defense, as much as possible, of both the fortress and the rest of the region. However, the leader of the armies (he was at that time Nicephorus, surnamed Phocas), having made his incursion through the road called the Maurianus against the land of Adana, carried off a very large amount of spoils. The people of Adana came out to meet him, and about two miles from their city they drew up in battle line; and as soon as they clashed, the Ishmaelites, turning their backs in headlong flight, made straight for the city. And as many of them as the leader of the Roman armies caught, who [were trying] to secure themselves within the gates...